May 2010 on EARTH Magazine

Energy Notes: January 2008-2009

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 16:05:38 -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: Germanium

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 12:48:10 -0400

David E. Guberman, a mineral commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the following information on germanium, a metal used in everything from fiber-optic cable to solar applications.

Germanium is not found as a pure metal in nature but instead in common metallic ore minerals. Credit: ©Jurii, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Germanium is a grayish-white, hard, brittle element with electrical properties between those of a metal and an insulator. Germanium is metallic in appearance and is consumed as a pure metal or in compound form, depending on the application. Germanium is never found as a pure metal in nature, but trace amounts occur in many minerals, including common metallic ore minerals such as the zinc mineral sphalerite. Zinc smelters produce the majority of the world’s supply of germanium. Germanium is also recovered from fly ash produced by the burning of certain types of coal.

Down to Earth With: Todd Hoefen

Tue, 22 May 2018 17:02:40 -0400

Todd Hoefen collects ash samples from the Station Fire in Southern California in 2009. Credit: Courtesy of Todd Hoefen

On any given day, you might find Todd Hoefen studying the material properties of other planets, building remote sensing applications, sampling dust from the rubble of natural and human-made disasters, or playing drums with the members of his former rock band, Oakhurst.

Getting there and getting around Patagonia

Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:22:02 -0400

Credit: Bottom: NASA/AGI.

There are many ways to get to Patagonia. I would have preferred to get there by following Charles Darwin’s route, aboard a replica of H.M.S. Beagle (especially considering that last year was the 200th anniversary of his birth). Sadly, the modern school calendar dictated that I move more quickly: Two weeks was all I had to work with.

Venturing into Argentina

Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:12:58 -0400

Crucified lamb is a delicacy in Patagonian Argentina. Credit: Callan Bentley.

We chose to spend most of our time on the Chilean side of Patagonia, although you could just as easily decide to spend your entire trip on the Argentine side. But if you follow an itinerary similar to ours (see main story), it’s still worth a jaunt into Argentina. The town of El Calafate, an inexpensive five-hour bus ride from Puerto Natales, Chile, is a great place to sample wines from the Mendoza region and try the local delicacy, crucified lamb. The sheep is affixed to a steel cross and roasted slowly over a campfire. The resulting image is graphic, but the meat is tender and savory. El Calafate is also the gateway to Glaciers National Park. This park is home to many wondrous sights, but prime among them is the Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina’s top tourist attraction.

Travels in Geology: Patagonia: The ends of the earth

Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:52:16 -0400

The terminus of Grey Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park calves glaciers that accumulate downstream. Credit: Callan Bentley.

Certain place names conjure up a sense of remoteness that verges on the mythical: Timbuktu, Outer Mongolia, the Yukon. For me, prime among these legendary areas is Patagonia, a region of South America that encompasses much of the southern half of Argentina and Chile. But the exact borders are fuzzy: Where Patagonia starts and ends may lie more in the mindset of the traveler than in any physical landmark. You’ll know it when you get there.

Nuclear Fallout

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 09:59:11 -0400

Chemist Linus Pauling, who won Nobel Prizes for both chemistry and peace, urged the United Nations in a petition to issue a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Willard Libby, who won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1960, was a prominent advocate of nuclear weapons testing, and worked on the Manhattan Project to help develop an atomic bomb during World War II. During the late 1950s, chemist Linus Pauling, a peace activist who won Nobel Prizes for both Chemistry and Peace, presented the United Nations with a petition signed by more than 11,000 scientists that called for an end to nuclear weapons testing. In particular, Pauling cited a 1958 speech on carbon-14 by Libby that suggested nuclear tests would produce large amounts of the radioactive isotope.

Benchmarks: May 18, 1952: Stonehenge's age solved with Carbon-14

Mon, 26 Oct 2015 13:33:08 -0400

Stonehenge, towering over England's Salisbury Plain, has long mystified scientists and tourists alike. In 1952, chemist Willard Libby solved one of the monument's most enduring mysteries: its age. Using a brand-new dating technique called radiocarbon dating, Libby determined an age for Stonehenge of about 1848 B.C. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Paul Fawcett.

Like sentinels standing guard over a millennia-old secret, the 8-meter-tall stones of Stonehenge rise above the rolling green hills of England’s Salisbury Plain. The origin, date and purpose of the arrangement of the giant standing stones, located about 145 kilometers west of London, have puzzled people for thousands of years. But in 1952, physical chemist Willard Libby, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, finally provided a concrete answer to one of the site’s most enduring questions: when it was built. To do this, Libby used a brand-new geochemical technique that he had been developing based on the radioactive isotope carbon-14. Only a few years later, his work on this groundbreaking technique earned him a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Voices: Must we capture and store carbon from coal to meet emission-reduction targets?

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

Last Wednesday, Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman unveiled a comprehensive energy bill (PDF) called the American Power Act. The central purpose of the proposed legislation (along with a similar bill passed by the House of Representatives in June 2009) is to significantly curb the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Voices: Should science dictate whether to rebuild after a natural disaster?

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

Four days after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake caused severe damage on Jan. 12, 2010, Haitian citizens remain in the street afraid or unable to return to their homes. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Candice Villarreal

A Haitian man watches rubble being removed from a collapsed church in Baie De Grand Grove, Haiti. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Monique Hilley

Move Port-au-Prince? Maybe. San Francisco and New Orleans? Never.

It is common for scientists to call for the relocation of a city to a safer location after it is struck by an earthquake or hurricane. After all, when many cities were built, the nature of the hazard they faced was either unknown or very poorly understood. This is true whether we’re talking about San Francisco, Calif., New Orleans, La., or Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Now that we know the hazards, is it time to relocate a city in a dangerous locale? Port-au-Prince? Yes. San Francisco and New Orleans? No.

Closing Istanbul's seismic gap