Jun 28, 2017

Distant earthquakes can cause underwater landslides

New research finds that large earthquakes can trigger underwater landslides thousands of miles away, weeks or months after the quake occurs. Researchers analyzing data from ocean-bottom seismometers off the Washington-Oregon coast tied a series of underwater landslides on the Cascadia Subduction Zone to a 2012 magnitude-8.6 earthquake in the Indian Ocean — more than 8,000 miles away. These underwater landslides occurred intermittently for nearly four months after the April earthquake.

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Jun 27, 2017

The New York Times recognizes UW student policy recommendations

(From left) Team members Hillary Scannell, Eleni Petrou, Leah Johnson and Kate Crosman connect on the UW’s waterfront.

The team, who applied their expertise and first-hand knowledge to develop concrete recommendations for policymakers, aims to protect public health while sustaining West Coast communities.

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Jun 23, 2017

Nature spotlights UW geophysicists' fight to save lives with seafloor sensors

Inventor and entrepreneur Jerry Paros and University of Washington scientists are monitoring undersea faults for movements and signs of the next catastrophic earthquake. A recent Nature article looks at Paros, who has donated $2 million to the UW, and the collaborative project he’s working on with researchers including the School of Oceanography’s Emily Roland and William Wilcock. Over the course of his career, Paros developed an ultra-precise quartz sensor for oil, gas and other industry applications.

Support for tidal energy is high among Washington state residents

Sail boat in Puget Sound waters with mountains in the background.

Puget Sound is one of the best places in the United States to capture energy from the tides. Tidal currents throughout the Sound move especially swift in the narrow spaces around islands and peninsulas. Those currents are what developers were eyeing when they proposed the first Pacific Northwest tidal energy pilot project in Admiralty Inlet, between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island.

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Jun 5, 2017

Invasive lionfish feasts on new Caribbean fish species

Researcher Luke Tornabene entering a submarine.

Caribbean coral reefs have been invaded by lionfish, showy predators with venomous spines. And they’ve found a new market to exploit: the ocean’s “twilight zone” — an area below traditional SCUBA diving depths, where little is known about the reefs or the species that inhabit them. Researchers from the University of Washington and Smithsonian Institution have reported the first observed case of lionfish preying upon a fish species that had not yet been named.

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