This message contains images. If you don't see images, click here to view.
Advertise in this news brief.
|
|
|
|
Geologists simulate deep earthquakes in the laboratory
TG Daily
More than 20 years ago, geologist Harry Green, now a distinguished professor of the graduate division at the University of California, Riverside, and colleagues discovered a high-pressure failure mechanism that they proposed then was the long-sought mechanism of very deep earthquakes (earthquakes occurring at more than 400 km depth). The result was controversial because seismologists could not find a seismic signal in the Earth that could confirm the results. But seismologists have now found the critical evidence.
|
|
Share this article:
    |
|
|
| Looking for similar articles? Search here, keyword: Earthquake. |
|
US Geological Survey on drought — The stealth disaster, part 1
Sierra Sun Times
According to a report by the National Drought Forum, more than 65 percent of the conterminous U.S. was affected by drought in 2012. The report notes that costs associated with the 2012 drought could be greater than losses from Superstorm Sandy, which makes the 2012 drought one of the top three costliest natural disasters since 1980. Widespread drought during 2012 in Texas alone resulted in $12 billion in damages. USGS scientists are working to understand the nature of drought and how to minimize its impacts.
New approach to explaining evolution's big bang
The New York Times
The name Myllokunmingia may not ring a bell, but it is worth knowing. This 520-million-year-old creature was the size of a guppy, with a tiny swordfish-like fin running high over its back. The fossils it has left behind preserve traces of a skull. Humans have a skull, too. This and a number of other traits we share with Myllokunmingia reveal it to be one of the oldest, most primitive vertebrates yet found. It is, in other words, a hint of where we came from.
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
 |
|
The development of oil and gas resources, especially by hydraulic fracturing, has increased concerns about potential groundwater contamination. Real-time groundwater quality monitoring networks may be feasible if pollutant-surrogate relationships are established. Learn about surrogates for methane and fracking fluid in a new white paper.
|
|
Register for the AIPG 50th Annual Meeting
AIPG
The American Institute of Professional Geologists' 50th Annual Meeting, "Geology Serving Society: Energy Independence, Mineral and Water Resources, and Geologic Education," will be Oct. 23-26, in Broomfield, Colo. This conference is designed to exploit Colorado's unique geologic setting. Ten field trips have been organized — with of one them venturing underground — plus several guest trips and a short course. Register by Sept. 23 to take advantage of the early bird discount.
The meeting and its events will not be impacted by the flooding. Roads from the airport to the Omni Hotel, where the meeting is being held, are all open. Field trips will still be held as planned.
AIPG Executive Director search
AIPG
The American Institute of Professional Geologists has initiated a search for an Executive Director to succeed the current Director who will retire in 2014. AIPG is a professional geoscience society with a membership of nearly 7,000 and a dedicated staff of seven at its headquarters in Thornton, Colo. The deadline for applications is Oct. 1.
AIPG polar fleece full zip jacket
AIPG
This exceptionally soft fleece jacket will keep you warm during everyday excursions and it's offered at an unbeatable price. It has a double collar, 1-inch double needle elastic waist and cuffs, taped contrast collar, two zippered front pockets, yolk front and double needle half-moon sweat patch. It includes an embroidered AIPG lettering and pick and gavel in white and gold. Available in a variety of colors.
|
| FEATURED ARTICLE
|
TRENDING ARTICLE
|
MOST POPULAR
|
Hints about the evolution of hominids
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Since the Scopes Trial in 1925, several transitional fossils have been discovered that document the progression to modern humanity and will aid in solving the problem of the "missing link." Now the work of 40 scientists across eight different countries aims to shed light, not on how the hominid changed, but why.
|
|
Scientists studying solar radiation management as a way to cool planet
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines, blasted enough fine particles and sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere to envelop the Earth in a high-altitude cloud for the better part of two months. In 1992, scientists determined the cloud had deflected enough sunlight to cool the planet by about 1 degree. Now, some experts wonder whether the time may have come to deliberately attempt such "solar radiation management."
|
|
|
Why Earth's inner and outer cores rotate in opposite directions
LiveScience
The Earth's magnetic field controls the direction and speed at which Earth's inner and outer cores spin, even though they move in opposite directions, new research suggests. Since the 1690s, scientists have suspected that Earth's magnetic field drifts in a slightly westerly direction. By the late 20th century, geophysicists used deep seismic data to determine that the inner core rotates in an easterly direction. But, until now, scientists have regarded these rotations within the two layers of the core as separate, with no relation to each other.
Colombians urge Pacific Northwesterners to appreciate lahar danger
Northwest Public Radio
Visiting scientists from the country of Colombia have a warning for people living in the valleys below our Northwest volcanoes. Get educated about a rare but dangerous phenomenon called a "lahar." Although an eruption from Mount St. Helens killed 57 people in our lifetime, geologists consider Mount Rainier to be the most dangers volcano in the Northwest — chiefly because of the hazard posed by volcanic mudflows, also known as "lahars."
Kilauea Volcano continues to spatter, sputter
Honolulu Star Advertiser
Eruptions at two locations along Hawaii's Kilauea volcano continued Sept. 20 and early Sept. 21, resulting in multiple breakouts from the Kahaualea 2 and Peace Day lava flows. Tiltmeters located at the Kilauea summit recorded the start of another deflation-inflation event, dropping the level of the summit lava lake. Gas emissions remained elevated. Meanwhile, the Puu Oo vent fed two lava flow fields.
Missed last week's issue? See which articles your colleagues read most.
Newfangled 'IcePod' tracks Greenland's melting ice sheets
Kitsap Sun
The LC-130 Hercules flew low, barely 300 meters above the ice sheet in a tight grid pattern. At the rear of the plane, scientists clustered round a monitor displaying a regular pattern of dark red waves generated by a radar signal. Somewhere in the vast, white emptiness below were two tiny cracks barely four inches across imperceptible to the naked eye from this altitude, especially beneath fresh snow. The research team is testing a suite of airborne radar and imaging systems known as IcePod, designed to track changes in the Greenland ice sheet. It would also confirm early signs of instability in the ice.
Icy mix of water and gas provide hope for energy future
The New York Times via StarTribune
The road to Japan's energy future runs through a cluster of low buildings in Sapporo, the largest on the northern island of Hokkaido. Here, working on their own and in collaboration with U.S. scientists, researchers are studying sediment cores containing methane hydrates — icy constructs of water molecules with the explosive gas methane trapped within. If they can be tapped safely and economically, they could be an abundant source of fuel, especially for countries like Japan that have few energy reserves.
See coral reefs like never before thanks to gorgeous new panoramas
Popular Science
The Catlin Seaview Survey recently launched the first-of-its-kind database of our underwater world. To take such detailed (and scientifically useful) imagery, the survey team uses a specially built panoramic underwater camera. For this new online database, dubbed the Reef Record, the survey team is pairing the panoramic imagery with datasets from collaborators. The hope is that scientists, educators and the general public can use the record as a resource to understand and track how the changing climate and pollution are affecting coral and the marine environment.
|
|
|
|
7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063
|
Mobile version