Portal:Earth sciences/DYK

Ojos del Salado

...that Ojos del Salado (pictured) is the highest volcano on Earth?
...that the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory was originally built to study fluctuations in Earth's magnetic field?
...that Atlantic hurricane reanalysis is an ongoing project within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which seeks to correct and add new information about past Atlantic tropical cyclones?
...that Robert Case, a National Weather Service meteorologist, dubbed the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter "The Perfect Storm"?
...that the 1912 Novarupta eruption of Mount Katmai was the largest of the 20th century?

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...that a tuya (pictured) is a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet?
...that in the United States, on average tornadoes are around 500 feet (150 m) across, and stay on the ground for 5 miles (8 km)?
...that dust storms can carry large amounts of dust, so much so that the leading edge of one can appear as a solid wall of dust as much as 1.6 km (1 mile) high?
...that the area of the world Ocean is 361 million square kilometers, its volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometers, and its average depth is 3,790 meters?
...that three quarters of the earth's atmosphere lies within the troposphere, and the depth of this layer varies between 17 km at the equator and 7 km at the poles?
...that the Mariana Trench is the deepest point in the ocean?

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...that nearly 10 years before the 2008 Atlanta Tornado, the Dunwoody Tornado (pictured) caused significant damage just outside the city limits?
...that the Lorain-Sandusky tornado was both the deadliest tornado and part of the deadliest tornado outbreak in Ohio history?
...that Cyclone Gamede in February 2007 was among the wettest tropical cyclones on record, dropping more than 5.5 m (18 ft) in a nine day period on Réunion island?
...that in Madagascar and Mozambique, Cyclone Jokwe killed 16 people, left at least 55400 homeless, and destroyed nearly 10000 houses?
...that following the Cambrian explosion, about 535 mya, there have been five mass extinctions?

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... that New Zealand geologist Patrick Marshall (pictured) was the first who used the term "andesite line"?
...that the Earth's magnetic field is shaped roughly as a magnetic dipole, with the poles currently located proximate to the planet's geographic poles?
...In total, about 401 people have been outside the Earth's atmosphere as of 2004, and, of these, twelve have walked on the Moon?
...that the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is a 2 million acre (8000 km²) National forest which runs along the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains in east-central Arizona and extending into New Mexico, USA?
...that the Himalaya mountain range is the world's highest mountain range?
... that the 1999 Chamoli earthquake in India, in which 103 people died, was also felt in the Baitadi, Dadeldhura and Kanchanpur districts in Nepal?

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... that plate reconstructions (example pictured) that use magnetic stripe patterns can only go back to the Jurassic period, as there is no older oceanic crust?
...that during hot greenhouse periods in Earth's history, the tropics appeared to be cooler than they are today?
...that the 2002 Sumatra earthquake is considered to be a foreshock of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake?
...that the geology of the Grand Canyon area includes more than 40 identified rock layers?
...that Bristol Diamonds were popular souvenirs for visitors to the spa at Hotwells, Bristol in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?
...that hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and badlands?

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...that a pit crater (example pictured), unlike an impact crater, is formed by the ground sinking over a void such as an emptied magma chamber or caldera?
...that the late Paleozoic environment of the Chaco-Tarija sedimentary basin of Bolivia has been likened to that of present-day Labrador Sea?
...that there was intense volcanic activity in Uruguay during the Cretaceous period about 130 million years ago?
...that six prehistoric meteorite impacts have created large astroblemes affecting the geology of Saskatchewan?
... that the Wairau, Awatere, Clarence and Hope faults, are the main active faults of the Marlborough Fault System, and carry most of the displacement on the Australian-Pacific plate boundary in northern South Island?
... that a revolution in burrowing marks the base of the Cambrian period, and is followed by the Cambrian explosion of animal diversity?

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