Latest news with #Maastrichtian
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Science
- Economic Times
Earthquake of magnitude 4.8 strikes Carlsberg Ridge
Synopsis A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck the Carlsberg Ridge on August 17, 2025. The National Center for Seismology reported the quake's shallow depth of 10km. This increases the risk of aftershocks. The Carlsberg Ridge is a seismically active zone. It marks a boundary between tectonic plates in the Indian Ocean. A major earthquake of 7.6 magnitude was recorded there in 2003. TIL Creatives AI-generated image for representative purpose An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 occurred in the Carlsberg Ridge on Sunday, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said in a statement. As per the NCS, the earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10km, making it susceptible to aftershocks. In a post on X, the NCS said, "EQ of M: 4.8, On: 17/08/2025 05:54:11 IST, Lat: 4.36 N, Long: 62.76 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Carlsberg Ridge." Shallow earthquakes are generally more dangerous than deep earthquakes. This is because the seismic waves from shallow earthquakes have a shorter distance to travel to the surface, resulting in stronger ground shaking and potentially more damage to structures and greater casualties. The Carlsberg Ridge is the northern section of the Central Indian Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the African plate and the Indo-Australian plate, traversing the western regions of the Indian Ocean. The ridge, of which the Carlsberg Ridge is a part, extends northward from a triple point junction near the island of Rodrigues (the Rodrigues Triple Point) to a junction with the Owen fracture zone. The ridge started its northwards propagation in the late Maastrichtian and reached the incipient Arabian Sea in the Eocene. Then it continued to accrete basalt but did not propagate for nearly 30 Ma. Then, in the early Miocene, it started to propagate westwards towards the Afar hot spot, opening the Gulf of Aden. The Carlsberg Ridge is seismically active, with a major earthquake being recorded by the United States Geological Survey at 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale on July 15, July 15, 2003, M 7.6 earthquake on the Carlsberg Ridge occurred as a result of shallow transform faulting within a mid-ocean ridge system, located in the Arabian Sea between India and Northern Africa. The ridge marks the boundary between the India and Nubia (Africa) plates.
News18
2 days ago
- Science
- News18
Earthquake of magnitude 4.8 strikes Carlsberg Ridge
Carlsberg Ridge, August 17 (ANI): An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 occurred in the Carlsberg Ridge on Sunday, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said in a statement. As per the NCS, the earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10km, making it susceptible to aftershocks. In a post on X, the NCS said, 'EQ of M: 4.8, On: 17/08/2025 05:54:11 IST, Lat: 4.36 N, Long: 62.76 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Carlsberg Ridge." EQ of M: 4.8, On: 17/08/2025 05:54:11 IST, Lat: 4.36 N, Long: 62.76 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Carlsberg Ridge. For more information Download the BhooKamp App @DrJitendraSingh @OfficeOfDrJS @Ravi_MoES @Dr_Mishra1966 @ndmaindia — National Center for Seismology (@NCS_Earthquake) August 17, 2025 Shallow earthquakes are generally more dangerous than deep earthquakes. This is because the seismic waves from shallow earthquakes have a shorter distance to travel to the surface, resulting in stronger ground shaking and potentially more damage to structures and greater casualties. The Carlsberg Ridge is the northern section of the Central Indian Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the African plate and the Indo-Australian plate, traversing the western regions of the Indian Ocean. The ridge, of which the Carlsberg Ridge is a part, extends northward from a triple point junction near the island of Rodrigues (the Rodrigues Triple Point) to a junction with the Owen fracture zone. The ridge started its northwards propagation in the late Maastrichtian and reached the incipient Arabian Sea in the Eocene. Then it continued to accrete basalt but did not propagate for nearly 30 Ma. Then, in the early Miocene, it started to propagate westwards towards the Afar hot spot, opening the Gulf of Aden. The Carlsberg Ridge is seismically active, with a major earthquake being recorded by the United States Geological Survey at 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale on July 15, July 15, 2003, M 7.6 earthquake on the Carlsberg Ridge occurred as a result of shallow transform faulting within a mid-ocean ridge system, located in the Arabian Sea between India and Northern Africa. The ridge marks the boundary between the India and Nubia (Africa) plates. (ANI) view comments First Published: August 17, 2025, 07:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Dinosaurs weren't going extinct before the asteroid strike
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Dinosaurs weren't in decline when an asteroid smashed into Earth and wiped them out, scientists say. Instead, the idea that dinosaur diversity was declining before the asteroid struck 66 million years ago is likely based on faulty fossil data, according to a study that looked at nearly 18 million years of fossil evidence. Fossil discoveries have long indicated that dinosaurs were shrinking in numbers and diversity prior to the asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous period. Previously, some researchers believed this was a sign that dinosaurs were already on the road toward extinction even before the cataclysmic encounter with a space rock. However, this idea has long been controversial, with other researchers arguing that dinosaur diversity was doing just fine at the time of their demise. "It's been a subject of debate for more than 30 years — were dinosaurs doomed and already on their way out before the asteroid hit?" study lead author Chris Dean, a paleontologist at University College London, said in a statement. Now, new research published Tuesday (April 8) in the journal Current Biology suggests that the apparent rarity of dinosaurs before their extinction may simply be due to a poor fossil record. The scientists studied records of around 8,000 fossils from North America dating to the Campanian age (83.6 million to 72.1 million years ago) and Maastrichtian age (72.1 million to 66 million years ago), focusing on four families: the Ankylosauridae, Ceratopsidae, Hadrosauridae and Tyrannosauridae. At face value, their analysis showed that dinosaur diversity peaked around 76 million years ago, then shrank until the asteroid strike wiped out the nonavian dinosaurs. This trend was even more pronounced in the 6 million years before the mass extinction, with the number of fossils from all four families decreasing in the geological record. However, there is no indication of environmental conditions or other factors that would explain this decline, the researchers found. All of the dinosaur families were widespread and common, according to models developed by the researchers — and thus at low risk for extinction, barring a catastrophic event such as the asteroid impact. Rather, the Maastrichtian may have had poorer geological conditions for fossilization, the researchers suggested. Events such as the retreat of the Western Interior Seaway, which once ran from the Gulf of Mexico up through the Arctic, and the rise of the Rocky Mountains starting around 75 million years ago, may have impeded or disrupted fossilization, making it appear as if there were fewer dinosaurs and less diversity during that time. The team also found that geological outcrops from the Maastrichtian of North America were not exposed, or were covered by vegetation. In other words, rock from this time that might hold dinosaur fossils was not readily accessible to researchers who were searching for the remains. Because half of the known fossils from this period are from North America, the study's findings may have global implications as well. RELATED STORIES —Dinosaurs dominated our planet not because of their massive size or fearsome teeth — but thanks to the way they walked —'Exquisitely preserved' ginormous claws from Mongolia reveal strange evolution in dinosaurs —166 million-year-old fossil found on Isle of Skye belongs to pony-size dinosaur from Jurassic Among the 8,000 fossil records examined, the team found that Ceratopsians — a group that includes horned dinosaurs like Triceratops and its relatives — were the most common, probably because they inhabited plain regions that were most conducive to preservation during the Maastrichtian. Hadrosaurians — duck-billed dinosaurs — were the least common, possibly due to their preference for rivers. Reductions in river flow may have led to fewer depositions of sediment that could have preserved these dinosaurs, the researchers wrote in the study. "Dinosaurs were probably not inevitably doomed to extinction at the end of the Mesozoic [252 million to 66 million years ago]," study co-author Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, a paleontologist at University College London, said in a statement. "If it weren't for that asteroid, they might still share this planet with mammals, lizards, and their surviving descendants: birds."
