STS103

**Earth Sciences Debriefing**

**January 24, 2000**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***Justin Wilkinson***

  *River and Wind Processes, La Nina*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **Slide Id's**   | **Caption**                                       |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | Thick dust on the Mauritanian coast.              |
| # STS103-734-019 |                                                   |
|                  | ## Largest dust storm in Bodélé depression, Chad. |
| STS103-710-089   |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Tifernine dunes occupy a synclinal basin.      |
| # STS103-711-008 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | Eckman spiral effect in N hemisphere-Algerian     |
| # STS103-709-044 | dunes with leftward deflection.                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS103-711-097   | Eckman spiral effect in S hemisphere-Namibian     |
|                  | dunes with rightward deflection.                  |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-709-019   | ##                                                |
|                  | Rainfall anomalies-Niger R inland delta very dry. |
| STS103-709-018   |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| # STS103-708-077 | Rainfall anomalies-tropical cloud over Namibian   |
|                  | semidesert.                                       |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-705-008   | ## Madagascan soil erosion.                       |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS029-84-040    | Madagascan erosional badlands (\"lavacas\").      |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-732-033   | ## Madagascan soil erosion.                       |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS103-732-045   | Madagascar-Betsiboka River, water color.          |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  | ##                                                |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-726-013   | ## El Niño lake in Northern Peru-context shot.    |
|                  |                                                   |
| #                |                                                   |
| # STS103-734-012 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-726-002   | El Niño lake in Northern Peru.                    |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ### Cindy Evans                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| *La Nina, Salt Works*                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-067   | ## Lago Poopó and Salar Uyuni, wide view.         |
|                  |                                                   |
| #                | ## Lago Poopó (dry), 12/98.                       |
| # STS088-724-043 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Lago Poopó                                     |
| # STS103-731-083 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-729-003   | ## Nile-New Valley in sunglint                    |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-712-007   | ## New Valley                                     |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| # STS103-702-055 | ## Caribbean Island with salt works.              |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-701-033   | ## Laguna Ojo de Liebre salt works.               |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-714-024   | Shark Bay, Western Australia with saltworks and   |
|                  | Heirisson Prong.                                  |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***Joe Caruana***

  *Rainfall Anomalies, Fires*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-022   | Australian flooding from Cyclones John and Ilsa.  |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-733-025   | Lake Auld, Percival Lakes, Great Sandy Desert, W. |
|                  | Australia.                                        |
| STS067-706-079   |                                                   |
|                  | Lake Auld, Percival Lakes, 1995.                  |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-028   | Rainfall anomalies-greening of northern           |
|                  | Queensland/Northern Territory, Australia.         |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-731-049   | Fires south of Tiajuana, Mexico.                  |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS103-731-047   |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| # STS103-701-035 | Anthropogenic haze exiting California's Central   |
|                  | Valley via the San Francisco gap.                 |
| #                |                                                   |
| # STS103-701-040 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ### Kam Lulla                                                         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| *Houston*                                                             |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

  ------------------ ----------------------------------------------------
                     

  STS103-501-108     Houston, Texas

                     

  STS103-701-021     Houston, Texas
  ------------------ ----------------------------------------------------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***Kim Willis***

  *Impact Craters*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-024   | # Te                                              |
|                  | ague impact crater, Western Australia, Australia  |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | # 25°52' S; 120°53' E                             |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | At 1630 million years, Teague is one of the       |
|                  | oldest impacts on Earth. Located on the Nabberu   |
|                  | Basin in Western Australia, the crater diameter   |
|                  | at the time of formation was 28 km. A dark ringed |
|                  | syncline surrounds a central uplift of older      |
|                  | granite 10 km in diameter.                        |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-026   | # Gosses B                                        |
|                  | luff impact crater, Northern Territory, Australia |
| STS103-709-004   |                                                   |
|                  | 23°50' S; 132°19'E                                |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Gosses Bluff is located in the southern part of   |
|                  | the Northern Territory. Original crater diameter  |
|                  | was 22 km and it has been dated at 142 million    |
|                  | years. The isolated circular feature within the   |
|                  | crater consists of a central ring of hills about  |
|                  | 5 km in diameter. The grayish feature surrounding |
|                  | the inner ring probably marks the original        |
|                  | boundary of the outer rim. Gosses Bluff lies on   |
|                  | Missionary Plain between the Macdonnell Range to  |
|                  | the north and the James Range to the south.       |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | #                                                 |
|                  | Acraman impact crater, South Australia, Australia |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | 32°01'S; 135°27'E                                 |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Acraman is a highly eroded complex crater. Crater |
|                  | diameter at time of formation is believed to have |
|                  | been 90 km and its age dated at greater than 570  |
|                  | million years. Lake Acraman, at the center of the |
|                  | structure, is a relatively recent geologic        |
|                  | feature (Pleistocene) with a diameter of about 30 |
|                  | km.                                               |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-732-013   | # Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia               |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS103-732-014   | 27°46'S; 16°18'E                                  |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Most terrestrial impact craters are complex (\>4  |
|                  | km diameter) and very old. Roter Kamm is an       |
|                  | exception because it is a relatively young simple |
|                  | crater with a diameter of 2.5 km and an age of    |
|                  | 3.7 million years. Visitation to this site is     |
|                  | somewhat limited, the crater lies within a        |
|                  | Restricted Diamond Area.                          |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | # Mt. Brukkaros, Namibia, volcano                 |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | 25°52'S; 17°45'E                                  |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Although similar in appearance to an impact       |
|                  | crater, Brukkaros is in fact an extinct volcano   |
|                  | with a crater diameter of about 3 km and an age   |
|                  | of 82 million years. A rare case when a           |
|                  | terrestrial feature is older than a nearby impact |
|                  | crater (Roter Kamm). The volcano was given its    |
|                  | name because the dark colored lava surrounding    |
|                  | the volcano reminded people of a "trouser apron"  |
|                  | or brukkaros worn by members of a Nama tribe who  |
|                  | lived in the area.                                |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-734-021   | # Ouarkziz impact crater, Algeria                 |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS41C-31-1034   | 29°0'N; 7°33' W                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | A seldom photographed crater, Ouarkziz is 3.5 km  |
|                  | in diameter and less than 70 million years        |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

# *Pat Dickerson*

*Hotspots and Rumpled Rocks*

+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-728-011 and  | **Atlas Mountains**, Morocco. These two frames |
| 014                 | are part of a beautiful stereo mapping strip   |
|                     | covering the Atlas ranges from Agadir on the   |
|                     | Atlantic coast to the Melilla Peninsula on the |
|                     | Mediterranean. The Atlas Mts. and ranges from  |
|                     | the Pyrenees eastward to the Himalayas formed  |
|                     | in the Alpine orogeny that began about 66      |
|                     | million years ago. The faults, fractures, and  |
|                     | other structures observable in these views     |
|                     | formed under conditions of brittle deformation |
|                     | \-- that is, the rock layers fractured rather  |
|                     | than flowed (cf. Madagascar). The deformed     |
|                     | rock sequence included Mesozoic evaporite      |
|                     | deposits; fold shapes of the Anti Atlas are    |
|                     | characteristic of evaporite-cored structures.  |
|                     | The Makran of Iran, the Sierra Madre Oriental  |
|                     | of Mexico, and the Macdonnell Ranges of        |
|                     | central Australia are other examples.          |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-001      | **Madagascar**. These exceptional views        |
|                     | portray folds and shear zones in two different |
| STS103-713-022      | suites of Precambrian rocks. Uplift and        |
|                     | erosion have exposed structures that formed    |
|                     | deep within the Earth\'s crust. Temperatures   |
|                     | and pressures were great enough at those       |
|                     | depths that the rocks flowed plastically       |
|                     | rather than fracturing (cf. Atlas Mts.). Late  |
|                     | in the deformational history, masses of        |
|                     | light-colored granite (eye-like bodies)        |
|                     | intruded the folds. Some of the uplift that    |
|                     | brought these rocks to the surface occurred    |
|                     | \~180 million years ago, when rifting over the |
|                     | Marion mantle hotspot separated Madagascar     |
|                     | from Mozambique. India departed from eastern   |
|                     | Madagascar \~80 million years ago. [Research   |
|                     | application]{.underline}: L. Lawver (Institute |
|                     | for Geophysics, UT-Austin) will apply these    |
|                     | photos in studies of uplift/rifting over       |
|                     | mantle hotspots.                               |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-709-007 and  | **Flinders Range**, Lake Torrens and Lake      |
| 008                 | Frome, South Australia. Rocks about 1.8        |
|                     | billion years old were folded in the area of   |
|                     | the present Flinders Range about 1.7 billion   |
|                     | years ago. Shallow seas then covered the area, |
|                     | providing the habitat for the oldest (\~700    |
|                     | million years old), primitive, soft-bodied     |
|                     | organisms yet known; that Ediacaran fauna      |
|                     | included creatures like jellyfish, sponges and |
|                     | sea pens. A later folding event (\~380 million |
|                     | years ago) created the present structures, in  |
|                     | which the ancient organic remains are exposed. |
|                     | Earthquakes are common in the region now,      |
|                     | possibly in response to movement of the        |
|                     | Tasmanian mantle hotspot that extends beneath  |
|                     | SE Australia. [Research                        |
|                     | application]{.underline}: C. McA. Powell and   |
|                     | Z. X. Li at the Tectonics Research Center in   |
|                     | Nedlands Australia, will use these images in   |
|                     | investigations of the assembly of Australia    |
|                     | and of the Tasmanian hotspot.                  |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-709-055      | **Galapagos Islands** (4707 m from seafloor to |
|                     | highest point) and the **Tibesti massif**      |
| STS103-711-017      | (3415 m at Emi Koussi). Both the Galapagos     |
|                     | Islands of the eastern Pacific and the Tibesti |
|                     | massif of Saharan Africa reflect the presence  |
|                     | of mantle hotspots deep beneath the surface.   |
|                     | The Galapagos hotspot coincides with the       |
|                     | junction of two Pacific tectonic plates \--    |
|                     | the Cocos and Nazca oceanic plates. Volcanism  |
|                     | at Tibesti began \~25 million years ago and    |
|                     | continues to recent times, evidenced by the    |
|                     | dark lava flows from Pic Tousside. The massif  |
|                     | was uplifted \~60,000 years ago (middle        |
|                     | Pleistocene).                                  |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-730-030 and  | **Rio Grande rift**, southwestern USA. These   |
| 037                 | broad views from around White Sands, New       |
|                     | Mexico northward into Colorado clearly         |
|                     | illustrate the characteristic long, straight   |
|                     | faults and half-grabens of rift zones. The     |
|                     | Jemez caldera complex occupies the junction of |
|                     | north-trending, rift-basin-bounding faults and |
|                     | a northeast-trending cross structure (transfer |
|                     | zone). Heat flow is elevated along the whole   |
|                     | rift and the extensive Jemez volcanic complex  |
|                     | is there, but volcanism and rifting in this    |
|                     | region are not due to a mantle hotspot.        |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ### Mike Trenchard                                                    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| *Meteorology*                                                         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-085   | **Southern Hemisphere Cyclone with Frontal        |
|                  | Occlusion**                                       |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | This system is located far south in the Pacific   |
|                  | Ocean, near                                       |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | the International Dateline. The long band of      |
|                  | clouds                                            |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | feeding into the cyclone marks an occluded front  |
|                  | where                                             |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | fresh polar air from the southwest encounters     |
|                  | modified                                          |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | polar air flowing from the east and northeast.    |
|                  | This is                                           |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | different, oblique perspective of a classic,      |
|                  | high-latitude                                     |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | weather feature.                                  |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-706-071   | **Weak Cyclonic Vortex** - This is a rarely       |
|                  | detected or                                       |
| STS103-729-031   |                                                   |
|                  | monitored type of cyclone located in the remote,  |
|                  | eastern                                           |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | South Pacific. While there is very little         |
|                  | convection                                        |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | associated with this system, given the latitude   |
|                  | (\~27S) and                                       |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | the season, it is likely a weak tropical          |
|                  | depression.                                       |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | **Strong Cold Air Advection over Warm Water** - A |
|                  | strong                                            |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | cold front has just pushed off the Atlantic Coast |
|                  | and deep                                          |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Although the     |
|                  | invading                                          |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | polar air is quite dry and stable, the offshore   |
|                  | waters of the                                     |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Gulf are still warm enough to destabilize the     |
|                  | lowest levels                                     |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | of the atmosphere. This process manifests itself  |
|                  | as rippled                                        |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | streets of low stratocumulus clouds in a          |
|                  | near-steady state.                                |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-710-076   | **Wake Cloud Pattern I** - A distinct cumulus     |
|                  | cloud pattern                                     |
| STS103-730-088   |                                                   |
|                  | marks the wake of a weak trade-wind flow over the |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Cape Verde Islands with a series of open waves    |
|                  | without                                           |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | sufficient energy or size to form closed          |
|                  | vortices. The                                     |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | largest island, Santiago is the primary cause of  |
|                  | this                                              |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | disruption of the wind field.                     |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | **Wake Cloud Pattern II** - The same cloud        |
|                  | pattern as above,                                 |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | but moments later with a different camera and     |
|                  | perspective.                                      |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***Sue Runco***

  *Oceanography*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | Internal Waves in the sunglint off the coast of   |
| # STS103-741-041 | NE Malaysia, N. of Kalimantan (Borneo), N. of the |
|                  | Celebes Sea. These tidally-induced waves travel   |
|                  | beneath the surface along a density               |
|                  | discontinuity.                                    |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***Julie Robinson***

  *Cities*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-729-040   | ## Miami                                          |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-732-082   | ### Cuenca, Ecuador                               |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS103-732-083   | ### Riobamba, Ecuador                             |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***Cindy Evans***

  *Volcanoes*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Ecuador                                        |
| # STS103-732-085 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ### Pinatubo                                      |
| # STS103-740-021 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               | ###                                               |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ### Kilauea (12-24)                               |
| # STS103-701-066 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***Julie Robinson***

  *Reefs*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Synoptic view of the Lesse                     |
| # STS103-714-055 | r Antilles from St. Lucia through the Grenadines. |
|                  |                                                   |
| #                | Synoptic view of the Marquesas islands: Ua Pou,   |
| # STS103-727-021 | Nuku Hira, and Ua Huka.                           |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ### Synoptic view of Fiji.                        |
| # STS103-706-043 |                                                   |
|                  | ## Viti Levu, Fiji                                |
| #                |                                                   |
| # STS103-705-041 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               | ###                                               |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ### Truk,                                         |
| # STS103-711-084 | Caroline Islands, Federated States of Micronesia. |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS103-711-086   | Pohape (Pohnpei), Caroline Islands, Federated     |
|                  | States of Micronesia                              |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               | ###                                               |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | Caicos Bank, Turks and Caicos                     |
| # STS103-726-049 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Jarvis Island, Pacific                         |
| # STS103-730-028 |                                                   |
|                  | ## Johnston Atoll, Pacific                        |
| #                |                                                   |
| # STS103-730-068 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ***OES Staff***

  *Interesting Stuff*
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS103-728-007   | # Phosphate Belt, Western Sahara                  |
|                  |                                                   |
| #                | The main industry in Western Sahara is phosphate  |
| # STS087-714-042 | mining. The linear feature in the image is a      |
|                  | conveyor belt 29 km long that carries phosphate   |
|                  | from the mines in Bu Craa to piers at the coast   |
|                  | southwest of El Aaiun.                            |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Rockies win                                    |
| # STS103-733-023 | ter scene -- Great Salt Lake, snow, westerly jet. |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               | ###                                               |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | Panorama of Grand Erg Oriental and Occidental,    |
| # STS103-710-080 | Algeria.                                          |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               | ###                                               |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | Tsiribihina River delta, fresh water plume,       |
| # STS103-705-004 | Madagascar.                                       |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Hubble                                         |
| # STS103-731-033 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| ##               | ##                                                |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| #                | ## Elizabethtown, North Carolina                  |
| # STS085-729-015 |                                                   |
|                  | ## Elizabethtown, North Carolina                  |
| #                |                                                   |
| # STS085-729-012 |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+