November 2009 on EARTH Magazine

Energy Notes: July 2008-2009

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 17:01:08 -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: Zinc

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 16:14:27 -0400

Amy C. Tolcin, a mineral commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the following information on zinc, an essential metal for industrial development and a vital nutrient for plants and animals.

If the Eiffel Tower's cast iron had been galvanized with zinc prior to construction, it would have needed far fewer repaintings. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/S. Greg Panosian

Zinc is the fourth most-widely consumed metal, following iron, aluminum and copper. The Romans were the first to use zinc. To produce brass, they smelted copper with calamine (a zinc ore) to make an alloy more golden in color than bronze (a copper-tin alloy), which they called calamine brass. They were unaware zinc was involved.

Down to Earth With: Lucy McFadden

Wed, 23 May 2018 12:52:16 -0400

Lucy McFadden. Credit: Courtesy of Lucy McFadden

Not many people can say they have an asteroid named after them. But Lucy McFadden, a self-described small planetary objects junkie, can. For nearly 40 years, McFadden has woven her two loves — astronomy and geology — into a career in planetary geology. She has mapped craters on Mercury, participated on NASA missions to comets, and collected meteorites in Antarctica, all in the interest of discovering more about the formation of our solar system.

Are birds dinosaurs? New evidence muddies the picture

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

The males of three dinosaurs - _Troodon _(shown here), _Oviraptor _and _Citipati _ - appear to have sat on nests, like many birds today. Courtesy of Science

_Sinosauropteryx _fossil from Mongolia. Sam Ose, Creative Commons ShareAlike Attribution 3.0

The skeleton of _Aerosteon riocoloradensis_ apparently contained air sacs in its wishbone and belly ribs, suggesting bird-like lungs. Drawing by Todd Marshall 2008, courtesy of Project Exploration

This _Compsognathus _skeleton was discovered in the 1850s in the same Solnhofen limestone that yielded _Archaeopteryx_. Ballista, Creative Commons ShareAlike Attribution 3.0

Bird-hipped_ Tianyulong confuciusi_ may have had "protofeathers." Li-Da Xing

This _Archaeopteryx lithographica_ was discovered in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany. Stephen Schulz, Creative Commons ShareAlike Attribution 3.0

The hand of _Limusaurus inextricabilis_. Scientists say it shows a vestigial first finger as well as the developed second and third fingers. James Clark

Artist's reconstruction of _Limusaurus inextricabilis_. Portia Sloan

In 1861, German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Mayer excavated the fine-grained limestone layers of a quarry near Solnhofen, Germany. The 150-million-year-old limestone had already proven promising for finding fossils: A year earlier, von Mayer had found the imprint of a single feather preserved in the rock. But this time, he discovered something more spectacular: an entire skeleton of what appeared to be an ancient bird.

Benchmarks: November 22, 1859: "On the Origin of Species" published

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

Ben Tillman, University of Sydney Library

Asa Gray was one of Charles Darwin's most vocal proponents in the United States in the late 19th century. Library of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University

About a decade ago, I was fortunate enough to hold in my hands a first edition of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.” The green cover was cracked and frayed. The cardboard backing protruded through the torn corners. I put the book down and stared at it in awe. The owner of this book was Asa Gray, one of America’s greatest botanists, an important early American supporter of natural selection, and a friend of Darwin’s.

Clearing roadways: A little salt goes a long way

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

In the 'Snow Roadeo,' snowplow and truck drivers maneuver through an obstacle course, and are judged for safety, accuracy and efficiency. Courtesy of the APWA Western Snow and Ice Conference

Snow removal in Lake Ann, Mich. Bill Kelso

Although winter in the Northern Hemisphere does not technically begin for another month, snowfalls and icy conditions are already making driving hazardous. When winter weather strikes, most states spread salt to clear roadways. However, more and more studies are showing that salt has lasting environmental repercussions, which may force a winter roadway maintenance overhaul. But if not salt, then what?

Court rules against Army Corps in New Orleans flooding case

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

A housing complex in New Orleans flooded after Hurricane Katrina. Water levels in much of the region did not drop for weeks. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality

A district court judge ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is liable for much of the flooding in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The ruling puts the Corps and the U.S. government on the hook for millions if not billions of dollars in damages and punitive penalties, and could open the floodgates for more such lawsuits nationwide, experts say.

It's all in the wrist: Humans lack a knuckle-walking ancestor

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

Though counterintuitive, scientists have turned their attention away from the feet and to the wrist and forearm to better understand how humans evolved upright walking, or bipedalism. African apes are humans' closest living relatives, and because these apes knuckle-walk, some paleoanthropologists have suggested that African apes and humans share a knuckle-walking ancestor. A new study, however, reveals that lumping the locomotion of all African apes together is a mistake: Knuckle-walking may have evolved more than once in the ape lineage. Therefore, the researchers say, humans probably did not evolve from a knuckle-walker but instead from a more general tree-dweller.

Mississippi Delta drowning

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

What researchers predict the delta may look like in 2100. Courtesy of M. Blum, original image from NASA's GeoCover Data

Mississippi River Delta in 2000. Courtesy of M. Blum, original image from NASA's GeoCover Data

The Mississippi River Delta is arguably the most geologically (and politically) dynamic delta in the United States. Subsidence, sedimentation, sea-level change and human manipulation constantly alter the landscape at the end of North America’s longest river. But now, researchers say, the beloved delta may be irrevocably shrinking.

Why red leaves remain elusive in Europe

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

As leaves change color every fall, the North American landscape transforms from a rolling verdure to a collage of vibrant yellows, oranges and reds. The autumn foliage in Europe, however, is rather bland, composed of mostly yellow leaves with red-leafed trees few and far between. Why this is the case has remained a mystery for years. But discovering why Europe’s leaves don’t turn red is only half of the battle; determining why the trees’ leaves turn yellow in the first place is the other.