In The News: College of Sciences
Record-low water levels in Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona have exposed volcanic ash from eruptions 12 million years ago as far away as Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. The discovery may help investigators better understand future ashfall risks, researchers at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas said in a recent study.
As Lake Mead's water level continues to drop, scientists at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ have discovered sedimentary rock laced with volcanic ash that hasn't been visible since the 30s.
Lake Mead’s falling water level has exposed several shocking things in recent months – previously sunken boats, old war ships and human remains. Now scientists are reporting a new discovery on Lake Mead’s dry bed: rocks laced with volcanic ash that rained down on southern Nevada during explosive eruptions roughly 12 million years ago.
Ramping up renewable energy products will require a range of critical metals. One of these elements, tellurium, is gaining in popularity for use in photovoltaics, or solar panels. As global demand for solar panels continues to increase, so is the need for critical metals like tellurium, notes the Geological Society of America.
Ramping up renewable energy products will require a range of critical metals. One of these elements, tellurium, is gaining in popularity for use in photovoltaics, or solar panels. As global demand for solar panels continues to increase, so is the need for critical metals like tellurium.
Tourists aren’t the only ones attracted to the bright lights of the Strip. Grasshoppers have flown into the Las Vegas Valley — not to gamble, but to nosh on vegetation brought by the summer’s late monsoon season.
Researchers at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas say they have discovered rocks with volcanic ash that could be as old as 12 million years.
Boats and bodies aren’t the only things revealing secrets at Lake Mead. Newly-exposed rock at Lake Mead has revealed that the Las Vegas Valley could be impacted by volcanic ash from neighboring states.
When millions of grasshoppers swarmed the Las Vegas valley a few years ago, tourist and locals alike were taken by surprise. During 2019’s infestation, Channel 13 talked with people who couldn’t stand the sight of the creatures or the crunch sound of dead grasshoppers being walked on.
Not only have Lake Mead’s dwindling water levels exposed human remains and old relics but now decades-old sedimentary rocks containing volcanic ash are being seen at the lake, according to a recent 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ study.
New observations are challenging a hypothesis about what produces these energetic bursts of radio waves.
Lake Mead's receding water levels are now revealing ancient volcanic eruptions from millions of years ago.