A new seismic study reveals that Earth’s largest volcanic event fundamentally transformed the oceanic plate beneath the Ontong Java Plateau, the world’s largest oceanic plateau. By analyzing high-frequency seismic waves traveling through the plate, researchers discovered that massive volcanic activity not only built the plateau itself but also chemically and structurally modified the underlying oceanic plate.

The results show that the plate has a complex internal structure composed of layered formations intersected by extensive dike swarms, created as magma rose from a deep thermochemical mantle plume. Unusually slow seismic velocities indicate that this magma chemically altered the plate through a process known as refertilization. These findings demonstrate that large-scale volcanism can significantly reshape pre-existing oceanic plates, offering new insights into how tectonic plates form and evolve.

Combustion instability, which causes dangerous pressure oscillations in combustors, arises from complex feedback between heat release, acoustics, and flow. Now, researchers from Japan have applied network science to spray combustion instability, shedding light on the dynamics of ‘turbulence networks.’ By identifying critical regions, they found a way to suppress combustion instability. This method offers a novel mathematical approach to stabilizing the combustion state in various combustors.

A research team led by Dr. Dirk Henkensmeier at the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Sang-Rok Oh) has developed a novel membrane material for water electrolysis that operates stably and has significantly higher conductivity under low alkalinity conditions than existing systems. The newly developed membrane maintains high hydrogen production performance even in low-concentration alkaline environments, providing a technological foundation for low-alkalinity water electrolysis.