August 2011 on EARTH Magazine

Energy Notes: April 2010-2011

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 15:36:07 -0400

Credit: The American Geosciences Institute

U.S. Oil & Petroleum Imports (millions of barrels per day)

Oil and petroleum imports data are preliminary numbers taken from the American Petroleum Institute’s Monthly Statistical Report. For more information visit www.api.org.

Mineral Resource of the Month: Gypsum

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 10:22:36 -0400

Robert D. Crangle Jr., mineral commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the following information on gypsum, an essential commodity for the construction and horticultural industries.

The sand dunes in White Sands National Monument are made of gypsum. Credit: ©Bruce Molnia, Terra Photographics/ESW Image Bank

You may not realize it, but the walls of your office are probably made from a mineral: gypsum. Gypsum is an abundant, evaporite-derived sedimentary mineral with deposits located throughout the world. It is often associated with paleo-environmental lake and marine environments. In its pure form, gypsum consists of calcium sulfate dihydrate, although most crude gypsum naturally occurs in combination with anhydrite, clay, dolomite and/or limestone.

Travels in Geology: Australia's Blue Mountains Delight the Senses

Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:32:35 -0400

The Three Sisters formation, a triplet of sandstone peaks, as seen from a cable car descending into Jamison Valley. The Blue Mountains get their name from the blue haze that drapes the region. The mist is made up of oil droplets from eucalyptus trees. Credit: ©Meghan Miner

Credit: ©Hector Garcia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Australia has a lot to offer when it comes to geology, but you don’t have to venture as far inland as the famed Ayers Rock to see spectacular sights. Sydneysiders have been seeking respite from urban chaos in the nearby Blue Mountains National Park for almost a hundred years. The mountains are known for their sweeping vistas, cool microclimate, wildlife, Aboriginal history and rock formations like the statuesque Three Sisters and the rubble heap of Ruined Castle.

Getting There and Getting Around The Blue Mountains National Park

Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:16:46 -0400

The Blue Mountains National Park is about 100 kilometers west of Sydney. It is accessible by highway via the M4 Motorway and the Great Western Highway to the gateway towns of Leura, Wentworth Falls and Katoomba. Double-decker trains also run from 4 a.m. to midnight daily from Sydney’s Central Railway Station, stopping in the major mountain towns. Sydney’s international airport is connected directly to the train station by a rail line built in 2001. Alternatively, several bus or “coach” companies offer trips or tours of the Blue Mountains region from Sydney; tickets and information can be found in the kiosks along Circular Quay on Sydney’s harbor. Once you’re in the Blue Mountains region, it’s easiest to get around on foot. The trails are a short walk from most of the downtown areas, and, should you feel like switching towns, the rails are the easiest link between them.

Benchmarks: August 1576: False gold found in Meta Incognita

Wed, 06 Jul 2016 09:10:08 -0400

This plate was published in 1595 in Mercator's Atlas. It records attempts by Frobisher, among others, to find a northwest passage, and shows the pole surrounded by islands between which rivers flow. Credit: ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK.

Three small boats set sail westward from London on June 7, 1576. Their goal: Find a northwest passage across the Arctic to Cathay, or China. A former pirate, Martin Frobisher, captained the 34 men. By July 11 they had reached Greenland. A storm overtook them, sinking one boat and forcing another to return home.

Down to Earth With: Deanna D'Alessandro

Tue, 27 Jan 2015 10:41:46 -0500

Deanna D'Alessandro. Credit: Sam D'Agostino, SDP Photo.

Deanna D’Alessandro, a chemist at the University of Sydney in Australia, is working on a new material that may make it cheaper and easier to clean greenhouse gases from power plant emissions. D’Alessandro has developed crystals composed of metals and organic molecules that can trap molecules of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, and release them on cue — or even transform them into more useful compounds. Her work won her one of three L’Oreal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships given last year.

Geologic Column: Snow globes, light shows and t-shirts

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

Horseshoe Falls from Niagara Falls, Ontario. Johnny Albert 10

American and Bridal Falls of Niagara Falls. Ujjwal Kumar

It seemed like a simple question. “What do you think the most commercialized geologic site is?”

Voices: A growing need for geoscience diplomacy

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

U.S. State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. AgnosticPreachersKid, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world … we have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek.”

A day without Glory

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Glory was expected to fly in a low-Earth orbit about 705 kilometers above Earth's surface. NASA

Glory was set to join the "Afternoon Constellation" or "A-train" of polar-orbiting satellites. NASA

On a warm afternoon in early March, the Taurus XL rocket that was prepped for launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California looked more like a giant chopstick standing on end than a potential game changer in the debate over climate change science. The barrel-shaped satellite that the rocket carried — named Glory — was designed to deliver critical information about small airborne particles called aerosols. The elusive particles account for much of the uncertainty in climate models, and data from the satellite would have helped scientists determine more of the aerosols’ key properties than ever before. Instead, before dawn the next morning and just minutes after launch, Glory’s remains crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean near Antarctica.

Blogging on EARTH: The lighter side of geo-jargon

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

A big haboob sweeps over Phoenix. Junebug172

A hoodoo at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Ciar, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Hawaiian pahoehoe lava. U.S. Geological Survey

Timothy Oleson at Machu Picchu in Peru. courtesy of Dave Clark

Sometimes in this world, we just need a little levity.

CryoScoop: Green Light to McMurdo

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The Russian icebreaker will create a channel through the sea ice of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound to allow the annual refueling and resupply of two stations in Antarctica. Murmansk Shipping Company

Kathryn Hansen is an associate editor at EARTH and writes the CryoScoop blog. Lora Koenig

Polar scientists breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as the good news reached inboxes: Icebreaking capability was restored to McMurdo Station, preventing the deferment of some Antarctic field work this year.

CryoScoop: Ice islands and a new Antarctic map

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Rock outcrops - the Littlewood (L) and Bertrab (B) nunataks - protrude through the ice at Coats Land, a remote part of the Antarctic continent south of the Atlantic Ocean basin, and were once connected to the North American rift system. Courtesy of Ian Dalziel

Kathryn Hansen is an associate editor at EARTH and writes the CryoScoop blog. Lora Koenig

EARTH magazine bloggers already delve into natural hazards, paleontology, water and everything in between. Now each week I’ll be adding to EARTH’s blogosphere with weekly posts called CryoScoop, highlighting cool science related to Earth’s cryosphere.

Great Lakes geologic sunken treasure

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

In the sinkholes of Lake Huron, researchers are finding microbial life more reminiscent of the life found in ocean hydrothermal vents than that in freshwater lakes. NOAA, courtesy of Thunder Bay Sinkholes 2008

Researchers sent the Phantom S2 ROV into one of the sinkholes. NOAA, courtesy of Thunder Bay Sinkholes 2008

The Great Lakes hold the secrets of hundreds of ill-fated voyages in their notoriously treacherous waters. Shipwreck enthusiasts find a bounty of nautical relics preserved in their chilly depths. Only within the last decade, however, have explorers and scientists begun to reveal the secrets of a much different — and ancient — sunken treasure in Lake Huron.

Is there really a minerals crisis?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

©Callan Bentley, 2011

China sent the high-tech industry and markets reeling last September when it blocked exports of raw rare earth minerals to Japan. In mid-October of that year, China imposed a similar ban on rare earth exports to the United States and Europe. The sudden severing of rare earths supply was a frightening prospect: Rare earths are a hot commodity in the modern world, because they are the key ingredients in a broad range of high-tech products, from smartphones to wind turbines to hybrid cars. Although China lifted the ban on exports of rare earths to the United States and Europe by late October, the ban on exports to Japan — although unofficial — remained in place for months.

Thinking outside the rocks in the search for ancient earthquakes

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Ancient amphitheater in Pinara, Turkey, a site known to have been struck by earthquakes. Osmanyaylali, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

This famous Japanese color woodblock entitled "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), depicts a large tsunami wave with Mt. Fuji in the background. Library of Congress

Multiple views of a Roman mausoleum in Pinara, Turkey, show how 3-D laser models are used to test different destructive scenarios like earthquakes and rockfalls. The damage to this structure is most consistent with a large earthquake. Klaus-G. Hinzen

The eyewitness accounts, written in columns from right to left, top to bottom, testify that there was no warning of the tsunami, no shaking to drive villagers to high ground before the wave hit, drowning rice paddies and swamping a castle moat. The entries, written by merchants, peasants and samurai, all clearly mark the time and date: just after midnight on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 1700.

Travels in Geology: Glacial pools to sea caves: A tour of New Zealand's South Island

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The limestone layers of Pancake Rocks with a view of the rugged West Coast near Punakaiki. Laurie J. Schmidt

The sedimentary Moeraki Boulders lie scattered along the Koekohe Beach on New Zealand's Otago Coast. Laurie J. Schmidt

Wharariki Beach's surreal vista of arches and caves. Laurie J. Schmidt

New Zealand has a reputation for extreme adventure — sky diving, jet boating, bungee jumping and even “zorbing,” which sends you rolling down a hill inside a transparent plastic ball. But beyond the adrenaline sports, you’ll find unique geologic features in landscapes ranging from volcanoes and alpine peaks to beaches and rainforests.

Travels in Geology: Twin coral reefs separated in time in Western Australia

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Geikie Gorge is one of the three national parks where visitors can see the Devonian Great Barrier Reef. Terri Cook and Lon Abbott

Turtle at Ningaloo Reef, one of the world's longest fringing reefs. s-ron mckellar, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

In Western Australia, you can visit two unusually accessible coral reefs. Although they look similar enough to be fraternal twins, these reefs were born nearly 400 million years apart. Ningaloo is a modern coral reef where you can snorkel amid spectacular reefbuilding organisms by wading just a few meters from the sandy, white shore. One of the longest fringing reefs on the planet, Ningaloo also boasts one of the planet’s healthiest reef environments, where 500 species of fish, 600 species of shellfish and more than 250 species of coral thrive.

TV: Discovery Channel grows more curious

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Stephen Hawking illustrates the principles of gravity in 'Curiosity.' Discovery Channel

Hawking sitting in the dining hall at the University of Cambridge. Discovery Channel

Milky Way galaxy. Discovery Channel

At first, it is difficult to distinguish the Discovery Channel’s new show “Curiosity” — in which celebrity-scientists and science-oriented celebrities each host an episode purportedly answering a big question — from the many other similar shows on television, especially on Discovery itself. The premiere episode, which aired in August and was hosted by Stephen Hawking, appears to be a rehash of that old chestnut of science television, the question of how the universe began. The first clue that you are perhaps about to see something different is the disclaimer: “This program examines the creation of the universe through the commentary and opinions of Professor Stephen Hawking.” Then the question: “Did God Create the Universe?”

When the dust settles: Investigating lingering health questions 10 years after 9/11

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Beyond characterizing the minerals in the dust cloud, U.S. Geological Survey and NASA scientists helped identify long-burning fires beneath the rubble. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jim Watson

Satellite images taken by Landsat 7 after the attack show the smoke and dust plume across lower Manhattan. NASA

Five days after the Twin Towers collapsed, two geoscientists boarded a plane from Denver to New York City. They were part of a team that would use remote sensing techniques to categorize the hazards that might affect the rescue workers, civilians and survivors of the terrorist attacks. One of their immediate tasks involved identifying long-burning fires under the rubble. A second was to create a compositional profile of the debris cloud that resulted from the devastation. Part of the project was to be completed immediately using remote sensing, and part would take several months.