bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Space station survives vote
Authors: Jones Richard M.
Published: October 2006

On April 29 the House of Representatives defeated an amendment to terminate Space Station Freedom. The vote was on an amendment offered by Rep. Tim Roemer (D‐Indiana) to H.R. 4364, the Fiscal Year 1993–1995 NASA authorization bill. The amendment lost by a vote of 159‐254.

This is not the last vote the House of Representatives will have on the space station, nor is it the most important. Rep. Bob Traxler (D‐Michigan), an opponent of station funding, argued that this was not the right way of dealing with the issue (calling it “a paper tiger”), and voted against Roemer's amendment.
Snowpack physics explored at Fall Meeting
Authors: Davis R. E.
Published: October 2006

A special session, “Snowpack Physics: Processes and Distributions,” was held on December 10 at the Fall 1991 AGU Meeting to survey applications of snow physics spanning scales from millimeters to kilometers, and to tie these in with recent advances in our understanding of the micro‐ and meso scale processes in a snow cover.

The first half of the session involved the relationships between snow physical process and properties and remote sensing, snowgas interactions, and snowmelt chemistry.
Using a nuclear submarine for Arctic research
Authors: Keigwin Lloyd D. , Johnson G. Leonard
Published: October 2006

Oceanographers have been accused of not thinking big enough. Where is our Hubble Space Telescope? Where is our Superconducting Super Collider? Where is our project to map the human genome? An example of a highly successful “big” project in the marine sciences is the Ocean Drilling Program, currently funded at about $42 million per year. That effort is small by comparison to big projects in astronomy and in highenergy physics.

Ocean‐ice‐atmosphere interactions in polar regions play a major role in driving deep ocean circulation and in regulating Earth's climate, and Arctic regions in particular are expected to be the first to respond to the predicted global warming. Despite the fundamental importance of polar regions to the habitability of planet Earth, most oceanographers have used only the most inefficient methods for exploring the ocean beneath the ice: drifting on floating ice camps and bashing through the ice with ice breakers. Neither of these methods is an effective way to explore a feature as large and as physiographically varied as the Arctic basin.
DOE's Geothermal Program still in game
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

In the ongoing search to find cost‐effective, renewable forms of energy that neither contribute to global warming nor threaten national security, geothermal energy remains a player. Although Department of Energy funding for geothermal research has declined over the past decade, from its peak in 1979 of $160 million, there is still tremendous potential in terms of geothermal development, said Gladys Hooper, program manager of DOE's Hot Dry Rock and Brine Chemistry divisions. Technology for harnessing geothermal power is by and large there, she said. What is needed is more awareness and publicity regarding the merits of geothermal energy.

For fiscal year 1993, proposed DOE funding for geothermal research was $24 million, down from $27 million in fiscal 1992 and nearly $30 million in fiscal 1991. DOE's Geothermal Division oversees the network of national laboratories and universities involved in developing the nation's geothermal resources and bringing them into commercial competitiveness.
Better slides needed at AGU Meetings
Authors: Jacobson Randall S.
Published: October 2006

Recent AGU meetings show a dangerous trend in the quality of presentations. A fair percentage of slides used during oral presentations consisted of a black background and colored lines and/or words for data. Such slides are illegible and serve to undercut the speaker's points by not demonstrating the data clearly.

A typical example consisted of dark red, dark blue, and green data on a black background. Even the author had difficulty in pointing out the data using his light arrow. Line drawings, in particular, should not use colors, but instead use high‐contrast white‐on‐black for the following reasons: dark colors on black backgrounds provide little contrast, making it difficult to discern patterns; people who are colorblind are at a disadvantage; and the same information can be obtained using a variety of line weights (dotdash, solid, dotted, etc.) with single color slides.
Cores drilled into active smokers on Juan de Fuca Ridge
Authors: Stakes Debra , Moore Willard S. , Tengdin Tom , Holloway Leon , Tivey Meg , Hannington Mark , Edmond John , Todd James F.
Published: October 2006

The October 1991 Chronology expedition to the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge sought to exploit shipboard and land‐based radioisotope analyses based on detailed geological observations and comprehensive sampling to determine the absolute ages of an actively venting ridge‐axis hydrothermal field. Samples collected from a 1988 expedition indicated that some of the hydrothermal deposits in this area are unusually rich in barium (Ba) and radium (Ra) and thus extraordinarily amenable to radioisotopic techniques [Stakes and Moore, 1991]. An in situ gamma detector was developed to permit mapping of the distribution of radioactive components in the hydrothermal deposits and selection of subsamples that could easily be dated. To obtain samples that represent progressive mineral growth for the entire age of a chimney, we developed the HSTR drill (Figure 1), a diamond‐bit drill to be operated by the submersible ALVIN.
Public, experts join at town meeting
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

About 80 citizens concerned with the threat of ozone depletion attended a public meeting on June 9 in Charlottesville, Va., to discuss the issue with a panel of six leading ozone experts. Held in conjunction with the Quadrennial Ozone Symposium, the town meeting was videotaped for airing on public broadcast stations this fall. The meeting was aimed at nonexperts, to “get the word out” to the public, said the moderator, journalist Peter Hackes.

The lively, sometimes heated discussion showed the public's high awareness and concern over problems associated with ozone depletion. During the nearly 2‐hour meeting topics ranged from the reparability of the ozone layer, to steps the public can take to help mitigate ozone loss, to reports of increased cases of skin cancer due to more ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earth's surface. There were also some claims that ozone depletion is overexaggerated and is a hoax for scientists to get more research funding.
House adopts Landsat Bill
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The National Landsat Policy Act (HR3614) was adopted by the House of Representatives on June 9. The bill, reported to the House by the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, was introduced by chair George E. Brown (D‐Calif.) on October 23, 1991.

HR3614 creates a new management structure for the Landsat program by establishing a Joint Program Office to manage the program instead of the Department of Commerce. Funding and management responsibilities would be shared equally between NASA and the Department of Defense, and with other agencies as determined by the president. The bill would also provide for the procurement of the next in a series of Landsat satellites. It pinpoints specific policy changes aimed at enhancing the program's value, particularly for global change and environmental research. Landsat data has been used for environmental management, oil and gas exploration, crop assessments, and deforestation monitoring.
Deep seismic sounding in northern Eurasia
Authors: Benz H. M. , Unger J. D. , Leith W. S. , Mooney W. D. , Solodilov L. , Egorkin A. V. , Ryaboy V. Z.
Published: October 2006

For nearly 40 years, the former Soviet Union has carried out an extensive program of seismic studies of the Earth's crust and upper mantle, known as “Deep Seismic Sounding” or DSS [Piwinskii, 1979; Zverev and Kosminskaya, 1980; Egorkin and Pavlenkova, 1981; Egorkin and Chernyshov, 1983; Scheimer and Borg, 1985]. Beginning in 1939–1940 with a series of small‐scale seismic experiments near Moscow, DSS profiling has broadened into a national multiinstitutional exploration effort that has completed almost 150,000 km of profiles covering all major geological provinces of northern Eurasia [Ryaboy, 1989].
House Bill restores USGS 1993 Funds
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

On June 29, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Interior Department and Related Agencies spending bill, which sets funding levels for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Funding for the USGS under the bill (HR5503) is about level with fiscal year 1992 spending amounts. For fiscal 1993, the House proposes $587 million, compared to the president's request of $540 million. Appropriations for fiscal 1992 were $582 million.
Outstanding student papers from the ocean sciences meeting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Ocean Sciences Section has announced the winners of the Outstanding Student Paper awards for papers presented at the AGU 1992 Ocean Sciences Meeting, which was held in New Orleans January 27–31.
Antarctic “quiet” site stirs debate
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

Geophysicists from the United States and New Zealand plan to meet in the coming months to assess the electromagnetic pollution of an Antarctic site especially designated for research. U.S. scientists charge that a satellite Earth station erected apparently inside the preserve by New Zealand's Telecom company could interfere with experiments on the ionosphere and magnetosphere (Eos, April 28, 1992). The Site of Special Scientific Interest at Arrival Heights, the only Antarctic preserve specifically for physical science, is located near the U.S. McMurdo and New Zealand Scott bases.

Debate over the Telecom facility inter‐twines diplomatic and scientific issues. One question is whether the station violates the Antarctic treaty. Secondly, does it actually impair research at the site—or could it harm future experiments? To deepen the imbroglio, those involved from both nations say that transmissions from sources off‐site also interfere with research—raising doubts about how pristine the site really is.
Groundbreaking for Physics Center
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The American Center for Physics will bring three of the nation's leading physics organizations to College Park, Md., to create a focus for physics in the nation's capital. Groundbreaking for the new center was on July 29. It is scheduled to open in September 1993. The initial organizations that will share the site are the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Physical Society.
Wetlands issue stalls Clean Water Act
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

Although reauthorization of the Clean Water Act was scheduled for 1992, action has stalled due to debate over the contentious wetland issue and is not likely to pick up again until after the first of the year. The subject of the debate, regulation of wetlands, is found in Section 404, which makes up only a small part of the Clean Water Act.

At the meeting, “New Directions in Clean Water Policy,” held in Charlottesville, Va., July 28–31, Ralph Heimlich, an economist with the Office of Policy and Planning Evaluation at the Environmental Protection Agency, said “it is unfortunate that the Section 404 Dredge and Fill permit program, our only national wetland regulation, is part of the Clean Water Act.” The controversy over wetland reform, he added, “has delayed and threatens to poison action on Clean Water Act reauthorization, provisions that may be more directly significant in improving water quality.”
Future of NSF to be reviewed
Authors: Jones Richard M.
Published: October 2006

The National Science Board has announced the formation of a Special Commission on the Future of the National Science Foundation. This announcement provides the latest evidence that the mission of the 40‐year‐old agency will undergo substantial change.

NSF's reexamination of its mission is not unexpected. It was widely predicted that Walter Massey, the foundation's director since early last year, would put his own stamp on the agency. The external environment has also changed, notably with the transformation of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Budget restraints have forced the foundation to contemplate a future which no longer includes a doubling of its budget. And finally, Congress has urged the agency to reexamine its role, a recent example being Senate Appropriations Committee report language stating, “the Committee believes that the new world order requires the Foundation to take a more activist role in transferring the results of basic research from the academic community into the market place.”
Time to reorganize federal Earth system science and technology?
Authors: Kisslinger Carl
Published: October 2006

My usual reaction to plans to reorganize activities in the federal government is that these are the last resort of a bureaucrat who is faced with a tough problem and has no idea how to solve it. However, this may be the time to consider seriously a reorganization that would assemble key elements of Earth‐oriented science and technology into a single federal agency. This is not a new idea, as proposals to achieve this goal have been formulated in the past and wiring diagrams for a new agency have been developed. These proposals have faded away in the face of resistance to substantial structural change that characterizes the federal bureaucracy.
Workshop on wave‐ice interaction
Authors: Wadhams Peter , Squire Vernon , Rottier Philip , Liu Antony , Dugan John , Czipott Peter , Shen Hayley
Published: October 2006

The subject of wave‐ice interaction has been advanced in recent years by small groups of researchers working on a similar range of topics in widely separated geographic locations. Their recent studies inspired a workshop on wave‐ice interaction held at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, England, December 16–18, 1991, where theories in all aspects of the physics of wave‐ice interaction were compared.

Conveners of the workshop hoped that plans for future observational and theoretical work dealing with outstanding issues in a collaborative way would emerge. The workshop, organized by the Commission on Sea Ice of the International Association for Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO), was co‐chaired by Vernon Squire, professor of mathematics and statistics at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and Peter Wadhams, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute. Participants attended from Britain, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States.
Spring 1991 Meeting outstanding student papers
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Ocean Sciences Committee has presented Gideon Henderson and Alexander Krupitsky with Outstanding Student Paper Awards for presentations given at the Spring Meeting in Montreal, Canada, held in May. Henderson's paper was titled, “Ratios in Corals from the Last Interglacial Period on the Japanese Atol of Hateruma: Implications for Open System Behavior of Corals.” Henderson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in geology from Oxford University, England. He is currently a doctoral student at Cambridge University, England. His research focuses on marine isotope geochemistry, in particular, the study of uranium isotope ratios in seawater and variations in the seawater strontium isotope ratio through the Quaternary and their relationship to Milankovitch forcing.
AGU Congressional Fellow begins tenure
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Valerie I. Lang was chosen as AGU's 1992–1993 Congressional Fellow. She was selected from a field of twenty‐three candidates by the Committee on Public Affairs during AGU's Spring Meeting in Montreal.

Lang is currently a member of the technical staff of the Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif. Her work involves experimental research in areas of ozone depletion chemistry and launch vehicle effects on the troposphere and stratosphere.
Recent advances in neotectonics
Authors: Vita‐Finzi Claudio
Published: October 2006

Recent advances in neotectonics was the focus of some seventy delegates from sixteen countries who met at the Geological Society of London in Piccadilly from June 15–16. The meeting, convened by Nils‐Axel Mörner, Lewis Owen, Ian Stewart, and Claudio Vita‐Finzi, was sponsored by the Neotectonics Commission of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), the Quaternary Research Association, and the Tectonic Studies Group of the Geological Society of London.
Director urges NSF: Adapt “New Order”
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

The National Science Foundation must respond to dramatic changes in world affairs and science by expanding its purview, or risk losing its vitality, agency director Walter Massey recently told NSF staff.

“I'm not sure we're making a difference, or the difference that the nation needs,” Massey said in a recent interview. As he sees it, the current transformation in NSF's environment is as significant as the circumstances that led to the agency's founding. “I think it is imperative that NSF determine its place in this new order,” he says.
Mars Observer launch reset
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

NASA announced that it has rescheduled the launch of the Mars Observer for Friday, September 25.
Oceans and climate change: The future of spaceborne altimetry
Authors: Koblinsky C. , Caspar P. , Lagerloef G.
Published: October 2006

Oceans and polar ice sheets are dominant elements of the climate system and require global observations to understand their role in climate changes. As repeatedly demonstrated over the past 2 decades, satellite altimetry is a unique powerful technique for providing global information on ocean circulation and ice sheet volume. “Oceans and Climate Change: The Future of Spaceborne Altimetry,” written by an international team of scientists, was recently published by the Joint Oceanographic Institutions. It summarizes the objectives and requirements for future altimetric missions in the context of global change research and defines the mission constraints and technical capabilities for achieving these measurements. This short note summarizes the major points of the report.
Fall Meeting Abstracts Set New Record
Authors: Weaver Brenda
Published: October 2006

When the dust had settled after the Fall Meeting abstract deadline on September 10, a new record was set: 4,604 abstracts had been received for the San Francisco meeting. This is a 12% increase over last year, making the 1992 meeting the largest AGU meeting ever held!

This follows the success of the AGU Spring Meeting in Montreal, which also broke records for the number of presentations and attendees at the annual spring event. We expect 6,000 people to attend this year's Fall Meeting, to be held December 7–11. There will be 400 scientific sessions as well as 120 exhibitors on hand.
Black on white meeting slides best
Authors: Suczek Christopher
Published: October 2006

While I agree with Randall S. Jacobson (Eos, June 9, 1992) that better slides are needed at meetings and that colored lines or words on a black background are difficult to read, I disagree that white on black is the best alternative.
1992 Student Paper Award: SPA
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Krishna A. Lynch, a research scientist at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at the University of New Hampshire, received an outstanding student paper award for the paper she presented at the AGU 1991 Spring Meeting, titled “Electron Distribution Function Behavior During Transverse Ion Acceleration Events in the Topside Auroral Zone.”
Australia's Centre for Groundwater Studies
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Centre for Groundwater Studies was begun in 1986 with 5 years of seed‐funding from the Australian government as one of twelve key centers for water research. Australia is a large, old continent with scarce surface water supplies. More than 70' of the population relies on groundwater for domestic and agricultural use, as well as for supplying a significant amount of water to some large cities, including Perth. The centre operates as an autonomous body with a staff of about twenty‐five. Staff members come from several organizations in southern Australia—CSIRO Division of Water Resources, Flinders University School of Earth Sciences, the Engineering and Water Supply Department, and the South Australian Department of Mines and Energy. The focus is on research and post‐graduate education in national groundwater issues. In particular, an international reputation in isotope hydrology and unsaturated zone processes exists.
Remarks From the section president
Authors: Morse Tony
Published: October 2006

The old order changeth and Bruce Marsh is hibernating in the forests of Maine, where his fellow loggers wish him well on a much‐deserved sabbatical. VGP members have cause to be very grateful for his presidency, in which he inaugurated the Presidents' Breakfasts for the exchange of information among the sections at each of our annual meetings, served heroically on editorial search and audit committees, and ran our section with the kind of loose informality and penetrating insight that it deserves.
Outstanding student papers: SPA
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Six students received Outstanding Student Paper awards for solar physics and aeronomy papers they presented at the AGU 1992 Spring Meeting in Montreal, which was held in May.

Carl M. Hammond, who presented “IMF and Down Tail Distance Effects on Magnetotail Boundaries,” is a doctoral student in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests include planetary magnetotail structure and simulating the production of kappa distributions.
A text for planetary geology
Authors: Cain Joseph
Published: October 2006

In this article I review my findings from a search for a suitable text to use in an introductory undergraduate course in planetary geology for nonscience students. I hope to elicit comments from others with a similar need.

The books from which I have drawn material for my course are listed below. I first used Hamblin and Christiansen [1991] as the required text but had to switch to a simpler one and chose Wagner's [1991] since it was the most recently published. Morrison and Owen's 1987 edition was considered, but it would have required too much additional material to bring it up to date. (It is scheduled for a new revision in September 1993). There are many excellent older books that are not listed here, including those in astronomy, which include planetary science in some chapters.
A‐types granites and rhyolites: Is A for ambiguous?
Authors: Hogan J. P. , Gilbert M. C. , Weaver B. L.
Published: October 2006

A symposium entitled “;A‐Type Granites and Rhyolites: Is A for Ambiguous?,” held last May at the AGU 1992 Spring Meeting in Montreal, Canada, provided a forum for continued discussion and scientific debate of the complexities inherent in A‐type granites. The concept of A‐type granites [Loiselle and Wones, 1979] originally distinguished granites that are relatively anhydrous, with alkaline affinities, and which are formed in anorogenic tectonic settings, commonly after a previous episode of crustal melting. These granites were noted for their distinctive mineralogy and chemistry. A‐type granites commonly contain sodic pyroxenes and amphiboles, late crystallizing iron‐rich amphiboles and biotites, fluorite, and exotic accessory minerals (for example, chevkinite). They have high SiO2, Na2O+K2O, Fe/Mg, F, and low CaO and Sr. They are enriched in high field strength elements (for example, zirconium, niobium, gallium, yttrium) and REEs except europian.
NASA team sought for Moon, asteroid mission
Authors: Campbell J. K.
Published: October 2006

The NASA Solar System Exploration Division will soon be soliciting members for the Clementine Science Team through a research announcement. The Clementine mission is being sponsored by the Space Defense Initiative and will be launched in January 1994 to fly lightweight sensors and other components in a long‐exposure space mission and to collect significant science data on the Moon while in polar orbit for several months, and then while flying at close range past the near‐Earth asteroid Geographos in August 1994.

The science team will assist with scientific calibration and documentation of the instruments, assist in planning the science observations, and validate and archive the science data in the NASA Planetary Data System. The team will be composed of experts in various aspects of data collection, reduction, and archiving to ensure that the data collected is of the highest quality possible. Science team members will have proprietary data rights for several months after the asteroid flyby date, which is the nominal end‐ofmission date.
Outstanding educator award nominations
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Association for Women Geoscientists' Outstanding Educator Award honors high school, college, or university teachers who have played a significant role in the education and support of women students both within and outside the classroom. Support for women students may take a variety of forms, including encouraging them to enter and continue in a geoscience career and providing opportunities for field and laboratory experience. In addition, awardees are selected on the basis of their own contributions as professionals, including activities such as active research and publication (in the case of university faculty members), involvement in professional societies or groups, and contributions as educators in areas that extend beyond the classroom.
A call for involvement in K‐12 education
Authors: Houghton David D.
Published: October 2006

Education enhancements at the K‐12 levels continue to be urgent for the United States and, indeed, the world community. This is especially true for science and technology education. It is important that the general scientific community become more involved and consider such participation to be a basic part of professional activity.

Professional societies representing the scientific community play an important role in fostering and facilitating participation of this community in K‐12 educational initiatives. Partnerships and cooperation among scientific professional societies and public and private sector institutions are essential to achieving a sustained national impact.
The Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program
Authors: Giardini D. , Basham P. , Berry M.
Published: October 2006

The National Scientific and Technical Committee of the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (UN/IDNDR) has endorsed, as an international demonstration project, the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program (GSHAP), with the full support of UNESCO and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).

The primary goal of GSHAP is to ensure that national agencies are able to assess seismic hazard in a regionally coordinated fashion and with advanced methods. GSHAP will fill a critical gap cited by many countries in properly assessing the seismic hazard of their territory for the implementation of risk mitigation strategies.
Comments invited on plasma science studies
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The National Research Council has formed a panel on plasma science and technology because of the perceived precarious health of these disciplines in the United States. The panel was given three tasks: to assess the health of basic plasma science as a research enterprise, including current and anticipated programs and the state of experimental facilities; to identify the opportunities in plasma science, both in basic research and technological applications; and to make recommendations to federal agencies and to the plasma science community.
What is a plasma instability?
Authors: Gary S. Peter
Published: October 2006

Just as a heated solid will melt into a liquid and a liquid heated further will evaporate into a gas, so will a gas subjected to yet further thermal input become ionized. In other words, if the atoms or molecules of a gas are given sufficient thermal energy, particle collisions can tear individual electrons away from these neutral particles, so that the gas becomes a plasma, or a collection of negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions. Thus, the hot, dense fluid of the Sun's atmosphere becomes a plasma at sufficiently high altitudes, and that state is maintained as this atmosphere expands outward to form the solar wind.

Ultraviolet radiation can also kick electrons out of their atomic or molecular orbits. If a planet has a neutral atmosphere, that atmosphere acts as a shield against the ionizing effects of such radiation from the Sun. But at sufficiently high altitudes, the tenuous atmosphere is ionized by solar ultraviolet radiation to form the planetary ionosphere and magnetosphere. Thus, plasma is the primary constituent of both planetary magnetospheres and the interplanetary medium.
Climate Since A.D. 1500
Authors: Fleming James R.
Published: October 2006

The editors of this impressive volume are to be congratulated for gathering a stellar collection of thirty‐three authoritative papers on the most recent period of climate history. In addition to providing thirty‐three pages of introduction and conclusion, the editors also coauthored two important papers for the volume. This book will become a standard reference for the interdisciplinary climatic change community.

Climate Since A.D. 1500 is divided into four sections: documentary evidence, dendroclimatic evidence, ice‐core evidence, and forcing factors. In all, there are twelve papers using documentary evidence, eleven using dendroclimatic evidence, five on ice‐core evidence, and three on forcing factors. The documentary papers cover Canada, the northeastern United States, Ireland, central Europe, northern Italy, the former Soviet Union, China, and Japan, with temporal coverage ranging from 1500 to very near the present.
The Clinton administration: Science policy developments
Authors: Jones Richard
Published: October 2006

There is much speculation on the direction of President‐elect Clinton's science policy and who the key players to implement his decisions will be.

Clinton has established nine “cluster groups” to review government agencies and their operations. The cluster group coordinators will prepare briefing books “assessing the state” of agencies, identifying trouble spots, and reviewing personnel issues. Cluster groups are looking at operations, while separate teams are developing policy and hiring sub‐cabinet‐level officials.
Young Scientists' Network
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Young Scientists' Network is an open electronic forum for discussion of issues of concern to young scientists. YSN started nearly 3 years ago as an e‐mail network of physics post‐docs concerned about the shortage of permanent positions. It has since grown to more than one‐thousand members and encompasses nearly all fields of science.

Topics of discussion include, but are not limited to, the current job situation, possibilities for change, alternative careers, and the future of science research in the United States.
New agenda for committee on seismology
Authors: Arabasz Walter
Published: October 2006

An aggressive agenda was shaped to serve the U.S. seismological community and relevant government agencies as seismology advances into the 21st century at the Committee on Seismology's meeting, held from October 22 to 23 in Washington, D.C., under the new chairmanship of Thomas H. Jordan. The Committee on Seismology is a member of the National Research Council's Board on Earth Sciences and Resources.

The committee's mission is to keep track of major trends and developments in seismology and allied fields, provide timely studies for government agencies on special subjects or problems, keep abreast of international seismological activities, advise government agencies on the operation of federally supported seismograph networks and data‐dissemination facilities, and coordinate seismological‐related activities within the National Research Council, particularly in the fields of engineering seismology, rock mechanics, geodesy, geodynamics, geology, and seismic verification of nuclear test ban treaties.
Stokes to head key House subcommittee
Authors: Jones Richard
Published: October 2006

In an action that is almost certain to have consequences for the National Science Foundation and NASA, Louis Stokes (D‐Ohio) has been named chairman of the House Appropriations Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development, Independent Agencies Subcommittee. Stokes replaces Bob Traxler (D‐Mich.), who retired this year.

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance that this subcommittee and its counterpart in the Senate, headed by Barbara Mikulski (D‐Md.), have in controlling NSF and NASA. These subcommittees not only determine the agencies' budgets, but, in many cases, their direction.
GAO Report warns of NASA budget concerns
Authors: Leath Audrey T.
Published: October 2006

When he takes the office of vice‐president next month, Al Gore (D‐Tenn.) will also step into the chairmanship of the National Space Council. He brings to this position knowledge of the nation's space program, gained as chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space.
Southern California earthquake data center
Authors: Douglass Katrin , Wald Lisa
Published: October 2006

The Southern California Earthquake Center Data Center (SCECDC) is the component of SCEC that stores the seismological, geodetic, and strong‐motion data collected in southern California. These data are to be integrated into a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of southern California known locally as the “master model.” The SCECDC is located at Caltech in Pasadena, and has been on‐line since January. It consists of a Sun Sparc II station connected to a mass storage device, “Jukebox,” containing optical disks. This Jukebox is capable of storing 300 gigabytes of data on‐line at one time.
Joint Institute for Marine Observations Formed
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

A cooperative research agreement creating the Joint Institute for Marine Observations to study long‐term global environmental processes has been reached between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California, San Diego. According to NOAA officials, the purpose of the institute is to enhance research and collect oceanic and atmospheric data important to understanding global change and other long‐term phenomena. Work will include basic science investigations, instrument development, acquiring and processing environmental data, applying the information to models, and predicting future conditions.
King named EOS Senior Project Scientist
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Michael D. King has begun work as senior project scientist for NASA's Earth Observing System at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. King previously served as deputy team leader for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) science team and is a member of the science team for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument. He is also adjunct professor of Atmospheric Science, Department of Oceanography, at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

He received his degree in physics from Colorado College in 1971 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in atmospheric sciences from the University of Arizona in 1973 and 1977, respectively.
Freshwater, land, and biologic interactions: Changes and impacts
Authors: Meier Mark F.
Published: October 2006

Water is essential to human life and the functioning of all terrestrial ecosystems. As human population expands and anthropogenic effects induce climate change, many water availability systems are modified and stressed. This stress will be felt differently in various regions, depending on the complex relationships of water, vegetation, land, and human activity. Yet many aspects of the interactive biogeochemical cycles are poorly understood, making it difficult to predict the effect of changes in climate or land use on water as an integral element affecting ecosystem processes and sustainability.
The World Ocean Circulation Experiment
Authors: Jochens Ann , Schaley Therese , Nowlin Worth
Published: October 2006

Greenhouse effect. Global warming. These problems have propelled society into seeking to detect, understand, and predict climate change. Scientists know that global and regional cycling of the Earth's heat, fresh water, and carbon play important roles in climate change. Ocean reservoirs of these properties are much larger than those of the atmosphere. Key to understanding and modeling climate change, therefore, is knowing how heat, fresh water, and carbon are exchanged between ocean and atmosphere and stored and transported between the upper and deep ocean layers and between the equatorial and polar ocean regions.
1991 Editors' Citations: Excellence in Refereeing
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The reviewers whose photographs appear below have been cited by editors of AGU's journals for excellence in refereeing. The time and diligence contributed by these reviewers enhance the quality of AGU's journals. The editor's citation recognizes this special service to the Union, and the individuals who are listed below are to be commended for consistantly providing constructive and thoughtful reviews.
Where is EOS headed?
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

The latest funding ceiling for NASA's Earth Observing System, $8 billion through the year 2000, was set by a Senate panel on July 31. This is $3 billion less than last year's cap, and half of last year's proposal. Such repeated prunings raise the question of how long the program can keep absorbing cuts and remain viable. Could EOS be, as one observer put it, a 1980s project in a 1990s budget climate?
Senate panel approves NASA, NSF budgets
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 1993 budgets for NASA and the National Science Foundation on July 31. The full Senate still must vote on the VA/HUD/IA bill that governs the budgets, after Congress convenes again September 8.
Superplumes from the deep mantle
Authors: Olson Peter
Published: October 2006

A new and dramatic interpretation of mantle convection is emerging from the record of massive volcanic eruptions that have occurred episodically throughout Earth's history. The most recent volcanic outburst began suddenly at about 125 million years ago and continued for at least 60 million years, spanning much of the Cretaceous period. According to a recently completed study, the rate of ocean crust production during that burst was approximately twice what it is today [Larson, 1991). Much of this activity appears to have been produced by the melting of one, or perhaps several, massive thermal plumes that rose from the deep mantle beneath the Pacific and Indian plates. Cretaceous age continental flood basalts such as the Deccan Traps in India fit this picture nicely. Several large ocean plateaus such as Ontong‐Java in the southwest Pacific and Kerguelen in the south Indian Ocean date from this period, and were probably formed in a similar way. These plateaus consist of 20‐50 million cubic kilometers of plume‐derived basaltic crust.
Atmospheric studies by optical methods
Authors: Steen Åke
Published: October 2006

The 19th Annual European Meeting on Atmospheric Studies by Optical Methods was held in Kiruna, Sweden, from August 10 to 14. About 120 scientists from thirteen countries contributed talks and posters to eight topical sessions.

The annual optical meeting, which was first held in Stockholm in 1972, provides a platform for the exchange of ideas, scientific results, and instrumental information on atmospheric studies collected by optical methods. Although the primary objective is to stimulate high‐level scientific discussions, social activities are included in the conference program to expose participants to the host city's local culture, industry, and sights. Participants from all parts of the world are welcome to attend.
Global undersea research program examined
Authors: Hotta /.H. , Hattori M. , Fujioka K. , Kusakabe M. , Matsumoto T. , Tanaka T.
Published: October 2006

Geological understanding of age and horizontal variations of oceanic plates from mid‐ocean ridges to deep‐sea trenches, including interactive phenomena between continental and oceanic plates, especially in areas transecting trenches, arcs, and back‐arc basins was addressed at the 1992 Workshop on the Global Undersea Research Program, held at the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC), Tokyo, Japan, from September 2 to 4, 1992. The meeting was held following a proposal at the 1991 International Symposium to commemorate the 20th anniversary of JAMSTEC to hold a workshop on undersea research to discuss the utilization of undersea devices such as manned submersibles and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

The goals of the September meeting were to improve research cooperation among organizations using manned submersibles or ROVs; to support more effective research programs by avoiding unnecessary research duplication; and to discuss new technologies, scientific needs, and functional requirements for hardware being developed for manned submersibles and ROVs. About twenty‐five scientists participated from the National Science Foundation; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI); University of Hawaii; Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation des Mers (IFREMER), France; Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo; Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo; Geological Survey of Japan; Institute of Oceanographic Sciences (IOS), Deacon Laboratory, United Kingdom; and JAMSTEC.
Deglaciation triggered by the resumption of North Atlantic Deep Water
Authors: Wright James D.
Published: October 2006

Changes in the distribution of solar radiation received on Earth, as a result of the planet's orbital variations, are well‐established as the pacemaker of Pleistocene climate change [Hays et al, 1976]. However, several hypotheses suggest that these radiation changes cannot account by themselves for the manner in which the ice ages wax and wane. New evidence clearly defines the role of deep ocean circulation during the last deglaciation and supports a stronger connection between deep ocean circulation changes and warming trends.

Considering only the effect of solar radiation, climate change such as the transition from the last ice age to the present should occur gradually over several thousand years and should be out of phase in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. However, the last deglaciation was composed of two distinct steps, each of which lasted less than 1 kyr [Fairbanks, 1989] and, apparently, was “felt” synchronously between the hemispheres. Hypotheses proposed to explain this most recent climate change focus either on changes in the level of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, methane, and water vapor, or on large‐scale ocean circulation, which delivers heat to high latitudes.
Do flipping magnetic poles follow preferred paths?
Authors: Hoffman Kenneth A.
Published: October 2006

The problem of geomagnetic reversal, once considered intractably complex, is one of the hottest topics in the Earth sciences. This phenomenon, in which the Earth's magnetic field occasionally flips between opposite polarities, is rooted in dynamo action, a process that generates electric currents in the convecting fluid comprising the Earth's metallic outer core. Much of our knowledge about reversals comes from 3 decades of analysis of the fossil magnetic records preserved in rocks, and a recent new look has prompted three unexpected claims. The first is that reversing fields are strikingly simple, retaining a dual‐pole structure during the process.
The challenge of marine positioning
Authors: Kumar Muneedra , Maul George A.
Published: October 2006

Studying geodesy and the making of maps and charts, learning the engineering of land and hydrographic surveying, and mastering the art of navigating over vast oceans have been our oldest quests. Most of our efforts have been concentrated on accurate positioning on land, and when we did extend seaward, our main efforts were confined to surface positions over oceans for navigation or to locate assets in shallow waters.

In maritime countries concerned with navigation over oceans, efforts were expanded to make nautical charts, especially beyond their shorelines. The most important challenge was to sail accurately, efficiently, and in the correct direction over long distances across known and unknown oceans.
Tsunami field survey of the 1992 Nicaragua earthquake
Authors: Satake Kenji , Bourgeois Joanne , Abe Kuniaki , Abe Katsuyuki , Tsuji Yoshinobu , Imamura Fumihiko , Lio Yoshihisa , Katao Hiroshi , Noguera Evelyn , Estrada Francisco
Published: October 2006

An earthquake with surface magnitude (Ms ) 7.0 occurred 100 km off the Nicaraguan coast on September 2, 1992 (GMT). Despite its moderate size, this earthquake generated a sizable tsunami, which caused extensive damage along the coast of Nicaragua. In late September, about 170 people, mostly children, were listed dead or missing; 500 were listed injured; and over 13,000 were listed homeless, with more than 1500 homes destroyed. Damage was the most significant since the 1983 Japan Sea earthquake tsunami, which killed 100 people in Japan. The Flores (Indonesia) earthquake and tsunami of December 12, 1992, were more destructive than the Nicaragua or Japan Sea events.
Project Halo: The annular solar eclipse of 1994
Authors: Mims Forrest M.
Published: October 2006

Solar eclipses are most often described in terms of their astronomical significance, but they also provide a unique opportunity to study various atmospheric phenomena. Because eclipses are brief and usually occur over oceans or remote land surfaces, these opportunities are quite rare. Thus, a comment about the solar eclipse of May 20, 1947, remains as valid today as when it was published nearly half a century ago: “Something also can be learned about how the upper levels of the Earth's own atmosphere are affected by the Sun's rays, by noting what happens in the atmosphere when those rays are cut off during an eclipse” [Colton, 1947].

The annular eclipse of May 10, 1994, will provide a significant opportunity for observers in the United States since its centerline will sweep from New Mexico to Maine (Figure 1). I have begun Project Halo to encourage observations of this eclipse, which will be the last visible from the continental United States until 2017.
Ten years of trace gas data released
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The results of 10 years of sampling for trace gases in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere have been published by the Department of Energy's Environmental Measurements Laboratory (Robert Leifer, EML‐549, December 1992). This effort represents the largest single in‐situ collection of stratospheric trace gas samples. The resulting analyzed data is the most extensive data base available to the scientific community to date.