Earth Sciences, News from different brances of science

[BakulaBabe]

This thread will be for any news items about any earth science - oceanography, geology, vulcanology, etc. If you find any interesting articles or pictures, feel free to add them.

The following links are from the Atmospheric Optics thread...

Atmospheric Optics homepage

Nacreous clouds

Multiple blue and green flashes

Not a rainbow!

More nacreous clouds

[BakulaBabe]

The latest from NOAA

Environmental impacts of Hurricane Katrina
Part of one of the articles...
"NOAA will use Hydrodynamic Models to forecast materials distribution and to direct sampling.
The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) is deploying shallow-water surface drifters in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Along with satellite data analysis (color, SST and altimetric), oceanographic cruises and model analysis, these data will enable rigorous prediction of the downstream threat posed by coastal pollution related to Gulf coast hurricane landfalls in the 2005 season.

* Sep 26, 2005 - Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) created satellite altimetry analysis and preliminary contour maps of several oceanographic variables from the NANCY FOSTER.
* Hurricane Katrina Water Mass Tracking Tools, Ocean Circulation Group, College of Marine Science, University of South Florida"

Interactive map

Click link for articles - I can't shrink their images enough to upload them.

[BakulaBabe]

Geology.com

click HERE to see a satellite image of the Himalaya Mountain Range.

"This is a Landsat GeoCover 2000 satellite image of the Himalaya mountain range - the longest and tallest mountain range on Earth. The Himalayas form a 1500 mile arc through northeastern Pakistan, northern India, southern Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. To the north is the high plateau of central Asia and to the south are the plains of central India. The Himalaya Mountain Range has nine of Earth's fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters high. The highest peak is Mount Everest at 8,850 m.
If you are new to viewing Landsat images please see our Landsat Tutorial. The tutorial will help you understand the different colors that appear in the above image and relate them to landscape features."

I wish the image wasn't too big to be uploaded!

[BakulaBabe]

Global Volcanism Program (Smithsonian)

The link will take you to a page where you'll find other link like "Find a volcano by region", "...by name", "...by eruption date", etc.

Here's an example of just some of the information available...

Shasta Photo
Country: United States
Subregion Name: US - California
Volcano Number: 1203-01-
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Historical
Last Known Eruption: 1786
Summit Elevation: 4317 m 14,163 feet
Latitude: 41.42°N 41°25'0"N
Longitude: 122.20°W 122°12'0"W
The most voluminous of the Cascade volcanoes, northern California's Mount Shasta is a massive compound stratovolcano composed of at least four main edifices constructed over a period of at least 590,000 years. An ancestral Shasta volcano was destroyed by Earth's largest known Quaternary subaerial debris avalanche, which filled the Shasta River valley NW of the volcano. The Hotlum cone, forming the present summit, and the Shastina lava dome complex were constructed during the early Holocene, as was the SW flank Black Butte lava dome. Eruptions from these vents have produced pyroclastic flows and mudflows that affected areas as far as 20 km from the summit. Eruptions from Hotlum cone continued throughout the Holocene. Shasta's only historical eruption was observed from the ship of the explorer La Perouse off the California coast in 1786.

Attached File ( Number of downloads: 3 )
 032010.jpg (9.48 kb)

[BakulaBabe]

Atmospheric Optics

What's new at Atmospheric Optics - a three-part fogbow, photographed in Germany.

Complex Fogbow

[BakulaBabe]

From Geology.com

Atlantic Ocean Tsunami Threat

Researchers at Benfield Hazard Research Center have identified a potential Atlantic Ocean tsunami threat from large-scale landslides at the Canary Islands. Surface and submarine investigations show a long-term history of mega-landslides at multiple locations in the Canary Island chain. Much of the current research focuses on the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma shown in the satellite image below. Studies of surface faulting produced by a 1949 eruption suggest that a large mass of between 200 and 500 cubic kilometers could slip into the sea, generating an Atlantic Ocean tsunami with basin-wide impact. Models suggest that these waves could be 100 meters high at adjacent islands, 50-100 meters high on the African coast, 7-10 meters high at Spain and the UK and over 20 meters high on the coast of Florida. Although the probability of such a slide is very low the enormous impact merits serious attention.

Attached File ( Number of downloads: 2 )
 canary_islands_la_palma.jpg (81.78 kb)

[BakulaBabe]

U.S. Geological Survey

National Wildlife Health Center
click link for whole story, map, and additional links.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1

To date, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 has not been detected in North America. This particularly virulent strain of Avian Influenza emerged in Asia in 2003 and has been recently detected in Turkey, Romania, and parts of Europe. Mortality from H5N1 has been reported in nearly 60 wild bird species worldwide, including 21 species of free-ranging wild birds and 23 species in captivity, plus an additional 12 species experimentally infected. While there are no reported cases of humans becoming infected from migratory birds, humans have become infected through contact with domestic poultry.

Update - October 26, 2005
Recent outbreaks of H5N1 in Romania and Turkey in domestic fowl have been confirmed. These reports, along with reports from other parts of Europe, are particularly worrisome. The domestic poultry operation where the outbreak occurred in Kriziksa, Turkey, is located near the Kus Cenneti National Park, a favored stop-over spot for migratory birds; over 3 million birds fly through this park during migration. (More...)

The Department of the Interior - H5N1 National Surveillance Efforts

The global spread of H5N1 increases the likelihood that it will eventually be detected in North America. There are a number of pathways through which the virus could be brought to this continent; introduction by wild migratory birds is one possible pathway that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior are working together to address.

The Department of the Interior is responsible for managing wildlife, including migratory birds, under various laws and treaties, and for ensuring public health on more than 500 million acres of land across the country. To carry out these responsibilities, the Department and its partners are investigating highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in migratory birds and making plans to protect the health of employees and the 450 million people who visit Department-managed lands each year. (More...)

[BakulaBabe]

From NOAA

Earth Observing System

The latest story...U.S. Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations

"During the first Earth Observation Summit of July 31, 2003, the intergovernmental ad hoc Group on Earth Observations (GEO) was formed to develop a 10-year plan for implementing an integrated Earth Observation System. Subsequently, the Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations (IWGEO) was formed to develop a 10-year plan for implementing the United States' components of an integrated Earth Observation System. The United States Group on Earth Observations (US GEO) was established in March 2005 as a standing subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to replace the ad hoc IWGEO......"

click "U.S. Interagency" link for the rest of the story.

[BakulaBabe]

From Geology.com

Plate Tectonics Tour

"Interactive Plate Tectonics Map - Plate Boundary Map"
click link above too see the cool map!

[BakulaBabe]

I'm having trouble finding enough interesting stories for this thread. Does anyone else have any science stories to post?

[BakulaBabe]

I saw a story about this at Witchvox, and thought it was pretty cool, because I love maps - especially old maps. This one's pretty old! Click on the link for the whole story, and the picture. (From news.telegraph)

Archaeologists find western world's oldest map By Hilary Clarke in Rome

"The oldest map of anywhere in the western world, dating from about 500 BC, has been unearthed in southern Italy. Known as the Soleto Map, the depiction of Apulia, the heel of Italy's "boot", is on a piece of black-glazed terracotta vase about the size of a postage stamp."...