May 2012 on EARTH Magazine

Energy Notes: January 2011-2012

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 16:06:51 -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: Manganese

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:33:39 -0400

Lisa A. Corathers, a mineral commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the following information about manganese, a multifunctional mineral used predominantly to manufacture iron and steel.

Manganese ore in stockpile in Pilbara, Western Australia. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Christian Uhrig

Manganese is a silver-colored metal resembling iron and often found in conjunction with iron. The earliest-known human use of manganese compounds was in the Stone Age, when early humans used manganese dioxide as pigments in cave paintings. In ancient Rome and Egypt, people started using it to color or remove the color from glass — a practice that continued to modern times. Today, manganese is predominantly used in metallurgical applications as an alloying addition, particularly in steel and cast iron production. Steel and cast iron together provide the largest market for manganese (historically 85 to 90 percent), but it is also alloyed with nonferrous metals such as aluminum and copper. Its importance to steel cannot be overstated, as almost all types of steel contain manganese and could not exist without it.

Travels in Geology: Santorini: Dangerous volcano, postcard-perfect jewel of the Aegean

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 11:21:02 -0400

Santorini is an idyllic Greek isle renowned for its sensational sunsets, colorful beaches, and blue-domed, whitewashed buildings clinging to sheer, dark cliffs. Located in the Aegean Sea, this unique destination is part of a circular archipelago of volcanic islands that were joined together in a single land mass until about 1600 B.C., when it was ripped apart in one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history.

Getting There and Getting Around Greece

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:59:22 -0400

A stay on Santorini is not complete without watching the sun set over the Aegean from Phira, Oia, Firostefani or Imerovigli. Credit: Megan Sever

Reaching Santorini by one of the regular domestic or chartered international flights is convenient, but to appreciate fully the dramatic caldera, we recommend arriving by slow ferry (with observation decks). Several are available each day from Athens’ port, Piraeus, as well as more sporadically from other islands. Santorini is very compact, so you can stay on any coast and still see all of the attractions. Although there are established bus routes, the most convenient way to explore the island is by renting a car, motorbike or ATV in any of the main towns.

Benchmarks: May 15, 1909: The Northern Great Plains earthquake

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 10:55:03 -0400

Scientists recently pinpointed the location and size of the 1909 Northern Great Plains earthquake, about 100 kilometers west of where scientists had previously placed the quake's location.Credit: left: AGI/NASA, right:courtesy of Bill Bakun, USGS.

In Culbertson, Mont., at a quarter past nine on a Saturday evening, Ralph Bush and H.G. Walsh were resting in the third-floor apartment of the Reed Cash Grocery when the floor began to rock, vibrating a small penknife right off their table, and sending a candle lamp clattering to the floor. At the nearby Evans Hotel, confusion reigned as the quake shook the two-story brick building, causing frightened guests to flee into the streets. On the second story of the Farmers & Merchants bank, a piano player was entertaining a social gathering at the home of Professor Dale when the shaking sent a vase crashing to the floor. The 15 seconds of quivering was so pronounced at Skelley’s barbershop that, “It rang up a 50-cent cash sale on the cash register, and it has been keeping me guessing how I can balance the darned thing,” Skelley told a reporter from the Culbertson Republican.

Down to Earth With: The Geographers of the Solar System

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 10:58:13 -0500

Certain government officials have super cool titles: for example, Planetary Protection Officer (NASA’s Catharine Conley) and Oceanographer of the Navy (David Titley). I think Geographer of the Solar System would be right up there. Alas, no one actually has that title, but in a little-known office of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) nestled in the hills above Flagstaff, Ariz., I met a dozen or so people who could reasonably qualify for it.

Better warnings for the consequences of earthquakes: Bringing seismic hazard and risk assessments to policy

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:03:11 -0400

Adobe masonry, used throughout the developing world, often collapses in large earthquakes, including the 2010 quake in Haiti. Walter Mooney, U.S. Geological Survey

Schools tend to be especially vulnerable in earthquakes. A school in Coalinga, Calif., was damaged in a 1983 quake. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, courtesy of NOAA National Geophysical Data Center

Much of Lima, Peru, was devastated in a 1974 earthquake. Some of the city has been rebuilt with earthquakes in mind, but even today if a large temblor were to strike the city, many buildings would likely collapse. U.S. Geological Survey

During the last decade, earthquakes have taken a heavy toll on lives, shocking the world. Two exceptionally large earthquakes off the coasts of Sumatra, Indonesia (December 2004), and Honshu, Japan (March 2011), generated tsunamis that swept more than 250,000 people to their deaths in total. In October 2005, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake devastated Pakistani Kashmir, collapsing buildings and triggering landslides that buried about 87,000 people. About the same number of people were killed in Wenchuan, China, in 2008, when the region was hit by a magnitude-8.0 earthquake. The number of fatalities is poorly known in Haiti from the 2010 magnitude-7.0 event near the capital Port au Prince, but it is suspected of killing 100,000 people and destroying nearly 300,000 buildings, including the national palace.

Carbon and the city: Tracking emissions from megacities

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:08:24 -0400

A monitoring station perched atop the Eiffel Tower is part of the CO2-MEGAPARIS project trying to identify urban emissions sources in Paris, the only European city monitoring carbon dioxide. ©Benh LIEU SONG, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Sometime in the first century A.D., Rome’s population passed 1 million. It took more than 18 centuries for a city to surpass the 10 million mark, which both New York City and Tokyo did by 1950. Just six decades later, the world now has about 20 such “megacities” with populations of 10 million or more, including the largest, Tokyo, with a population of 35 million.

Kilauea's Explosive Past - and Future

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:37:43 -0400

Kilauea can produce flowing lava fed by colorful fountains — seen here in December 1969. Don Swanson, U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

Even Kilauea's more gentle flows can be quite destructive, such as when lava took out this school in Kapoho in January 1960. U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

Lava flows across Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on May 5, 1973. R.L. Christiansen, U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

“Namakeha and some other chiefs in the train of Kamehameha, went with soldiers to Ka’u [on the southern coast of the Big Island of Hawaii], to exterminate Keōua. But Keōua was at Hilo [in the east]. He heard of the invasion of the enemy and hastened to the scene of the action. His path led by the great volcanoe of Kilauea. There they encamped. In the night a terrific eruption took place, throwing out flame, cinders and even heavy stones to a great distance, and accompanied from above with intense lightning and heavy thunder … [O]n the second night and on the third night also there were similar eruptions. On the third day they ventured to proceed on their way, but had not advanced far, before a more terrible and destructive eruption than any before, took place …

Policy in the field: What's next for tax policies and the American clean energy economy?

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:07:34 -0400

It takes green to be green. Renewable energy technology requires dedicated investments, whether public or private, to succeed. The costs are steep, but many consider the cause worthwhile. After all, politicians on both sides tout having diverse array of energy resources as important for national and economic security. Nonetheless, in this tight economic climate, very little is safe. Now, Congress is starting to look at federal tax policies as they affect renewable energy development.

Sumatran strike-slip earthquakes challenge seismologists

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:35:04 -0400

Map showing the location of two large strike-slip earthquakes (red stars) off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on April 11, 2012. Aftershocks (orange circles) of the strike-slip earthquakes are also indicated, as are prominent tectonic features including the Sunda megathrust fault (pink) and a series of north-south fractures (black) in the vicinity of the earthquakes. courtesy of Earth Observatory of Singapore

Events may shed light on regional tectonics, alter stress on nearby megathrust

Following the magnitude-8.6 earthquake that struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on April 11, chaos reigned in Banda Aceh, a provincial capital near Sumatra’s northern tip as residents scrambled to evacuate to higher ground ahead of a potential tsunami. Unlike in December 2004 when a deadly tsunami — triggered by the magnitude-9.1 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake — swept over the Sumatran coastline, though, no significant tsunamis made landfall on April 11 and only a handful of earthquake-related fatalities were reported.

Volcanoes sparked - and prolonged - the Little Ice Age

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:53:32 -0400

In the winter of 1780, New York Harbor froze, allowing people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island for the first time in recorded history. The deep freeze didn’t just occur in New York: For close to 500 years, beginning around the end of the Middle Ages and lasting into the early 19th century, unusually cold conditions blanketed much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Voices: Making tough decisions in a changing climate

Thu, 03 May 2012 15:18:23 -0400

Climate change may affect weather patterns. Copyright Digital Vision

World leaders are beginning to realize that planning for and adapting to our changing climate must become a priority of national governments. But what does that mean, in practical terms, for planning and policymaking, and for the day-to-day business of government? Do standard decision-making practices need to change? If so, how?

IceGoat: The next generation

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:47:31 -0400

One source of young talent to carry the military’s proposals and technologies into the future will come from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., where Lt. Cmdr. John Woods, an oceanography professor, specializes in sea-ice studies. Woods recently launched a polar science program, supported by the academy’s STEM Office, which he hopes will convey to students an understanding of sea-ice dynamics — how ice is thinning and what’s causing it to thin.

Voices: Defending science: The link between creationism and climate change

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:24:04 -0400

What do creationists and climate change deniers have in common? Over the past few years, this riddle has been on our minds a lot at the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit that has fought for more than a quarter-century to defend the teaching of evolution in the public schools. Now, we’re expanding to defend the teaching of climate change — and with it, science in general.

Earliest instrumental temperature record recovered in Italy

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:10:48 -0400

The Little Florentine Thermometer, the first modern thermometer, consisted of a glass tube with a bulb at one end with glass beads welded onto the tube to create a fixed, calibrated reference scale. Previous thermometers had separate scales and were unsealed and thus were affected by air pressure. Courtesy of the Photographic Laboratory and Archive of Museo Galileo

The Medici Network measured temperatures during the Little Ice Age

A few hours before dawn on the morning of Nov. 4, 1966, engineers at the Valdarno Dam on the Arno River in Italy were faced with an exigent decision. After days of intense precipitation from a Mediterranean cyclone, the swollen Arno was surging over the dam at a rate of 2,000 cubic meters per second. In an attempt to prevent the dam from bursting, engineers decided to release a surge of water downstream toward Florence. Immediately in the torrent’s path was one of the most important libraries in Italy, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Firenze, founded in the late 1600s.

North star loses mass but still shines bright

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:34:42 -0400

This sequence of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows that the North Star, Polaris, is a triple star system. New research also confirms the main North Star is a Cepheid variable. NASA, ESA, N. Evans (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), and H. Bond (STScI)

The North Star, the Pole Star, the Guiding Star, Polaris: Its many names reflect the many centuries humans have gazed northward to it for guidance. Because Earth’s North Pole is aligned with Polaris’ position in the sky, the star appears motionless, providing a steadfast beacon for early sailors and adventurers alike. But the star itself is far from motionless. In fact, Polaris is a specific type of star known as a Cepheid variable, which pulsates, varying in size and luminosity over a period of days and, according to recent observations, also ejects large amounts of mass into space. Now, combining 170 years worth of observational data on Polaris’ pulsation rates with state-of-the-art stellar evolution models, a team of scientists suggests that Polaris is losing mass at a significant rate. But this does not mean Polaris will vanish from the night sky anytime soon.

Mobile mapping with lidar hits the road

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:13:55 -0400

Mobile lidar mapping unit. Courtesy of ELMF

Traditional lidar data are collected from airplanes or satellites. Mobile mapping using lidar can now be done from a car. Courtesy of WHPacific

Mobile mapping can be used in large cities to map everything from power lines to high-rise buildings to highways. Courtesy of Optech

Mobile mapping can also be done from a boat, such as while motoring down the Snake River in Hells Canyon along the border of Oregon and Idaho, as seen here. WHPacific mapped the waterway for Idaho Power for hydroelectric and water management purposes. Courtesy of WHPacific

About a decade ago, Light Detection and Ranging technology, also known as lidar, burst onto the geoscience scene. The tool was quickly adopted by researchers, from archaeologists and geomorphologists to seismologists and atmospheric scientists.

U.S. Navy navigates a sea change in the Arctic

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:57:00 -0400

Last September, at the international Arctic Forum in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin compared new Arctic shipping routes to the Suez Canal. The Northern Sea Route, he said, which follows the country’s northern coastline, would dramatically shorten trade routes between Europe and China.

Quoth the feathered, iridescent Microraptor, Nevermore

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:23:55 -0500

Artist's conception of a _Microraptor_, which has been discovered to have sported iridescent plumage. Courtesy of Jason Brougham, University of Texas

Our knowledge of the evolution of feathers in dinosaurs is sketchy, at best, but new research on fossilized feathers is painting a remarkably clear picture of what one species, known as Microraptor, may have looked like — a raven with black iridescent feathers. The findings may have implications for the importance of sexual display in the early origins of feathers.