bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
UNEP head lays out goals
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

“I don't believe that $60 million a year for the global environmental voice is too much to ask for,” Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),said at the opening day of the 20th session of the body's governing council on February 1. The council is considering a proposed biennial budget of $119 million.

Toepfer said that a strong UNEP requires adequate financial funding and support and cooperation from environment ministries of the world, nongovernmental organizations, business, and industry.
J‐Array Project seismic data now on CD‐ROM
Authors: Shibutani Takuo , Ando Masataka , Hirahira Kazuro
Published: October 2006

Two CD‐ROMs containing seismic waveform data obtained from the J‐array Project are now available.The J‐array was a large‐aperture seismic array extending over all of Japan. It consisted of 14 regional seismic networks and more than 200 stations. The project was concerned with detecting small‐amplitude waves that are refracted, reflected, converted, or scattered from seismic velocity discontinuities existing deep within the Earth, and with studying the detailed structure and regional variations of the core, lower mantle, and upper mantle.

Continuous digital seismic waveform data were recorded at the rate of 20 Hz with short period seismometers developed under Japan's national program for earthquake prediction. The J‐array project began in April 1991 and continued for 3 years at most of the networks. Many studies have been done with the data, including investigations of the structure of the upper mantle, lower mantle discontinuities, D″ layer, and core. Anyone interested in using the data can refer to J‐array Group [1993] for more information.
Clinton administration budget includes mixed bag for science
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The $1,766 trillion federal budget proposal that the Clinton Administration rolled out on February 1—which promises to protect Social Security and Medicare and work within mandated budget caps—generally provides favorable news for federally funded science research and development.

Within the 17% ($592 billion) of the federal budget earmarked for discretionary spending, the Administration's budget proposal increases funding for nondefense research and development for the seventh year in a row. This includes increased funding for a number of science accounts and money for a series of new science initiatives.
Theoretical Global Seismology
Authors: Gilbert Freeman
Published: October 2006

Tony Dahlen and Jeroen Tromp have written a treatise, Theoretical Global Seismology, that is authoritative and comprehensive. The subject is developed from the theory of small oscillations in classical mechanics, in this case the free oscillations of the Earth. In other words, the conceptual pathway chosen by the authors is to represent the seismic transient response of the Earth in terms of free oscillations, or standing waves. This is followed by representation in terms of traveling waves, rays, and pulses. These representations taken together give the reader broad insight into global seismology and the methods used to study the structure of the Earth and of earthquake sources.
Clinton budget proposal would boost some key science programs
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A number of science agencies and specific research and development accounts would come out as winners under the Clinton Administration's proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2000. And several agencies—including the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—specifically mention the need for sound science to underpin their programs.

Congress already is carefully reviewing the Administration's numbers and assumptions, and this week Eos looks at the budget proposals for several key agencies and accounts of interest to the geoscience community, including NASA; the Department of Energy (DOE); DOI, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); and EPA.
Tunguska conference participants hear of comet material discovery
Authors: Svetsov Vladimir V. , Kolesnikov Evgeniy M. , Kolesnikova Nataly V.
Published: October 2006

Material from a comet, which a number of scientists now believe caused widespread devastation in Tunguska in Siberian Russia 90 years ago last summer by exploding in midair, may recently have been found. Geochemical analyses of peat samples from the Tunguska area show high concentrations of volatile elements and unusual isotopic compositions of carbon and hydrogen, which are associated with comets.

Results of the study were presented at the Tunguska‐90 International Scientific Conference, which was convened last year near the site on the event's June 30th anniversary date. But there was by no means consensus. Other views, including nontraditional ones, also were presented in an open forum and participants agreed the site must be preserved and the event studied until the mystery is totally solved.
New worldwide hydrological initiative needed
Authors: Shuttleworth W. James
Published: October 2006

This essay argues for a new, decade‐long worldwide hydrological initiative to permit change in the paradigm that underlies hydrological design and management. It is stimulated by the fact that over the last 20 years there has been a distinct change in our understanding of the nature and origin of the statistics of hydrological variables as measured in an individual watershed or region. The assumption was that these statistics are entirely haphazard in nature and indeterminate in origin, and do not change with time.Thus the most important hydrological variables (such as precipitation, runoff, and potential evaporation) are sampled over a calibration period (of perhaps only a few decades), and the statistics observed within that calibration period are used as the basis for hydrological design and water resource management. Now, however, there is increasing realization that the nature of the locally observed statistics of hydrological variables may be significantly determined by global‐scale phenomena and might be prone to long‐term change.
Hydrologic uncertainty research publication available free of charge
Authors: Duckstein Lucien
Published: October 2006

Single copies of Statistical and Bayesian Methods in Hydrological Sciences, edited by E. Parent, P.Hubert, B. Bobee, and J. Miquel,are available free of charge upon request.The book contains refereed and edited papers (in English or in French) presented at an international conference in honor of Jacques Bernier held in Paris in September 1995. The book's hydrological themes are Bayesian approaches, statistical modeling, regional estimation, statistical decision theory, and risk analysis.
U.S. interagency UV monitoring program established and operating
Authors: Kaye Jack A. , Hicks Bruce B. , Weatherhead Elizabeth C. , Long Craig S. , Slusser James
Published: October 2006

A network of ground‐based instruments to determine the surface flux of UV radiation and its long‐term changes over the United States has been implemented jointly by a number of U.S. government agencies. The network will provide quantitative information about the flux of UV radiation at the Earth's surface for studies in atmospheric science and to assist human health and ecological effects research. The focus is on the biologically important UVB region (290–320 nm).

The network uses three different types of instruments—broadband radiometers, narrowband filter instruments, and highly spectrally resolved spectrophotometers—and has a total of 66 instruments at 55 locations. Consistency is assured across the network through new standard calibration procedures and the collocation of instruments of different types.
Congress considers reauthorizing earthquake mitigation program
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

During the February 23 Congressional hearing to reauthorize the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, known as NEHRR U.S. Representative Gil Gutknecht (R‐Minn.) shifted the discussion to his concern about “the next big one.”

“Normally, I'm an incurable optimist,” he said. But Gutknecht added that when he thinks about earthquakes, he wonders what the outcome, after all of the money spent on research, would be, and whether the country could be prepared, if a series of great quakes similar to those centered near New Madrid, Missouri in 1811–1812 struck the United States today. Those tremors—among the biggest on record in the 48 contiguous states—reportedly changed the course of the Mississippi River.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Norwegians led the way in training wartime weather officers’”]
Authors: Levin Sheldon
Published: October 2006

I appreciate the acknowledgment of my article and note the discrepancies that were mentioned. The legacy in science of the Bjerknes family was mentioned when I was a student in 1942. C. Bjerknes, who worked with Helmholz, his son, V. Bjerknes, and then, of course, Jakob. I did not know much at that time of the importance of Jakob's father. After my article was printed, I learned of a superb book about V. Bjerknes, Appropriating the Weather, by Robert Marc Friedman.
Conference explores El Ni˜o's relationship to the northeast Pacific
Authors: Schwing Franklin B. , Orton Philip , Jay David A. , Batchelder Hal , Rosenfeld Leslie K.
Published: October 2006

Dramatic shifts in extratropical Pacific conditions in early 1997 appeared to precede the development of the 1997–1998 equatorial Pacific El Niño, researchers at last fall's Eastern Pacific Ocean Conference (EPOC) reported. Evidence indicated, however, that anomalous ocean conditions observed in the northeast Pacific were largely the result of anomalous regional atmospheric forcing rather than tropical El Niño signals.

Some model results suggested that unusual conditions in the tropics generated planetary waves capable of propagating strong sea surface height anomalies up the North American west coast, but the observations were ambiguous. Coastal sea level appeared to contain a Kelvin wave signal during the El Niño, but it is not certain whether equatorial Kelvin waves or midlatitude wind events were their source.
Challenges of studying Earth's magnetosphere discussed
Authors: Germany G. , Craven P. , Hoffman R.
Published: October 2006

How do you view a high resolution image on a low resolution screen? Web surfers often encounter poorly designed Web pages that require the user to scroll around an on‐screen graphic much too large for their computer monitor. Last fall, about 100 scientists met to discuss a similar problem in magnetospheric physics: How do you study the Earth's magnetosphere, with its wide range of spatial and temporal scales, using the poor spatial resolution of todays limited fleet of spacecraft? The answers they came up with were threefold—use imaging to fill in the gaps, use much larger fleets of spacecraft, and use modeling to tie everything together.
Artifacts in global atmospheric modeling: Two recent examples
Authors: Lawrence Mark G. , Landgraf Jochen , Jöckel Patrick , Eaton Brian
Published: October 2006

To what extent can we trust the results of global atmospheric models? It is well known that a substantial degree of uncertainty exists in the parameters used in these models, for instance in parameterizations of complex physical processes such as convection and in reaction rates for photochemical models. Anyone familiar with computer work is also well aware of occasional “bugs,” such as an “l” typed where a “j” was intended.

However, many newcomers to the field of atmospheric modeling (or other similar Earth systems modeling endeavors) are not yet very familiar with the technical side of modeling, have little or no formal education in computer programming, and are instead expected to learn the art of programming on the job. These researchers are often unaware of some of the types of artifacts that can be generated by the software and hardware they use.
The Earth's Mantle: Composition, Structure, and Evolution
Authors: Pulliam Jay
Published: October 2006

Former colleagues at the Australian National University (ANU) prepared The Earths Mantle: Composition, Structure, and Evolution and dedicated it to the late Professor A. E. (“Ted”) Ringwood. Ringwood's efforts were critical to the formation of the Research School of Earth Sciences at ANU, so a volume of topical research conducted at the school is a fitting tribute. The editor's stated goals for the book are that it “be up‐to‐date, and forward‐looking, yet thoroughly readable.” The authors have succeeded admirably in reaching these goals and the result should prove helpful to graduate students and interested researchers.

The Earth's Mantle consists of 11 papers divided into three sections: Accretion and Differentiation of the Earth, Dynamics and Evolution of the Earth's Mantle, and Structure and Mechanical Behaviour of the Modern Mantle. In the first, and longest, paper, the authors review the evidence for models of the Earth's bulk composition, from initial accretion through the formation of the core. The authors of the next paper explore the timeline of accretion and differentiation from an isotopic perspective, and those of the next discuss the noble‐gas component of the Earth and evidence for the existence of distinct chemical reservoirs in the mantle.
Unsaturated Zone Hydrology for Scientists and Engineers
Authors: Parkin Gary
Published: October 2006

A thin layer of soil at the surface of the unsaturated zone supports much of the life on Earth. Processes occurring in the unsaturated zone affect the environment on a global scale. For instance, modifications to the soil nitrogen and carbon cycles may contribute to global climatic change. Characterizing flow and transport in the unsaturated zone is vital to understanding the hydrologic cycle.

A wide variety of scientists and engineers ply their trades within the unsaturated zone. Interests range from studying agricultural sustainability to bioremediation of contaminated soils. Regardless of their discipline, all workers in this field require a solid background in the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of unsaturated zone hydrology.
Number of women faculty in the geosciences increasing, but slowly
Authors: Wolfe Cecily J.
Published: October 2006

Why are there so few women faculty in the geosciences, while there are large numbers of women undergraduate and graduate students? According to National Science Foundation (NSF) estimates [e.g.,NSF, 1996] for 1995 in the Earth, atmospheric, and oceanic sciences, women made up 34% of the bachelor's degrees awarded, 35% of the graduate students enrolled, and 22% of the doctorates granted. Yet progress has been slower in achieving adequate representation of women geoscientists in academia, where women represent only 12% of the faculty. The barriers confronting the advancement of women scientists are complex and difficult to unravel. Proposed factors include cultural stereotypes, childhood socialization, lack of women mentors and role models, lack of critical mass, family responsibilities, dual‐career‐couple status, isolation from collegial networks, different research and publishing strategy, and less adequate access to institutional resources [c.f., Widnall, 1988; Zuckerman et al., 1991].
Conference stresses relevenace of marine strata to today's issues
Authors: Field Michael , Berne Serge , Colella Albina , Nittrouer Chuck , Trincardi Fabio
Published: October 2006

The dual questions of how marine strata are formed on continental shelves and slopes and how they stack into diagnostic sedimentary sequences have particular relevance to many pressing scientific and societal issues being studied today. The issues that confront scientists on these topics are complex and range from drainage basin dynamics to sediment transport theory to sea level histories. Indeed, many of the scientific concepts employed to understand coastal pollution, hydrocarbon and groundwater reservoirs, landslide hazards, and other similar issue‐driven studies are deeply rooted in sediment transport and sedimentary sequence evolution. Development of threshold advances in the application of these disciplines often requires the use of new technologies, combined with innovative modeling in large multi‐investigator programs [see, e.g., Nittrouer and Kravitz, 1995].
Satellite imagery gives clear picture of Russia's boreal forest fires
Authors: Kasischke Eric S. , Bergen Kathleen , Fennimore R. , Sotelo F. , Stephens G. , Janetos Anthony , Shugart H. Hank
Published: October 2006

Boreal forest fires in Russia in 1998 may have covered a much larger area than originally reported and may have been mostly crown fires, releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than surface fires. These conclusions are based on analysis of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data and discussions with Russian fire officials. A more complete analysis of AVHRR data collected since 1980 is underway to determine overall fire patterns in Russia's boreal forests.

The year 1998 was an extreme fire year throughout the boreal forest regions of both North America and Eurasia. Over 11 million hectares burned. In Alaska and Canada alone, 4.7 million hectares of boreal forests burned in 1998, according to estimates by national fire monitoring systems in those places.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Space Physics and Aeronomy (SPA) Section presented fifteen outstanding student paper awards at the 1998 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, last December.
Lario receives F. L. Scarf Award
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

David Lario was awarded the E. L. Scarf Award for his thesis titled “Propagation of Low‐Energy Particles through the Interplanetary Medium: Modeling their Injection from Interplanetary Shocks.” He will be formally presented during the AGU 1999 Spring Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, May 31–June 4, 1999. The award is given annually to a recent Ph.D. recipient for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to solar planetary science.

David was born in Badalona, a 2000‐year‐old Roman town on the banks of the Mediterranean sea, near Barcelona, Spain. His interest in physics started very early, when as a child he spent hours and hours playing basketball (only a matter of parabolic shooting) or throwing stones toward the sea making them bounce on the water or surf on the waves. When he finished high school he decided to study physics at the University of Barcelona.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Ocean Sciences Section presented seven outstanding student paper awards at the 1998 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, last December.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Martian soil simulant available for scientific, educational study’”] Caution advised on suitability of a Mars soil simulant
Authors: Allen C. C. , Morris R. V.
Published: October 2006

The note of caution provided by Hargraves et al. concerning the use of JSC Mars‐1 as a simulant, in the strict sense, to Mars soil is correct. JSC Mars‐1 simulates bright region spectra well and approximates Mars soil elemental composition, particle size distribution, magnetic properties, moisture content, and physical properties with lesser degrees of precision. We measured these properties and published them, along with comparative data for actual Mars soil. Researchers should use JSC Mars‐1 or any other “reference material” with caution, bearing firmly in mind the differences and similarities.
Conference emphasizes interdisciplinary issues related to snow hydrology
Authors: Hardy Janet P. , Blöschl Günter
Published: October 2006

Interdisciplinary research efforts to integrate the physical aspects of snow cover with chemical and biological systems provide a new perspective on problems related to snow hydrology. The integration and distribution of these systems over different spatial and temporal scales was the focus of a conference last fall on snow hydrology and many presentations and discussions looked at the progress made over the past 20 years since the 1978 conference, “Modeling of Snow Cover Runoff.” With improvement in measurement techniques, computing capabilities, and remote data transmission, we now use more sophisticated and efficient point scale models of the physical processes of snow metamorphism and melting. An increased awareness exists of the importance of preferential flow processes (fingering), of the formation of ice layers in the snowpack, and of how these processes change over time and influence the snow chemistry and subniveal environment. Considerable understanding now exists at the catchment scale of the spatial patterns of blowing snow processes, as well as some predictive capability in research catchment settings.
1999 Fellows Citations
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGU congratulates the thirty‐seven distinguished scientists who were selected by a committee of their peers to be AGU Fellows for 1999. This selection was based on the individuals' attainment of acknowledged eminence in a branch of geophysics.

The number of Fellows selected annually is limited to no more than 0.1% of the AGU membership. The names of the new Fellows are listed below along with citations recognizing their specific achievements.
Erosion and Sedimentation
Authors: Nelson Jonathan
Published: October 2006

According to legend, a conversation that took place more than 70 years ago between Albert Einstein and his eldest son, Hans Albert Einstein, gives rise to the favorite anecdote of every scientist or engineer working in the field of sediment transport. During this conversation, Hans told his father of his intent to carry out research on the mechanics of sediment transport. Albert had done some work in this area, notably on hindered settling in sediment suspensions, and he advised his son not to pursue study in this field, as he felt sediment transport was so difficult that it was intractable. Like many good sons before him, Hans ignored this advice, and went on to be one of a handful of prominent scientists that shaped modern sediment‐transport theory and practice.
Outstanding student papers awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Hydrology Section presented 12 outstanding student paper awards at the 1998 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, last December.

William T. Anderson presented a poster titled “Constraining Recent Environmental Changes Through the Reconstruction of the Stable Isotopic Composition of Precipitation From Central Europe (1931–1995): A Tree Ring Approach.” William received a B.A. in geology from the University of Kansas in 1992, and a M.S. in geology from Syracuse University in 1995. During his M.S. work, he received a traveling fellowship sponsored by the Research Training Group “Paleorecords of Global Changes: Understanding the Dynamics of Ecosystem Response” at the Limnological Research Center of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota. William is presently finishing his Ph.D. dissertation under the direction of Judith McKenzie and Stefano Bernasconi, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The major focus of his thesis research is the application and development of newer continuous‐flow stable isotopic ratio mass spectrometry (CF‐IRMS) methods to determine the oxygen isotopic composition of organic matter.
Planning the future of space science
Authors: Christensen Andrew B.
Published: October 2006

The NASA Office of Space Science (OSS) is once again engaged in the strategic planning process. The office prepares a new plan every 3 years for use as a guide by the agency in the allocation of budgets, and a new plan is due this year. The process begins with the preparation of science and technology road maps for each of the science themes in OSS—solar system exploration, structure and evolution of the universe, astronomical search for origins, and Sun‐Earth connection (SEC). The latter includes the solar, magnetospheric, ionospheric‐thermospheric‐mesospheric, and heliospheric subdisciplines also encompassed by the Space Science and Aeronomy Section of AGU.
Conflict in the Balkans affects the geosciences
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The leaves on the plants on Snezana Komatina's balcony have turned yellow from toxic fumes. All of the windows are broken and the walls are cracked from nearby explosive blasts. From her flat on a hill in the upscale Filmsky Grad section of Belgrade, Serbia, Komatina, a geophysicist with the Geophysical Institute of the Naftagas oil and gas company watches the night fires flare across the city.

In their attempt to stop the Serbian killing and driving out of ethnic Albanians from the southern province of Kosovo, NATO airplanes bomb and light up the skies in the Serbian capital and at strategic targets throughout the country.
Climatic trend data from simple sources
Authors: Saxton David W.
Published: October 2006

Bob Ryan's Almanac, published annually by Ryan in cooperation with WRC‐TV and Giant Food Stores in the Washington, D.C. area, contains record maximum and minimum temperatures for each day of the year, and the year of each record. For example, if you look at January 1, in the 1998 Almanac, it lists the record high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit in 1966 and the record low of −14 in 1881. I realized that if one tabulated these year dates in a spreadsheet and sorted them in year order, separately for the high and the lows, one might see a trend. Some years might have many record maximum temperatures and some might have many record minimums. If fact, many years had none.
[Comment on “A misuse of public funds: U.N. support for geomagnetic forecasting of earthquakes and meteorological disasters”] Comment: Earthquake prediction is worthy of study
Authors: Freund Friedmann
Published: October 2006

Imagine a densely populated region in the contiguous United States haunted over the past 25 years by nine big earthquakes of magnitudes 5.5 to 7.8, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Imagine further that in a singularly glorious instance a daring prediction effort, based on some scientifically poorly understood natural phenomena, led to the evacuation of a major city just 13 hours before an M = 7.8 earthquake hit. None of the inhabitants of the evacuated city died, while in the surrounding, nonevacuated communities 240,000 were killed and about 600,000 seriously injured. Imagine at last that, tragically, the prediction of the next earthquake of a similar magnitude failed, as well as the following one, at great loss of life.

If this were an American scenario, the scientific community and the public at large would buzz with the glory of that one successful, life‐saving earthquake prediction effort and with praise for American ingenuity The fact that the next predictions failed would likely have energized the public, the political bodies, the scientists, and the funding agencies alike to go after a recalcitrant Earth, to poke into her deep secrets with all means at the scientists' disposal, and to retrieve even the faintest signals that our restless planet may send out prior to unleashing her deadly punches.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Ralph W. Kilbdied on February 2,1999, at age 67. He had been a life member (SPA‐Mag‐netospheric Physics) since 1982.

Donald W. Pritchard died on April 23, 1999, at age 76. He had been a member (Ocean Sciences) since 1947.
Interdisciplinary environmental project probes Chesapeake Bay down to the core
Authors: Cronin T. , Colman S. , Willard D. , Kerhin R. , Holmes C. , Karlsen A. , Ishman S. , Bratton J.
Published: October 2006

Interrelated environmental concerns about Chesapeake Bay are being addressed in an interdisciplinary project using paleoecological and geochemical records from sediment cores to investigate Holocene climate and human encroachment. The research is looking at interannual through millennial‐scale variability of bay salinity,sediment accumulation, and dissolved oxygen, temperature, and faunal and floral trends. Current and planned research is expected to result in better restoration strategies by improving our understanding of the linkages between the bay's ecosystem, climate, and land use.

Chesapeake Bay, the United States' largest and most productive estuary, faces several complex environmental issues, including eutrophication and anoxia in the main channel and tributaries, high turbidity and rates of sedimentation, outbreaks of the toxic dinoflagellate Pfiesteria piscicida, and coastal erosion and submergence tied to sea‐level rise. Such problems often are attributed to human activities in the bay's watershed, including pollution, urbanization, and deforestation, but it now is recognized that climatic factors also strongly influence bay salinity, temperature, and water quality.
Searching for life on Mars and in meteorites in the 20th century
Authors: Fisher David E.
Published: October 2006

Three years ago, a group of scientists at NASA shocked the world by announcing that they believed they had found evidence for primitive fossil life on Mars [McKay et al., 1996]. President Clinton proclaimed, “If this discovery is confirmed it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever uncovered.”

But to some of us it seemed like deja vu all over again [Berra, 1948]; for almost 90 years previously—on December 28, 1907—The Wall Street Journal published its annual selection of the “most extraordinary event” of the year. The editors picked not the financial crash that panicked most of their investors that year but, for the first and only time in their history, a scientific discovery: “The most extraordinary event of the year is …the proof afforded by astronomical observations …that conscious, intelligent human life exists upon the planet Mars.” It was not mere fossil evidence of microbes, as in 1996, but “conscious, intelligent human life” that so excited Wall Street. The “proof” lay in the announcement by Percival Lowell that the staff at his new observatory in Arizona had been able, for the first time, to photograph the canals. Up until then, planetary observers had merely drawn pictures of what they were seeing, or claimed to be seeing. But with this announcement those uncertain days were gone; the camera doesn't lie, Lowell proclaimed, and this would be the end of all doubts.
Future of gas hydrate research
Authors: Sloan E. D. , Brewer P.G. , Paull C. K. , Collett T.S. , Dillon W.P. , Holbrook W.S. , Kvenvolden K.A.
Published: October 2006

Methane hydrates are ice‐like inclusion compounds, in which every volume of hydrate can contain as much as 180 volumes (STP) of gas.The amount of methane in natural gas hydrates is twice the total recoverable fossil fuel reserve. Because of their natural abundance in oceans and permafrost, hydrates have become an exciting national and international research issue. The movement of the gas and oil industry to ever deepening waters where hydrates occur, the compelling size and distribution of hydrate deposits, and strong international interest all support identification of crucial elements in a hydrate research program.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Richard Horowitz died on May 19, 1999, at age 70. He had been a member (SPA‐Aeronomy) since 1958.

William S. Von Arx died in May 1999, at age 83.
Fort Collins flood data set created
Authors: Ogden F. L. , Richardson J. R. , Smith J. A. , Smith M. E.
Published: October 2006

A unique opportunity to document the hydrometeorological conditions of localized flash flooding in an urban environment has resulted in the creation of a detailed data set of the extreme flood in Fort Collins, Colorado, 2 years ago. The study focused on the Spring Creek watershed in Fort Collins where the flooding, in late July 1997, was most intense, resulting in loss of life and significant damage. Maximum recorded rainfall accumulations were in excess of 260 mm in less than 24 hours, over 200 mm of which fell in 4 hours.

Collaborative research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF),served not only to establish the flood data set but also to perform analysis to identify data uncertainty.The data, including rainfall accumulations, land surface characteristics, and indirect discharge amounts, are now available and can be downloaded from the Web site (http://horton.engr.uconn.edu/FortCollins/ Main.html) by hydrologic researchers and practitioners and others interested.The site also includes the analysis.
Isotope Geochemistry Researches in China
Authors: Chen James H.
Published: October 2006

The publication of Isotope Geochemistry Researches in China represents a major milestone in such research in China. Every isotope geochemist will find at least one informative article in his or her own field of interest in this large and comprehensive volume.

The book is divided into 27 chapters, written by 41 authors, and the scope, content, and quality of the chapters are variable. In general, each is a review or an overview of a topic in geochemistry. Some of the chapters are very short and provide only a very general overview. Others are long and provide a detailed and more comprehensive review of a specific subject. Most are translated into English and they are generally professionally done. The quality of the figures and tables varies, but most are clear and informative. An extensive, current bibliography (some in Chinese publications) is provided at the end of the book for each chapter, but there is no index.To help readers find the localities of the areas studied, a table is appended containing names in English and Chinese with latitude and longitude, but no map is included.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Hermann G. Flohn died at age 87. He had been a member (Atmospheric Sciences) since 1962.

Robert D. Miller died on February 1,1999, at age 86. He had been a member (Seismology) since 1943.
Gilbert receives 1999 William Bowie Medal
Authors: Turekian Karl K. , Gilbert J. Freeman
Published: October 2006

J. Freeman Gilbert was awarded the William Bowie Medal at the AGU Spring Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on June 2, 1999, in Boston, Massachusetts. The medal recognizes outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and unselfish cooperation in research.

Freeman Gilbert was a geophysical pioneer, even as a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he used the Whirlwind computer to apply computational methods to seismic problems. Later at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP),at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he began his professional university career, he wrote a series of papers on the computation of synthetic seismograms in simple media.
Environmental Soil Physics
Authors: Fritton Daniel D.
Published: October 2006

On a global scale, the soil represents just the skin of the Earth. This thin layer, however, is critical to the functioning of the hydrological cycle, the sustainability and adequacy of food production, and the maintenance of a quality environment. Soil functions are frequently split into biological, chemical, and physical components to ease study and understanding. Daniel Hillel develops the physical aspects of the soil in its broadest sense in this latest textbook, Environmental Soil Physics, which updates and expands his earlier works.
Cutting down on radio waste
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The European Science Foundation (ESF) announced on May 31 that Iridium LLC, which operates 66 low‐Earth orbiting satellites, has agreed to interim measures to keep satellite radio waste down to acceptable levels and help to keep the radio astronomy band 1612 MHZ clear for up to 50% of the time through January 1, 2006.

Iridium already had pledged to 24 hours a day of uncluttered radio astronomy observation time following that date, in an earlier framework agreement signed by ESF and the company last August.
N. L. Bowen and Crystallization‐Differentation: The Evolution of a Theory
Authors: Hickey‐Vargas Rosemary
Published: October 2006

Virtually every student of geology has heard of petrologist N. L. Bowen, either as originator of the famous reaction series or as proponent of fractional crystallization as the dominant mechanism for magmatic differentiation. In contrast, relatively few geoscientists are familiar with the complete story of how Bowen's ideas developed and of the numerous controversies that surrounded them. N. L. Bowen and Crystallization‐Differentiation: the Evolution of a Theory is an engaging and insightful book. Author Davis A. Young presents a historical examination of Bowen's scientific life, his debates with great petrologists of the time like Daly, Fenner,Wager, and Read, and the combined influence of these and other scientists on the course of petrologic thought in the early 20th century.
1999 Horton Research Grants awarded
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Horton (Hydrology) Research Grant Committee presented three grants at the 1999 AGU Spring Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, last June.

S. Jean Birks is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Tom Edwards and Victoria Remenda (Queen's University). The title of her Ph.D. dissertation is “Long‐term Natural Tracer Migration in Thick Unfractured Clay: Implications for Reconstructing the Post‐glacial Isotopic History of Precipitation from Aquitards in the Northern Great Plains.” Jean received her B.Sc. in geography and environmental science from McMaster University and her M.Sc. in hydrogeology from Queen's University.
‘Distributed power’ Promises lower emissions among other benefits, supporters tell Congress
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

During the back‐to‐the‐land movement in the 1960s in the United States, a common rallying cry was for people to unplug from the electricity grid. Now, a number of companies and energy experts are touting “distributed power”—a power model whereby electricity is supplied in close proximity to its end user, as opposed to a central generating station with a network of long‐distance, high‐voltage wires—as a way for businesses and individuals to gain some energy independence while reducing electricity costs and the chance of blackouts during a power outage, and cutting down on the amount of greenhouse gases and other emissions that are pumped into the atmosphere.

Advocates for distributed power say it represents a change from the traditional, centralized energy structure that is comparable to the switch from mainframes to personal computers.
Innocents on the Ice: A Memoir of Antarctic Exploration, 1957
Authors: Fitzgerald Paul
Published: October 2006

Many books have been written about Antarctica since early explorers first ventured inland from the coast in the early 20th century. Many of them have focused on the day‐today rigors of staying alive and on the effort to survive by daring explorers who ventured where no person had been before. Innocents on Ice: A Memoir of Antarctic Exploration, 1957 by John Behrendt differs slightly by dealing not only with survival and exploration, but also with the day‐to‐day rigors of conducting scientific work in an inhospitable environment.

Aside from the survival and the science, Behrendt's story also has a remarkable human side as he describes the battle between civilian scientists and an overbearing commanding naval officer with an unusual and controversial style of leadership. “Innocents” refers to the relative youth and inexperience of the traverse team of five young scientists who set out to explore and conduct geophysical and glaciological research in previously unexplored territory.
Report recognizes importance of major ocean programs and promotes interdisciplinary research
Authors: Fine Rana A. , Walker Dan
Published: October 2006

A new report on global ocean science concludes that major ocean programs have had an important impact on ocean science. Furthermore saying that the large‐scale global and integrative nature of some of the present scientific challenges will require them in the future, the report has recommended creation of a new interdisciplinary unit in the research section of the National Science Foundation's Ocean Sciences Division (NSF/OCE). The unit would encourage interdisciplinary research and manage a broad spectrum of projects. Whatever approach NSF/OCE follows, the report states that it is important to maintain the flexibility to consider a number of options regarding the design and execution of future programs based on the complexity and nature of the scientific challenges they address, and ensure that work conducted by individual investigators in the core disciplines remains healthy.
Panel to consider a position statement on the importance of teaching evolution
Authors: Folger Peter
Published: October 2006

AGU President John Knauss has authorized a panel to revise the existing AGU position statement, which opposes the teaching of creationism or any other religious tenet as science. The current statement, first adopted in December 1981, and most recently reaffirmed in May 1998, is as follows:

“The Council of the American Geophysical Union notes with concern the continuing efforts by creationists for administrative, legislative, and juridical actions designed to require or promote the teaching of creationism as a scientific theory. The American Geophysical Union is opposed to all efforts to require or promote the teaching of creationism or any other religious tenet as science.”
Death Valley research revises age of last deep lake
Authors: Machette Michael N. , Thompson Ren A. , Slate Janet L. , Heise Bruce
Published: October 2006

The last deep lake in Death Valley probably existed during marine isotope stage VI, more than 100,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to a paper presented this past spring at a conference on geologic research in Death Valley. The long accepted paradigm of a deep lake, known as Lake Manley in the very late Pleistocene appears to have fallen in light of recent U‐series dating of high shorelines.

This and other new research were the topics of an interdisciplinary meeting on the “Status of Geologic Research and Mapping in Death Valley National Park.” As its title indicates, the conference was organized to compile up‐to‐date information on the status of geologic research and mapping in Death Valley National Park and surrounding areas. It also was intended to establish a network of active researchers to create synergy for cooperative, interdisciplinary research endeavors and to present recent and current research results in an informal setting, thus encouraging dialogue.
Quick‐fix proposals to reorganize Energy Department draw concern
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The crisis prompting the current call to restructure the U.S. Department of Energy could just as easily have been the agency's failures in managing major environmental cleanup projects or other management problems, say some DOE watchers. But the “crisis du jour” bringing pressure on the agency to change its mode of operations stems from recent alarming reports of national security lapses and Chinese espionage at DOE.

Congress currently is considering a handful of separate bills that could restructure or even dismantle the agency. However, on July 12, a bipartisan group of seven key congressmen urged House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert (R‐Ill.) to oppose any hasty and haphazard efforts at reform, which they said needs careful, bipartisan legislation that brings about changes along with protection of national security, safety, health, and the environment.
Public's moral view not a sign of ignorance
Authors: Genereux David
Published: October 2006

I read with interest the recent article, “Report Suggests Some Public Attitudes about Geophysical and Environmental Issues” (Eos, June 15, 1999). The aspect I found most interesting was the reaction of the scientists involved to the “public's tendency to consider environmental and geophysical threats from a moral perspective.” The scientists attributed this to a lack of scientific understanding or knowledge, and depending on the “threats” involved and exactly how the questions were asked, this may be partly true. However, the “public's tendency” to appreciate the ethical dimensions of problems like poor water quality and greenhouse gas emissions, and to see the connection between these problems and shortsighted, profit‐motivated actions of polluters, is actually a mature, realistic, informed appreciation for root causes, not a sign of ignorance. These true root causes are outside the realm of science, but scientists certainly shouldn't be surprised (and definitely shouldn't be concerned) when others recognize them.
Hornberger receives the Excellence in Geophysical Education Award
Authors: Church M. Robbins , Hornberger George M.
Published: October 2006

George M. Hornberger was awarded the Excellence in Geophysical Education Award at the AGU Spring Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on June 2, 1999, in Boston, Massachusetts. The award acknowledges a sustained commitment to excellence in geophysical education by a team, individual, or group.
Sington receives the 1999 Walter Sullivan award
Authors: McKenzie Dan P. , Sington David
Published: October 2006

David Sington was awarded the 1999 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism at the AGU Spring Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on June 2, 1999, in Boston, Massachusetts. The award recognizes a single article or a radio/television report that makes geophysical material accessible and interesting to the general public.
U.S. Congress to consider streamlining dam relicensing
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Between the years 2000 and 2010, 220 nonfederal hydropower projects in the United States are due for relicensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a government agency. These projects, with a combined capacity of 22 gigawatts, or 20% of the U.S.‐installed hydropower capacity, are among the 1600 hydropower projects at over 2000 dams that FERC regulates under the Federal Power Act.

Some backers of hydropower say the relicensing process, by which dams can obtain renewed, 30‐ to 50‐year licenses, is too cumbersome, and they favor new legislation to streamline and speed up the process.
Agreement reached on European car emissions
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

European Union (EU) environment ministers in early October accepted an offer made by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association to voluntarily cut the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from car exhausts by 25% over the next 10 years.

The agreement will help the EU achieve its objective to cut output of six greenhouse gases to 8% below 1990 levels by the year 2010, as they agreed to do at the United Nations climate change talks in Kyoto, Japan, last December.
Seafloor seismic stations perform well in study
Authors: Stephen R. A. , Collins J. A. , Peal K. R. , Hildebrand J. A. , Orcutt J. A. , Spiess F. N. , Vernon F. L.
Published: October 2006

Broadband seafloor seismic installations can yield quality data comparable to land stations in terms of ambient noise levels and time series events, a study has shown. This is good news for plans to fill in the gaps in the Global Seismic Network (GSN) around the world.

About 25 GSN stations are needed on the seafloor. The study the Ocean Seismic Network (OSN) Pilot Experiment, was carried out to test different systems for broadband seafloor seismology. So far GSN has about 115 high quality, broadband, three‐component, seismic stations on continents and islands around the world.