August 2016 on EARTH Magazine

Exploring the newest gift to America: Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

Mon, 29 Aug 2016 18:01:08 -0400

“Are you sure this is right? It feels like we are headed to Neverland,” my boyfriend asked me while hiking last weekend. We were in the country’s newest national monument — Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument — a remote area of about 35,400 hectares in north-central Maine, designated by President Obama under executive authority last Wednesday, one day before the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

The new kid on the block

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 10:47:34 -0400

Location of Rising Star Cave in Guateng Province. Inset map: Location of Guateng Province in South Africa. Credit: Animalparty, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In 2013, cave explorers discovered a trove of human-like fossils in the Rising Star Cave in South Africa. Since then, more than 1,500 fossils belonging to at least 15 individuals have been excavated from the site. The fossils display a mishmash of primitive and more advanced features that seem to place it somewhere between Australopithecus and early Homo species, such as a small cranial capacity closer to Australopiths, but with finer facial features, more like Homo.

Hominid vs. hominin

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 10:37:49 -0400

Once genetics entered the picture, the definitions of hominids and hominins changed. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

Before genetics came along and revealed just how closely modern humans and chimpanzees are related, humans were classified in their own family, Hominidae, separate from old world monkeys, which were in the family Pongidae.

Observers at the edge of the ice: Smaller, cheaper machines can safely go where humans can't

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 10:23:05 -0400

Tourists and glaciologists alike want to get as close to glaciers as is safely possible. Credit: Gary Bembridge, CC BY 2.0 Credit: Gary Bembridge, CC BY 2.0.

Any tourist bound for Greenland or Alaska on a cruise ship would be happy to capture video of a huge chunk of ice as it calves from the face of a glacier hundreds of meters tall or more — filmed from a safe distance of course. When it hits the ocean below, falling ice can send up cascading walls of water that could capsize or drown any vessel that dares too close.

Redefining Homo: Does our family tree need more branches?

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:03:27 -0400

The hominin family tree is frequently revised, but researchers disagree about where many fossils should be placed on the tree. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

As the sole surviving species of the genus Homo, we Homo sapiens are one of the most taxonomically lonely species living on Earth today. But dig back a few thousand years or more and we find ourselves with plenty of company: Many now-extinct species shared the genus Homo, ranging from the robust Homo neanderthalensis, to the hobbit-like Homo floresiensis to the more primitive Homo habilis and Homo erectus. But do all these species, with their wide diversity of physical and cultural traits, actually belong in the same genus?

Peeling North American Plate causing East Coast earthquakes

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 16:27:23 -0400

In 2011, a magnitude-5.8 earthquake in Virginia damaged buildings in Washington, D.C., including the National Cathedral. Credit: William Leith, U.S. Geological Survey.

On Aug. 23, 2011, a magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck near Mineral, Va., shaking the Piedmont region and damaging several historic buildings in Washington, D.C. The quake caught many people by surprise because the eastern U.S. lies in the interior of the North American Plate, more than 1,500 kilometers from the nearest plate boundary. In a new study, researchers peering beneath the southeastern portion of the North American Plate may have found an explanation for why parts of the region experience more quakes than expected.

Modeling Io's weird mountains

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 16:20:16 -0400

Io's Mongibello Mons (at left) rises 8.6 kilometers — nearly the height of Mount Everest — above the volcanic plain, but unlike Everest, which is surrounded by the Himalayas, Mongibello Mons stands alone. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Jupiter’s innermost moon, Io, is home to some of the strangest mountains in our solar system: towering isolated peaks, some more than 8,000 meters tall, that jut from the moon’s surface with little evidence of underlying tectonics. Now, a new model may explain how Io’s odd peaks formed.

Earthworms build big mounds to escape floodwaters

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:51:12 -0400

Large mounds, called surales, dot the landscape in the Orinoco Llanos region of South America. Credit: Delphine Renard.

When researchers looking for archaeological remains in satellite imagery came across unidentified mounds — some as tall as humans — in the seasonally flooded wetlands of northern South America, they found a landscape shaped not by ancient civilizations but, rather, by modern earthworms.

Scaling up: Mega-dino babies were mini adults

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:46:24 -0400

A baby Rapetosaurus was similar in size to a baby rhinoceros. Credit: D. Vital.

Even the largest dinosaurs to walk the planet had to start out small, hatching out of eggs, but whether these were miniature versions of adults has been a long-standing question. Now a new study looking at fossils belonging to a specimen of Rapetosaurus krausei, a type of titanosaur, that died at just a few weeks of age is revealing just how fully formed some of these eventual giants were at an early age.

Ancient dinosaur migrations analyzed

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:42:11 -0400

Dinosaur skeletons fill the halls of the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City. Credit: Lucas Joel.

Many studies have sought to track the movements of dinosaurs as they migrated across the supercontinent Pangea before and during its breakup. Now, researchers using a method called “network theory” have shed new light on dinosaur migration patterns.

Bubble accumulation could explain massive volcanic sulfur releases

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:35:13 -0400

Steam and gas rise from the caldera floor of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. New research may explain why some volcanic eruptions, such as Tambora's 1815 eruption, are so explosive and emit large amounts of sulfur gases. Credit: Georesearch Volcanedo Germany, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The spectacular 1815 eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Tambora spewed large amounts of sulfur gases into the atmosphere, which formed fine sulfur-rich particles that blocked sunlight and lowered global temperatures by more than half a degree Celsius, causing famine and death on a global scale.

Firefighting gets a leg up from earthquake sensor networks

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:28:36 -0400

An aircraft makes a fire retardant drop on the American Fire in Tahoe National Forest near Foresthill, Calif. The fire began on Aug. 10, 2013. Credit: U.S. Forest Service.

Seismic networks monitor ground motion in earthquake-prone regions like California and Nevada. Now, they may also help combat other natural hazards like wildfires, which are especially common in drought-stricken western states where parched landscapes create ideal conditions for fires to spread.

Mantle convection makes Earth's crust bob

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:24:06 -0400

Coral reefs at Cap Miné near the northern end of Madagascar attest to uplift in the area caused by underlying mantle upwelling: While a living reef forms underwater today, the remnants of two former reefs — one upon which the lighthouse sits and one capping the hill at left — were raised out of the water. Credit: Mark Hoggard.

From the earthquake-prone Himalayas and Andes to the volcanically active “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific, the boundaries of Earth’s tectonic plates are often sites of considerable geologic activity. In contrast, the interiors of tectonic plates have been thought to be relatively rigid and quiet.

Helium escape may help predict volcanic activity

Mon, 15 Aug 2016 13:23:52 -0400

Mount Etna, seen here beyond the Sicilian town of Taormina, rises to a height of more than 3,300 meters. Credit: Miguelftorres, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Europe’s tallest active volcano, Mount Etna, rises 3,300 meters above the island of Sicily, which lies just off the coast of Italy’s “toe.” Within 100 kilometers of more than 3 million people, Etna frequently rumbles and occasionally belches. As recently as last May, explosions accompanied lava fountains and ash erupted from one of the volcano’s craters over several days. This was just one of many eruptions in a long line of events, with historical documents dating similar outbursts back to 1500 B.C. Scientists cannot pinpoint when Etna will next erupt, but in a new study in Geology, researchers have identified a clue that may help them better understand how the volcano’s inner plumbing system changes just prior to an eruption.

New dating of 'hobbit' sheds light on when it lived

Mon, 15 Aug 2016 13:18:41 -0400

A reconstruction of Homo floresiensis by Atelier Elisabeth Daynes. Credit: Kinez Riza.

Since 2004, when scientists first announced the discovery of fossil remains of a new species of hominin from Indonesia — dubbed Homo floresiensis and nicknamed “hobbits” due to the species’ meter-tall stature — researchers have been trying to pinpoint exactly when H. floresiensis lived and when it died off. Several recent studies shed light on the topic.

Long-gone supernova sprinkles rare isotope

Mon, 15 Aug 2016 11:49:52 -0400

At the end of a star’s lifecycle it collapses and explodes into a supernova, spewing rare elements and isotopes outward into space. In the last 1,000 years, three supernova events have been observed in the Milky Way Galaxy. Now scientists have detected a rare iron isotope, iron-60, in our solar system that hints that a supernova may have exploded nearby within the last few million years.

Where on Earth? - August 2016

Fri, 29 Jul 2016 14:41:05 -0400

Click to enlarge photo.

Clues for August 2016:

This lake lies in a well-known mountainous Canadian national park that takes its name from a town in Scotland and contains many glaciers and icefields. It lies along a well-traveled “icy” parkway that parallels the continental divide.
The lake, named for an early trail guide and trapper in the area, is dammed by an end moraine.
The glacial streams that feed the lake also deliver heavy loads of glacial flour — finely ground sediment produced by glacial scouring of bedrock — to which the lake owes its surreal turquoise color.

Ice (Re)Cap: August 2016

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:03:18 -0400

Landsat data collected between 1984 and 2012 show that much of Canada and Alaska is greening as vegetation expands. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Cindy Starr.

From Antarctica to the Arctic; from polar caps, permafrost and glaciers to ocean-rafted sea ice; and from burly bears to cold-loving microbes, fascinating science is found in every nook and crevasse of Earth’s cryosphere, and new findings are announced often. Here are a few of the latest updates.

Mauna Loa's mysterious Ninole Hills were once a rift

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:57:04 -0400

The Nīnole Hills (orange area) on the southeast flank of Mauna Loa are suggested to be a failed rift (blue dashed line) that migrated toward the current Southwest Rift Zone (yellow dashed line). Credit: U.S. Geological Survey.

Hawaii’s Nīnole Hills, jutting out from Mauna Loa’s southeast flank, are one of the most striking features on the Big Island, though their geologic origins have long been a mystery. A new study looking at gravity anomalies under the hills is revealing that the hills are part of an older rift system that predates the currently active Southwest Rift Zone. The seemingly sudden switch from one rift system to another may provide some clues as to how Mauna Loa grew to be the largest volcano on Earth. “A lot of different ideas have been proposed to explain how the Nīnole Hills were created,” says Jeff Zurek, a geophysicist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and lead author of the new study published in Geophysical Research Letters. It’s been suggested that the hills could be the remnants of an older summit of Mauna Loa, or its predecessor, Mohokea, or that faulting and landslides could have created the unusual topography of the hills, or that they could be from an older, inactive rift system.

Benchmarks: August 25, 1916: The National Park Service is established

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:37:04 -0400

Yosemite Valley with Half Dome in the background. Although Yellowstone was the first national park, the idea of national parks can be traced to the federal government's 1864 decision to grant care of Yosemite to the state of California. Credit: AngMoKio, CC BY-SA 2.5.

The U.S. national parks are sanctuaries where one can find refuge in nature and marvel at its grandeur — from the glacially sculpted granitic monoliths of California’s Yosemite to the watery wilderness of Florida’s Everglades. This August, the agency that works to ensure the parks’ preservation for future generations, the National Park Service (NPS), celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Geologic Column: Editia elegantis: A story of science, discovery and the elegance of a wife's contribution

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:24:12 -0400

Roger and Edith Brayer in the mid-20th century. Credit: courtesy of Patrick C. Brayer.

The account of how the crustacean Editia elegantis was discovered has been the source of dinner party amusement for my family and friends since I was a child. The lore surrounding this find is not a tale of a paleontologist traveling the planet to exotic locations, but rather a story of disagreement between a young wife and her graduate student husband set in a small kitchen in a tiny St. Louis apartment in the late 1940s or early 1950s. People are often surprised to hear that a simple disagreement between my father and mother resulted in an article in the Journal of Paleontology and a collection in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Such lofty results all depended on someone with no scientific training uttering the words: “That’s not sand!”

Geomedia: Books: 'FORE' helps you project the future, with a laugh

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:16:44 -0400

"FORE and the Future of Practically Everything," by R. L. Handy, Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC, 2013, ISBN-13: 978-1937327316.

What if we could project the future of nearly everything with a single type of mathematical equation? In “FORE and the Future of Practically Everything,” a book replete with humor and keen insight, retired civil and geotechnical engineer Richard L. Handy valiantly attempts to demonstrate the projective power of mathematics by exploring an eclectic assortment of examples.

Down to Earth With: National Park Service Geologic Resources Division chief David Steensen

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 14:58:14 -0400

David Steensen is chief geologist of the National Park Service. Credit: courtesy of David Steensen.

" in 1986, he did not think he’d be working for the National Park Service for more than a few years. He had been hired into a four-year fixed-term position to help restore the local watershed from the destabilizing effects of logging that occurred prior to the park’s establishment, and he knew that the park service rarely hired geologists into permanent positions.

Teaching geology to biologists: An essay on an interdisciplinary field trip in Africa

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 14:21:50 -0400

Jill Peterson, an Adams State student on the trip, painted this representation of the field trip. Credit: Jill Peterson.

We stop next to a wide, dry, creek bed on the floor of a steep canyon near Tarangire National Park in northern Tanzania. Elephants spray water on themselves and their companions. In the tall baobab trees on the far side of the valley, monkeys jump from limb to limb and tree to tree, over the heads of impalas that don’t seem to care. I am standing in the back of one of our open-top Land Rovers and, like the monkeys, I’m waving my arms this way and that as I discuss the geologic strata in the canyon walls. Like the impalas, the khaki-clad college students in the Land Rovers don’t seem to notice.

Researchers profile magma chamber beneath North Korean volcano

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:00:29 -0400

Lake Chon fills part of Mount Paektu's caldera on the border of China and North Korea. Credit: James Hammond.

An enigmatic volcano straddling the border between North Korea and China has been investigated for the first time by an international team of seismologists. In 2013, researchers installed seismometers near the volcano — called Mount Paektu in North Korea and Changbaishan in China — to determine what was going on beneath the surface. The team’s results, detailed in a new study published in Science Advances, reveal a potential source of magma that may have created one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last few thousand years — and that could cause the volcano to erupt again.

Vibrations make large rocky landslides flow like water

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:39:07 -0400

There is a rule of thumb in geology for how far a landslide will run out: Most landslides travel roughly twice the vertical fall distance from where they fall off their parent slope. But certain types of dry landslides, called sturzstroms, can travel 20 to 30 times farther, without water or mud to lubricate the flow. Scientists have long hypothesized about exactly how this occurs, and new computer models seem to back up their hypotheses: that vibrations generated by dry rocky landslides can cause the slides to flow like a fluid and spread out across surprisingly large areas.

Seeds may have saved bird-like dinosaurs from extinction

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:35:55 -0400

About 66 million years ago, nearly three-quarters of life on Earth, including all species of nonavian dinosaurs, were wiped out. However, a few species survived the mass extinction event, including the Neornithes, the ancestors of modern birds. A new study suggests they may have done so by relying on seeds when other food sources were scarce.

Teeth hold clues to human success, Neanderthal decline

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:30:44 -0400

During the Upper Paleolithic, modern humans and Neanderthals coexisted until about 40,000 years ago, when Neanderthals went extinct for unknown reasons. Wear patterns on teeth from both humans and Neanderthals are providing insight into how different dietary strategies may have led to Homo sapiens’ success and the Neanderthals’ decline.

Volcanoes and historical politics

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 10:35:32 -0400

As well as influencing art and faith, volcanoes are often portrayed as the very manifestation of the human condition. Expressions of anger are readily described as “volcanic.” They have become a metaphor for anything of suitable magnitude or wrath. One such painting sees a volcano become the embodiment of the French Revolution.

Getting there and getting around Zermatt

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 10:27:36 -0400

Zermatt, a car-free resort town at the foot of the Matterhorn, can be reached from major international airports in Geneva, Zürich or Milan. All three airports offer nonstop flights from several North American cities and have numerous rental-car agencies. Switzerland has four official languages, of which German and French are the most commonly used, but road signs are easily followed by English speakers, making it easy to navigate around the country. However, private cars are not allowed in Zermatt, so you might instead want to take one of the Swiss Rail Network’s clean and reliable trains to Zermatt, a 3.5-hour trip from Zürich or a four-hour trip from Geneva. If you do drive, you must park in a garage in Täsch, 5 kilometers north of the resort town, and take a train or taxi into town. The village itself is quite walkable; a 10-minute stroll will get you across town.

Tully monster mystery solved

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:52:44 -0400

In 1958, an amateur fossil collector named Francis Tully found a strange fossil in a quarry near Morris, Ill., southwest of Chicago. Thousands more of the worm-like Tullimonstrum gregarium, better known as the “Tully monster,” were recovered from the same deposit — now a National Historic Landmark called Mazon Creek fossil beds. But the creature’s full appearance and just what sort of animal the Tully monster was have remained mysteries. In a new study, researchers have now finally identified it as a jawless fish, similar to modern lampreys.

Snake River eruption history offers glimpse into Yellowstone hot spot dynamics

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:44:08 -0400

In the Cassia Hills in southern Idaho, researchers found evidence of a dozen large eruptions from the Yellowstone hot spot volcanic system that occurred between about 11.3 million and 8 million years ago. Credit: Knott et al., GSA Bulletin, March 2016.

About 8 million years ago, what is now the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho ripped open in a catastrophic super-eruption that spewed roughly 1,900 cubic kilometers of lava and ash across thousands of square kilometers. New research, based on field studies and geochemical analyses of rocks collected on the plain, shows that this eruption was just one of many massive mid-Miocene volcanic events arising from the Yellowstone hot spot. The work also provides a window into the complex and evolving mantle-crust interactions that have occurred as the North American Plate has moved westward over the hot spot.

Ocean acidification worsens overnight along California coast

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:39:01 -0400

A sampling pump and a sensor that measures temperature, salinity and depth sit in a tide pool at the University of California at Davis' Bodega Marine Reserve. Credit: Lester Kwiatkowski.

Carbon dioxide absorbed by the oceans causes seawater to become more acidic, which, as scientists have long been documenting, can negatively impact marine animals; for example, acidified waters damage the calcite skeletons and shells of organisms like coral, mussels and oysters by causing them to dissolve. In a new study, scientists have found that ocean seawater acidification may also be taking a toll on shelled organisms like coralline algae, bivalves and gastropods residing in tide pools along California’s coastlines.

Asian bats resist white nose fungus

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 10:36:04 -0400

White Nose Syndrome, seen here on a northern long-eared bat from Illinois, has killed millions of bats in North America since 2006. Credit: University of Illinois/Steve Taylor, CC BY 2.0.

White Nose Syndrome has devastated bats across North America in recent years, but possible genetic resistance to the fungus has now been identified in some species of Asian bats. Researchers comparing North American and Chinese bat populations in a new study have found lower levels of infection — and greater capacities for recovery — in bats from five cave sites in China.

Lunar ice reveals moon's poles shifted

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 10:29:16 -0400

Lunar true polar wander is indicated by the presence of two antipodal ice deposits, each located about 5.5 degrees from the moon's present-day poles, according to new research. Credit: James Kean.

In 2009, NASA’s LCROSS mission sent a rocket crashing into a crater near the moon’s south pole, sending debris into space and confirming earlier indications of the presence of water ice on the moon. In a new study, researchers have found that the distribution of ice around the lunar poles doesn’t quite match what scientists initially expected. Instead of ice deposits centered only on the present-day poles — the darkest, coldest spots on the modern moon — ice appears to also be concentrated several degrees away from either pole. And, these off-axis deposits are directly across from one another, or antipodal, on opposite sides of the moon. The reason for this, the study’s authors say, is that the moon, shortly after its formation, shifted off its original rotation axis, causing new ice deposits to form around the new poles while older ice deposits remained at the original poles.

Jawless fish more like jawed fish than thought

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 10:25:04 -0400

Lamprey eels do not have jaws; instead, they feed with a sucking mouth lined with teeth. Credit: Joanna Gilkeson, USFWS Midwest, CC BY 2.0.

Vertebrates come in all shapes and sizes, but the one thing almost all have in common are jaws, which developed early in vertebrate evolution. Jawless fish, which evolved about 530 million years ago and are thought to be more primitive than their jawed relatives, are an exception. According to a new study, however, the brains of jawless fish have more in common with the brains of jawed vertebrates than previously thought.

Denisovan DNA found in modern Pacific Islanders, ancient Spaniards

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 10:21:16 -0400

Denisovans were first identified from a 41,000-year-old finger bone found in a cave in Siberia. In two new studies, traces of Denisovan DNA have been found in modern Melanesians and in 430,000-year-old remains at the Sima de los Huesos site in Spain. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

In the time that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals were coexisting — and interbreeding — there was at least one more human species on the landscape, the Denisovans. First identified from a 41,000-year-old finger bone found in a cave in Siberia, the Denisovans are now thought to have been widespread around Eurasia. In two new studies, scientists have shed additional light on the relationship of Denisovans to other humans, finding new traces of Denisovan DNA in ancient and modern genomes.

Sea-level rise a risk for millions in the United States

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 10:17:21 -0400

By 2100, 13.1 million people living in coastal areas of the U.S. could be displaced by rising seas. Credit: North Carolina Department of Transportation, CC BY 2.0.

One of the most obvious consequences of human-induced global warming is glacial melting and the sea-level rise that will occur as a result. Yet, few studies examining the potential toll of sea-level rise in the United States have factored in continuing population growth, according to the authors of a new study in Nature Climate Change. Using population projections for the year 2100, researchers led by Mathew Hauer of the University of Georgia projected how many people in the U.S. would be displaced by then due to sea-level rise of either 0.9 meters or 1.8 meters.

Artists draw inspiration from fire and ash

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 10:13:28 -0400

In "Chichester Canal," British painter J.M.W. Turner's sunset glows with an ethereal quality that is attributed to volcanic aerosols in the skies across northern Europe during the "year without a summer" caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. Credit: Tate Museum, London/Art Resource, NY.

I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish’d, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day.

Travels in Geology: Zermatt: Europe meets Africa in Switzerland's iconic Alps

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 09:53:22 -0400

Zermatt, Switzerland, is one of Europe’s premier tourist destinations, offering spectacular sightseeing, hiking and mountain climbing, as well as year-round skiing. The area’s popularity is rooted in its geology. Its high-grade metamorphic rocks and massive folds vividly narrate the story of the Alps’ formation, from the peregrinations of microcontinents during the breakup of Pangea to their assembly during the mighty Alpine Orogeny, the tectonic collision that raised the impressive mountain chain 40 million to 50 million years ago. More recently, massive glaciers sculpted this highland into today’s jagged peaks and deep valleys to create iconic glacial landscapes. Yet Zermatt’s scenic climax, one of the world’s most famous mountains — the Matterhorn — isn’t European at all; it was hewn from a slice of Africa.

Giant turbidite in Mediterranean Sea linked to ancient earthquake and tsunami

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:33:01 -0400

The Crete earthquake and tsunami in A.D. 365 devastated much of the Mediterranean. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

In A.D. 365, a giant earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8 or higher struck the eastern Mediterranean, devastating Crete and causing widespread destruction throughout Greece, Egypt, Libya and Spain. The event was quickly followed by a tsunami that inundated the southern and eastern Mediterranean coasts, stranding ships as far as 3 kilometers inland. Now, scientists have uncovered evidence of a massive turbidity current triggered by these events in the Mediterranean.

Why is a gallon of gas cheaper than a gallon of milk?

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:16:53 -0400

For most of the last decade, the price of a gallon of milk has exceeded the price of a gallon of gasoline. Credit: data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index; graph: Robert L. Fares.

I often tell people that one of the challenges associated with transitioning away from fossil fuels is that the amount of energy they contain is truly miraculous. A gallon of gasoline contains enough energy to push a modern sedan more than 30 miles down the road. Imagine throwing your car in neutral and pushing it for 30 miles — the energy required is roughly equivalent to the amount provided by that gallon of gasoline. Yet a gallon of gas weighs a mere six pounds and, on average in the U.S., costs just $2 to $3 — less than a gallon of milk. Truly miraculous.

Sand shouldn't stand in for volcanic ash in jet engine tests

Wed, 06 Jul 2016 17:24:07 -0400

A DC-10 with its tail weighted down by ash sits on the tarmac at Cubi Point Naval Air Station in the Philippines in June 1991 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Credit: U.S. Navy photo by R. L. Rieger.

In 2010, the ash cloud produced by Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull Volcano grounded trans-Atlantic and European flights for six days due to fears that the high-flying ash could damage — and stall — jet engines. The eruption, which snarled international air travel and led to billions in economic losses, spotlighted the need for more study of the effects of volcanic ash on jet engines. Many such studies have been done using sand as a convenient stand-in for ash. But a new study shows that some types of volcanic ash behave very differently from sand at high temperatures, suggesting sand is an inadequate analogue.

On the trail of Hannibal's army - and elephants - in the Alps

Wed, 06 Jul 2016 17:18:33 -0400

In the third century B.C., during the Second Punic War between the Romans and Carthaginians, Carthaginian general Hannibal led a massive army over the Alps to invade Italy from the supposedly impenetrable north. It is one of the most famously brazen moves in military history, but the exact route that Hannibal’s army — which included tens of thousands of foot soldiers and cavalrymen, thousands of horses and nearly 40 elephants — took through the mountains has long been a mystery. Now, a team has found microbial evidence that a large number of horses crossed the Alps from France into Italy over the 3,000-meter Col de la Traversette pass around 218 B.C. But not everybody is convinced that the Traversette pass route matches detailed historical accounts of Hannibal’s journey.

Illustrating Geology: Great images that transformed the field

Wed, 06 Jul 2016 17:09:04 -0400

William Smith's famous geologic map of England, Wales and southern Scotland, published in 1815, featuring a labeled cross section of strata at middle right. The original map measured 2.6 meters by 1.8 meters and was assembled from 15 sections. Credit: courtesy of the Geological Society of London.

Last year marked the 200th anniversary of the publication of what many consider the greatest geologic image ever produced: William Smith’s epic map, entitled “A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales with Part of Scotland.” In striking color, scale and detail, the 1815 map laid bare the region’s bedrock — from tilted layers of slate and fossil-rich marls and sandstones to Carboniferous coal seams and granite plugs — as none had before. The bicentennial of the map’s publication was commemorated in several sessions and displays at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Baltimore last October.

Underwater archaeology reveals pre-Clovis people butchered mastodon in Florida

Fri, 13 May 2016 13:20:49 -0400

Team member Neil Puckett of Texas A&M University surfaces from the dive excavation in Florida with a 14,550-year-old limb bone from a juvenile mastodon. Credit: Brendan Fenerty.

Following the discovery of stone tool artifacts uncovered near Clovis, N.M., in 1932, archaeologists have thought that the people who made the tools — named the Clovis people — were the first to populate the Americas, about 13,500 years ago. But evidence has been mounting for cultures even older than the Clovis, with archaeological sites and artifacts older than 14,000 years found as far south as Chile and genetic evidence dating the first incursions into North America to about 15,000 years ago. Now, a new study reporting on an underwater archaeological excavation at a site in Florida that dates to 14,550 years ago is adding more evidence of pre-Clovis people, and shedding light on how they may have spread across the Americas.