bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Awards presented at the Spring Meeting: Eighth Presentation: Walter H. Bucher Medal to Bruce C. Heezen for Original Contribution to the Basic Knowledge of the Earth's Crust
Authors: Heezen Bruce Charles
Published: October 2011

It is with a deep sense of honor that I have prepared this citation for Professor Bruce Charles Heezen as the recipient of the Walter Bucher Award at our American Geophysical Union Banquet Dinner. Bruce has gained a world‐wide reputation for his continuing and total dedication to the understanding of submarine geologic features, from ripple marks to the Mid‐Oceanic Ridge. The physiographic maps drawn with his distinguished research associate, Marie Tharp, still serve as our first conceptual introduction to the physiography of our planet.

Professor Heezen continues to strive toward having explanations for what he observes from his exceptionally perceptive eyes. He and Marie have provided first insights into many concepts now considered mundane. An example is the first realization of the continuity of the globe‐circling Mid‐Oceanic Ridge. This discovery quickly led to the present understanding of our dynamic earth and to processes of Sea floor construction and destruction.
Subduction tectonics in Japan
Authors: Dickinson William R.
Published: October 2011

Surely, one of the real lessons to be learned from plate tectonics is that every major problem of historical geology must be treated in a global context. My personal horizons were markedly expanded by my experiences last summer, when I examined rock associations formed by subduction in Japan, a Neogene island arc. Cretaceous and Paleogene assemblages are similar to those in the California Coast Ranges. Lower Mesozoic and upper Paleozoic eugeosynclinal terranes in Japan and western North America are accreted oceanic facies that probably formed side by side within a vast Paleopacific Ocean.
Oceanlab planned as most advanced underwater lab
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is looking at proposals for Oceanlab, a national facility for underwater science and engineering. Planned as the world's most advanced mobile underwater laboratory, Oceanlab should have a range of about 1850 km on the surface and as much as 185 km submerged.

A companion ‘lockout‐minisub’ to be carried piggy‐back is described as a vehicle a little over 10 meters long with room for 6 persons—2 vehicle operators and 4 divers who can operate from a pressurized compartment. It will have a submerged range of 37–55.5 km and a top speed of about 3 knots.
Atmospheric observatory tower under construction
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

This artist's concept captures the unusual proportions of the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory, a major meteorological research facility designed to evaluate atmospheric remote sensors and other research instrumentation. The tower, jointly constructed by the Wave Propagation Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, is 300 meters high.
Computerized earthquake catalog developed in California
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A computerized earthquake catalog system that integrates basic information on all earthquakes reported in California has been developed by that state's Division of Mines and Geology. The system provides for file generation and maintenance and for data retrieval. Earthquake records can be selected according to magnitude, date of occurrence, geographical coordinates, and other parameters.

Seismologists Charles R. Real and Tousson R. Toppozada explain that earthquake recurrence studies can be made within any desired area. The size of search area can be computed, and the recurrence coefficients can be determined by least squares and maximum likelihood techniques.
Geodynamics in the southwest Pacific
Authors: Dubois J. , Lille R. , Montadert L.
Published: October 2011

The International Symposium on Geodynamics in the Southwest Pacific was held from August 27 to September 2, 1976, at the Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre‐Mer (ORSTOM), Noumea, New Caledonia. Held under the auspices of the Inter‐Union Commission on Geodynamics and cosponsored by ORSTOM, the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, and the Institut Français du Pétrole, the symposium included 3 days of scientific sessions, consisting of 45 papers and 4 panel discussions, and 2 field trips, one to central New Caledonia and the other to explore the southern ultramafics.
Magnetospheric substorms
Authors: Akasofu S.‐I.
Published: October 2011

The magnetospheric substorm is perhaps the most widely known yet most poorly understood facet of magnetospheric disturbances. It is generally agreed that the substorm results from an explosive conversion of magnetic energy generated by the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere. The energy thus released causes a variety of magnetospheric and polar upper atmospheric disturbances. Although much of the interpretation of substorm observations is still a matter of great controversy, we have made considerable progress in understanding substorm phenomena in terms of plasma processes, most of which are fundamental in cosmic electrodynamics.
Ideas for U.S./USSR cooperation wanted
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Suggestions for new areas of cooperative study with the Soviet Union are welcomed by the Joint Commissions Working Group of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is reviewing activities of the working groups under the Agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology (S&T). The main objective of the agreement, recently renewed for a second 5‐year term, was to ‘provide broad opportunities for both parties to combine the efforts of their scientists and specialists in working on major problems, whose solution will promote the progress of science and technology for the benefit of both countries and of mankind.’

Cooperation between the United States and the USSR involves the exchange of scientists, the exchange of information and documents, joint development and implementation of projects in both basic and applied sciences, joint research, joint conferences, and other forms of cooperation agreed to by both sides.
Cenop funded for first two years
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

As the search for oil and gas is extended into deeper parts of the ocean basins, the small fossils and chemical variations in sediments used to determine the age of sedimentary layers become of more and more practical interest.

A four‐year project called Cenop, for Cenozoic paleooceanography, will concentrate on subjects ranging from the evolution of polar glaciation to the effect on life of changes in the ocean.
New product: Geo‐Drill
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The new Geo‐Drill is a power‐driven and completely self‐contained rock core sampling drill suitable for field use. It takes cores 25 mm in diameter and up to 150 mm long and can operate at any angle. Weighing only 13 kg fully fueled, the Geo‐Drill was recently introduced by Winship Technical Exports Limited of England.
President's Page: Political and social action
Authors: Maxwell A. E.
Published: October 2011

A resolution was presented at the December 7, 1977, meeting of the Council by the Subcommittee on Women in Geophysics, proposing in essence that after the 1978 Spring Meeting in Miami Beach, AGU should not sponsor or cosponsor meetings in states that have not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Considerable discussion followed, during which much rationale and some emotional opinions were aired, with the eventual result that the Council turned down the resolution in a split vote.
France, United States agree on ocean programs
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Joint scientific and technical cooperation in four areas of oceanography were approved at a recent U.S.‐French meeting. The 2‐year study will include sea floor spreading in the Pacific, exchange of information on means of controlling oil pollution, marine environmental research, and research in diving medicine.

The East Pacific Rise (21°N) off the coast of Mexico will be the site of the major sea floor spreading study. The French submersible Cyana will be used in the area in 1978, and the U.S. Navy submersible Alvin from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will be used in 1979. Mexican scientists will participate also.
Cosmic rays are likely triggering mechanism for lightning
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Cosmic rays from outer space are the likely triggering mechanism which produces lightning, according to James W. Follin, Jr., from Johns Hopkins University. In a paper presented at the 1977 AGU Fall Meeting, Follin explained that a large cosmic ray shower penetrating thunderclouds ionizes oxygen and nitrogen molecules to detach electrons in the first step of producing lightning. These free electrons are accelerated in the preexisting strong electric field and generate a glowing electron avalanche which concentrates charge at the bottom of the cloud until the local electric field builds up to levels where the lightning bolt can finally break from the cloud.
President's Page: From Eos to Nyx
Authors: Maxwell A. E.
Published: October 2011

During the past two years, I have had the privilege of using this page to present my views on topics that I considered to be of interest and importance to AGU members. Response to these views has ranged from appreciation to scorn—seldom have they been ignored. The members of AGU are concerned about their society and the activities in which it chooses to engage. This concern testifies to the health of the Union.

Since this is my final opportunity as your president to write this page, rather than pontificate on yet another issue, I prefer to invoke my prerogative and divert this space for my personal use. I wish to take this occasion to express my gratitude to all those members who have participated actively in AGU affairs during my tenure. I refer not only to the Union and section officers but also to the staff, committee members, editors, special representatives, and those of you who have taken time to write or participate in other ways. For herein lies the true strength of our Union. I urge others to share in this rewarding activity, particularly the younger members, since it is you who have the greatest stake in the direction the Union takes. Small course corrections now will in the future prove to have been critical decision points, and you can influence these corrections.
Scientific and technological considerations in water resources policy
Authors: Ackermann William C. , Allee David J. , Amorocho Jaime , Haimes Yacov Y. , Hall Warren A. , Mead Elwood , Meserve Richard A. , Patrick Ruth , Smith Philip M.
Published: October 2011

Most important domestic problems faced in the United States today are affected by policies for the management of our water resources. Energy, the environment, food production, regional economic development, even our international balance of trade, are all affected directly or indirectly by water resources management. Often there is too much or too little management, or it occurs in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or in the wrong way to serve the many demands. The combination of all these inadequacies constitutes what is generally referred to as ‘the water problem.’

The nature of the problem and our perception of it have been changing over time. In part, this is because our understanding of the physical, chemical, biological, economic, and social aspects of water resources has grown rapidly. Long‐term climatic variations, for example, have become much more important to us, since we perceive that our water uses are encroaching more demandingly upon available supply. And the relations of organisms to their environment have become more important as we have come to note the magnitude of our pollution discharges and the interdependencies between man and his environment. In part, the change results as well from the fact that values, as well as relevant organizational and institutional structures, have been in flux. Increased concern for environmental protection, for example, has resulted in changing attitudes toward and demands on our water resources.
Shelf sediments probed for instability clues
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Determining the structural stability of sediments requires probing the microscopic world of soil particles to measure such unconventional quantities as the amount of water between sediment particles, or ‘pore pressure,’ and the mierostructure, or fabric, of clay sediments. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently completed a 2‐year series of measurements of pore pressure in sediments where they lie: in their pressurized underwater environment.

Richard Bennett and other NOAA researchers took measurements in the shallow marine waters in heavily drilled shelf areas south of the Mississippi Delta, using a 19‐m weighted cylindrical probe. Deployed from a ship, it digs into the soft sediment floor, sensing pore pressure at three locations along its length. This information is recorded by equipment on a nearby oil platform.
New NAIC ionospheric facility planned near Arecibo
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) is building a High Frequency Ionospheric Modification Facility near Arecibo, Puerto Rico. When completed in June of next year, the facility will be able to deliver an effective power of 160 million W to the area of the ionosphere under study. This will be accomplished by an array of antennas covering more than 8 ha that will focus power from four 200,000‐W transmitters.

The new HF facility will replace an ionospheric heating apparatus now mounted occasionally on the main Arecibo telescope. The other device operates at lower power, requiring other experiments to stop while it is in operation.
[Correction to “Multichannel CDP seismic reflection data acquired”]
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

In the January Eos , page 9, the news item “Multichannel CDP Seismic Reflection Data Acquired” inadvertently failed to mention that the data were collected by the Geologic Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS marine geological and geophysical data are made available to the public by NOAA's National Geophysical and Solar‐Terrestrial Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, under an interagency agreement between the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[Geophysical Listing, June, 1978]
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Cities are listed alphabetically within countries, or for Australia and the U.S. within states and for Canada within provinces. The letters after the individual's name indicate the section affiliations. Section of principal interest appears to the left of the hyphen and other affiliations to the right. An explanation of the codes appears at the beginning of the alphabetical listing.
Data plans ready for Garp's 1979 Global Weather Experiment
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Many observational systems are now operational for the Global Weather Experiment of the Global Atmospheric Research Program (Garp).The Global Weather Experiment (formerly called the First Garp Global Experiment), to be conducted during 1979, will obtain the most comprehensive set of weather data ever gathered. The coordinated international effort will augment the existing World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World Weather Watch observational system, focusing particularly on additional observations in data‐sparse tropical oceanic regions.

Two special observing periods (SOP's) have been scheduled in the year‐long experiment period, during which both in situ and remote observational systems will be operated by many countries.
Volcanic activity
Authors: Schubert Carlos , Landsberg Helmut
Published: October 2011

I read with interest the recent paper entitled ‘Geophysical Predictions: Overview and Recommendations’ (July 1 978 EOS, pp. 710–718).

Of particular interest to me was the location of a volcanic eruption center in central‐northwestern Venezuela (Figure 4). In this area, to my knowledge, there is no volcanic activity, and there has not been, at least in the Quaternary and possibly as far back as the Late Cretaceous. There are only minor fumarolic shows which are located along the Boconó and other active faults. Between the Eastern Cordillera (Colombia)‐Sierra de Perijá (Venezuela) and the Lesser Antilles, no tectonic environment conducive to volcanism is found.
Section business meetings
Authors: Wilcox Luman , Steele Timothy D. , Mooers Chris
Published: October 2011

A business meeting of the AGU Geodesy Section convened on December 7,1978, in San Francisco, California. Section President Bernard Chovitz opened the meeting with a summary of the major actions taken by the AGU Council during its session on December 3, 1978.

He then announced that a number of special sessions are planned by the Geodesy Section for the 1979 Spring Meeting. There will be a session on applications of satellite altimetry in coordination with the Oceanography Section. A session on advanced positioning systems will be planned in coordination with the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM). There will also be a session keyed to the general theme for the 1979 Spring Meeting: Retrospect of the Apollo Program. Suitable topics for this session include the gravity field of the moon, lunar laser ranging, and control nets on the moon. A poster session will be attempted for the first time by the AGU Geodesy Section at the Spring Meeting.
Predictable mudflows
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The spring mudflows triggered by melting winter snowpack that have proven disastrous in the past in the Wrightwood, California, area may be predictable a year or two before they occur, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report.

The USGS report notes that the recurring landslides and mudflows in the Wrightwood area appear to be part of a three‐stage cycle. Data collected during the past 12 years suggest that climatic and geologic conditions could be used to predict the occurrence of the spring mudflow stage in time to allow the application of mitigation measures and to warn local residents. Other types of mudflows caused by cloudburst or excessive rainfall also pose a hazard to Wrightwood but are less predictable and are not considered in this study.
Avalanche and runoff data
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Automatic sensor stations that can monitor mountain snowpacks and warn of possible avalanches and instruments that can predict the spring and summer runoff of a snowpack may be two new products of microwave technology, according to scientists at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS).

For the third straight winter, scientists from the NBS Boulder, Colorado, laboratories will leave the warm confines of their laboratories, and hauling microwave analysis and measuring equipment by toboggan into mountain passes and other backcountry areas of the Rocky Mountains, they will make microwave measurements the snowpack—measurements that should enable them to tell the composition and moisture content of the snowpack.
Sea level expedition to the Aleutian Islands
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Ocean Survey will conduct an oceanographic expedition to the Aleutian Islands this spring. Scheduled to depart Seattle April 18th, the NOAA Ship Discoverer will cross the Gulf of Alaska to the Shumagin Islands. The ship will cruise in an arc just south of the Aleutians to Attu, then return eastward in an arc north of the Aleutians in the Bering Sea to Unimak Pass. On entering the Pacific again, the ship will round the Shumagins then return to Kodiak on May 3rd.

The principal program of the expedition is to conduct oceanographic leveling between the National Ocean Survey tide stations at Kodiak, Sand Point, Dutch Harbor, Adak, Shemya, and Attu. Of equal importance is the deployment of deep‐sea bottom‐mounted seismographs just south of the chain in a cooperative program with the University of Texas. A water mass comparison study will also be made of Bering Sea waters north of the Aleutians and Pacific waters to the south. Sounding verification lines will be run, and a deep temperature profile will be taken across the Gulf. In addition, a biological oceanography program will be conducted for the Smithsonian Institution.
NSF target dates for proposals
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The following listing gives the target dates for proposals to NSF in particular programs. Proposals received after the cutoff date will be reviewed although they may miss a particular panel meeting. Further information can be obtained by contacting the NSF staff member listed with each entry.

April 30, 1979. Oceanography: Biological oceanography, marine chemistry, physical oceanography, and submarine geology and geophysics. Contact Robert E. Wall, Division of Ocean Sciences (632‐4227).
Why do i not accept plate tectonics?
Authors: Beloussov V. V.
Published: October 2011

The ‘new global tectonics’ or theory of ‘plate tectonics’ has its background in the observations made on the oceanic areas. It claims to extend the same principles to the continents as well. At first glance this attitude seems to be sound because the oceans occupy two thirds of the surface of the earth. But comparing the known age of the oldest rocks on the oceanic floor (150 m.y.) with the age of the oldest rocks on the continents (3500 m.y.), we realize that the discovery of general trends and laws of development of the crust through long geological time is possible primarily on the basis of continental geology. But certainly we should also take into account what is known about oceans.
JGR
Authors: Donaldson C. H.
Published: October 2011

It seems to me that there has been a serious decline in the proportion, and indeed the number, of papers published in JGR 2 (Red) that are related to volcanology, geochemistry, and petrology (VGP). Their place has been taken by more papers on seismology, geomagnetism, and particularly, tectonophysics. While many of these geophysics papers are of peripheral interest to AGU members of the VGP section, they don't satisfy the primary interests of these members.

For example, a survey of the issues covering September to January last shows 70 papers published, of which seven are of VGP interest; of these seven, three could be called VGP contributions, whereas the others are principally planetology or tectonophysics articles. Worse still, the September, October, and November issues contain no articles of primary interest to VGP readers, and the January issue has only one.
Dramatic Pioneer Venus findings
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Venus' newly found rift valley is 3 miles deep and 175 miles wide. Pioneer radar mapper measurements found the canyon to be at least 900 miles long with no apparent beginning or end. This geologic feature is deeper than anything on earth and appears larger than Valles Marineris on Mars, previously the solar system's largest canyon.

The Russian Venera spacecraft found continuous lightning activity from an altitude of 32 km down to about 2 km, with discharges as frequent as an amazing 26 per second. The Pioneer Orbiter also observed this lightning, measuring such discharges during every pass across the planet's night hemisphere.
Comments on “Why Do I Not Accept Plate Tectonics?”
Authors: Von Herzen R. P.
Published: October 2011

In the recent discussion and comments on this topic among colleagues from the U.S. and U.S.S.R. which were published in EOS (April 24,1979), several points centered on the purported equality of heat flow between ocean basins and continents and the heat flow variation with age in the oceans. Although the equality has been a major tenet since the first marine heat flow data were obtained and was supported with a statistical analysis of over 2,500 measurements only a decade ago [Von Herzen and Lee, 1969], recent field evidence and model development have substantially changed this conclusion.

The hypothesis that a substantial fraction of heat is lost by hydrothermal circulation in oceanic crustal rocks, particularly on young sea floor, first put forward by Lister [1972], has received increased support in detailed studies of marine heat flow [Williams et al., 1974; Davis and Lister, 1977; Anderson etal, 1977]. Combined with quantitative estimates of heat loss based on plate tectonics models [McKenzie, 1967; Sclater andFrancheteau, 1970; Parsons and Sclater, 1977], it has been shown that hydrothermal effects account for a large fraction of the total sea floor heat loss up to several tens m.y. in age. Taking account of this hydrothermal loss, Williams and Von Herzen [1974] calculated that the mean heat loss per unit area of oceans is about 2.2 H FU (heat flow units; 1HFU = 10−6/μcal cm−2 sec−1), about 50% greater than that for continents. This difference has been recently corroborated using a somewhat different approach by Langseth and Anderson [1979].
Cutting the Old Woman Meteorite
Authors: Wasson John T.
Published: October 2011

In June 1977, the second largest U.S. meteorite was removed from the Old Woman Mountains of southeastern California by the Smithsonian Institution. A large amount of publicity accompanied the removal because of ownership claims by the prospectors who discovered the meteorite and because of demands by Californians that the meteorite be exhibited in California. The 10 largest U.S. meteorites discovered in or west of the Rocky Mountains are presently all exhibited in museums east of the Mississippi.

The California congressional delegation became involved in presenting the case for retaining the meteorite in California, and finally, the Department of Interior announced that ‘with the concurrence of the Smithsonian Institution the Old Woman Meteorite would remain in California’ and ‘details of the maintenance and research arrangements would be worked out with the State of California.’ In this letter I want to discuss the Smithsonian's decision that about one‐third (1 ton) of the meteorite is required for scientific study.
Map of California fault movements
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A new map showing hundreds of faults and the time of their last movement along coastal south central California between Point Arguello and Monterey Bay has been released by the U.S. Geological Survey. Compiled from more than 130 published and unpublished reports as well as new onshore and offshore field studies, the map and accompanying report are designed to be a ‘broadbrush’ regional identification and delineation of the faults that are capable of generating earthquakes and rupturing the ground.

According to Earl Pampeyan, geologist at the USGS Western Region Headquarters, Menlo Park, California, and a coauthor of the report, Seismic shaking and surface faulting can severely damage engineered structures unless adequate precautions are taken in siting and design. Such precautions must be based on adequate geologic information, including the identification and delineation of those faults that are most likely to produce future movement.
Some notes on the Yellow River
Authors: Shen H. W.
Published: October 2011

In order to promote cultural and scientific exchange, the American Geophysical Union has invited a delegation from the Society of Hydraulic Engineers of the People's Republic of China to visit the United States. This team, led by Pao‐Ling Li, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Water Conservancy and Electric Power, will probably visit the U.S. Weather Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, California Institute of Technology, Colorado State University, the University of Iowa, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during May and June 1980.

This tour reciprocates a visit to the People's Republic of China by a team of American engineers and scientists in September and October 1978. Our team was led by J. F. Kennedy, Director of the Institute of Hydraulic Research at the University of Iowa, and included C. L Chiu, Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Pittsburgh; R. Clark, Associate Director of the U.S. Weather Service; J. E. Glover, Chief of the River Division, Waterways Experiment Station, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; A. S. Harrison, Head of the Technical Engineering Branch, Mississippi River Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; D. Louie, Chief Hydraulic Engineer, Harza Engineering Company; N. Matalas, Staff Hydrologist, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey; C. F. Nordin, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey; E. L. Pemberton, Head of the Sedimentation Section, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; A. R. Robinson, Staff Scientist, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and myself.
The large‐scale earthquake countermeasures act and the earthquake prediction council in Japan
Authors: Rikitake Tsuneji
Published: October 2011

The Large‐Scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act was enacted in Japan in December 1978. This act aims at mitigating earthquake hazards by designating an area to be an ‘area under intensified measures against earthquake disaster,’ such designation being based on long‐term earthquake prediction information, and by issuing an ‘earthquake warnings statement’ based on imminent prediction information, when possible. In an emergency case as defined by the law, the prime minister will be empowered to take various actions which cannot be taken at ordinary times. For instance, he may ask the Self‐Defense Force to come into the earthquake‐threatened area before the earthquake occurrence. A Prediction Council has been formed in order to evaluate premonitory effects that might be observed over the Tokai area, which was designated an area under intensified measures against earthquake disaster some time in June 1979. An extremely dense observation network has been constructed over the area.
NSF funding of the Earth sciences
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Reflected in the current FY 1980 House and Senate actrons on the budget requests of the National Science Foundation is a trend of increases that should have favorable effect on support of earth science research. The calculated inflation rate for scientific equipment and other costs is usually two or three times the national rate, but even with that difference, it is obvious that the budgets for the near future will be supporting more research than before. A glance at the earth science budget breakdown indicates that among the research portions, geophysics and geochemistry budgets are growing faster than the geology budget, but these differences are mostly the results of the differences in cost types and related inflation (See Table). There are, in some instances, special reasons for what appear to be unusually large increases, but once in the overall budget, an increase has a tendency to remain and increase. For example, between FY 1978 and FY 1979, support of geochemistry increased from $7.7 to $1 0.2 million because of a special supplement designated for instruments and for a portion of the NASA Lunar Sample Study program that was placed under NSF's auspices. Note, however, that the budget for FY 1980 still contains those special supplements.
Continental Deep Drilling Program
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The relevant question that soon arose among the participants of the recent Workshop on Continental Drilling was ‘Are there any serious programs of deep drilling currently in the U.S.?’ The group was convened at Los Alamos, under the auspices of the U.S. Geodynamics Committee, to address timely questions that have appeared partly because the oceanic drilling programs have reached a major turning point. That is, the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and the International Phase of Ocean Drilling (IPOD) have almost finished the short‐term objectives originally planned, and while assessing new directions for oceanic drilling (possibly including accelerated drilling along the continental shelves, with new facilities such as those that could be provided by an upgrade and refit of the Glomar Explorer), the geodynamics and other National Academy committees are now considering the possibilities of recommending a program to obtain the much needed third dimension in geological and geophysical field studies. The approach seems to have been one of attempting to utilize boreholes and core samples drilled for other purposes on land, in order to place geophysical instruments, and to map geologic formations at depth.
Micro electronics: A need for basic research
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Geophysical instruments and computers have advanced enormously via the advent of mass‐produced microelectronic circuits, but according to a recent report, microstructure science, engineering, and technology (available from the Solid State Sciences Committee of the National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences), this situation may change in the future. Innovations in electronic development are moving ahead at a greater rate than the fundamental science on which they are based. The science of the microproperties of solids, including the physical, electronic, and structural behavior of materials on the submicrometer scale has yet to be explored. The rapid evolution of geophysical instruments and the industrial production of electronic devices and computers in general have been dependent on circuitry of smaller dimensions. This trend has come to the point where ‘micro‐effects’ are serious, with the result that the behavior of the next generation of semiconduct or devices may be relatively unreliable.
Geophysical and meteoritic events
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Tonga Islands eruptions and pumice rafts, South Pacific Ocean. Some fumarolic activity continued to take place during August on Late Iki, a new island formed over the site of the frequently active submarine volcano Metis Shoal. Geologists do not expect the island to persist for more than a few months.

Reports from Rotuma Island (12.5°S, 177.08°E, about 1150 km northwest of Late Iki) state that a thick blanket of pumice washed up on the south side of the island in mid‐August. Fish that jumped out of the sea and landed on the pumice were unable to return to the water. No other reports of pumice have been received by the Fiji Mineral Resources Department in August.
International memberships to be funded
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Lloyd V. Berkner Memberships provide dues‐free membership to persons in developing countries. This is a living memorial in honor of Berkner, truly a remarkable leader in geophysics. The program, which was approved by the Council at the suggestion of the Committee on International Participation, has been developed to permit greater access to AGU publications. The funds for this program were raised from the AGU membership to stimulate scientific endeavor in geophysics and to provide inspiration and encouragement to young native scientists and students in developing countries.
Saturn's 11th moon
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

An object that the Pioneer spacecraft almost collided with during its flyby of Saturn on September 1 of this year is most likely the suspected 11 th moon originally discovered in a 1966 photograph but not seen since then. Pictures of the object, as well as data from other experiments on the Pioneer spacecraft, are the basis for believing that the existence of the moon has now been confirmed. The object, dubbed ‘Pioneer Rock’ during the mission, has a diameter of 150–300 miles (241.4–482.8 km).

The reason that the first interpretation of the moon's existence was not immediately accepted by all of the astronomy community is because the proposed orbit could be fit to other of Saturn's moons. Stephen M. Larsen and John W. Fountain, both research assistants at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, who had done the original photographic analysis, failed to locate the moon because of Saturn's poor viewing position from earth since the 1966 photograph was taken. It turns out that satisfactory groundbased telescope observations of Saturn can be achieved only once every 13 years, at times when the rings are seen on edge and faint objects, such as this moon, are not obscured.
Huge natural oil seep found in N. Atlantic
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported the discovery of an oil‐rich layer of water hundreds of miles long, hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the southwestern North Atlantic, estimated to contain at least a million tons of crude oil apparently from a natural oil‐seep in the ocean floor.

While the oil is too dispersed to be recovered for energy uses, the discovery could force drastic revisions in estimates of how much oil is naturally present in the sea. The oil layer appears to contain nearly twice the amount used by many scientists—0.6 million tons—to describe the amount of oil annually leaked into the global ocean from all natural sources.
Council action—Page charges
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

At its December 2 meeting, the AGU Council passed a motion ‘to remove the differential page charge and have authors transfer copyright to AGU to extent permissible by law.’ The Executive Committee has ordered rapid implementation of this action. The action was taken to eliminate any perceptions of inequity in the page charge rates for authors employed by the U.S. government, who have no copyright to transfer for papers prepared as part of their official duties. During 1979, papers on which the copyright was not transferred to AGU were subject to a page charge comparable to the full first‐copy cost, which for a typeset paper in JGR was $120 per page. For typeset papers in JGR, authors transferring their copyright to AGU have been subject to a $90 per page rate since August.
New soil erosion lab
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A $3.9 million National Soil Erosion Laboratory is slated for construction on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture facility is scheduled for completion in about a year and a half, according to erosion research leader William C. Moldenhauer.
Low‐grade energy potential for Mt. Hood
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The slopes of Mt. Hood volcano in Oregon appear to have sufficient low‐heat geothermal energy to be tapped for industrial use in Portland, 40 miles away, says David Williams, a USGS geophysicist, speaking at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco.

Water temperatures found in shallow drilling in the area are not high enough to be used to generate electricity, he said, but they may be high enough to heat buildings.
AGI establishes Congressional Fellowship
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The American Geological Institute (AGI), in cooperation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), invites postdoctoral scientists or engineers and professionals in the geological field to apply for the recently established AGI Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship. AGI thus joins the AGU and approximately 20 other professional scientific and engineering societies who sponsor Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows. AAAS coordinates the entire program, arranges the orientation and yearlong seminar programs, and assists in the selection process.

By working for 1 year, beginning September 1, 1980, as a special legislative assistant on the staff of a member of Congress or congressional committee, fellows have an opportunity to contribute to the public policymaking process within Congress. The program includes an orientation on congressional and executive branch operations and a year‐long seminar program on issues involving science and public policy.
Earth observation: ASTP photography
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

There are a number of lessons to be learned from volume 2 of the recent Apollo‐Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) Report (NASA SP‐412,1979). Among them, two are outstanding. For one, the value of human observation in space science should not be underestimated. Another is that the quest for excellence in U.S. space efforts is uncompromising at all levels. The ASTP Report, Volume 2, is a tangible product of the important segment of the joint Apollo‐Soyuz mission to utilize the special capabilities of trained astronaut observers. The objectives were to observe and photograph specific features, processes, and phenomena on the earth, in real time, for later study. The report contains in‐depth analyses of earth‐orbital photographs in the areas of geology, desert studies, oceanography, hydrology, and meteorology. The volume is extensive and thorough.
Analysis of Pioneer Saturn results continues
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

Through clever analysis of the Pioneer 11 results for Saturn, Francis Birch (see Forum) has deduced that Saturn's core must be composed of lighter materials than those of the earth's core. The original summary in EOS (‘Pioneer Saturn Results Summarized’) did not contain such analysis because the celestial mechanics and gravitational data from Pioneer 11 that were released by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) were then only in crude form. For example, at that time, values for the core radius were uncertain by at least ± 10%, and for the core mass by +30% to 100% (this tolerence still does not weaken Birch's conclusions).
Help for field research
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Need money and/or extra hands for your field research in 1981? The Center for Field Research, a private, nonprofit organization, is seeking proposals to consider for 70 projects it will support with funds and volunteer help.

The Center arranges for volunteer teams to assist researchers. An example of the kind of project sponsored by the Center was a geological survey of the volcano Poas in Costa Rica. For two consecutive seasons, volunteer teams assisted in compiling data that were used in drawing geological maps.
Determination of earthquake parameters
Authors: Engdahl E. R.
Published: October 2011

Improved seismic data and computer facilities have made dramatic progress possible in the computational techniques of earthquake location and the quantification of earthquakes. Some of the more proven techniques may well be ready for application in the routine reporting of earthquake parameters. Earthquake parameters serve as an important data base for the generalists and synthesizers in seismology and as an initial starting point for the applied theoreticians. The routine determination and reporting of source properties, for example, could make possible a new level of understanding in many seismological studies that would parallel the use of routinely reported earthquake locations to define boundaries of tectonic plates worldwide. These advances are made possible now through the availability of digitally recorded seismic data and of computer programs for interactive analysis that permit more rapid and efficient estimation of earthquake parameters.
Geophysicists
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Richard S. Fiske, volcanologist, has been named director of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History. He succeeds Porter Kier, a paleobiologist, who returned to research in June.

Hal Langford, 54, of Arlington, Virginia, has been appointed associate chief hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. He succeeds Milton Hackett, who held the position from 1968 until he retired in January.
Joint exploration in the South China Sea
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

Chinese scientists, and American researchers from Lamont‐Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York, are conducting joint explorations of the geological history, evolution, and structure of the South China Sea. Several parts of the project have already been completed and more sophisticated investigations are planned for the future.

The combined effort got an official start on December 3rd, when Lamont‐Doherty associate director Dennis E. Hayes arrived in Kuangchow (Canton) aboard the observatory's research vessel Vema and signed formal protocols (agreements) with People's Republic of China Ministry of Geology representative Guo Zhenxi.
NASA budget reductions
Authors: Greathouse Lee
Published: October 2011

The president's revised budget request would reduce the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's (NASA) FY 1981 budget by about $219 million. The reductions would thus trim about 3.5% from NASA's original request of $5.7 billion.

Funds for development of the space shuttle have remained untouched by the new budget request. The shuttle is still slated to receive its $300 million FY 1980 supplemental request and the $1.87 billion FY 1981 allotment.
The Art and science of long‐range forecasting
Authors: Namias Jerome
Published: October 2011

Ask meteorologists about the reliability of long‐range forecasts, and you get a broad spectrum of opinions. Some say that there is no skill whatsoever in forecasts for a month or season in advance, while others apply the term ‘marginal’ skill or just slightly better than chance. A few overenthusiastic practitioners are apt to make extravagant claims, even to claim ability to forecast detailed weather for a given day, weeks ahead. The truth, determined by rigid statistical verification, lies somewhere between these extreme viewpoints. Certainly the modest success currently achievable has a long way to go before the accomplishment of really reliable long‐range forecasts. Taking 50% as chance (climatological probability), something on the order of 65% or 70% for monthly and seasonal forecasts is a reasonable figure, although temperature is easier to predict than precipitation because of more temporal persistence and greater coherence in space. This skill matches or exceeds that of other geophysical predictions, or economic forecasts.
Report from IUGG Assembly: IAGA session on internal contributions of the ionospheric electrojet
Authors: Campbell Wallace H.
Published: October 2011

This session was organized by the Interdivisional Working Group on the Relations between the External and Internal Magnetic Variations. Its purpose was to consider the geomagnetic induction problems associated with coastal current channeling effects and with stationary and moving ionospheric current sources whose fields at the earth's surface cannot be modeled properly by plane wave approximations. In past years, induction studies of crustal conductivity properties have largely neglected the effects of irregular current source characteristics. At high latitudes the research efforts in solar terrestrial physics properties seem to have neglected the consideration of geomagnetic data adjustments for induction effects.
IDOE is past
Authors: Bell Peter M.
Published: October 2011

For the 1970's, the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) began as a legislative, foreign policy, and geopolitical undertaking. It ended short of its goals. E. Wenk, Jr., is quoted as saying‘… IDOE…failed to head off international conflict over intensified use of the sea by using collaborative exploration as a new and untainted means to achieve world comity’ (Oceanus, 23, 2–11,1980). The vehicle was oceanographic research; the tool was the oceanographic community.

The goal of easing international tensions may not have been met, but the scientists involved appear to have met theirs, judging from the level of participation and the extent of scientific advances. Table 1 lists the ′70's decade activity. A survey of 800 marine scientists, affiliated with academic and research institutions throughout the United States, indicated that, for the most part, the quality of marine science supported by the federal government during IDOE was high (Figure 1).