November 2008 on EARTH Magazine

Mineral Resource of the Month: Cultured Quartz Crystal

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 17:24:13 -0400

Thomas P. Dolley, a mineral commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the following information on cultured quartz crystal, an essential component of cell phones, computers, clocks and many other devices controlled by digital circuits.

Energy Notes: July 2007-2008

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 17:22:16 -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.

Down to Earth With: John 'Jack' Reed Jr.

Wed, 23 May 2018 17:27:42 -0400

John "Jack" Reed Jr. Credit: Mountaineers Books

Geologist Jack Reed spent his career studying rocks the most strenuous way someone can — by climbing them. During much of his 47 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, Reed clung to rock faces in Alaska, Wyoming and Colorado, while creating geologic maps of North America’s tallest mountain ranges. Along the way, he published dozens of books for climbers and hikers on the geology of places like the Tetons in Wyoming, Seneca Rocks in West Virginia, Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and, most recently, “Rocks Above the Clouds: A Climber’s Guide to Colorado Mountain Geology.” Shortly before his latest book hit the shelves, Reed took some time out of his busy retirement schedule to speak with EARTH contributor and fellow climber Mary Caperton Morton.

Geologic Column: Saving the World? Or Just Saving Money?

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

It all started with a reporter.

I had just signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, which pledges that my university will try to decrease its carbon footprint and develop a plan to become carbon neutral, when a reporter from the local newspaper challenged my personal credentials, my knowledge of and commitment to the environment. Forget my background as an earth scientist, the many years I taught environmental geology, the summers I worked at a conservation-education camp. He wanted to know what kind of car I drove.

Californians prepare for the Big One

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

At 10 a.m. local time Thursday, a massive magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Los Angeles. But don’t worry — it was only a drill.

During the Great Southern California ShakeOut Drill, more than 10 million people, ranging from businessmen to schoolchildren, will be exposed to extreme shaking. More than 5 million people will “drop, cover and hold on.” Meanwhile, fire and rescue, together with 300 scientists and engineers, will work to save the city. At least 600,000 buildings will have some damage — much of it from the fires that will rage after the shaking stops — and there will be at least $200 billion in damage. Electricity will be out in some areas for days, and water could be out for as long as six months. And about 1,800 people will be “killed” and 50,000 “injured.”

Earthquake rattles eastern Indonesia

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

A magnitude-7.5 earthquake rumbled across the island of Sulawesi in eastern Indonesia early Monday morning, leaving four people dead and thousands homeless. U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program

A magnitude-7.5 earthquake rocked through Indonesia's island of Sulawesi at about 1 a.m. local time Monday, leaving four people dead and prompting thousands to flee their homes. Following the mainshock, the region also experienced several strong aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 5.1 to 5.6.

GM, Ford, Chrysler CEOs may carpool to Capitol

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

The cast-iron dome of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. U.S. government

Blogging on EARTH

Last week, members of the House Financial Services Committee blasted the execs at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler for arriving on the Hill in separate private jets — even as they pleaded for a $25-billion-dollar government bailout. But it looks like the Big Three auto companies have gotten the message.

Granite countertops: NOT silent killers

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

Nothing says class like a thick slab of polished granite. The stone is so durable. So chic. So modern. So...radioactive?

On Sept. 2, NBC's Today Show cautioned homeowners - especially pregnant women or families with small children - to think twice before installing granite countertops. Granite emits not only radiation, but also radioactive radon gas, explained Today Show correspondent Natalie Morales.

Lay of the Land: Terrain's Toll on the U.S. Civil War

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

Nearly 23,000 men died in the Battle of Antietam, including these Confederate soldiers. Library of Congress - Alexander Gardner

In the Battle of Antietam, there were fewer casualties near Burnside Bridge, pictured here, than at the Cornfield. Ernest Mettendorf

Thousands of men died along Sunken Road, or "Bloody Lane," during the Battle of Antietam. Stephen Kellam

Antietam Library of Congress - Kurz and Allison

In the waning days of summer 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee lined his Confederate troops along a grassy ridge on the western side of Antietam Creek in the outskirts of Sharpsburg, Md.

Maldives' residents looking for a new patch of land

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

Blogging on EARTH

The highest land point in the Maldives, a tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean, is only about 2.4 meters above sea level. With the IPCC predicting a sea level rise of 20 to 58 centimeters by the year 2100, the Maldives' 300,000 residents are therefore among the most threatened in the world by climate change.

Montreal Protocol affects more than just ozone

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

The Antarctic Peninsula is warming - but the warming might have been faster if the Montreal Protocol hadn't slowed the growth of the ozone hole. Michael Collier, ESW Image Bank

In 1987, nearly 200 nations signed the Montreal Protocol to restrict the use of ozone-depleting chemicals. The international treaty helped keep the ozone hole over Antarctica from growing further, preventing an increase in harmful radiation reaching Earth’s surface. Twenty years later, new research suggests that the treaty helped the planet dodge more than one bullet: The Montreal Protocol also prevented significant regional climate change.

November 26,1872: Great Diamond Hoax Exposed

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

Clarence King (far right) - who later became head of the U.S. Geological Survey - and his men helped foil one of the boldest prospecting hoaxes in history. U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

On a foggy day in 1871, two men walked into the Bank of California in San Francisco. One held a rifle and the other gripped a large buckskin pouch. Both were covered in a thick layer of grime. Initially, the nervous teller took the shady drifters for bank robbers. But his anxiety turned to elation when they showed him the contents of their pouch — a shimmery bounty of diamonds, rubies and sapphires.

Phoenix takes a bow

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

Blogging on EARTH

One of the NASA’s most successful and widely publicized missions has ended.

On Monday, NASA scientists declared that the Phoenix Lander, a solar-powered, stationary robot laboratory designed to explore the habitability of the Red Planet, had stopped communications with Earth.

Raising bees and capturing rainwater: U.S. prisons go green

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

The flagging economy may complicate federal aspirations for a green revolution, but at least one government entity has adopted the movement in stride: state prisons.

According to a recent report by the Associated Press, prisons across America now host the likes of compost heaps, organic gardens and solar panels in an attempt to save precious state budget money.

Raising California's Sinking Delta

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

Over the past century and a half, the river delta that provides Central and Southern Californians with drinking water and farmers with productive cropland has sunk about two and a half centimeters each year. Some of the delta’s islands now lie more than six meters below sea level. Two thousand kilometers of aging levees keep them dry for now, but as the land sinks, the pressure on the levees grows. Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey in California have uncovered a way to rebuild the delta and sequester carbon in the process. Now, with a $12.3 million grant from the California Department of Water Resources, they will test their strategy on a much larger scale.

The Disappearing Lake

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

Emily Woodall

For many tourists, Mountain Lake in southwestern Virginia has been an idyllic retreat. But in 2008, it pulled a disappearing act, leaving behind only cracked earth and a small pond.

In this multimedia presentation, EARTH reporter Cassandra Willyard tells the geologic story of Mountain Lake.

The Thirsty Dragon and the Wealthy Bear

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

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline carries crude oil 1,768 kilometers from an oilfield in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. BP

How China, Russia and High Oil Prices Influence Global Dynamics

The world is changing. Gone are the days of Middle Eastern sheikhs controlling the world’s oil and our purse strings. Russia and China are changing the rules of the game.

There and back again: Alien From Earth tells the tale of the Hobbit

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

A computer animation of a hobbit. PixelDust

Ling Bua cave, on the island of Flores in Indonesia, where the Hobbit was found. Annamaria Talas

Two lower jaws found at the dig site in Flores. The hobbit's teeth give important clues to its origins. Djuna

The hobbit's foot may be key to determining its origins. Djuna

For many years, local legend on the Indonesian island of Flores told of an elflike creature with large feet and a voracious appetite that lived alongside humans. Flores was already a mythical sort of place, featuring (now-extinct) dwarf elephants, Komodo dragons and giant rats the size of rabbits.

US earthquakes actually a powerful Siberian quake

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

A powerful earthquake struck Siberia Monday - but U.S. seismic stations interpreted its signals as originating closer to home. USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

A magnitude-7.3 earthquake in Siberia Monday was mistaken by U.S. seismometers as temblors in Idaho and California.

Wal-Mart to use wind energy

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

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart’s reputation for cheap prices precedes it, but recently the retailer showed its greener side when it announced plans to supply 15 percent of its total energy load with wind power.

The energy will come from Texas wind farms constructed by Duke Energy, which will go online this spring, a Wal-Mart press release said.