bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
1993 AGU Fellows
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGU congratulates the twenty‐nine distinguished scientists who were selected by a committee of their peers to be AGU Fellows in 1993. This selection was based on the individual attaining acknowledged eminence in a branch of geophysics.

The number of Fellows selected annually is limited to no more than 0.1% of the AGU membership. The new Fellows are listed below.
Gibbons confirmed as science adviser
Authors: Jones Richard M.
Published: October 2006

On January 28, John H. Gibbons, President Clinton's nominee for director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, was confirmed by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. During the January 26 confirmation hearing he outlined his thinking on a number of science policy issues, including his relationship to Vice‐President Al Gore on science policy development.

Gibbons has had a long and successful relationship with Congress for 14 years, since he became director of the Office of Technology Assessment. Gibbons clearly impressed the members of the confirmation committee.
Lithospheric stress patterns: A global view
Authors: Zoback Mary Lou , Burke Kevin
Published: October 2006

The present‐day lithospheric stress state is the result of a variety of forces that act on and within the tectonic plates forming the Iithosphere. Knowledge of this stress state provides important constraints on forces acting at a variety of scales and, hence, helps to solve scientific problems of interest to a wide spectrum of scientists and engineers.

Six years of effort by scientists from all over the world (listed at end of article) brought together under the International Lithosphere Program (ILP) of the joint International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics/International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGG/IUGS) Interunion Commission on the Lithosphere culminated in the July 1992 publication of the World Stress Map and nineteen accompanying research papers in a special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research‐Solid Earth (volume 87, number B8). Figure 1 shows a reduced version of the published 1:40,000,000 color map.
House Science Committee sets agenda
Authors: Jones Richard M.
Published: October 2006

An informal briefing a few weeks ago by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee staff provided a good overview of high‐priority science issues that they will address. The committee plans to revisit some issues as well as consider new matters of interest.

There is much uncertainty about the Clinton administration's budget request, with no firm information about Space Station Freedom or budgets for the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, or NASA. The Office of Management and Budget is assembling the new budget, which will then be sent to the agencies for review. March 23 is the current target date for release of the detailed budget document.
Arctic Contamination Workshop planned
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

During the past few years, much concern has been raised about the contamination of the Arctic environment. The U.S. government and the governments of other Arctic nations have been joined by many citizen groups in calling for an examination of both the shortand long‐term consequences of this Arctic contamination.

A workshop to assess Arctic contamination will be held in Anchorage, Alaska, May 2–7. It will be a forum to gather information on the extent of the dumping of nuclear and other hazardous and toxic waste materials into the Arctic Ocean, its marginal seas, and its fluvial tributaries, as well as the emissions of airborne contaminants into the Arctic atmosphere. The workshop is being convened by the U.S. Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC).
Glacigenic mudflows on the Bear Island Submarine Fan
Authors: Vogt P. R. , Crane K. , Sundvor E.
Published: October 2006

SeaMARC II sidescan imagery casts new light on glacigenic mass‐wasting on the Bear Island Fan, whose surface geology is evidently much more complex (Figure 1) than the regular bathymetric contours had indicated. The University of Bergen research vessel Håkon Mosby towed a SeaMARC II side‐scan sonar/bathymetric swathmapping system along the Svalbard‐Barents Sea continental margins and across the Mohns‐Knipovich‐Molloy spreading axis [Sundvor et al., 1990] in October and November 1989 and again in September and October 1990. Magnetic, 3.5‐kHz, and gravity data were also collected along parts of the survey area.

The plate boundary was the primary campaign target, but significant discoveries were also made on the reconnaissance tracks across and along portions of the margins, mostly below 800‐ to 1000‐m depths (P. Vogt et al., unpublished manuscript, 1993). We summarize our work over the central and northern quadrants of the Bear Island Fan (Figure 2), where the sidescan revealed unusual mass‐wasting in the form of numerous thin (10–20 m), 5‐ to 20‐km‐wide mudflows up to 200 km long (Figures 1,3, and 4).
The Flores Island tsunamis
Authors: Yeh Harry , Imamura Fumihiko , Synolakis Costas , Tsuji Yoshinobu , Liu Philip , Shi Shaozhong
Published: October 2006

On December 12, 1992, at 5:30 A.M. GMT, an earthquake of magnitude Ms 7.5 struck the eastern region of Flores Island, Indonesia (Figure 1), a volcanic island located just at the transition between the Sunda and Banda Island arc systems. The local newspaper reported that 25‐m high tsunamis struck the town of Maumere, causing substantial casualties and property damage. On December 16, television reports broadcast in Japan via satellite reported that 1000 people had been killed in Maumere and twothirds of the population of Babi Island had been swept away by the tsunamis.

The current toll of the Flores earthquake is 2080 deaths and 2144 injuries, approximately 50% of which are attributed to the tsunamis. A tsunami survey plan was initiated within 3 days of the earthquake, and a cooperative international survey team was formed with four scientists from Indonesia, nine from Japan, three from the United States, one from the United Kingdom, and one from Korea.
Predicting the movement of volcanic ash clouds
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Once volcanic ash is released by an eruption and becomes airborne, its movement is outside the direct jurisdiction of all concerned agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Soon after the successful prediction of the December 14, 1989, eruption of Redoubt Volcano many hours before it actually occurred, we learned that a KLM Boeing 747 nearly crashed as it encountered the ash cloud over the Alaska Range (see Figure 1). This accident occurred even though all concerned agencies in Anchorage were notified of the predicted and actual eruption by the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
Linking ground‐ and space‐based observations in space physics
Authors: Akasofu Syun‐Ichi
Published: October 2006

A critical review of past efforts in space physics underscores the importance of incorporating three important concepts in developing a strategy for progress during the next decade. These three approaches are suggested in an effort to study the magnetosphere and geospace environment generally as a vast three‐dimensional system.

The discipline of space physics was born after the advent of Sputnik. The subsequent growth of the discipline took different courses in different countries. In Europe and Japan, many researchers in the traditional disciplines of geomagnetism, aeronomy, and ionospheric physics contributed to the birth and growth of space physics. Thus, early in, its development, they devoted their efforts to ground‐based observations. U.S. physicists became the main force in establishing and developing space physics and played a major role primarily through satellite‐based observations. In the former Soviet Union, researchers from the traditional disciplines closely collaborated with physicists.
Heavy winter precipitation in southwest Arizona
Authors: Guttman Nathaniel B. , Lee Jung Jin , Wallis James R.
Published: October 2006

During December 1992, according to theWeekly Climate Bulletinof the Climate Analysis Center in Washington, D.C., heavy precipitation inundated parts of Arizona causing more than 400% of normal precipitation to fall in the southwestern part of the state. Heavy precipitation continued to fall during the next 2 months, causing extensive flooding along the Gila River.

Phoenix Weather Service Forecast Office monthly storm data reports indicated flooding along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers on December 29. From January 7 to 20, roads, bridges, homes, businesses, and farmland suffered considerable flood damage from Graham County westward to Yuma County as rivers and streams swelled. Several thousand people were isolated in their homes as flood waters cut off roads. The January storm data report shows that the combination of a northward‐displaced subtropical jet stream, with its abundant moisture supply and associated low pressure disturbances and a southward‐displaced polar jet stream, with its storm track, led to the abnormally wet period from late December to mid‐January. In February, severe flooding was reported in several areas as water rose in the Painted Rock Reservoir; water accumulating behind the dam produced the largest lake in the state. After exceeding the 2.5 million acre‐feet capacity of the reservoir, water began spilling over the dam and damaging homes, crops, farmland, roads, and bridges. About 3,500 residents were evacuated, and the National Guard responded to the flooding with various relief efforts including helicopter support operations. The U.S. and Arizona Departments of Agriculture reported flood damage in excess of $50 million.
DOE Budget to grow slightly in 1994
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

The Department of Energy's budget request for fiscal year 1994 is $19.6 billion, a modest increase over fiscal 1993's appropriation of $19 billion. Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary described the request as a shift in priorities to meet the needs of a shifting world.

“In concert with other administration activities, DOE will continue in fiscal 1994 to substantially redirect DOE's research and development priorities,” said O'Leary. The emphasis is on energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy sources, natural gas utilization, and technology transfer from the national laboratories aimed at increasing competitiveness, she said.

For national defense needs, the fiscal 1994 budget drops from $7.2 billion to $5.9 billion. Many projects for advanced nuclear reactors will be eliminated, and funding for nuclear weapons activities will be reduced.
Outstanding student paper award
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Mary Kohl's presentation, “Using a Short‐Baseline Borehole Tiltmeter to Measure the Regional Tilt,” was named the Outstanding Student Paper in the Geodesy Section at AGU's 1992 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Kohl is a doctoral student in physics at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Colorado. Her research is in experimental geophysics, and her dissertation will focus on understanding and interpreting tidal tilt measurements in southern California. Kohl received a B.S. in physics from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., in 1985.
Our educational mission
Authors: Mogk David W.
Published: October 2006

It is imperative that the Earth‐sciences community engage an educational mission with the same vigor that we pursue other scholarly endeavors; otherwise, we are in danger of eating our own seed corn. A common public perception exists that the Earth sciences are “soft sciences” compared with other physical and life sciences. This may be due in part to the interdisciplinary nature of our many activities. However, it is in this broad‐based approach that our collective strength lies, particularly as we apply the “pure” sciences to complex natural systems. Our contributions are even more evident when applied to topical scientific issues affecting society.
Cox receives Ewing Medal
Authors: Gregg Michael , Cox Charles S.
Published: October 2006

The Ewing Medal, given by AGU and the U.S. Navy for leadership in geophysics, was presented to Charles S. Cox at the 1992 AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony on December 9, 1992. The meeting was held in San Francisco. The award citation, delivered by Michael Gregg, as well as Cox's response, are presented here.
Continent‐continent collision in southern Alps studied
Authors: Henyey T. , Stern T. , Molnar P.
Published: October 2006

Developing a scientific plan for geophysical study of the Southern Alps, New Zealand, was the focus of a workshop convened from April 5 to 10 at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. The study is a cooperative effort between U.S. and New Zealand scientists. The workshop was convened by F. Davey, Institute for Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Wellington, New Zealand; T. Stern, Victoria University, Wellington; and T. Henyey and D. Okaya, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. It was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Continental Dynamics Program with assistance from the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences and Victoria University.
Mid‐Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal processes: Prelude to drilling
Authors:   TAG Hydrothermal Research Team
Published: October 2006

The characterization of physical and chemical regimes of one of the largest and deepest seafloor hydrothermal fields known, the Trans‐Atlantic Geotraverse (TAG) field situated on the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge near 26°N, 45°W, was the subject of a diving cruise by IW Atlantis II/Alvin during April and May. An international research team carried out multidisciplinary investigations of both active and inactive hydrothermal zones of the field. The investigation was designed to achieve several objectives supporting drilling of an active sulfide mound in the TAG field scheduled in late 1994 by the Ocean Drilling Program: to advance understanding of the role of seafloor hydrothermal activity in transferring heat and chemicals between the oceanic lithosphere and the ocean

to establish a quantitative baseline for these exchange processes prior to drilling the mound

to determine the structure of the mound.
Uniform seismic data recording format explored
Authors: Fuchs Karl
Published: October 2006

To fill the need for an international uniform data recording format for future large‐scale seismic experiments using more than 500 stations for observations, the International Lithosphere Program (ILP) and the International Association for Seismology and Physics of the Earth Interior (IASPEI) have formed the Mega Earth Mobile Seismic Array Consortium (MEMSAC). MEMSAC held its first meeting from April 30 to May 1 in Karlsruhe, Germany. Experts from Europe and North America met with industry representatives to discuss the feasibility and avenues for a uniform data recording format.

In arguing for uniform field computer output, J. Fowler (PASSCAL) stressed the necessity of instrument‐dependent quality control, which would include time and clock control and control of manual entries such as geographic information, channel identification, sample rate, gain settings, channel number, and data compression. Information contained in the header (log file, health file) was also briefly discussed, as were archiving and exchange formats, but no recommendations were issued.
Mediterranean and Global Ocean and Climate Dynamics
Authors: Robinson A. R. , Garrett C. J. , Malanotte‐Rizzoli P. , Manabe S. , Philander S. G. , Pinardi N. , Roether W. , Schott F. A. , Shukla J.
Published: October 2006

The Mediterranean is a mid‐latitude semienclosed sea, or almost an isolated oceanic system. Rapid progress has been made in recent years in describing the physical structure of its currents and circulation and in identifying associated space‐time variabilities. Definitive dynamical studies are now possible in order to understand processes and mechanisms of the Mediterranean general circulation and its influences, regionally and globally. Many processes that are fundamental to the general circulation of the world ocean also occur within the Mediterranean, either identically or analogously. But the relatively small size of the Mediterranean facilitates research logistics and minimizes resources required for experimental modeling and field research.
Canadian Geophysical Union meets
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

After a very successful joint meeting with AGU in Montreal last year, the Canadian Geophysical Union returned to its regular venue at Banff, Alberta, in 1993. One hundred‐forty‐two papers were presented in sixteen sessions.

The session's highlight was the presentation of the Wilson award to Alan Beck of the University of Western Ontario. The CGU awards this medal annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to geophysics in Canada.
Clinton selects Space Station design
Authors: Holmes John
Published: October 2006

When it came to selecting a new space station design, President Clinton's decision was truly multiple choice: he has chosen to combine two of the three design options presented to him by NASA officials and forge a new space station that is smaller and simpler than the much‐criticized Space Station Freedom.

Announcing his compromise decision on June 17, Clinton opted to blend options A and B, the two versions most similar to Freedom. Like Freedom, the new station will be centered on a long truss with solar panels at each end with science, habitation, and other modules in the middle. The design is essentially that of Option A, known as the “Power Station”; Option B, which most closely reflects the Freedom design, was slightly larger, more complex, and expensive.
ODP drills the West Iberia rifted margin
Authors:   ODP Leg 149 Shipboard Scientific Party
Published: October 2006

Leg 149 of the Ocean Drilling Program drilled a transect of basement holes across the ocean‐continent transition (OCT) of the rifted continental margin off the west coast of Portugal. The principal objective was to sample a series of basement highs beneath the Iberia Abyssal Plain, which were thought to span the transition from the oldest oceanic crust to a peridotite ridge separating oceanic from extended continental crusts to a broad region of highly‐extended continental crust.

Drilling demonstrated that the late rift‐stage exposures of peridotite at the seafloor are more laterally extensive than previously thought; peridotite was found on two highs 19 km apart. From the region expected to be extended continental crust, we cored 57 m of metagabbro basement whose continental or oceanic affinities are not yet clear. This rock may be Hercynian in age, and therefore part of the continental crust that was rifted to form this margin, or it may have been emplaced, uplifted, and exposed during rifting some 125 m.y.a. At our most landward site, Tithonian sediments, deposited about 20 m.y. before the onset of seafloor spreading on this segment of margin, are interpreted to overlie extended continental crust. The results of the leg will shed new light on the mechanisms by which upper mantle and perhaps lower crustal rocks are exposed at the seafloor during the late stages of continental breakup.
Unusual rupture process of the Japan Sea earthquake
Authors: Tanioka Yuichiro , Ruff Larry , Satake Kenji
Published: October 2006

On July 12, 1993, a large earthquake and associated tsunami caused terrible damage to the Japan Sea side of Japan, Korea, and Russia. The southwestern shore of Hokkaido and Okushiri Island were particularly hard hit. All aspects of this earthquake will undoubtedly be studied in great detail. This brief report focuses on the tectonic setting and some puzzles encountered in the preliminary seismological analysis.

At first glance, the July 12 event appears to have occurred on the “wrong side” of Japan (see Figure 1). The Pacific plate subducts to the west beneath northern Honshu and Hokkaido, and a Wadati‐Benioff zone extends to 700‐km depth beneath the Sea of Japan. Great underthrusting earthquakes are expected to occur on the east coast of Honshu and Hokkaido, such as the 1968 Tokachi‐Oki (magnitude 8.2) and 1978 Miyagi‐Oki (magnitude 7.6) earthquakes. Thus, the occurrence of large, shallow, underthrusting earthquakes on the west coast of Honshu and Hokkaido is somewhat odd. Nonetheless, there is now almost a continuous linkage of the rupture areas of such earthquakes off the western coasts of Honshu and Hokkaido, and this activity extends north to Sakalin.
Sputtering, still the dominant source of plasma at Dione?
Authors: Johnson R. E. , Grosjean D. E. , Jurac S. , Baragiola R. A.
Published: October 2006

It is generally assumed that the heavy‐ion plasma in the inner Saturnian magnetosphere is formed by the energetic plasma ions impacting and ejecting material from the icy satellites (Figure 1), a self‐sustained process known as ion sputtering [Lanzerotti et al., 1983; Eviatar, 1984; Richardson et al., 1986].

Plasma‐ion sputtering of a surface is a well‐established laboratory technique for surface analysis and producing a vapor from a surface with a low vapor pressure; therefore, its potential relevance in Saturn's magnetosphere is intriguing. If the source of plasma in Saturn's inner magnetosphere is the surface of the icy satellites, then measurements of the composition of the freshly produced plasma can be used to determine the satellite surface composition [Johnson and Sittler, 1990]. This exciting prospect may be realized during the proposed encounter of Cassini with Saturn's satellite Dione in ∼2005 because of the high mass resolution of the plasma instruments carried on the spacecraft.
Tsunami devastates Japanese coastal region
Authors:   Hokkaido Tsunami Survey Group
Published: October 2006

The Hokkaido‐Nansei‐Oki earthquake on July 12 produced one of the largest tsunamis in Japan's history. At 2217 local time (1317 UTC), the Ms‐7.8 quake rocked the west coast of Hokkaido and the small, offshore island of Okushiri in the Sea of Japan, generating a major tsunami. Within 2–5 minutes, extremely large waves engulfed the Okushiri coastline and the central west coast of Hokkaido. Extensive damage occurred on the southern tip of Okushiri Island at the town of Aonae (Figures 1 and 2). Figure 3 shows the location of the study area.

Tsunami vertical runup measurements varied between 15 and 30 m over a 20‐km portion of the southern part of Okushiri Island, with several 10‐m values on the northern portion of the island (Figure 4). Along the west coast of Hokkaido, no survey values exceeded 10 m, but damage was extensive at several coastal towns (Figure 5). Given the sudden onset of the tsunami and its high energy, it is amazing that more people were not killed.
Ocean science educator award announced
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Office of Naval Research has announced a program to identify and support academic ocean scientists (“educators”) who have a distinguished record of educating high‐quality doctoral and/or postdoctoral students and who will, under this program, draw postdoctoral scientists from other disciplines into the ocean sciences.

Named “educators” must be U.S. citizens with research and training experience in the ocean sciences and must have a current research and teaching position at a U.S. institution that confers doctoral degrees in ocean sciences.
Lambeck receives Whitten Medal
Authors: Kaula Bill , Lambeck Kurt
Published: October 2006

Kurt Lambeck was honored as the recipient of the Charles A. Whitten Medal at AGU's Spring Meeting in Baltimore last May. The award is given for outstanding achievement in research on the form and dynamics of the Earth and planets. The citation, by Bill Kaula, and Lambeck's response, appear below.
Recommendations for NASA's Space Physics Data System
Authors: Sharma Rikhi , Walker Ray , Willett Jim
Published: October 2006

Approximately seventy‐five scientists gathered at Rice University in Houston, Tex. from June 1 to 3 for a community‐wide workshop on NASA's Space Physics Data System (SPDS). The purpose of the workshop was to consider community needs for data access and to make recommendations to guide the Space Physics Division (SPD) in managing space physics data in the 1990s and beyond.

The workshop was organized into four panels: policy, data issues, data systems, and software. Participants reviewed the SPDS concept document prepared by the SPDS Steering Committee and were asked to approve or give an alternative view regarding any or all ideas discussed in the document, through one or more of the appropriate panels. The panels were also charged with identifying and prioritizing key requirements in their area of interest and commenting on relevant issues of implementation.
Early Mars: How warm and how wet?
Authors: Squyres S.
Published: October 2006

It is clear that conditions on Mars during the Noachian period, which extended from the beginning of Mars' geologic record to something like 3.9 b.y.a., were significantly different than they are today. As on the other planets, the meteoritic bombardment rate was far higher than it is at present, as evidenced by the densely cratered nature of Noachian terrains. But there were other differences as well, some inferred, some more obvious. The nature of these differences and what they imply about broader topics of planetary evolution were the primary subjects of the workshop, “Early Mars: How Warm and How Wet?,” held July 26–28, in Breckenridge, Colo. The workshop was sponsored by NASA's Mars' Surface and Atmosphere Through Time (MSATT) program.
The 1993 Japan Sea earthquake
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

At 13:17 (GMT) on July 12, an earthquake measuring magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale struck near Okushiri Island off the coast of southwest Hokkaido, Japan. The earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that struck Hokkaido caused 197 deaths. As of July 27, 42 people were still missing.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) broadcast tsunami warnings for the coasts of Japan with a possible maximum tsunami height greater than 3 m soon after the earthquake occurred. Unfortunately, the earthquake occurred very close to Okushiri Island and the southwest coast of Hokkaido, and the warning was too late to save everyone.
New NSF S&T program targets technical education
Authors: White M. Catherine
Published: October 2006

A new National Science Foundation venture is to provide an alternative path to skilled jobs in the science and technology fields for students who do not plan to attend 4‐year college. The Advanced Technological Education Program (ATE), an outgrowth of the agency's expanded role in education, was announced at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on September 2 by NSF's Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources, Luther Williams.

“The program responds to the national need for a well‐educated technical workforce,” Williams said, adding that “there is a growing recognition that if we want to improve the quality of our workforce, we have to pay attention to the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education at 2‐year institutions.”
NEHRP criticized for poor leadership, results
Authors: White M. Catherine
Published: October 2006

Taxpayers are not getting their money's worth from the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the main problem is the program's multi‐agency leadership, said witnesses testifying in a heated reauthorization hearing before the House Subcommittee on Science, Space and Technology on September 14.

NEHRP was established in 1977. It is run by four agencies—the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which leads the four. NEHRP is under scrutiny because its authorization expires at the end of fiscal year 1993. The program received $98.8 million in funding in fiscal 1993, and President Clinton has asked for $99.9 million for fiscal 1994. However, each of the witnesses agreed that NEHRP needs increased productivity, not increased dollars, and that additional money should not be allocated until the program fully utilizes its existing resources.
Nominations sought for mineral physics student award
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

A cash award of $500 is given to an undergraduate or graduate student within the field of Mineral Physics who shows unusual promise, as indicated by letters of support and material written by the student. This award is made possible by private donations, mostly in the form of contributions to the AGU Mineral Physics Award Fund. You can help by nominating a qualified student for the 1993 award. Nominations and supporting letters should be sent to Joseph R. Smyth, Chairman of the Awards Subcommittee, Department of Geological Sciences, Geology Building 306a, Campus Box 250, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309‐0250; tel. 303‐492‐5521; fax 303‐492‐2606; e‐mail joesmyth@vaxf.colorado.edu.
DOE Non‐Proliferation Experiment includes seismic data
Authors: Zucca Jay
Published: October 2006

The U.S. Department of Energy detonated approximately 1.29 million kg of a commercial blasting agent, based on ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO), at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) on September 22, 1993, at 00:01.080 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The blasting agent was emplaced in a cylindrical chamber, approximately 15.2 m in diameter × 5.5 m high, located at 37.20193°N and 116.20986°E in a Rainier Mesa tunnel, 390 m underground. Code‐named the Non‐Proliferation Experiment (NPE), the explosion had an energy release of approximately 1 kt (1 kiloton = 4.186×1012 joules).
U.S.‐Russian space cooperation plan detailed
Authors: Mockler Susan Bucci
Published: October 2006

On December 16, U.S. and Russian officials signed two protocols that will solidify their commitment to space cooperation (see Eos, December 21). Included in the agreements were plans for cooperative programs in Earth science and environmental monitoring from space and for space science. Both plans were prepared for the Gore‐Chernomyrdin Commission on Energy and Space by NASA, the Russian Space Agency, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring also helped prepare the Earth science and environmental monitoring plan.
An overview of the SeaWiFS Project
Authors: Hooker Stanford B. , Esaias Wayne E.
Published: October 2006

It is apparent to the oceanographic community that due to the dynamic nature of the world's oceans and climate and the importance of the ocean's role in global change, a follow‐on sensor to the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) should be flown [Ocean Color Science Working Group, 1982; Joint EOSAT/NASA SeaWiFS Working Group, 1987]. Acquisition of ocean‐color data from space in the early 1990s is a high‐priority goal that has been recognized in National Academy of Sciences reports. NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) have designated the Sea‐Viewing Wide Field‐of‐View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project to develop and operate an ocean‐color research data system.
Volunteers compile AGU's history
Authors: White M. Catherine
Published: October 2006

At the request of former AGU President Peter S. Eagleson, Ed Todd and Charles Whitten, longtime members and volunteers at AGU headquarters, have been compiling historical information on AGU for the past 5 years. And, as Whitten says, “Since history never ends, we're not sure if the task will ever be done.”

The only previous written history of AGU covered the period 1919–1952, and was written by John Adam Fleming, a prominent AGU member for whom the Fleming Medal was named. Whitten, a member of AGU since 1934 for whom the Charles A. Whitten Medal was named, and Todd, a member since 1960, have found Fleming's work to be an invaluable source of information. Among other sources they've searched are the full collection of Eos issues, council meeting minutes, and aged carbon copies of various documents that have been preserved through the years. A box containing the minutes of the first 10 years of council meetings, with Fleming's handwriting in the margin, turned up in a dusty corner at headquarters and has also been a good source.
University adds hydrology to geophysics Ph.D. program
Authors: Gupta Vijay , Kisslinger Carl
Published: October 2006

The University of Colorado at Boulder has added a program that provides an innovative, rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum and research framework in the hydrologic sciences, leading to a Ph.D. degree in geophysics. The goal is to graduate a new generation of researchers with a broad background in the basic sciences and a strong interdisciplinary education in the hydrologic sciences.
Light at deep sea hydrothermal vents
Authors: Van Dover Cindy Lee , Cann J. R. , Cavanaugh Colleen , Chamberlain Steven , Delaney John R. , Janecky David , Imhoff Johannes , Tyson J. Anthony
Published: October 2006

We usually think of the bottom of the sea as a dark environment, lit only by flashes of bioluminescent light. Discovery of light associated with geothermal processes at deep sea hydrothermal vents forces us to qualify our textbook descriptions of the seafloor as a uniformly dark environment. While a very dim glow emitted from high temperature (350°) vents (black smokers) at mid‐oceanic ridge spreading centers has been documented [Van Dover et al, 1988], the source of this light and its role, if any, in the evolution and adaptation of photobiochemical processes have yet to be determined.

Preliminary studies indicate that thermal radiation alone may account for the “glow” ]Smith and Delaney, 1989] and that a novel photoreceptor in shrimp‐colonizing black smoker chimneys may detect this “glow” [Van Dover et al., 1989; Pelli and Chamberlain, 1989]. A more controversial question, posed by C. L. Van Dover, J. R. Cann, and J. R. Delaney at the 1993 LITE Workshop at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, is whether there may be sufficient light of appropriate wavelengths to support geothermally driven photosynthesis by microorganisms.
National drought atlas developed
Authors: Werick W. J. , Willeke G. E. , Guttman N. B. , Hosking J. R. M. , Wallis J. R.
Published: October 2006

A National Drought Atlas for the United States is nearing completion. The idea for the atlas was inspired by the severe droughts that plagued parts of the country from 1987 to 1989, covering much of the Great Plains states, the Ohio Valley, and the southeast. In California, the drought lasted 6 years. In general, water managers were caught off‐guard by the drought's severity and duration.

The atlas is the first nationwide study of drought frequency that planning groups can use to answer a large number of “what‐if” questions. They can determine the most likely durations of critical drought, when such droughts are likely to occur, how much drier than “normal” a given drought may be, and what droughts have occurred in a given region.
Is core formation a hot topic?
Authors: Walker D.
Published: October 2006

The primitive Earth is thought to have undergone an early differentiation into a metallic core and a complementary silicate mantle. The segregation of metal to form the core should have profoundly depleted the residual silicate mantle in those elements (the siderophile elements) that enter the core. Siderophile elements are present in less than cosmic abundance in the Earth's mantle, the most siderophile elements being the most depleted. This is, qualitatively, the expected imprint of core segregation. But quantitative discrepancies of many orders of magnitude exist. Moderately siderophile elements like Co and Ni should be more depleted than they are by factors of 10–100, and they should be depleted by differing amounts even though they remain present in nearly cosmic proportions.
Predicting future climate
Authors: Wuethrich Bernice
Published: October 2006

Frustrated weather‐watchers who are told to expect sun but get rain may be skeptical about the predictability of climate one season to several years in advance. Yet, in a few cases, climate modelers can correlate expected rainfall with crop yield before seeds are even planted. These are rough predictions, limited in geographic scope and sometimes unfulfilled. As such they represent the progress—and the yet unfulfilled promise—of the young science of short‐term climate forecast.
Award nominations being accepted
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Renewable Natural Resources Foundation is accepting nominations for its outstanding achievement award, which recognizes a project, publication, piece of legislation, or similar concrete accomplishment that occurred in the past 3 years. Nominations are also being accepted for the foundation's sustained achievement award, which recognizes a long‐term contribution and commitment by an individual or small group. The deadline for nominations is June 1.
Alternative careers in the geosciences
Authors: Fiske Peter S. , Smith Guy M.
Published: October 2006

The Earth sciences continue to produce substantial numbers of Ph.D.s. However, many subdisciplines of solid‐Earth geophysics are experiencing a lack of growth, or an actual contraction, in the number of permanent positions available in traditional academia, government, and industry settings. The alternative of indefinite‐term soft money positions is growing increasingly scarce as research funds continue to get tighter. Furthermore, even those in permanent research positions are finding it harder and harder to obtain funding for their projects.

The relative scarcity of traditional permanent employment and the continuing changes in the research funding environment cause an increasing number of Ph.D.‐trained geoscientists to explore the possibility of employment outside the traditional geophysical research areas. Unfortunately, information about “nontraditional” career paths is hard to come by. For the most part, Ph.D. programs are designed to prepare students for the research job market only. Those who have chosen other options usually no longer attend scientific meetings and thus are not able to communicate their experience to others contemplating a similar departure.
Deep scientific drilling in the San Andreas Fault Zone
Authors: Hickman Stephen , Zoback Mark , Younker LeLand , Ellsworth William
Published: October 2006

A deep scientific drilling experiment in San Andreas fault zone would provide data essential to understanding the structure, composition, mechanical behavior, and physical state of an active, major plate‐boundary fault. Toward this end, we are working with an international team of scientists and engineers to propose a long‐term, integrated program of surface‐based geological and geophysical investigations and deep drilling along the San Andreas fault system.

Prior to drilling, a suite of comparative geodynamic models will be developed incorporating detailed investigations of geology, crustal structure, geophysical environment, hydrology, seismotectonics, and fault‐movement history at each of the candidate sites. These studies will have a major impact on our understanding of the structure and physical properties of the San Andreas fault system and will form a critical framework for applying the knowledge gained in a deep San Andreas borehole to other segments of the fault and other tectonic environments.
A first step toward an oceanic geophysical observatory
Authors: Montagner J. P. , Romanowicz B. , Karczewski Jean‐Francois
Published: October 2006

In 1992, the success of French Pilot Experiment Ocean Floor Observatory (OFM/SISMOBS) showed that a permanent broadband seismic and geophysical observatory could be installed on the seafloor.

Coverage of the oceans by broadband three‐component digital seismic stations will improve our knowledge of seismic sources and the dynamics of the Earth's interior, but such coverage requires both international and interdisciplinary cooperation.
Rock magnetism linked to human brain magnetite
Authors: Kirschvink Joseph L.
Published: October 2006

Magnetite has a long and distinguished career as one of the most important minerals in geophysics, as it is responsible for most of the remanent magnetization in marine sediments and the oceanic crust. It may come as a surprise to discover that it also ranks as the third or fourth most diverse mineral product formed biochemically by living organisms, and forms naturally in a variety of human tissues [Kirschvink et al., 1992].

Magnetite was discovered in teeth of the Polyplacophora mollusks over 30 years ago, in magnetotactic bacteria nearly 20 years ago, in honey bees and homing pigeons nearly 15 years ago, but only recently in human tissue.
Anomalous cosmic rays: Interstellar interlopers in the heliosphere and magnetosphere
Authors: Mewaldt R. A. , Cummings A. C. , Stone E. C.
Published: October 2006

Since the beginning of the space age, it was known that two main sources of energetic particles pervade interplanetary space: galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), which originate in sources outside the solar system, and solar energetic particles (SEPs), associated with transient events on the Sun.

But over 20 years ago, instruments on the Pioneer 10, IMP 5, and IMP 7 spacecraft discovered a third component of energetic particles known as “anomalous cosmic rays,” that represents a sample of nearby interstellar material.
International alliance for high education formed
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The International Alliance for Higher Education (IAHE) is a new multinational coalition of universities, colleges, and businesses formed to build bridges between higher education and business in the United States, the Commonwealth of Independent States, republics of central and eastern Europe, and China.

IAHE will develop and manage basic services critical to the success of higher education partnerships; catalyze the development of projects that address needs, opportunities, and issues affecting specific areas of higher education; and foster and support effective partnerships between the private sector and higher education.
Remarks from the section president
Authors: Morse Tony
Published: October 2006

We have a few final matters to discuss as we prepare to roll over to a new administration on July 1, 1994. Last fall's meeting in San Francisco was the biggest AGU meeting ever, and VGP had the second biggest program in the meeting;; we are the third largest section, by the way. I wish to thank our secretary, Kathy Cashman, for her vital role in this program's success, and to urge your further cooperation with her successor, Frank Spera.

Our section typically has an open business meeting at AGU's Fall Meeting, and another gathering at the Spring Meeting. Let me review a few of the concerns that came up in December. I stated then that probably the most important thing we do aside from meetings is to see that people get the honors they deserve and that VGP remains active.
New fund commemorates past colleagues and fuels new research
Authors: Tilling Robert I.
Published: October 2006

The International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth' Interior's (IAVCEI) Executive Committee has received a number of proposals to establish IAVCEI awards and prizes in memory of nine colleagues who have died recently, each of whom notably advanced IAVCEI's aims and objectives.

The committee acknowledged the appropriateness of such recognition, but was concerned that any proliferation of IAVCEI awards/prizes ultimately diminishes their honor and prestige. The committee therefore decided at meetings during the 1993 IAVCEI General Assembly in Canberra, Australia, to establish an IAVCEI Memorial Fund.
Investigating the coastal benthic boundary layer
Authors: Richardson Michael D.
Published: October 2006

Recent geopolitical changes have shifted the emphasis of U.S. naval operations from deep ocean to nearshore coastal regions. In response to this shift, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) established a special 5‐year research program to study the impact of the environment on mine countermeasure (MCM) systems.

ONR's Coastal Benthic Boundary Layer Special Research Program (CBBLSRP) studies physical characterization and modeling of benthic boundary layer processes (Figure 1) and the impact these processes have on seafloor properties that affect shallow‐water naval operations.
Open‐ocean deep convection explored in the Mediterranean
Authors:   The THETIS Group
Published: October 2006

Open‐ocean deep convection is a littleunderstood process occurring in winter in remote areas under hostile observation conditions, for example, in the Labrador and Greenland Seas and near the Antarctic continent. Deep convection is a crucial link in the “Great Ocean Conveyor Belt” [Broecker, 1991], transforming poleward flowing warm surface waters through atmosphere‐oceaninteraction into cold equatorward flowing water masses. Understanding its physics, interannual variations, and role in the global thermohaline circulation is an important objective of climate change research.

In convection regions, drastic changes in water mass properties and distribution occur on scales of 10–100 km. These changes occur quickly and are difficult to observe with conventional oceanographic techniques. Apart from observing the development of the deep‐mixed patch of homogeneous water itself, processes of interest are convective plumes on scales <1 km and vertical velocities of several cm s−1 [Schott et al., 1994] that quickly mix water masses vertically, and instability processes at the rim of the convection region that expedite horizontal exchanges of convected and background water masses [e.g., Gascard, 1978].
Wholes and parts in geophysics
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

People who adhere to simple “reductionist” or “wholistic” schools of thought may find themselves subscribing to a new point of view after AGU's 75th Anniversary Meeting in Baltimore—that of the “parts‐in‐wholes.”

Rep. George Brown Jr. (D‐Calif.), a national leader in research and development issues, will keynote a special all‐Union session Monday, May 23, with a discussion of the various policy implications for this new understanding of the interdependence of human and Earth systems.
Probing continental collision in the Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Robertson A H. F.
Published: October 2006

Knowledge about the processes of continental collisional would unlock a wealth of data for the field of tectonics, but such processes have been poorly documented by academic ocean drilling. On the basis of 1993 data confirming that the easternmost Mediterranean is in the initial stages of continental collision, the Ocean Drilling Program has scheduled two legs of drilling for summer 1995 in the eastern and western parts of the Mediterranean Sea.

Effects of continental collision in the easternmost Mediterranean include the Quaternary uplift of Cyprus [Poole and Robertson, 1991] and the break up and subsidence of the Eratosthenes Seamount, which is located in the easternmost Mediterranean between Cyprus and the Levantine Basin (Figure 1).
New program to research issues of global climate in the Arctic
Authors:   SHEBA Science Working Group
Published: October 2006

The interaction of the ocean and atmosphere is key to understanding and ultimately predicting global climate. Our current understanding is that Arctic air‐sea‐ice processes influence global climate by modifying the surface albedo and the global thermohaline circulation. Both of these globally important aspects of Arctic climate are linked to sea ice cover and its associated feedbacks. Although the sensitivity of global climate to processes that occure in the Arctic Ocean is widely acknowledged, there is great uncertainty about its magnitude and overall effect.