bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
AGU/IFYGL Symposium Proceedings Published
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The papers of the IFYGL Symposium held in conjuction with the Fifty‐Fifth Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (Washington, D.C, April 1974) have been published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in a 165‐page volume.

This report presents one of the first comprehensive summaries of the scientific results of the Field Year, presented by the principal investigators. The symposium, entirely of invited papers, was cosponsored by the Sections of Hydrology and Meteorology of the AGU and by the American Meteorological Society.
Grabgrass in the Greek
Authors: Timmons F. L.
Published: October 2011

Aquatic Vegetation and Its Use and Control, D.S. Mitchell, J.J. Gaudet, T.O. Robson, R.D. Blackburn, F.D. Bennett, and C.E. Boyd. Unesco, Paris, 135 pp., 1974.

This book is the latest of many valuable publications that have been contributed by Unesco to the IHD (1965 1974). It provides a brief but comprehensive summary and analysis of aquatic vegetation in its various aspects as they are related to man's management and use of surface fresh water resources. The publication was prepared in response to a recommendation by the ad hoc panel of world experts on the ecology and management of aquatic vegetation convened at Paris in December 1968.
Probability and statistics in atmospheric science: Fourth conference
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The American Meteorological Society's Fourth Conference on Probability and Statistics in Atmospheric Science will be held in Tallahassee, Florida, November 18 to 21, 1975.

The conference will stress recent developments in probability and statistics of importance to atmospheric scientists and innovative uses of probabilistic and statistical methodology in atmospheric science. Invited papers will be presented on several topics of particular importance. A preprint volume containing the invited and contributed papers will be prepared and distributed to all participants before the conference.
USNC/URSI meeting call for papers
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A call for papers has been issued by the U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science for its meeting to be held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, October 20 to 23, 1975. Various societies of the International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers are cooperating in the meeting.

Topics on which papers are especially desired include measurement standards for radio noise, biological effects of electromagnetic fields, wave measurements to sense hidden structures, extraterrestrial techniques for measuring present crustal movements, remote sensing, radio oceanography, radar meteorology, radiometry, turbulence, space telecommunications, millimeter waves and beyond, ionospheric scintillations, ELF propagation, interference to radio astronomy, ranging accuracy for future planetary orbiters, communication via optical fibers, integrated optics, man‐made noise, subsurface communications, information theory, and application of telecommunication science to problems of CCIR and CCITT.
IAH Conference on Karst
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The International Association of Hydrogeologists Conference on Karst, scheduled for September 21 to 27, 1975, will be convened by the U.S. National Committee of IAH in Huntsville, Alabama. Hosts for the meeting will be the Geological Survey of Alabama, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the City of Huntsville, and Madison County.

Themes of the technical sesssions will be (1) the published report of the IAH Commission on Karst Hydrogeology, (2) karst hydrogeology of the Caribbean and eastern Mediterranean, (3) karst hydrogeology of southeast and central United States, and (4) current hydrogeological research around the world.
Post‐decade procedures outlined for U.S.
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Untited States Participation in the International Hydrological Program 1975—, a report of the Panel on Post‐Decade Procedures to the U.S. National Committee for the IHD, recommends four steps to improve U.S. participation in the IHP over that in the IHD. Essentially, the report recommends that guidance and operational direction for the IHP be provided by a lead federal agency. It also makes recommendations in regard to how the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council and the Department of State can complement and support the work of the lead agency.
President's page: Concerning the new AGU committees
Authors: Press Frank
Published: October 2011

Earthquakes are among mankind's most feared scourges. In a sense they represent the small price earthlings must pay to enjoy their beneficent environment, for it is the same internal heat energy that has provided us with atmosphere, oceans, and mineral wealth that is the source of the stresses that periodically fracture the crust.

Earthquake prediction is a subject as old as soothsaying and astrology; men who could pretend to foretell catastrophes exercised considerable sway in their time. In recent years, research in earthquake prediction has become scientifically respectable. Hundreds of geophysicists and geologists principally in the United States, the USSR, Japan, and the People's Republic of China are engaged in research with earthquake prediction as the direct goal. Most of these investigators believe that the goal is attainable. The Chinese claim that they have saved lives by predicting ten earthquakes in the past four years. News dispatches from China indicate that the destructive earthquake (M = 7.2) of February 4, 1975, in northeast China was predicted by Chinese scientists.
United States opens new South Pole station
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A large aluminum dome near a long, horizontal half‐cylinder of corrugated steel rises from a flat, white, featureless snow plain that extends for hundreds of miles in every direction—all north. It is the new Amundsen‐Scott South Pole station, constructed in four years under often exceedingly difficult circumstances as a part of the U.S. Antarctic Research Program. The new station was funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Navy.
Environmental conferences are combined
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Third Joint Conference on Sensing Environmental Pollutants and the International Symposium on Environmental Monitoring, previously announced for November 10 to 13 and September 14 to 19, respectively, have been combined and will be held as the International Conference on Environmental Sensing and Assessment at the Stardust Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, September 14 to 19 (see March 1975 EOS, pp. 187 and 194).
Geothermal Energy Resources: Three‐day conference
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A three‐day conference on Geopressured Geothermal Energy Resources: Research and Development will be sponsored by the Center for Energy Studies and the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, June 2 to 4, 1975. The site of the meeting is the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center, Austin.

Six sessions will be held under the following titles: Fundamentals and Review Tutorial, Resource Assessment, Reservoir Research and Technology, Surface Technology and Power Systems, Legal and Environmental Aspects, and Summation and Future Projections.
Applied glaciology: Symposium Topic
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The International Glaciological Society will hold a Symposium on Problems of Applied Glaciology in Cambridge, England, from September 12 to 17, 1976.

The symposium will be concerned with the application of fundamental properties of snow and ice to the solution of engineering problems. Among the topics to be discussed are ice forces, bearing capacity, strength and deformation of ice, avalanches, ice in and on the ground, ice and snow hydrology, mechanical properties of ice, snow handling, ice accretion on and around structures, and properties of and techniques for producing unusual snow and ice materials used in industrial processes.
Wanted: Interest in the young people: President' page
Authors: Newell Homer E.
Published: October 2011

Recently I had an interesting and pleasurable but puzzling experience. It was interesting and pleasurable because it involved enthusiastic young people who were considering the possibility of entering upon careers in the earth sciences or their practical application. It was puzzling because I found that the American Geophysical Union had no brochures, booklets, or other background information to offer me to help in preparing for the encounter.

The event was a panel discussion sponsored by the International Gem and Mineral Show at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., this past April. The subject of the discussion was ‘Careers and Opportunities in Geology,’ where the term geology was taken to mean broadly the various earth sciences and their application to practical problems. The program was aimed at the high school students and their teachers and sought to answer for them questions about existing opportunities in the field, which and where are the best colleges and universities at which to study, what would be the nature of the required courses, and what kind of high school preparation would be desirable. The panel consisted of an instructor in meteorology at a nearby community college, a junior high school teacher, an undergraduate college student in geology, and myself, a geophysicist.
Hydrodynamical‐numerical models for coastal waters and open ocean areas
Authors: Matthews J. B. , Laevastu T.
Published: October 2011

A hydrodynamical‐numerical (HN) Model workshop was held in the Environmental Prediction Research Facility (EPRF), Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, from December 2 through 7, 1974. The workshop was organized by T. Laevastu under sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research, with Walter Hansen, University of Hamburg, as chairman and convenor. Twenty‐eight participants from the United States, Europe, and Canada attended the workshop, which owing to limited funds, was by invitation only. Participants were scientists who have had considerable experience in the development and application of HN models.
IUGS/IAGA Subcommission meets in Grenoble
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A meeting of the International Union of Geological Sciences/International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy Subcommission on the Magnetic Polarity Time Scale will be held during the Sixteenth General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics in Grenoble.
Ozone shield changes reported by NOAA study
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The ozone shield over the United States and Great Britain has thinned slightly during the last four years. Although nuclear explosions may not destroy ozone to the extent that has previously been thought, volcanic eruptions and solar flares may have some effect on ozone amount. These are among the conclusions of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study of ozone records from stations around the world.

Instruments at these stations look upward through the atmosphere and derive the total ozone in the entire vertical column. The study used ozone data for the period 1970–1974 to delineate recent trends, and longterm data to compare variations in the shield with the occurrence of nuclear explosions, volcanic eruptions, and solar events, all of which have been suspected as possible causes of ozone depletion.
U.S. world chart model coefficients for 1975
Authors: Fabiano E. B. , Peddie N. W.
Published: October 2011

The 1975 U.S. World Magnetic Chart Model (AWC/75| will be the basis for the 1975 edition of the World Magnetic Chart series to be published by the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office.

The model consists of a degree 12 spherical harmonic series of 168 internal main‐field coefficients and a degree 8 series of 80 secular change coefficients. The coefficients, presented in the accompanying table, are of the Schmidt quasi‐normalized type and are to be used with a reference sphere of radius 6371.2 km.
Water resources education: An IWRA/UNESCO seminar
Authors: Cochran G. F.
Published: October 2011

The International Seminar on Water Resources Education, held in successive sessions in Paris and Strasbourg, was the first formal activity of the International Hydrological Program. It was sponsored by the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco). The Paris portion of the meeting was attended by 74 participants from 28 countries; about half that number went on to Strasbourg.
U.S. IHD contributions
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Once the office of the USNC is closed, US/IHD reports will be obtainable from the Office of Earth Sciences in the National Research Council at 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418 (telephone 202‐389‐6204), and from the Executive Secretary, U.S. National Committee for Scientific Hydrology, c/o U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, National Center, Mail Stop 470, Reston, Virginia 22092 (telephone 703‐860‐6547).
Notes and commentary
Authors: Ludwigson John
Published: October 2011

At the end of a program like the IHD, somehow the day‐to‐day grumbles that fueled your way through your work seem to have dissipated into thin air, while the pleasant memories stay with you.
James B. Macelwane Award to Dan McKenzie, Gerald Schubert and Vytenis M. Vasyliunas
Authors: Menard H. W. , McKenzie Dan , Ahrens Thomas J. , Schubert Gerald , Dessler Alexander J. , Vasyliunas Vytenis M.
Published: October 2011

To those earth scientists who have followed the revolutionary development of plate tectonics from its dawning, it may come as a surprise that Dan McKenzie can have done so much and still be young enough to qualify for the James B. Macelwane Award. Nonetheless it is so. He was born on February 21, 1941. He received his advanced education at King's College, Cambridge University, and was awarded a B.A. in 1963 and a Ph.D. in 1966. He became a Fellow of the college in 1965. He was fortunate enough to be a student in Edward Bullard's Department of Geodesy and Geophysics just in those exciting years when the validity of sea floor spreading was demonstrated. McKenzie was one of the first to realize the broader implications of the computer fitting of continents by Bullard and others which assumed that the drifting crust is rigid.
Continental drilling
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Continental Drilling, a 56‐page report of the Workshop on Continental Drilling at Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico, June 10–13, 1974, has been published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The workshop was convened to prepare a report for submission to the U.S. Geodynamics Committee in response to one of the committee's initial priorities in the U.S. program for the Geodynamics Project: to investigate the contribution that could be made by land drilling to resolve major problems of geodynamics. The report recommends a continental drilling program calling for an extensive application of short holes (30–300 m) and the selective application of a few intermediate to deep holes (300–9000 m).

The report recommends a continental drilling program calling for an extensive application of short holes (30–300 m) and the selective application of a few intermediate to deep holes (300–9000 m).
Seismogram exchange instituted
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Recent modifications to the seismology portion of the ICSU ‘Guide to International Data Exchange through the World Data Centers’ provide for the exchange of copies of seismograms by participating observatories under several circumstances. One provision, the routine exchange of seismograms for all earthquakes of magnitude 7½ or above (magnitude 6 if there is reason to believe it will be of special interest), has resulted in the collection of over 700 seismograms from 291 participating observatories for the first eight qualifying earthquakes from January 1974, when the provision was activated, through October 1975.

The participating stations include those of the World‐Wide Standard Seismograph Network (WWSSN), the 34 stations of the Canadian network, and 49 stations from the USSR network as well as numerous independent observatories. The program provides an unusually large collection of high‐quality microfilm copies of seismograms available from any of the World Data Centers for large magnitude or high‐interest earthquakes. The records become available to users in large batches, and the World Data Center exchange scheme relieves the observatories of the burden of repeated requests for copies of the same high‐interest seismograms. Original seismograms sent to World Data Center A are microfilmed on the high‐resolution panoramic cameras used for filming the WWSSN seismograms.
Magnetic stratigraphy
Authors: Oriel Stephen S. , Macqueen Roger W. , Wilson John A. , Dalrymple G. Brent
Published: October 2011

The Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section has been asked by the American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature to publish the appended discussion and recommendations for comment by the AGU membership. In doing so, we recognize that the questions raised are not likely to be resolved quickly. Indeed, the recommendations of similar proposals have recently been discussed by the joint IAGA/IUGS (International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy/International Union of Geological Sciences) Subcommission on Magnetic Polarity Time Scale (SPTS), and no agreement was reached (see the report by N. D. Watkins on pages 26–27 of June 1975 Geotimes; also see pages 583–584 of September 1975 EOS). Presumably, the formal recommendations to the American Commission will now need to be dealt with by the international group.

Those interested in this subject should contact either the American Commission or the international committee, whose chairmen are listed here: N. D. Watkins, Chairman, IAGA/IUGS Committee on the Magnetic Polarity Time Scale, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881; Steven S. Oriel, former chairman, acting for American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, USGS/MS 913, Box 25046, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225.
Earthquake engineers open membership
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), a national professional association devoted to finding better ways to protect people and property from the effects of earthquakes, is now accepting applications for membership. In past years, membership in the EERI was possible by nomination only.

Members of EERI receive a newsletter containing news and announcements of meetings and publications as well as guest editorials on topics of special concern. The EERI also sponsors meetings, conferences, and seminars on all aspects of earthquake engineering. By participation on EERI committees, by personal contact with other members, and through EERI liaison with other organizations, EERI members have an opportunity to participate in charting the future course of earthquake engineering practice and research.
National science and technology goals
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The United States may have its first set of national science and technology goals this year if Congress clears a bill which has been inpreparation for five years. The House Science and Technology Committee has turned over its finished National Science and Technology Policy and Organization Act of 1975 for House consideration after compiling some 2500 pages of expert testimony and analyses of the nation's scientific and technological priorities.

Congressman Olin E. Teague, cosponsor of the bill and chairman of the Science and Technology Committee which shaped it, said the bill would provide the nation with unified objectives and priorities for science and technology and would help prevent future crises of energy, food, and material shortages. It would also establish a new Office of Science and Technology Policy to assist the President and a Federal Science and Technology Survey Committee to monitor the new federal science and technology activities.
Committee on governmental and congressional affairs
Authors: Bostrom Carl O.
Published: October 2011

In August of 1974, Frank Press appointed an ad hoc committee, chaired by Robert M. Ragan, to study whether or not a congressional liaison function should be a regular part of AGU activities and if so, why, what, when, and how. The ‘why’ was answered quickly on the assumption that any exchange of information and increased involvement of geophysicists in public issues would be mutually beneficial. To answer the other questions, the committee surveyed the activities of other major scientific and engineering societies and found that most of them had one or more programs aimed at establishing a line of communication between the society and the legislative and administrative branches of government. Typical of such programs are establishing a Washington representative (or office) to maintain a two‐way flow of information between the society (members) and pertinent government agencies; providing scientific advice and expertise to the legislative branch in the form of position papers prepared by society members, expert testimony arranged by the society, and, in a few cases, specific (funded) studies; and sponsoring one or more fellows to augment the technical staff of congressional committees. In at least two cases, societies have elected to give up their tax‐exempt status and engage in lobbying for the special interests of their members.
Land Subsidence Committee meets
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Members of the Organizing Committee for the Second International Symposium on Land Subsidence met in December at San Francisco to discuss details for planned field trips, the program for the technical paper session at Anaheim, and plans for publication of preprinted summaries and proceedings papers. The group concluded that summaries and preregistration forms would be accepted beyond the previous deadline of December 31, 1975.
Fall Annual Meeting 1975
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The 1975 Fall Annual Meeting was held at the Jack Tar Hotel, San Francisco, California, December 8–12, 1975. Some sessions were held at the Holiday Inn‐Golden Gateway. During the 5‐day meeting, approximately 1050 papers were presented, an increase of about 100 papers from the previous year.

Total registration was 1635, of whom 1066 were members, 154 were students, and 315 were nonmembers. Included in these figures are approximately 100 complimentary registrants of spouses, press, and exhibitors. Registration for 1974 was more than 1800.
Preventive medicine for urban lakes
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Man's activities can needlessly hasten the process of extinction in urban lakes according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report (USGS Survey Circular 601‐K) that suggests preventive measures for slowing the aging process of lakes.

Designed to introduce urban planners and residents to the life and care of urban lakes, the illustrated report is the latest in the layman‐ oriented USGS series on water in the urban environment.
Martian Soil Analysis Experiment
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A computerized library of about 4000 samples of soils and rocks from all over the world including also a few samples of meteorites is being compiled by U.S. Geological Survey scientists to help determine the elemental and chemical composition of Martian soil, to be tested by NASA Viking Mission landers in 1976. Analysis of the earth and Martian materials is done by X ray fluorescence spectrometers. A computer will then compare the spectral signature of each Martian sample with the signatures of the earth soils and rocks to see if they match or approximate any of them.
Is JGR obsolescent?
Authors: Hill Thomas W.
Published: October 2011

The time delay for publication of papers in the Space Physics section of the Journal of Geophysical Research has doubled in the past 10 years. This trend ought to cause some concern among the journal's publishers, contributors, and readers. JGR has played a vital and innovative role in the communication of research in the adolescent field of space physics. However, if the instrument of communication fails to keep pace with the research being communicated, both the instrument and the research must suffer.

Rapid publication should not be the single overriding goal of a research journal; the need for prompt communication of new results is appropriately served by conferences, preprints, letter journals, and other less formal mechanisms. On the other hand, the purpose of a research journal should be to communicate not merely to chronicle the results of scientific research. As its name implies, the function of a research journal is to publish research while it is still research, not when it has become history.
Transport models and their application in geochemistry
Authors: Frantz J. D. , Rumble D. , Vidale R. J.
Published: October 2011

An intense effort has been devoted in recent years toward gaining an understanding of mass transport models and their applications to geochemical problems. Because the investigators participating in this effort are from broadly differing fields and have not had an opportunity to interact, the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington held a series of three conferences in the fall of 1974 and spring of 1975 on (1) transport models, (2) application of models to natural rocks, and (3) application of models to ore deposits. In each conference the participants were chosen to represent a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints. The attendance at the conferences was kept small (about 20) in order to promote informal discussion.

The conferees considered the meetings very successful at prompting interaction between theoreticians and field and laboratory workers. The meetings provided a participant with the opportunity to discuss with other investigators the exact details of the approach he is taking toward geochemical kinetics and the assumptions on which his approach is based. Subtle aspects of an approach (particularly subtle differences between two approaches) are commonly glossed over in papers, and face‐to‐face discussion was effective in settling or at least sharply defining these questions.
Seismic research observatories: Upgrading the worldwide seismic data network
Authors: Peterson Jon , Orsini Nicolas A.
Published: October 2011

The World‐Wide Standard Seismograph Network (WWSSN) was established in the 1960's to provide the data needed for fundamental research in seismology and global tectonics. It has served this purpose well over the past decade, contributing essential data during a period of accelerated progress in the understanding of earthquake and tectonic processes. The WWSSN will be the principal source of earthquake data for years to come, but some improvements are needed if the network is to keep pace with the data needs of the seismological community.

These needs have grown with advances in the development of theoretical models of the earth and its processes and with the capacity and versatility of digital computers and display devices. Today, most of the data used in seismological research, excluding oil exploration, continue to be recorded in analog form; the chief interfaces between modern computative machines and seismic data sources are the metric scale or a hand‐guided digitizing device. There exists a fundamental gap between the available means of manipulating seismic data and the primitive form of most of the data.
President's page: Are AGU elections democratic?
Authors: Cox Allan
Published: October 2011

Should we require more than one candidate for each position in AGU elections? A member has recently written to me in my capacity as Chairman of the Membership Committee expressing a strong opinion that we should, and in fact, there has been considerable debate on this question over the years. A few members complain each year about our uncontested elections, and for each member who complains there are probably many others who feel unhappy about the status quo. So we are concerned—especially since only 20% of the membership bothers to vote in Union elections. Does this small response reflect satisfaction with the way the AGU is being run, or does it reflect a lack of interest in a sterile election process without real choice? The Membership Committee is going to take a fresh look at this question and wants expressions of opinion pro and con from interested members.
Ocean science from space
Authors: Apel John R.
Published: October 2011

The ocean plays as fundamental a role in the natural scheme of things as does the atmosphere, although its functions, being considerably more varied and diffuse, are probably neither as well appreciated nor as well understood. The sea profoundly affects the weather and climate and in turn is affected by the atmosphere, acting as both a heat reservoir for storing, distributing, and releasing solar energy and as the source for most atmospheric moisture. It interacts with the bounding land and air over times ranging from minutes to millennia. Geological activity on all time and space scales takes place in and under the seas, which serve as the repository for the detritus of man and nature and, just as important, as practicable sources of petroleum and a few useful minerals. Its currents and dilutant powers are called upon to disperse sewage, poisonous and nonpoisonous wastes, solid trash, and excess heat, while it maintains a role as the aqua viva for an extremely complicated and commercially important food chain and a role as a means of recreation and refreshment for people. In the estuaries and the coastal zones these conflicting demands are especially severe.
New radar system helps astronomers study Jupiter's moons
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Using a new 2380‐MHz (12.6‐cm wavelength) S band radar transmitter near Arecibo, Puerto Rico, astronomers of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have confirmed that the surfaces of Europa and Ganymede, two of Jupiter's moons, are covered with ice or a mixture of ice and rock many meters thick. Many astronomers believe that the crystals are composed of frozen water, methane, and ammonia, three of the primary constituents of Jupiter's atmosphere, but the radar measurements cannot distinguish this possibility.

Jupiter interests astronomers because of its size and dominant position in the solar system. Not only is it the largest planet, but it has almost 2½ times the mass of all the other planets lumped together. The planet itself cannot be studied by radar because its thick atmosphere does not reflect radar beams, but information about Jupiter can be inferred from radar studies of some of its moons. The continuing radar studies are aimed at obtaining more precise information on the orbits of both Jupiter and its moons, the size, composition, and shape of the moons, and eventually whether they have been or are subject to tectonic activity. Another objective is to study Jupiter's magnetosphere and its electron plasma by directing radio waves through the magnetic field to one of the moons and then observing changes in the polarization of the radar echoes.
Pioneer 11 faces dangers in Saturn ring targeting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

If the Pioneer 11 spacecraft now speeding toward Saturn is targeted to fly inside that planet's rings, it could be heading toward disaster, warned Bradford A. Smith, a University of Arizona associate professor of planetary sciences, at a press briefing during the Jupiter Science Symposium at NASA Ames Research Center. Particles of ice and rock probably exist in a faint inner ring where Pioneer 11 may fly in 1979 and could deliver such a barrage of blows that the spacecraft would not survive.

One current Pioneer 11 targeting strategy calls for the spacecraft to pass between Saturn's three bright visible rings and the planet itself. Though this 12,872‐km area appears to be empty, observations at the University of Arizona, Paris Observatory, and New Mexico State University indicate that a fourth ring exists. It is difficult to measure because of glare from the brighter rings and from Saturn itself. If Pioneer 11 flies between the rings, it may be aimed at a 1609‐km gap, called the Guerin division after its discoverer Pierre Guerin, between this inner ring and the bright rings. If it is, according to Smith, it will enter a region ‘about which very little is known and which could prove to be extremely hazardous or even fatal. It is very unlikely that the gap is completely free of particles, and it is possible that it is merely a region of lesser ring density.’ If the particles are all large in comparison to the size of the spacecraft, then its chances for survival would be good. If they are small, which Smith says is more likely, then the spacecraft might be bombarded by as many as 500 impacts for each square meter of surface area. According to Smith, it is highly doubtful whether Pioneer 11 could ever survive such a barrage, in which case any planned postencounter science measurements might be lost. Although he agreed that there is important and unique science to be learned by approaching Saturn so closely, he said that the possible advantages of such a kamikaze mission should be carefully weighed.
Degasification process and mine safety
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Encouraging progress in research on draining explosive methane gas from coalbeds before they are mined was reported recently by the Department of Interior Bureau of Mines.

Methane, essentially the same as natural gas, is trapped geologically in coalbeds. When released by mining, the gas can become an explosion hazard in underground mines. Currently, this danger is lessened by sweeping the methane from the mine with ventilating air and by stopping mining automatically when unsafe methane levels are reached.
New committee appointments
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Some revisions in the committee structure have been made this term in an effort to better serve member needs. On the President's Page this month, Arthur Maxwell explains this reorganization and discusses the method of selecting committee members. Listed below are the committees for which appointments have been made, their charges, and their members.
Separates
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

As an additional member service, AGU is offering for sale individual reprints of articles from all its primary journals except Radio Science. These separates are not intended to replace journal subscriptions. They simply provide members the opportunity to purchase articles from those AGU journals to which they would not ordinarily subscribe.

In addition this program will allow institutions to acquire High‐quality reproductions in small to large quantities quickly and economically and without any question of possible copyright infringement. Such orders may be placed to fill the needs of a small seminar or a class. Realizing the particular value of review articles for classroom use, AGU is making separates from Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics available from volume 1 to the present for that journal.
U.S. floods and their management
Authors: Buehler Bob
Published: October 2011

My earliest knowledge about floods was gained as a ‘tad’ in Sunday school. There I learned that a flood some 4500 years ago covered all the earth. Recently, I realized that Noah must have been the world's best floodplain manager of all time. He had warning enough to build an ark.

Soon after that lesson in Sunday school, probably in grammar school, I learned that floods were good. Their springtime overflow brought necessary fertility on floodplains to grow needed summer crops for food. I heard this same theory advanced just last year in a. sound motion picture, ‘Planning for Floods,’ produced by the Environmental Defense Fund, Incorporated. Counter theory argues that floodplain overflow merely moves fertility from upstream to downstream and lavishes abundant weed seeds upon the floodplains at both locations.
Third EGS meeting
Authors: Rutten K. W. , Vine E. J. , Rycroft M. J.
Published: October 2011

The Third European Geophysical Society (EGS) Meeting was held at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, September 7–10, 1976. A total of 224 papers and two society lectures were presented during 27 half‐day sessions. The countries of origin of first authors and registrants are given in the following table. The meeting program, including abstracts of the papers presented, was published in the September 1976 EOS, pages 650–680. This report includes program changes and postdeadline and revised abstracts.
Flood frequency curves available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Flood frequency curves for all gaged sites in the United States that have at least 10 years of recorded natural (unregulated) streamflow discharges are available for inspection at district offices of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division. Over 11,000 sites on streams and rivers in all 50 states are available through the program.

By establishing how frequently a particular flood flow is likely to be equaled or exceeded at least once on the long‐term average, flood frequency curves are used by public and private agencies for design purposes and to determine, for example, insurance rates and flood zone regulations.
New NSF office established
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A new National Science Foundation office, the Office of Small Business Research and Development, has been established in accordance with NSF's FY 1977 Authorization Act. It will foster communications between NSF and the small business community related to research and development.

Among other items required by the act the office will also collect, analyze, compile, and publish information on grants and contracts awarded by NSF to small businesses; assist individual small businesses in obtaining information on programs, policies, and procedures of NSF; recommend changes in NSF procedures so as to draw fully on resources of the small business community; and submit quarterly reports to Congress on activities of the office.
Gate Visiting Scientist Program
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

To ensure an exchange of ideas and theories among scientists analyzing the data of the Garp Atlantic Tropical Experiment (Gate), the Tropical Experiment Board has endorsed and adopted the Gate Visiting Scientist Program.

The program is an opportunity for scientists who are working on Gaterelated problems (e.g., theory, numerical modeling, and data analysis) to continue their work at an institution in another country. Although the program is oriented toward one of the five subprogram data centers, the positions are not limited only to those institutions.
Ocean forecasting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The 10‐ to 20‐year goal of the U.S. Navy physical oceanography program is to acquire the capability of accurately predicting the state of the ocean for marine forecasting, search and rescue operations, and pollution control. This ‘ocean forecasting’ is the oceanic equivalent of today's global atmospheric weather forecasting. A workshop, ‘Ocean Forecasting,’ was held in June 1976 at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to assess navy needs in prognostic and synoptic modeling and to define a preliminary long‐term ocean forecasting plan. Numerical modeling experts from the academic community, industry, and naval laboratories attended as well as navy users.
Land Subsidence Symposium
Authors: Johnson A. I.
Published: October 2011

The Second International Symposium on Land Subsidence was held in Anaheim, California. December 13–17, 1976. Organized by the AGU within the framework of Unesco's International Hydrological Program, it was sponsored jointly by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, International Association of Hydrogeologists, International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, U.S. National Committee for Scientific Hydrology, and Unesco.

Papers presented ranged from mathematical modeling studies through general descriptions of project progress and subsidence case histories to legal and economic aspects of subsidence. The program was very broad in scope, covering theory, investigation, measurement, prediction, and control of subsidence, including land‐surface sinking resulting from withdrawal of water, oil, or gas, dewatering of organic deposits, hydrocompaction, extraction of solids by mining, and collapse of limestones.
President's report
Authors: Spilhaus A. F.
Published: October 2011

What should your response be to the emergence of new journals in your field? What does the dissemination of knowledge through new journals really cost? Do you want to support a new journal, or would your financial resources and intellectual effort be better spent with AGU?

Several new journals have been announced recently that compete at least in part with JGR and Water Resources Research. Librarians around the world are being asked to decide whether to add these publications to their collections. They will presumably consult with the specialists—you—or perhaps in this era of tight budgets they will sit back and wait for pressure to purchase the journal. Should you support these new journals? I believe the answer is an emphatic no. They should be permitted to die in their infancy.
NASA supports lunar research
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is continuing to encourage and support research on all aspects of lunar science. NASA's goal to improve the scientific understanding of the origin, evolution, structure, and composition of the moon and its relationships to the earth and solar system is embodied in broadly based lunar programs. Included are experimental and theoretical research on lunar materials (samples and Surveyor parts), lunar data analysis and synthesis using published or other generally available data, and supporting research and technology designed to support the general goals of the other lunar programs—theoretical studies, laboratory simulations, meteorite research, advanced experiment concepts, etc.

NASA especially encourages well‐qualified scientists not now in the lunar programs to participate if they have new ideas, techniques, or research capabilities.
Twentieth COSPAR meeting held
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

At the invitation of the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities the Twentieth Plenary Meeting of COSPAR was held in the Pal and Grand Beach hotels in Tel Aviv during June 1977. Four specialized symposia preceded the meeting: COSPAR/IAU Symposium on New Instrumentation for Space Astronomy, SCOSTEP/ COSPAR/IAU L. D. de Feiter Memorial Symposium on the Study of Traveling Interplanetary Phenomena, COSPAR/IAU/IUB/IUGG Viking Science Symposium, and COSPAR/ IAMAP W. Nordberg Memorial Symposium on the Contribution of Space Observations to Global Food Information Systems (organized in collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Association (UN) and the World Meteorological Organization). The program for scientific sessions of the symposia and open meetings of the COSPAR working groups and panels included over 400 papers. Thanks to the efforts of the Israeli National Committee, the conduct of the above events went very smoothly; the rich social program offered by the organizers permitted the participants to learn more about the host country and to establish new and interesting contacts.
President's page: Inflation in ideas, recession in support
Authors: Kisslinger Carl
Published: October 2011

On Saturday, August 6, in Durham, England, the Council of IUGG voted 47 to 7 to accept the application for membership of the National Committee of Geodesy and Geophysics of the People's Republic of China. Council action was duly ratified on the same day at an Extraordinary General Assembly called to consider the question. Years of discussion and negotiation between IUGG and the PRC were thus concluded. A group of Chinese scientists arrived in Durham a few days later to participate in the joint assembly of IASPEI/IAVCEI.

It is important that the members of AGU and the scientific community at large understand the significance of the seven votes cast in opposition to the motion to accept the application. These votes do not indicate that seven member countries are opposed to the membership of the PRC. Agreement appears universal that the level of geophysics and geodesy in the PRC is certainly adequate, and there is great enthusiasm for the formal association of our Chinese colleagues with IUGG. These votes do indicate disapproval and deep concern of some national committees with regard to the political conditions that were part of the Chinese application. The motion to accept the PRC application also canceled the representation on the Council of IUGG of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of China, Taiwan. If the latter action had been rejected, the application would have been withdrawn.
New ground‐based coronal observing system planned
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A new ground‐based solar observing system which will be installed at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, next fall includes a K‐coronameter with a 23‐cm objective lens and an a telescope with a 12.5‐cm objective to monitor the solar disk and activity on the solar limb. Designed to help define transient coronal activity from the limb to 2.3 Rs, the system will estimate the mass and energy changes in such transients. The K‐coronameter at Mauna Loa will close an observing gap between the limb and a height of about 1.6 Rs, a zone not normally observed by satellite instruments, since it is covered by the occulting disks used to create an artificial eclipse.
After the prediction, what?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

As credible earthquake prediction draws nearer to reality, social scientists are beginning to examine its potential effects on lives and lifestyles. J. Eugene Haas and Dennis S. Mileti of the Institute of Behavioral Sciences (IBS), University of Colorado, started with the estimates that an earthquake of Richter magnitude 6 should show anomalies for several months before the quake, a magnitude 7 should have anomalies 1–3 years in advance, and a magnitude 8 is likely to be preceded by anomalies for more than 3 years and perhaps as long as a decade. Thus the larger the expected earthquake, the longer the lead time.
Newsletter from AGU Subcommittee on Women in Geophysics
Authors: Lincoln J. Virginia
Published: October 2011

At the AGU Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C, a successful informal meeting of the Subcommittee on Women in Geophysics was held over wine and cheese on May 31, 1977. Roughly 30 people attended, including the chairperson of the parent AGU Committee on Education and Human Resources and several AGU staff members.

The attendees were asked to fill in a questionnaire providing more details than the education and manpower membership information questionnaire, which was sent to all AGU members. Information was provided on how they would be willing to assist the subcommittee. The replies also furnished information suitable for use in a roster of qualified women. A copy of this questionnaire is being sent to all AGU members who responded to the earlier AGU membership questionnaire indicating their interest in the Subcommittee on Women. The questionnaire will be sent to anyone upon request to the AGU headquarters. Using the responses, we intend to set up groups to assist the formally appointed members of the subcommittee. These are J. Virginia Lincoln, Chairperson, Director, World Data Center A for Solar‐Terrestrial Physics, NOAA; Rita Sagalyn, Chief, Electrical Processes Branch, Space Physics Division, Hanscom Air Force Base; Tanya Atwater, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Joanne Simpson, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia.