bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Marti joins Eos as atmospheric sciences editor
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

James Marti, atmospheric scientist in the Remote Sensing Division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, recently began work as atmospheric sciences editor for Eos. Marti succeeds Chip Levy of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. His tenure, which began in February, will extend to December 31,1999.

Marti views Eos as having two important roles: it supports the rapid exchange of in formation between colleagues within fields, while allowing communication across the lines of the geoscience disciplines. “In this way,” says Marti, “Eos can knit together the geosciences and enable the kind of cross fertilization that can make for good science.”
Panel achieves consensus prediction of solar cycle 23
Authors: Joselyn Jo Ann , Anderson Jeffrey B. , Coffey Helen , Harvey Karen , Hathaway David , Heckman Gary , Hildner Ernie , Mende Werner , Schatten Kenneth , Thompson Richard , Thomson A. W. P. , White Oran R.
Published: October 2006

In September 1996, a panel of experts on solar cycle prediction techniques met in Boulder, Colorado, to survey forecasts of solar and geomagnetic activity and to arrive at a consensus on how the solar cycle will develop. After two weeks of deliberation, the panel of 12 scientists (from Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States) agreed that a large amplitude solar cycle with a smoothed sunspot maximum of approximately 160 is probable near the turn of the century. The amplitude of the predicted cycle is comparable to that of the previous two solar cycles (see Figure 1).

Our ability to predict solar and geomagnetic activity is crucial to many technologies, including the operation of low‐Earth orbiting satellites, electric power transmission grids, geophysical exploration, and highfrequency radio communications and radars. Because the scale height of Earth's upper atmosphere (and thus the drag on satellites in low Earth orbit) depends on the levels of short‐wavelength solar radiation and geomagnetic activity, we need to know the profile and magnitude of the next solar and geomagnetic cycle in order to plan for reboosting the Hubble Space Telescope and assembling the International Space Station.
Adding insult to injury
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

New predictions and observations suggest that global warming will exact the highest costs on developing countries. A recent economic analysis of global climate change indicates that developed countries, the primary emitters of carbon dioxide, would benefit by $82 billion per year from a 2°C increase in global mean temperature, while underdeveloped countries would lose $40 billion per year.

For the economic analysis, global climate predictions were combined with economic data (for agriculture, forestry, coastal resources, energy, and tourism), but natural climate variability, including frosts, droughts, or severe thunderstorms, was not included. Countries predicted to suffer the greatest economic losses from global warming are island nations, said Michael Schlesinger, a University of Illinois atmospheric scientist who performed the economic analysis with colleagues from Yale University and Middlebury College. “These countries have long coast lines, sensitive tourism industries, and small, undeveloped economies.”
The Zen of Venn
Authors: Berkman Paul Arthur
Published: October 2006

Art connects science through symbols that reduce complex concepts into lucid images. Among the most widely used art forms for demonstrating the integrated nature of science is the Venn diagram [Venn, 1971]. Introduced in the late 19th century, Venn diagrams—which consist of intersecting, concentric, or separated circles—can be used to illustrate logical relationships between diverse entities, concepts, and phenomena.

The Venn diagram is a powerful descriptive tool for researchers, teachers, and students who are interpreting the complexities, ambiguities, and uncertainties of the interacting processes that influence the Earth system. On the Earth, matter and energy are transferred through a complex suite of reservoirs that include the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Venn diagrams can be used to simplify relationships as with thesea‐level intersection of the cryosphere and hydrosphere or the greenhouse‐gas intersection of the atmosphere and the biosphere. Identifying the intersections among different spheres is by individual design and elaboration, especially when the human dimensions are considered.
Workshop focuses on space weather's impact on electric power
Authors: Petschek Harry E. , Feero William E.
Published: October 2006

The National Space Weather Program (NSWP) defines space weather as the “conditions on the sun and in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere that can influence the performance and reliability of space‐borne and ground‐based technological systems and can endanger human life or health.” It further observes that “Adverse conditions in the space environment can disrupt satellite operations, communications, navigation, and electric power distribution grids and lead to a variety of socioeconomic losses [NSWP, 1996].

While the NSWP clearly involves many areas of basic research, it also includes, by definition, an applied aspect. If the program is to have an impact on space weather's adverse effects on technological systems, the scientific community must learn to understand the real problems that users have. Conversely, users must learn what types of information may become available. Practical solutions to the problems space weather poses depend on a continuing dialogue between both communities.
Jupiter's snowball
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

Recent observations from NASA's Galileo spacecraft reveal that Callisto, one of Jupiter's sixteen moons, is like an undifferentiated “dirty snowball” that has no internal magnetic field or magnetosphere. The outermost of the four large moons discovered by Galileo may be enshrouded by a tenuous atmosphere, however. The new findings, reported in the latest issue of Nature, are surprising because earlier data from Galileo indicates that two of Jupiter's other Galilean moons—Ganymede and Io—have magnetic fields. John D. Anderson of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and colleagues presented gravimetric data showing that Callisto is composed of 40% compressed ice and 60% rock mixed with metal. The undifferentiated composition is consistent with the absence of a magnetic field, which was confirmed by Krishan Khurana of the University of California and his colleagues.
Interpretation of Airphotos and Remotely Sensed Imagery
Authors: Ainsworth Thomas L. , Jansen Robert
Published: October 2006

With the proliferation of easily accessible remotely sensed imagery over the last several years, image analysts from a wide variety of working environments are in high demand. These analysts do not always have advanced technical backgrounds in science. Robert Arnold's useful and timely laboratory manual serves as an adequate introduction to interpreting remotely sensed photographs and imagery. The book poses a graduated set of examples and questions with a generally increasing but low level of sophistication. It is easy to read, and considerable care has been exercised in the layout of the subject index and overall organization of the manual.
Ancient quarries
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

Using a unique set of remote sensing techniques, a team of University of Colorado researchers has detected mining pits dug by Montana Indians 10,000 years ago. The team used satellite images, aerial photographs, and ground tests to locate quarries where ancient North Americans obtained chert for making tools.

Anthropology doctoral student Thomas Carr, Mort Turner, of the University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, and four undergraduate and graduate students developed 12 “spectral classes” characterizing distinct geologic and vegetation types found in the Horse Prairie Valley study area in southwest Montana. Their data included electromagnetic measurements of soil conductivity from a known Indian quarry in the area, where the altered bedrock contains veins of chert, and an adjacent area of disturbed soil. Using special computer software, the team compared characteristics of nearly one million 30‐m2 pixels from a 1985 regional Landsat satellite image to those of the 12 spectral classes. Twelve possible ancient mining sites in the 800‐square‐mile research area were identified. During a later ground survey using GPS satellite receivers, eight of these were confirmed to be ancient Indian quarries.
Life on Mars vigorously debated at conference
Authors: Treiman Allan
Published: October 2006

Life on Mars was a hot topic at the 28th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, the first major conference on meteorites since McKay et al.'s [1996] stunning report of possible evidence for Martian life in the meteorite ALH 84001. The meeting, which was held March 17–21, 1997, featured 35 presentations and talks based on evidence for and against Martian life in the meteorite.
Comment [on “Synchrotron sheds new light on geophysical materials”]
Authors: Charlie Wayne , Dumford Deanna
Published: October 2006

Thank you for the excellent synchrotron article (Eos, February 11, 1997, pp. 61–62). However, the “first light” experiments at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory on December 20, 1996, do not “mark the dawn of a new era of rock and mineral physics.” Third‐generation synchrotron radiation sources have been used at the Cornell CHESS facility for geoscience research for many years. For example, we used this facility with Barnes Bierck and Tammo Steenhuis to study consolidation and flow in geophysical materials in 1994.
Paleomagnetic databases updated to 1996
Authors: McElhinny Michael
Published: October 2006

The IAGA paleomagnetic databases now include all data available through the end of 1996. Four databases soon will be available as a package (Version 3.2 of the databases) either for use with Access 2 on Windows 3.1 or Access 97 on Windows 95. Users who have Access 7 should now update to Access 97. A description of the Access versions of the databases is given by McElhinny and Lock [ 1996]. The new package is available from World Data Center A in Boulder, Colo., from mid‐June. To obtain it, contact Susan McLean on email at smclean@ngdc.noaa.gov and indicate whether the Access 2 or Access 97 version is required. The four‐database package includes the following:
Exotic fluids in the exosphere: When Hades meets Apollo
Authors: Varekamp Johan C. , Rowe Gary L.
Published: October 2006

The interaction of magmatic volatiles with lakes and shallow groundwater systems results in some of the most exotic fluids found at the Earth's surface. Geologic environments where such fluids occur and the chemical and physical processes responsible for their formation were the subject of a multidisciplinary Chapman Conference titled“Crater Lakes, Terrestrial Degassing and Hyperacid Fluids in the Environment,” held from September 4 to 9, 1996, at Crater Lake, Ore.
Gripped by science
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

A new handbook, Science Teaching Reconsidered, helps science educators understand students, accommodate individual differences, and clearly communicate the principles, the method, and the excitement of science. Drawing on the experiences of successful educators and the results of education research, the handbook from the National Research Council provides examples of practical and effective teaching techniques. Skillful, experienced professors indicate that class exercises completed by small groups of students (a far less passive experience than listening to lectures) generates lively discussion. Furthermore, explaining aconcept or working out a problem aloud forces students to examine the logic of their thinking processes and gives them confidence in figuring out a problem or contradiction.
Terrestrial agents in the realm of space storms: Missions study oxygen ions
Authors: Daglis Ioannis A.
Published: October 2006

Observations from two recent space missions, the Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers (AMPTE) and the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES), demonstrate that magnetospheric O+ ions originating in the ionosphere are important terrestrial agents in geospace. In other words, ionized oxygen escaping from the upper atmosphere can play a critical role in electromagnetic processes in near‐Earth space.

The missions also demonstrated that the abundance of terrestrial plasma (O+ in particular) in the inner magnetosphere increases quickly, as a quick response of the ionosphere to enhanced geospace activity during magnetic storms and substorms [Daglis and Axford, 1996]. Furthermore, O+ becomes the dominant ion species during the main phase of great magnetic storms [Daglis, 1997]. Great magnetic storms are most remarkable global‐scale processes, and they are of particular interest because they often have severe impacts on technological systems.
Cooperative program helps decipher tectonics of northeastern Russia
Authors: Fujita Kazuya , Stone David B. , Layer Paul W. , Parfenov Leonid M. , Koz'min Boris M.
Published: October 2006

Recently obtained paleomagnetic, geochronologic, and seismic data are greatly improving our understanding of the tectonics of northeastern Russia, which lies in an accretionary zone between the stable platforms of the North American and Eurasian plates. In particular, the present‐day plate boundaries and motions have been clarified and a model has been developed for the accretionary history of the poorly understood Mesozoic fold belts of northeastern Russia. The evolution of northeastern Russia appears to be similar to that of Alaska and the Canadian Cordillera, and many similar tectonic and stratigraphic features can be identified in all three regions.
El Niño rides again
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

Another weather‐disrupting El Niño may be brewing in the Pacific Ocean, according to ocean measurements taken by NASA instruments on two orbiting satellites. Sea‐surface height measurements taken by the radar altimeter on board the joint U.S.‐French TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and wind data collected by the NASA scatterometer on Japan's Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) have been used together for the first time to predict changing weather conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

El Niño occurs when steady westward blowing trade winds weaken and reverse direction, moving the mass of warm water near Australia eastward to the coast of South America. The displacement of the warm water mass alters the atmospheric jet stream and weather patterns around the world. The TOPEX/Poseidon satellite uses an altimeter to bounce radar signals off the ocean's surface to make precise measurements of the distance between the satellite and sea surface. Researchers then map the barely perceptible hills and valleys of the sea surface by combining these data with measurements pinpointing the satellite's exact location in space.
Geological Society of America Special Paper 297: Archaeological Geology of the Archaic Period in North America
Authors: Dalan R. A.
Published: October 2006

The Archaic was the longest cultural period in the prehistory of North America. Although the timing and duration of the period vary regionally, it spans roughly the six millennia between 8,000 and 2,000 years before present. A number of important cultural changes took place during the Archaic period, including a move toward sedentism, the refinement of a sophisticated hunting and gathering economy coupled with the cultivation of indigenous plants, and interaction and trade among people in distant areas.

Given the length of this period and the significance of the cultural transitions that occurred, one would expect that archaeological understanding of Archaic cultures would be thorough. This is not the case, however, and this volume underscores one of the primary reasons why our knowledge is so fragmentary: physical changes that occurred in the land during the Holocene make it difficult to identify Archaic sites.
Budget appropriations process begins
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Four and one‐half months after the FY 1998 budget request went to the U.S. Congress, the work of writing appropriations bills has begun. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have set how much money each of their 13 subcommittees will have to “spend” for the year. This cutting of the discretionary spending pie enables each committee to divide its slice among programs under its jurisdiction. It is customary for the House to pass all of its appropriations bills by the end of July, although Congress is behind schedule this year.
Baron Marcel Nicolet (1912–1996)
Authors: Ackerman Marcel
Published: October 2006

Marcel Nicolet, honorary founder and director of the Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique, passed away on October 8, 1996. Born in the village of Basse Bodeux, Belgium, on February 26, 1912, Nicolet completed his studies in Greek and Latin Classics and went to the University of Liege to study philology. After a few months, he switched courses and registered as a student at the Faculty of Sciences, where he obtained a degree in physics in 1934 after writing a dissertation on the spectrum of O and B stars. He published this work with Paul Swings in the Astrophysical Journal.
Climate control required a dam at the Strait of Gibraltar
Authors: Johnson R. G.
Published: October 2006

If the Mediterranean Sea continues to increase in salinity, shifting climatic patterns throughout the world may cause high‐latitude areas in Canada to glaciate within the next century. The Mediterranean is starved of freshwater by human activities: most of the annual flow of the Nile River is now used for irrigation and no longer enters the sea. The sea surface evaporation losses are also increasing as the surface warms due to rising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Consequently, the Mediterranean hydrologic deficit is steadily increasing. The deficit is the difference between the larger amount of water lost by evaporation and the smaller amount received from rainfall and river inputs. The difference is made up by a two‐way exchange of water with the Atlantic at Gibraltar. Barring a significant change in regional atmospheric circulation, these two human modifications of the environment will cause the salinity of the Mediterranean to increase for some time as fossil fuels are consumed.
Rocky 7
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

Though it's not the hero of the boxing movie sequel, it's just as tough. In the most rigorous field test yet, the prototype Martian rover traveled six‐tenths of a mile over rugged, Mars‐like terrain. Being more versatile than a boxer, the rover conducted science experiments, collected rock and soil samples, and snapped 580 photographs along the way. Rovers modeled after Rocky 7 may be sent to Mars in the years 2001 and 2003 to search for water and evidence to confirm hints that life once may have existed on Mars. The series of field tests carried out at Lavic Lake, an ancient lake bed east of Los Angeles, Calif., were designed to simulate conditions of a real Mars rover mission and to test the rover's ability to travel greater distances than current rovers. The desert basin—containing areas of lava flow, cracked mud, terrain strewn with basalt rocks, and an alluvial fan—resembles some regions of Mars.
Web Site features images of Earth' ionosphere
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Images of the Earth's ionosphere as it changes in response to solar activity are now available at a new web site managed by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Informative, color‐coded ionospheric maps are updated every 15 minutes each day. The impact of future storms will be mapped as the disturbances occur and the images will be made available to all via the Internet, making this site an important resource for astronomers, space weather forecasters, and others involved in atmospheric sciences.
Charles L Drake (1924–1997)
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGU has lost a former President and staunch supporter with the death of Chuck Drake from a heart attack on July 8. A member of AGU since 1950, Drake was a Union Fellow and President of the Union from 1984–1986. His other leadership positions and scientific honors included fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the presidency of the Geological Society of America.
Spacecraft waltzes past Mathilde
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

On June 27 at 8:40 EDT, NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft flew within 1200 km of asteroid 253 Mathilde and snapped pictures for 25 minutes. An hour later, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), scientists were in for a few surprises as the images formed on their computer screens.

First, they saw a very deep shadow caused by a 20‐km‐wide crater, which turned out to be one of Mathilde's many scars. “The degree to which the asteroid has been battered by collisions is astounding,” said Joseph Veverka of Cornell University, who leads the missions's imaging science team. “At first glance, there are more huge craters than there is asteroid.”
Jovian desert and light show
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

The water content of Jupiter varies at least as much as moisture varies between Earth's deserts and rainforests, according to new images and data from the Galileo spacecraft. That variation might explain why Galileo's atmospheric probe found less water than expected when it was dropped into the Jovian atmosphere in December 1995. Members of the Galileo science team suspected that the probe landed in the “Sahara Desert of Jupiter.”
Hide receives the Bowie Medal
Authors: Dickey Jean O. , Hide Raymond
Published: October 2006

The 1997 William Bowie Medal, given by AGU for outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and for unselfish cooperation in research, was presented to Raymond Hide at the AGU Spring Meeting Honor Ceremony on May 28 in Baltimore. The award citation and Hide's response are given here.
Eugene M. Shoemaker (1928–1997)
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

On July 18, Eugene Shoemaker died in a car crash in outback Australia, where he had been studying impact craters. His wife, Carolyn, was injured in the crash. Shoemaker was best known for the codiscovery of comet Shoemaker‐Levy 9, which smashed into Jupiter in 1994. Eugene Shoemaker received AGU's Bowie Medal in 1996 for his pioneering studies of extraterrestrial objects throughout the solar system, both in space and on planetary surfaces. Called the “leading comet discoverer of this century” in the Bowie Medal citation, Shoemaker, with his wife, discovered approximately 20 comets and 800 asteroids.
“Seeing” with radio waves
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

Scientists at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, N. Mex., have, for the first time, produced images using a radio telescope antenna in space. The images were made using a new Japanese HALCA satellite in conjunction with the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and Very Large Array (VLA) groundbased telescopes.
Week 3: Red, white, and somewhat blue at the Pathfinder site
Authors: Edgett Ken
Published: October 2006

ARES VALLIS, MARS—In keeping with the theme of its Fourth of July landing, Mars Pathfinder seems to have found itself in a red, white, and “blue” landscape. While Mars is known as the “Red Planet,” it is the white and somewhat‐blue stuff that is grabbing the attention of the science team.

At a press briefing on July 22, the team showed an enhanced color image of the region in front of the rock, Yogi. (A gray‐scale version of this image is seen in Figure 1). The most exciting feature in the image is a white patch of subsurface material revealed by a deep scour in the soil that was caused by the rover wheels as it turned to examine Yogi. The white patch has a visible reflectance spectrum similar to the white, crusty material exposed by wind about 2.5 m away. Team member Mike Malin talked about these crusts during the first week of the mission. He interpreted them as evidence for the past presence of water that left behind dried mud and/or evaporite material. Also revealed by the new color perspective on the landing site: Yogi has a two‐toned surface. About 1/3 of the rock as seen from the lander is blue‐gray, the other 27/3 has a red, rust‐colored surface. The red material on Yogi and everywhere else at the landing site contains oxidized iron. The blue‐gray surface on this rock is thought to contain unoxidized iron.
Week 4: Overcast skies as Sagan Station searches for “pale blue dot“
Authors: Edgett Ken
Published: October 2006

ARES VALLIS, MARS—Earth‐bound astronomers know the problem. You finally get your telescope time. You go up to the mountain. And it's socked‐in by clouds—you can't get the data.

Now Mars Pathfinder knows the same problem. Pathfinder, also known as the Sagan Memorial Station, was attempting to observe the bright morning “star,” Earth. It was Pathfinder's sixteenth day on the planet, and Earth had risen several hours before the Sun. The IMP (Imager for Mars Pathfinder) team from the University of Arizona was eager to get this image of our home world—in part because it might inspire the public, and in part because Earth is one of a variety of astronomical targets that are used to help determine how much dust is suspended in the atmosphere.
Parlange receives the Macelwane Medal
Authors: Brutsaert Wilfried , Parlange Marc B.
Published: October 2006

The 1997 James B. Macelwane Medal, given by AGU for significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by a young scientist of outstanding ability, was presented to Marc B. Parlange at the AGU Spring Meeting Honors Ceremony on May 28, 1997, in Baltimore. The award citation and Parlange's response are given here.
Carbon cyclist
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A satellite launched in early August as part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth could dramatically increase understanding of how carbon cycles through the Earth's biosphere and living organisms and how this process influences global climate. The Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐View Sensor (SeaWiFS) will measure the color of the oceans with a radiometer to determine the concentration of chlorophyll found in oceanic phytoplankton. The single‐celled plants, at the base of food chains around the world, remove carbon dioxide from seawater through photosynthesis, which allows oceans to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Study of Earth's rotation and geophysical fluids progresses
Authors: Dehant V. , Wilson C. R. , Salstein D. A. , Chao B. F. , Gross R. S. , Provost Ch. Le , Ponte R. M.
Published: October 2006

Variations in the Earth's speed of rotation and the position and orientation of the rotation axis—known collectively as Earth orientation parameters—are observed by a variety of space geodetic techniques coordinated by the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS). Observations of Earth orientation parameters provide fundamental information about the physical properties of the Earth's interior and the variability of fluids in the atmosphere, oceans, and liquid core, and on land.

Participants at a workshop held October 14–18, 1996, at the Paris Observatory, where IERS is headquartered, called for extending IERS activities [Reigber and Feissel, 1997] to include the monitoring of geodetically important properties of the oceans, the liquid core, and terrestrial water to supplement current atmospheric angular momentum variation (AAM) measurements. Given the success of the IERS, expansion of its activities into other areas is not only natural for understanding the observed Earth orientation parameters, but essential for fulfilling its mission of improving the underlying space geodetic observations.
Center of the Iceland hotspot experiences volcanic unrest
Authors: Einarsson Páll , Brandsdóttir Bryndís , Gudmundsson Magnüs Tumi , Björnsson Helgi , Grínvold Karl , Sigmundsson Freysteinn
Published: October 2006

A volcanic eruption beneath the Vatnajökull ice cap in central Iceland (Figure 1) began on September 30,1996, along a 7‐km‐long fissure between the volcanoes Bárdarbunga and Grímsvötn. The eruption continued for 13 days and produced ˜0.5 km3 of basaltic andesite. Meltwater from the eruption site flowed into the caldera lake of the Grímsvötn volcano, where it accumulated beneath a floating ice shelf. The lake's ice dam was lifted off the glacier bed on November 4, and in the next two days more than 3 km3 of water drained out beneath the glacier and flushed down to the south coast's alluvial plain, causing extensive flooding and damage to transportation and communication systems.
Navy to release storehouse of Arctic Ocean data
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

George Newton, Jr. was reading an article last winter about the navigation of Arctic polar submarines when he noticed an accompanying map that indicated about 193,000 kilometers (120,000 miles) of U.S. military submarine tracks. Newton, the chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC) and a former second in command of a Navy nuclear sub, thought that if the Navy already had declassified these tracks in the 1980s, maybe it would release additional data that could help fill enormous gaps in knowledge about the environment of the Arctic Ocean.
Rock, paper, scissors
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Poet William Blake saw the world in a grain of sand. Tau Rho Alpha sees it in tennis balls.

Alpha, a research cartographer with the U.S. Geological Survey, plans to serve up about 3,000 donated tennis balls during a September 13 and 14 open house at the agency's Menlo Park, Calif., offices. Along with the fuzzballs come Alpha's instructions for people to paste on paper cut‐outs of a six‐paneled map of the world or one that features its tectonic plates. He says that anybody can cut out the black and white designs, slather them with glue to tennis balls, and color the globes.
Comment [on “The Zen of Venn” by Paul Arthur Berkman]
Authors: Toulmin Priestley
Published: October 2006

I must protest the spreading misuse and mislabeling of intersecting‐domain diagrams in the peritechnical literature (“The Zen of Venn,” Eos, May 20, 1997, p. 209). To begin with, the drawing in Figure 1 of that note is not, strictly speaking, a Venn diagram. The logician John Venn proposed a scheme of diagrammatic analysis for categorical statements and simple syllogisms that used intersecting circles and specifically defined symbols to determine the consistency and/or validity of rigorous logical constructs [Venn, 1880; Quine, 1953]. Extension of the method to the graphical representation of unions and intersections of sets (mathematically defined objects) can assist visualization and is ordinarily inoffensive. Attempts, such as this one, to adapt it to represent vague associations of ill‐defined and disparate concepts both offend the underlying logical basis of the method and fail to convey precise or even useful information.
Seismographic network provides blueprint for scientific cooperation
Authors: Lane Neal , Eaton Gordon
Published: October 2006

In the South Atlantic Ocean near Antarctica, ground motion created by a small, distant earthquake is recorded on South Georgia Island. Within hours of the earthquake, the data are automatically collected and made available to all government scientists and university researchers via the Internet. While near‐real time access to seismic data from a remote oceanic island is a great technological accomplishment, the earthquake recorded on South Georgia Island signals a far greater achievement: operation of the 100th station of the Global Seismographic Network (Figure 1).

The Global Seismographic Network is a blueprint for scientific programs that not only advance our understanding of the physical world, but also address the needs of society. Funded by both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Global Seismographic Network is now yielding a multi‐use scientific tool that will make it possible for us to explore the Earth's interior, mitigate earthquake hazards, and monitor compliance with the recently signed Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Geomagnetic data safely stored
Authors: Gaffney Paul G.
Published: October 2006

A recent article in Eos (May 13, 1997, p. 199), “Conference on the Magnetization of the Oceanic Crust Steers Future Research,” made reference to certain geomagnetic data held by the U.S. Navy. The authors expressed concern for the safekeeping of the data mentioned above. Their concern was apparently predicated on the belief that these data are being stored only on aging magnetic tapes. This is not the case. The geomagnetic data, held by the Naval Oceanographic Office, are stored in multiple copies on several different stable media, including on‐line storage in our relatively new Integrated Database Management System.
Sojourner rocking and rolling through Pathfinder's extended mission
Authors: Edgett Ken
Published: October 2006

ARES VALLIS, MARS—With temperatures around −9°C in the mid‐afternoon and down to −75°C at night, northern summer at the Mars Pathfinder landing site is nearing its close. Autumn will begin in about 2 weeks, right about the same time that Pathfinder's orbiting companion, Mars Global Surveyor, will reach the Red Planet.

As autumn approaches, the average daily temperatures will continue to decrease, and there is some potential for the winds to pick up. In the 1970s, dust storm season was seen to extend from northern autumn right through winter. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Viking 1 lander (which is located about 800 km from Pathfinder) detected changes in atmospheric opacity (that is, how much dust is suspended in the atmosphere) from about the start of autumn and on into the winter. Will Pathfinder see the same? Will strong winds blow through the site and rub out the tire tracks left by the 62‐cm long rover, Sojourner?
For peat's sake
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

With climate models predicting a sharp increase in global temperature over the coming decades, three scientists are investigating how this warming trend will affect a huge band of peat wetlands that ring the Northern Hemisphere around Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and the former Soviet Union.

“We are concerned about the impact of a major climate change on these ecosystems with tons of soil carbon,” says Scott Bridgham, a professor at the University of Notre Dame, who is a principal investigator in the study along with Jiquan Chen of Michigan Technological University and John Pastor of the University of Minnesota. Bridgham says that peatlands make up just 2.5% of the Earth's surface but contain about one‐third of its soil carbon pool.
Remote sensing communities “break the ice” at Flagstaff Workshop
Authors: Calvin Wendy
Published: October 2006

Water plays a unique role in our solar system. Its presence in liquid form is a prerequisite for the development of life. In solid form, it is ubiquitous, occurring on many planetary bodies from Mercury to Pluto. On Earth, variations in polar and snow‐covered regions are related to processes of global change and climate trends. Snow‐covered areas control land surface albedo and thus radiation balance and are a major contributor to water resources in arid and semi‐arid regions of the world. In space, spectacular images of Europa suggest the crust of that moon was once mobile with blocks of ice rafting over an internal ocean that may or may not still be present. Ice on Mars plays a central role in climate history and its abundance is critical in the assessment of the water inventory of that planet.
1920s prediction reveals some pitfalls of earthquake forecasting
Authors: Geschwind Carl‐Henry
Published: October 2006

A number of seismologists are pursuing the possibility of making scientifically credible earthquake forecasts or predictions. Others, however, are concerned about how the public might react to such forecasts [National Research Council, 1978; Geller, 1997]. In the 1920s, the president of the Seismological Society of America publicly predicted that southern California would suffer a severe earthquake within the next ten years. Only passing mention has been given to this episode in historical discussions of earthquake seismology [Richter, 1958, p. 388; Meltsner, 1979, pp. 343, 346–347]. Three related points are illustrated by this episode which may have some application to other instances of earthquake forecasting. Even credible predictions can evoke opposition from groups who see their economic interests threatened; predictions about future events may be undermined as scientific data are revised; and actual moderate earthquakes often spur more people to take hazard mitigation efforts than predictions of large earthquakes in the future.
As launch to Saturn nears, plutonium controversy increases
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

After years of rigorous planning and testing, NASA scientists say they are convinced that the mid‐October launch of the $3.4 billion, plutonium‐powered Cassini mission to Saturn poses nearly no risk to the Earth and will provide an astronomical treasure of information about the sixth rock from the Sun. They say that once the mission reaches the Saturnian neighborhood in the year 2004, it also will offer important insights about the planet's icy rings, and about Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which exhibits atmospheric conditions that may have existed on a primordial Earth.

A growing opposition, however, argues that the exploration of Saturn should wait until an alternative electrical generating system is developed. These critics—who include some former NASA employees, scientists, and activists—are concerned that the spacecraft's 72.3 pounds of plutonium 238 poses a potential catastrophic risk to the Earth's population, if the substance is released. Cassini carries the most plutonium ever used on a space mission, and NASA says this is the only means for powering the heavy spacecraft in extremely dim sunlight.
Deep submergence science takes a new approach
Authors: Fornari Daniel J. , Humphris Susan E. , Perfit Michael R.
Published: October 2006

From 1965 to 1985, deep submergence technology and science relied heavily on human‐occupied submersibles. DSV Alvin has played a significant role, both as a testbed for technical development and for conducting basic research in the water column and on the deep seafloor. Human presence is extremely valuable and still essential for many facets of deep submergence science. However, in order to permit routine access to the deep ocean for repeated measurements over long periods of time, a new class of remotely operated vehicles was needed.
Hart receives the Hess Medal
Authors: Hofmann Albrecht W. , Hart Stanley R.
Published: October 2006

Stanley Hart was awarded the Harry H. Hess Medal at the AGU Spring Meeting Honor Ceremony on May 28, 1997, in Baltimore, Md. The Hess medal recognizes outstanding achievements in research in the constitution and evolution of Earth and its sister planets. The award citations, given by the official presenter who was unable to attend and a stand‐in presenter, and Hart's response are given here.
Meeting session explores role of water in ice dynamics
Authors: Fischer Urs H.
Published: October 2006

Premier glaciologist Almut Iken recently retired after conducting research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich for 25 years. To honor her many important contributions to glaciology, approximately 80 colleagues from many parts of Europe and North America participated in a special session at the 1996 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco to explore the role of water in ice dynamics, a topic that Iken significantly advanced. Iken's pioneering work in Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, Antarctica, Alaska, and the Swiss Alps explained how englacial and subglacial water affects the dynamics of ice masses. Her research is fundamental to understanding the behavior of ice streams—which drain the major ice sheets—the cycling of glacier surges, and the seasonal movement of alpine glaciers.
New three‐dimensional viewer runs on common PCs
Authors: van Wees Jan‐Diederik , Kok Gerard
Published: October 2006

Anybody who has ever worked with interactive three‐dimensional visualization computer applications knows how effective such techniques are for data analysis. Unfortunately these applications are usually expensive and require dedicated graphics work stations that are beyond the reach of most academic institutions. However, new programs that can be run on Pentium systems are bringing high‐end three‐dimensional graphics solutions to a broad audience [see e.g., Flohr, 1996].

Two major factors are contributing to this development. First, technical improvements in graphics boards and drivers make highend, three‐dimensional graphics performance possible on low‐cost systems. Second, major improvements are being made in developing standard three‐dimensional graphics languages (for example, OpenGL and Direct3D). These developments allow rapid and effective development of three‐dimensional graphics applications tailored to specific customer needs.
Specral magnitudes and seismograms measure radiation from seismic sources
Authors: Duda Seweryn J. , Gupta Harsh K.
Published: October 2006

For over 100 years, efforts have been made to measure the strength of earthquakes. In 1935, Richter established the local magnitude scale, ML, for earthquakes in Southern California using Wood Anderson Seismographs. The seismic waves used had periods ranging from 0.1 s to 2 s. In 1945, Gutenberg [1945a] developed the surface wave magnitude scale (Ms) based on the amplitudes of horizontal surface waves with periods of (20±3) s, recorded at large distances. Gutenberg [1945b] also used seismic body P and S waves, with average periods of 5 s and 10 s, respectively, to introduce the bodywave magnitude scale (mb).
Pettengill receives the Whitten Medal
Authors: Shapiro Irwin , Pettengill Gordon H.
Published: October 2006

Gordon H. Pettengill was honored as the recipient of the Charles A. Whitten Medal at AGU's Spring Meeting in Baltimore on May 28, 1997. The award is given for outstanding achievements in research on the form and dynamics of the Earth and the planets. The citation and Pettengill's response are given here.

“Rock solid” is the best description of Gordon Pettengill's research. Always in the forefront, never trivial, Gordon's publications set the highest standards for scientific content and clarity of presentation. His preparation was equally solid, from an undergraduate physics education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to graduate school in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, with only a brief interlude partly spent in Europe in 1944—1945 settling a certain conflict there.
Around the lander in 80 sols
Authors: Edgett Ken
Published: October 2006

ARES VALLIS, MARS—It's like a whole new landing site. One advantage of Mars Pathfinder over its Viking predecessors is the rover, Sojourner, which is proving to be a capable miniature geologist. Now more than 80 Martian days—called Sols, each of which is approximately 24 hours, 37 minutes long— into the mission, Sojourner continues to provide new perspectives on the Pathfinder landing site. Sojourner is giving the engineering team a wealth of data and experience that will be useful when the next rover reaches the red planet in 2002.

A prime example of the new perspectives provided by the rover came on Sol 76 (September 19, 1997), when Sojourner peeked behind the 0.2–0.8 m‐high boulders of the “Rock Garden.” This vista contained a beautiful set of wind‐blown drifts that were not visible to the lander's stereo imaging system (Figure 1). The drifts occur on the downwind (southwest) side of a cluster of imbricated boulders and are analogous to the variety of wind‐tails seen behind cobbles and pebbles throughout the landing site.
Lunar details gleaned from digital stereo images
Authors: Oberst J. , Waehlisch M. , Cook A. C. , Roatsch T. , Jaumann R.
Published: October 2006

Using new methods to analyze digital stereo images taken from spacecraft, scientists have mapped areas on the Moon's surface in unprecedented detail. A team at the Institute of Planetary Exploration in Berlin, a branch of the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR), developed digital stereo image processing methods and applied them to recent spacecraft imagery of the Moon to create local and regional Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) [Oberst et al., 1996]. If these results are any indication, the new methods should greatly enhance studies of surface geology of other planets as well. In fact, the analysis methods have been successfully applied to images of asteroid Ida, to moons such as Ganymede and Io, and to Mars and Mercury.
40 years after Sputnik, scientists and journalists seek detente
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Four decades ago, the Soviet Union lofted a small metal object into orbit around the Earth. It set the United States scurrying into the space race, and helped to spur the ongoing explosion of scientific and technological advances.

Sputnik was a good story. It had conflict and drama, and was widely covered in the press. Many other big and small science stories now hit the front pages nearly every day, such as the Mars Pathfinder, global warming, and El Niño.
Holocene climate less stable than previously thought
Authors: deMenocal Peter , Bond Gerard
Published: October 2006

Until recently, Holocene climate was thought to be extremely stable with none of the abrupt variations that characterize the cold climates of glacial times [Dansgaard et al., 1993]. New terrestrial, marine, and ice core data, however, document abrupt changes during the warm interglacial climate of the last 12,000 years. These newly developed Holocene paleoclimate records indicate that the Holocene was punctuated by a series of millennial‐scale (1000–2000 year) cooling events, the most recent of which was the Little Ice Age (LIA) between approximately 1500 and 1800 A.D.

Historical evidence indicates that the estimated ˜1°–2°C LIA ooling was ufficient to choke European ports with sea ice, freeze European rivers (as graphically recorded in the 1565 painting “Winter Landscape” by Pieter Bruegel), force abandonment of Viking colonies in Greenland, and cause glaciers to overrun alpine villages [Bradley and Jones, 1995]. Although these Holocene cooling events were not as large as the well‐known glacial Heinrich events and Dansgaard‐Oeschger climate instabilities [Bond et al., 1996; Dansgaard et al., 1993], they nonetheless document dramatic climate swings during the “climatically stable” Holocene.
Fellows receives the Flinn Award
Authors: Corell Robert W. , Fellows Jack D.
Published: October 2006

Jack Fellows was awarded the Edward A. Flinn III Award at the AGU Spring Meeting Honor Ceremony on May 28, 1997, in Baltimore, Md. The Flinn Award is given to individuals who personify the Union's motto, “un‐selfish cooperation in research” through their facilitating, coordinating, and implementing activities. The award citation and Fellows' response are given here.
The Oceans and Climate
Authors: Green A. W.
Published: October 2006

The rapid growth and the diversity of global climate research topics are challenges to providing an overview of the field, particularly at an undergraduate level. An instructor who undertakes the challenge to offer an undergraduate course on global climate will lay a plan to convey a basic working knowledge of the principal processes that control global climate, adjusting the goals of the course to the background, interest, and motivation of the students.

If the course progresses well, there may be time to extract highlights of recent research results to spark interest and appreciation. Another approach could be to reveal a myriad of processes that contribute to climate change and sketch the grand outline of how they mesh, adding details to give the students a hint of the underpinnings in quantitative science. This approach may offer more academic adventure for student and lecturer, but also more uncertainty.