August 2012 on EARTH Magazine

Energy Notes: April 2011-2012

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 16:43:17 -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: Hydraulic Cement

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:58:32 -0400

Hendrik G. van Oss, a mineral commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the following information on hydraulic cement, a key material for the construction industry.

The "cement" being poured is actually ready-mixed concrete. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/sculpies

Hydraulic cements are the binders in concrete and most mortars and stuccos. Concrete, particularly the reinforced variety, is the most versatile of all construction materials, and most of the hydraulic cement produced worldwide is portland cement or similar cements that have portland cement as a basis, such as blended cements and masonry cements. Cement typically makes up less than 15 percent of the concrete mix; most of the rest is aggregates. Not counting the weight of reinforcing media, 1 ton of cement will typically yield about 8 tons of concrete.

Travels in Geology: Lake Tahoe Jewel of the Sierra Nevada

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 10:09:01 -0400

Lake Tahoe's famed water clarity has been clouded in recent years by increased algal growth due to nutrient runoff. Credit: ©Mary Caperton Morton

With a rich geological and cultural history, and ample hiking, camping and sightseeing opportunities, Lake Tahoe is one of most popular vacation destinations in the United States. The lake straddles the California-Nevada border at an elevation of 1,900 meters, occupying an intermontane basin rimmed by the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada, including the two highest peaks in the basin, Freel Peak and Jobs Sister, each with an elevation of approximately 3,300 meters.

Getting There and Getting Around Nevada

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 09:52:46 -0400

Getting to Lake Tahoe from the major airports in Sacramento, Calif., and Reno, Nev., is fairly easy. From Sacramento, it is about a two-hour drive along scenic Interstate 80 or U.S. 50. Interstate 80, which takes visitors to the northern part of Lake Tahoe, is a bit of a longer but easier drive and it passes the Donner Memorial State Park. The park — which commemorates the emigrants from the East to California in the mid-1800s, including the famed Donner Party, many of whom perished in the winter of 1846-1847 — offers recreational opportunities in the summer and winter. U.S. 50 is a slightly shorter but windier drive that goes through California gold country and ends up at South Lake Tahoe, a city with lots of casinos and ample beaches and recreational activities. From Reno, Lake Tahoe can be reached in less than an hour via Interstate 80 and the Mount Rose Highway. All roads to Lake Tahoe are open year round, with only temporary closures during times of very heavy rain or snowfall. A few local public side roads such as Fallen Leaf Lake Road and Blackwood Canyon Roads are not plowed in the winter.

Benchmarks: August 24, 1873: The Mount of the Holy Cross is found, photographed and mapped

Tue, 23 Aug 2016 10:42:22 -0400

The Mount of the Holy Cross in Colorado, as photographed by William Henry Jackson in 1873. Credit: USGS Photographic Library.

The rumors had persisted for decades, some said for centuries. Deep in the Colorado Rockies was a mystical mountain. Upon the face of a towering peak rose a massive cross, formed by snow accumulating in two huge cracks. In his 1868 book, “The Parks and Mountains of Colorado: A Summer Vacation in the Switzerland of America,” journalist Samuel Bowles wrote, “It is as if God has set His sign, His seal, His promise there — a beacon upon the very center and hight [sic] of the continent to all its people and all its generations.”

Down to Earth With: Volcanologist John Eichelberger

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 09:58:36 -0500

Volcanologist John Eichelberger, coordinator of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program, will become dean of the graduate school at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks this fall. Credit: Courtesy of John Eichelberger.

The 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull showed that volcanic hazards are blind to international borders. After the eruption ended and air traffic returned to normal, discussion among the public of “ash” and “jet turbine blades” cooled. Not so for volcanologist John Eichelberger, who, as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program Coordinator, deals with volcanic hazards daily, while working to improve monitoring of the United States’ many dangerous volcanoes and to internationalize research and risk reduction.

The Syracuse University lava experiments

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:53:11 -0400

Pouring basaltic lava at Syracuse University's Comstock Art facility: Sheet-like, ropey pahoehoe flows over dry sand; infrared image of pahoehoe flow experiment with selected temperatures in degrees Celsius.

Pouring Lava

Melting a batch of the ancient basalt takes about four hours, but we hold the lava above its melting point for much longer to ensure that it is completely melted and to remove unwanted volatiles such as water. The lava is then poured at temperatures of 1,100 to 1,350 degrees Celsius, comparable to eruption temperatures of natural lava. We monitor it with a spot calorimeter and a Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera, the same instrument conventionally used at lava flows in the field.

Do–it–yourself lava flows: Science, art and education in the Syracuse University Lava Project

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:56:15 -0400

Picture this: You’re walking across the tree-lined quad of Syracuse University, amid brick and stone buildings, when you happen upon a crowd of people. Crowds on the quad aren’t unusual, but this crowd is unusually diverse — students, professors and even parents with kids. You move a little closer and smell something odd: a blend of sulfur and marshmallows. Then you see it — molten lava pouring down the slope of a parking lot.

Bare Earth Elements: Let the real Curiosity begin

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:22:35 -0400

NASA's Curiosity rover, also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, touched down on the red planet's surface early Monday morning August 6 EDT. NASA

This image of Curiosity, with its parachute deployed, was taken as it descended through the Martian atmosphere by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter. NASA

An illustration of Curiosity's scientific instrumentation, including the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) unit. NASA

This has been a year of scientific milestones. In just the last few months, we have witnessed the first successful launch of a privately built spacecraft — SpaceX’s Dragon capsule — which docked with the International Space Station in May, as well as the announcement in July that the Higgs Boson, the lynchpin particle in the Standard Model of physics, had at last been confidently detected. And by now, you have surely heard that Curiosity — the latest model in NASA’s lineage of robotic Mars-exploring rovers — has successfully landed on the red planet. In case you hadn’t, here is your official notice:

Hazardous Living: Watching Curiosity land safely was exhilarating

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 02:01:33 -0400

Sometimes humanity accomplishes something absolutely awesome. Tonight was one of those nights. We put another rover on Mars — by far the most advanced rover yet. Curiosity is now out exploring Gale Crater and much is expected of her.

Blogging on EARTH: Curious to watch Curiosity land on Mars?

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:58:49 -0400

Sunday night will bring excitement to households around the world, not only because of the Olympics (and the GEOlympics), but also because the Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity rover, will touch down on the Red Planet.

On the web: Shake, rattle and roll: What does an earthquake sound like?

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:11:54 -0400

Using a new technique, researchers have boosted seismic waves (top) from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake to frequencies (bottom) within the audible range for humans. Georgia Institute of Technology

The sounds we associate with earthquakes tend to be those induced aboveground. Low-pitched rumbles, rattling windows and car alarms might be heard during small temblors, while more terrifying sounds like the crumbling of concrete and the cacophony of people trying to reach safety sometimes accompany large earthquakes. But what does an earthquake itself sound like, as rock grinds against rock in a rupturing fault and large amounts of energy are released? Thanks to some recent efforts, we may be starting to get an idea.

How the school of rock came to be

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:51:55 -0400

The JOIDES Resolution. John Van Hoesen

In the late 1950s, a growing interest in better understanding the structure and composition of Earth resulted in the creation of the controversial Project Mohole. Although the name may sound better suited for an Isaac Asimov novel, it was indeed a real, albeit short-lived, attempt to drill through the boundary between the crust and mantle, called the Mohorovičić (Moho) discontinuity — an engineering feat yet to be achieved. The project led to the modern-day Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) — and eventually the School of Rock.

Trash-to-treasure: Turning nonrecycled waste into low-carbon fuel

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:45:27 -0400

Paper and cardboard commodity streams are part of the output of a materials recovery facility. John R. Fyffe

Americans produce more than four pounds of trash per person per day, amounting to 20 percent of the world’s waste. Although recycling rates have increased over the past few decades — out of the 4.4 pounds of trash (per capita) that we produce in the U.S. each day, we compost or recycle about 1.5 pounds and incinerate another 0.5 pounds — more than 50 percent of our waste still ends up buried in landfills. Now, through the use of a novel energy recovery technique, we could reduce the amount that is sent to landfills by about 10 percent and produce a fuel that is relatively clean and more energy dense than coal. Materials that were considered garbage for generations are now being recognized for what they still offer after their useful life — valuable energy resources capable of solving multiple problems at once. Trash can become treasure.

School of rock: Educating educators at sea

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:39:51 -0400

Most of the School of Rock expeditions are aboard the IODP's ship, the JOIDES Resolution, pictured here at dock in British Columbia. John Van Hoesen

School of Rock participant (and author) John Van Hoesen records smear slide data. Sabreena Kasbati, Aquarium of the Pacific, USA & IODP

Many things come to mind when you hear the words “School of Rock”: a bad Jack Black flick, the middle school band you were in, the guitar school down the street from you, some pun about geology … yes, all are likely candidates. But the one I’m thinking of probably didn’t cross your mind. The School of Rock I had the privilege to attend is a professional development opportunity for educators to spend a week to 10 days at sea, learning about ocean drilling, how science is conducted on a yawing ship, and how to be better science teachers.

2012: The end of the world or just another year of living in harm's way?

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 11:58:39 -0400

The 1.2-kilometer-diameter Meteor Crater in Arizona was formed by a roughly 50-meter-diameter impactor about 50,000 years ago. ©Michael Collier, ESW Image Bank

A pair of curving erupting prominences on the sun on June 28, 2000. Prominences are huge clouds of relatively cool dense plasma suspended in the sun's hot, thin corona. At times, they can erupt, escaping the sun's atmosphere. SOHO (ESA & NASA)

Geysers and thermal waters in Yellowstone reveal the area's seething magma chamber beneath. Brenna Tobler

We live on a knife-edge, separated from an ocean of super-heated rock by a wafer-thin and perpetually rupturing crust, swinging our way through a cosmic minefield of lethal debris around a nuclear furnace prone to tantrums. For doomsayers, the end of the Mayan long-count calendar, set against such a backdrop, is a gift. Though Mayan culture never spoke of a cataclysm, Dec. 21, 2012 — the purported last day of a 5,125-year cycle in the Mesoamerican calendar — has been added to an endless list of days when the world has been predicted to end.

Voices: Italian quakes and deaths point to industrial facilities as death traps

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:26:25 -0400

This industrial facility near Sant'Agostino, Italy, collapsed in the May 20 earthquake in Emilia-Romagna, killing two people. The plant was only built two years ago. Max Wyss

Although the old brick barn did collapse during the May 20 earthquake, this abandoned brick farmhouse — within view of the industrial facility near Sant'Agostino that collapsed — is still standing. Max Wyss

A firefighter escorts a resident through a cordoned-off section of Finale Emilia so she can retrieve some personal items from her apartment, which has been deemed uninhabitable. Max Wyss

Thousands of residents of the Emilia-Romagna region are living in tents, unable to return to damaged homes while aftershocks continue. Max Wyss

Protesters block the main road through a small town in northern Italy; they are upset with government officials who the protesters say are not doing enough to help repair the damaged belltower in the center of town. With the belltower cordoned off, the center of town is closed. Max Wyss

On May 29, eighteen people died in northern Italy when a magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck near the town of Mirandola. Arguably, these deaths were preventable, and they bring up the questions of how we can prevent such deaths in the future. Building codes are key in protecting people. If the most modern buildings collapse while old ones remain standing, something is wrong.