bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Earth's early crust
Authors: Bowring Samuel A.
Published: October 2006

Recent research on Earth's oldest rocks has significantly changed our view of the first 800 million years of Earth's history. In the past it was believed that crust older than 3.8 billion years (Ga) was destroyed by meteorite impact. Bowring et al. [1989, 1990] reported the occurence of 3.96 Ga crustal rocks that ranged in composition from granite to tonalite. Geochemical data suggest that these rocks were in part derived by partial melting of pre‐existing crust, requiring even older crust. Collerson [1991] and others reported data on ca. 3.8 Ga ultramafic rocks (rocks composed primarily of olivine and/or pyroxene) from Labrador that were interpreted as fragments of the mantle, making them the oldest known mantle rocks. These rocks have geochemical signatures that suggest they are fragments of depleted mantle, very much like the source of mid‐ocean ridge basalts today. This suggests that the mantle was in existence by 3.8 Ga.
Recent observations of small‐scale solar convection
Authors: Hoeksema J. Todd
Published: October 2006

Recent advances in instrumentation and data analysis techniques are leading to an improved understanding of solar convection. In the outer third of the Sun, convective motion carries most of the energy from the Sun's core to the surface. Plasma at the bottom of the convective zone is heated, becomes less dense than the plasma above it, and rises. At the surface the energy is radiated into space, the material cools and condenses, and falls back into the interior. The whole process resembles what happens in a pan of water heated on a stove.
Hydrology and hydrochemistry of Alpine basins
Authors: Dozier Jeff , Williams Mark
Published: October 2006

This year has seen the first strides toward a global understanding of the hydrology and hydrochemistry of alpine areas. Seasonally snow‐covered areas of the Earth's mountain ranges are important components of the global hydrologic cycle, even though they cover a small portion of the Earth's surface area. For example, snow melt in the Sierra Nevada is the major source of the water supply for runoff and groundwater recharge for the agricultural community of the Central Valley of California. Furthermore, many alpine basins will be sensitive to changes in the amount and chemistry of precipitation because of their small groundwater reservoirs, predominance of crystalline rocks that weather slowly, thin acidic soils, large amount of precipitation, and low buffering ability.
1993 Budget Boosts Individual R&D
Authors: DeVito M. Catherine
Published: October 2006

The fiscal year 1993 federal budget significantly increases R&D funding,especially for individual investigators, according to D. Allen Bromley, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. President Bush's $1.52 trillion budget allocates $76.6 billion for the conduct of research and development, an increase of 3% over the amount appropriated for fiscal year 1992, Bromley said January 29 at a budget briefing.

The budget proposal calls for an 18% increase in funding for the National Science Foundation, keeping it on track for doubling by 1994, “a goal to which President Bush is committed,” said Bromley. The budget sets funding for NSF at $3.03 billion. “The increase for NSF reflects a more broadly based effort to significantly increase support for individual investigators, who are located largely at U. S. colleges and universities,”Bromley said. Over half of this year's request for NSF supports the work of individual investigators and small groups, with an increase of 17% for this purpose.
DOE Panel disagrees on Yucca Theory
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

A scientific panel was unable to reach a consensus on the hydrotectonic theory acting at Yucca Mountain, Nev., put forth by Department of Energy geologist Jerry Szymanski. The panel's reports, reflecting majority and minority opinions, were released late last year and form one part of DOE's overall site characterization of Yucca Mountain as a storage site for high‐level nuclear waste. DOE has also asked the National Academy of Sciences to review Syzmanski's theory and will incorporate its results into the site assessment.

The five‐person DOE panel convened early in 1990 to begin its review of Szymanski's concepts, data, and interpretations laid out in his 1989 report, “Conceptual Considerations of the Yucca Mountain Groundwater System with Special Emphasis on the Adequacy of this System to Accommodate a High‐Level Nuclear Waste Repository.” After meeting several times throughout the year in the field and with Szymanski and realizing there were conflicting opinions within the review group, the external panel decided in December 1990 to prepare majority and minority reports. DOE also asked the panel to make recommendations to the agency on further studies.
Set science priorities, says Rep. Brown
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

If scientists fail to set priorities for research spending, someone else will, said Rep. George Brown, Jr. (D.‐Calif.) at a recent space policy symposium in Washington, D.C. Addressing one of his now‐familiar themes—priority‐setting—the chair of the House Space, Science, and Technology Committee called for apportioning research support based, above all, on scientific merit. Otherwise, “science funding may be increasingly decided by ‘political pork’ awarded to localities based on political rather than scientific goals,” he said.

At a January 24 forum of the National Academy of Sciences' Space Studies Board, Brown stressed that space science objectives must match the nation's overall “science and technology agenda.” Scientists and policy‐makers should work together to advance “explicit social, economic, and political goals,” he said. However, “if Congress perceives that scientists view research funding as a right rather than an opportunity that comes with a responsibility, they cannot build mutual trust.”
Space science: Who's at the helm?
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

Who should set priorities for space science research—the Space Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences, NASA's Space Science and Applications Advisory Committee, or both? This was a basic theme discussed at a symposium on priorities in space research, held by the Space Studies Board January 24 in Washington, D.C. Louis Lanzerotti, chair of the board, commented that setting science priorities was “harder than solving differential equations.”

The board released its report, “Setting Priorities for Space Research—Opportunities and Imperatives,” which stressed the fundamental need for ranking space initiatives. The forum itself was held to gather comments on a draft questionnaire developed to elicit research priorities from space scientists. Both documents were drawn up by a Space Studies Board task force on space priorities chaired by John Dutton of Pennsylvania State University.
Martian Surface and Atmosphere Workshop
Authors: Schuraytz Benjamin C.
Published: October 2006

The NASA‐sponsored Martian Surface and Atmosphere Through Time Study Project convened its first major meeting at the University of Colorado in Boulder, September 23–25, 1991. The workshop, co‐sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, brought together an international group of 125 scientists to discuss a variety of issues relevant to the goals of the MSATT Program. The workshop program committee included co‐convenors Robert Haberle, MSATT Steering Committee Chairman NASA Ames Research Center) and Bruce Jakosky (University of Colorado), and committee members Amos Banin (NASA Ames Research Center and Hebrew University), Benjamin Schuraytz (LPI), and Kenneth Tanaka (U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.).

The purpose of the workshop was to begin exploring and defining the relationships between different aspects of Mars science—the evolution of the surface, the atmosphere, upper atmosphere, volatiles, and climate. Specific topics addressed in the 88 contributed abstracts included the current nature of the surface with respect to physical properties and photometric observations and interpretations; the history of geological processes, comprising water and ice‐related geomorphology, impact cratering, and volcanism; and the geochemistry and mineralogy of the surface with emphasis on compositional and spectroscopic studies and weathering processes. Also addressed were the present atmosphere, focusing on structure and dynamics, volatile and dust distribution, and the upper atmosphere; long‐term volatile evolution based on volatiles in SNC meteorites (certain meteorites thought to have come from Mars) and atmospheric evolution processes; climate history and volatile cycles in relation to early climate and the polar caps, ground ice, and regolith; and future mission concepts.
Borehole temperatures record changing climate
Authors: Pollack Henry
Published: October 2006

Recent changes in the Earth's surface temperature can now be probed by measuring the temperature of rocks beneath the surface. Rock temperatures at shallow depths are an archive of temperature changes that have occurred at the surface of the Earth in the recent past. Thus, subsurface temperatures comprise a valuable complement to surface meteorological data in understanding the Earth's surface temperature history, particularly for times before the establishment of a worldwide network of meteorological stations. The subsurface observations are relevant to an assessment of the role of atmospheric greenhouse gases in the global warming of the 20th century.
Federal global change data plan reviewed
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

Scientists and data managers are grappling with an unprecedented challenge: how to handle the explosion of data being produced by global change research. The federal government is developing a plan to manage data among the various federal agencies that participate in the U.S. Global Change Research Program. From January 22 to 24, some 80 scientists, data managers, and officials from federal agencies, universities, laboratories, and other institutions met in Washington, D.C. to critique the draft plan.

New observational tools are expected to increase the flow of global change data to ever more massive proportions, while all the data now available is not catalogued properly. Even now, if a researcher does manage to find appropriate data, it may not be documented sufficiently to use. “These practical difficulties are especially acute for global change researchers, who need to search for data and information very broadly across scientific disciplines and sometimes decades after the data were archived,” explains the draft plan by the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Fiscal 1993 U.S. Science Budget request released
Authors: Bush Susan , Simarski Lynn Teo , DeVito M. Catherine
Published: October 2006

DOE's proposed budget for fiscal 1993 is $19.4 billion, almost level with fiscal 1992's $19 billion. Of that, $5.5 billion is targeted for environmental cleanup at DOE facilities, an increase of $1.16 billion. DOE's portion of research and development related to the National Energy Strategy is $725 million, up 16% from 1992. Funding for defense activities is down 9% to $7.5 billion from $8.3 billion.

According to DOE Secretary James D. Watkins, “Congressional enactment of a comprehensive and balanced legislative package is needed to implement fully the president's National Energy Strategy.” As such, there are provisions in the fiscal 1993 DOE budget for advanced energy technology R&D to reduce energy consumption, increase fuel flexibility, and improve U.S. competitiveness in world markets.
Paleomagnetic on‐line data archive established
Authors: Harbert William
Published: October 2006

During the recent International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics meeting in Vienna, it was suggested that it would be useful to place paleomagnetically important information at a computer archive site that could be accessed by anyone at any time. Setting up such a site would increase the ease with which paleomagnetists can access on‐line databases and computer program source code. The present situation, with some exceptions, is poor, with most researchers working alone, or mailing floppy disks or magnetic tape to colleagues. Using the File Transfer Protocol, a central archive site has been established for paleomagnetic information that can be accessed at any time. Files can be very rapidly downloaded at no charge. The archive is located at FTP site 130.49.3.1 (earth.eps.pitt.edu) at the University of Pittsburgh.
Geospace Environment Modeling Program
Authors: Dusenbery Paul B. , Siscoe George L.
Published: October 2006

The geospace environment encompasses the highest and largest of the four physical geospheres—lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and magnetosphere. Despite its size, its far‐reaching structures interconnect and move together in a choreography of organized dynamics, whose complexity is reflected in the intricate movements of the northern lights. The vastness and inaccessibility of geospace, encompassing the plasma environment of the magnetosphere/ionosphere system, and the invisibility of its structures pose great challenges to scientists who want to study its dynamics by obtaining, in effect, video tapes of its globally organized motions. A key component of their strategy is the ability to see nearly all of geospace imaged onto the top of the atmosphere. The geomagnetic field threads the volume of geospace and transmits action, TV‐like, from the magnetospheric stage down its lines of force onto the atmospheric screen.
Union and section officers elected for 1992–1994
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The AGU Tellers Committee has approved the election results for Union and Section officers. The voting by the membership for the officers for 1992–1994 was completed on December 31, 1991. The results of that voting are listed below. The officers' terms begin July 1, 1992, and run through June 30, 1994.
Scientific use of submarine telecommunications cables
Authors:   IRIS Steering Committee for Scientific Use of Submarine Cables
Published: October 2006

In the coming decades, the Earth and ocean science communities will address global problems using new, large‐scale, long‐term monitoring systems distributed around the planet. Such measurements will be needed to better understand geophysical processes that vary on time scales of months to decades; they will also provide “ground truth” for observations derived from satellites. However, achieving broad spatial coverage within the oceans using conventional instrumentation deployed from ships will be very costly, and real‐time data telemetry from seafloor‐based instrumentation poses many technical challenges. A complementary approach might utilize portions of the worldwide system of transoceanic analog telecommunications cables; these are due to retire from commercial service over the next decade as they are replaced by fiber optic technology. Walker [1991], for example, discusses submarine cable usage in the context of global change research.
House Panel skeptical of NASA budget
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

The forced resignation of NASA chief Richard Truly on February 12 is widely seen as having weakened the agency at a critical time, just as Congress has begun considering this year's federal budget request. Members of a House space panel expressed dismay at Truly's ouster by the White House, when the agency head appeared February 19 at the year's first NASA budget hearing. Several legislators suggested that the dismissal strengthened the hand of the National Space Council, which is headed by Vice President Dan Quayle.

“It angers me to think that NASA, which has inspired generations of Americans, is being turned into a public relations tool for the rehabilitation of Dan Quayle,” said Norman Y. Mineta (D‐Calif.) at the hearing of the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Mineta's charge that the White House is using NASA as a “political poker chip” was echoed repeatedly by other legislators during the hearing.
Overhead rate issue continues to churn
Authors: Jones Richard M.
Published: October 2006

Recent actions and statements by Congress and the White House make it clear that the controversy over university indirect cost rates, first raised by Rep. John D. Dingell (D‐Mich.) almost one year ago, will not be resolved in the near future.

On January 29, the same day that the president's 1993 budget was released, Rep. Dingell convened a third hearing of his Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Dingell opened the proceedings by stating that a “fair amount has been accomplished,” but continued that the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) has started audits at almost all of 38 major research universities. Dingell spoke of “stunning findings” from these audits and said that DCAA is now initiating audits at non‐profit research institutions, such as the National Academy of Sciences. “These audits have also discovered serious overcharging,” he said.
Minnesota Geological Survey funded
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

The Minnesota Geological Survey, which was in danger of being closed down due to lack of funding, recently had their $1,075 million budget restored for fiscal 1993. Governor Ann Carlson signed the new bill into law on January 17.

“Enactment of this legislation has effectively removed the threat of closure that has hung over our heads since the veto on June 4, 1991,” according to MGS director Priscilla Grew. Carlson vetoed the line item of the 2‐year University of Minnesota budget that funds the MGS. The MGS is funded under Minnesota's Higher Education bill, rather than as a state agency.
William Bowie: Engineer, administrator, and diplomat
Authors: Whitten Charles A.
Published: October 2006

This article was first presented as a talk at the History of Geodesy Session, AGU Fall Meeting, Dec. 11, 1985, in San Francisco.
A new building for AGU
Authors: DeVito M. Catherine
Published: October 2006

On March 4 at AGU headquarters, the Real Estate Committee reviewed plans for the construction of a new headquarters building, which is to be completed in early 1994 on the current 2000 Florida Avenue site. The committee discussed in detail the project's budget, scheduling, and design. This meeting marks the completion of the design and development phase. The project's architect, Shalom Baranes, will now begin construction drawings.

Several years ago, projections of the Union's growth showed that by about 1995, the current building would be insufficient to house the staff required to serve the Union. A study was undertaken by a special committee with the help of consultants. This “Real Estate Committee,” chaired by Ned A. Ostenso, explored the advantages and disadvantages of six expansion options: to sell the current building and lease; to sell the current building and buy another; to “do nothing” to the existing building and expand by leasing; to keep the existing building and build a new, independent addition; to renovate the existing building and add a new addition; or to construct a new building at the current site.
Results from Ulysses' Jupiter flyby
Authors: Tsurutani Bruce
Published: October 2006

The joint European Space Agency/NASA Ulysses spacecraft flew through the Jovian system in early February for a gravity‐assist boost out of the ecliptic plane on its way to its primary mission exploring the polar regions of the Sun. While in the vicinity of Jupiter, Ulysses' nine field and particle experiments probed the Jovian magnetosphere. At a February 11 press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ulysses investigators presented the initial results from the flyby. The first set of scientific papers will be published in Science this summer.
Ocean drilling program sets FY 1993 schedule
Authors: Austin James A.
Published: October 2006

At its December 1991 meeting in Austin, Tex., the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES) Planning Committee of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) established its plan for fiscal year 1993 in association with chairpersons of ODP's scientific advisory panel. The budget covers late November 1992 through late November 1993.

ODP, successor to the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and the International Phase of Ocean Drilling, is a consortium of countries led by the United States with a broad mandate to conduct scientific drilling in the world's ocean basins. ODP reviews and ranks drilling programs proposed by an international community of Earth scientists according to priorities established by ODP's Long Range Plan. Using those rankings as primary input, the planning committee has placed six 56‐day drilling legs on the fiscal 1993 schedule, beginning with Leg 147. ODP's Long Range Plan is available from the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc., in Washington, D.C., and from JOIDES thematic panels.
Keeling receives 1991 Ewing Medal
Authors: Cicerone Ralph , Keeling Charles David
Published: October 2006

The Maurice Ewing Medal was presented to Charles David Keeling jointly by the U.S. Navy and AGU at the AGU 1991 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. The medal recognizes significant original contributions to understanding physical, geophysical, and geologic processes in the ocean; and/or significant contributions to scientific ocean engineering, technology, and instrumentation; and/or outstanding service to marine sciences.
The future of JGR‐Space Physics
Authors: Hughes W. Jeffrey
Published: October 2006

Much of the discussion at the recent Space Physics and Aeronomy section Executive Committee meeting held during the AGU 1991 Fall Meeting in San Francisco centered on future plans for JGR‐Space Physics (Blue JGR). As most SPA members already know, James Van Allen has stepped in to fill the vacant editor's position following the death of Chris Goertz. Van Allen has agreed to serve for about 6 months until a search for a new editor is completed. He has appealed to the associate editors for greater support and hopes that authors from the western Pacific area and Europe will make greater use of their regional editors.
Geophysics and the Geological Survey of Canada
Authors: Berry Michael J. , Whitman Kenneth , Hodgson John
Published: October 2006

The joint meeting of AGU, the Canadian Geophysical Union, and the Mineralogical Society of America to be held in Montreal this May is taking place on the 150th anniversary of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). The GSC, one of Canada's oldest scientific agencies, is among the world's first national geological surveys. Such surveys were still uncommon when it began, although France and Britain had established theirs in the 1830s. The GSC has been the driving force behind the geological mapping of Canada's nearly 10 million sq km of land and freshwater lakes, and more than 6 million sq km of continental margins and coastal boundaries.
Southern Ocean gravity field image available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

This image shows the gravity field of the Southern Ocean from Geosat data. A colorshaded relief image of these gravity anomalies is available from NOAA in poster form (Report MGG‐6, Marks and McAdoo, 1992), and also as a digital gridded data set on CDROM.
Crary Lab dedicated in Antarctica
Authors: Peacock Dennis S.
Published: October 2006

A new $23 million science laboratory was dedicated on November 5, 1991, at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The laboratory was named the Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center, in honor of geophysicist andglaciologist Albert P. Crary, the first person to set foot on both the North and South Poles. Crary died in 1987.

The Crary Laboratory contains state‐ofthe‐art scientific instrumentation that will facilitate international polar research and advancement of science and technology. Primarily, it will support funded principal investigators by providing much‐needed laboratory space, analytical instrumentation, and staging areas for a wide range of scientific disciplines. The facility will replace old and outdated science buildings that were built as early as 1959.
Institutions supported by ONR Ocean Sciences
Authors: Hartwig Eric O.
Published: October 2006

The Ocean Sciences Directorate of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is a major sponsor of basic research and graduate education aimed at understanding the ocean environment. Funding support for proposals is provided to investigators on the basis of scientific merit, Navy relevance, programmatic interest, and cost of proposed research. Any scientists or institutions interested in ONR‐funded research are advised to contact the appropriate ONR scientific officer Point of Contact (POC) about their research interests before submitting a proposal.

The appropriate POC can be found in the ONR Guide to Programs (request from ONR, Code 1 ISP, 800 N. Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217‐5000). Ocean sciences programs include ocean technology, remote sensing, coastal sciences, research facilities (not a scientific program), meso‐ and large‐scale physical oceanography, small‐scale physical oceanography, marine meteorology, oceanic biology, oceanic chemistry, ocean optics, ocean acoustics, arctic sciences, and marine geology and geophysics. Each of these programs has one or more scientific officers to which the community can direct their scientific interest.
SAGE program explores the Rio Grande rift
Authors: Baldridge W. Scott , Jiracek George R.
Published: October 2006

Last June and July, for the ninth consecutive summer, geophysics students from universities across the United States and around the world converged on Santa Fe, N.Mex., to participate in a unique geophysical field program (Figure 1). Among a variety of activities, students surveyed, laid cables, buried electrodes, and gathered and interpreted a wealth of geophysical and geological data. They were part of a program called the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE), not to be confused with the Geological Society of America's Science Awareness Through Geoscience Education program. SAGE is sponsored by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) branch of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics of the University of California [Jiracek et al., 1991].
Fall 1991 Planetology Student Paper Award
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Robert Brackett received the Outstanding Student Paper Award for a planetology paper he delivered at the AGU Fall 1991 Meeting entitled “Cratering Mechanics on Venus: Pressure Enhancement by the Atmospheric Ocean.” Brackett is a second‐year graduate student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences of Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in geophysics in 1986 from the University of Texas at Austin and is pursuing a Ph.D. focusing on both planetary and terrestrial problems. Brackett works in collaboration with Ray Arvidson and Bill McKinnon.
Workshop on remote sensing algorithms
Authors: Rango Albert
Published: October 2006

The Workshop on Intercomparison of Remote Sensing Algorithms in Hydrology (HW 7), held August 16, 1991, in Vienna, Austria, was sponsored by the International Committee on Remote Sensing and Data Transmission for IAHS. Two half‐day sessions were included that covered the topics of snow cover and soil moisture. The workshop was well attended with over 100 participants, many of whom were from the United States. Four of the thirteen presentations were made by U.S. investigators, and the soil moisture convener was T. Jackson from Beltsville, Md.
Peck grilled on USGS cuts
Authors: Devito M. Catherine
Published: October 2006

At a March 31 House appropriations hearing on the U.S. Geological Survey's fiscal year 1993 budget, Sidney Yates (D‐Ill.), chair of the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, challenged USGS Director Dallas Peck's assertion that a $42 million decrease in funding will not render the USGS unable to fulfill its commitments. Peck staved off these charges, declaring that the budget reflects “fiscal responsibility.”

USGS program reductions will total $69 million when matching funds from state and local agencies are taken into account. The 10% decrease from last year's budget would hit volcano and earthquake hazards funding the hardest. River monitoring would also lose some funding.
AGU's position on FY93 Budget
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

For the third year in a row, AGU has formally added its voice to the debate in Congress on the president's proposed federal budget. The position statement addresses general policy issues affecting scientific research and offers specific comments on the fiscal year 1993 budget requests of agencies that support geoscience research.

The position was approved by a vote of the AGU Council on April 7. The statement was drafted by a panel chaired by Terry E. Tullis of Brown University.
USGS budget cuts threaten programs
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

In one of the most severe across‐the‐board budget cuts for the U.S. Geological Survey, many of its programs are facing significant reduction or elimination. The president has requested $540.3 million for the agency's fiscal 1993 budget, a decrease of $42.46 million, or 8.4% from fiscal 1992.

With the president's proposed budget, “USGS will clearly have difficulty carrying on at some level,” said Dave Russ, Assistant Chief Geologist for Program, USGS, Reston, Va. “If we don't get additional restoration [of funds] from Congress, many areas [of research] will be in trouble,” he added.
Undergraduate science education probed
Authors: Leath Audrey T.
Published: October 2006

Do today's colleges and universities place too much emphasis on research performed by their faculty and not enough on the quality of undergraduate teaching? That was the question addressed at a March 31 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Science. Former University of Arkansas president Rep. Ray Thornton (D‐Ark.), who chaired the hearing, remarked that “there is a nationwide perception that the balance is skewed toward research.” Many students and their parents, he said, have voiced dissatisfaction over undergraduate education.
Land surface processes and climate variability
Authors: Milly P. C. D.
Published: October 2006

The continental surfaces comprise one of several interacting components of the climate system. Therefore, they play a role in the natural fluctuations and anthropogenic changes of regional and global climate. In light of the importance of land‐atmosphere interactions to climate, the Atmospheric Sciences and Hydrology sections cosponsored a special session on land surface processes and climate variability at the AGU 1991 Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The focus was on physical interactions between the continents and the atmosphere through exchanges of mass, energy, and momentum, with an emphasis on the relevance of those interactions to natural and anthropogenic variations of climate and continental hydrology. The call for papers requested reports on process‐oriented, model‐based, and observational studies of the influence of land‐surface processes on atmospheric variability, land‐surface response to atmospheric variations, and climatic sensitivity to changes of the continental surfaces.
1991 Bowen Award to Fournier
Authors: Muffler L. J. Patrick , Fournier Bob
Published: October 2006

Robert O. Fournier of the U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif., received the 1991 N. L. Bowen Award of the Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology section for outstanding contributions to the area of chemistry of hydrothermal fluids. The award was presented on December 11 during the AGU 1991 Fall Meeting in San Francisco.
Shapiro receives 1991 Whitten medal
Authors: King Robert , Shapiro Irvin
Published: October 2006

At the AGU 1991 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Irwin I. Shapiro was awarded the Charles A. Whitten Medal for his outstanding achievement in research on the form and dynamics of Earth and planets.
Difficulties defining storm sudden commencements
Authors: Gonzalez W. D. , Clúa de Gonzalez A. L. , Mendes O. , Tsurutani Bruce T.
Published: October 2006

Joselyn and Tsurutani [1990] and Kamide and Joselyn [1991] suggested ways of improving the existing definition of Storm Sudden Commencements (SSCs) and Sudden Impulses (SIs). Because those two articles apparently present controversial opinions on some aspects of SSCs, we would like to point out some difficulties in defining SSCs that we think explain such a controversy.
Watershed studies conference held
Authors: Robbins Church M.
Published: October 2006

Nearly 100 scientists from 11 nations gathered to discuss integrated research in forest watersheds at the Gordon Research Conference, “Hydrological‐Geochemical‐Biological Interactions in Forested Catchments,” held from July 1 to 5, 1991, in Plymouth, N.H. The conference was the first‐ever on this topic, and it was held to address newly emerging research questions, to highlight recent advances in watershed science, and to bring biologists and ecologists into discussions discussions of catchment hydrogeochemical function. R. Church (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, Oreg.) and G. Hornberger (University of Virginia) served as chair and vice‐chair, respectively, of the conference.
Recent U.S.‐U.S.S.R. cruise in Bering Sea
Authors: Reed R. K. , Verkhunov A. V. , Khen G. V. , Cokelet E. D. , Overland J. E. , Whitledge T. E.
Published: October 2006

An oceanographic cruise aboard the NOAA ship Miller Freeman along the Aleutian Islands and in the western, northern, and central Bering Sea (Figure 1) took place August 2–29, 1991. This was a cooperative project between American and Soviet researchers, and operations were conducted in both the U.S. and Soviet economic zones. The expertise of the various researchers contributed greatly to the success of the project.

This cruise was the first major field work carried out in this region as part of NOAA's Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (FOCI). Previously, FOCI studies have been conducted in the Gulf of Alaska, especially in Shelikof Strait [Reed et al., 1988]. The main goal of FOCI is to gain understanding of the effects of the biotic and abiotic environments on commercially important fisheries. The work described here was largely concerned with ocean circulation, especially flow through the deeper Aleutian Island passes and the continuity of circulation over the central and western Bering Sea. Our results will be used in conjunction with numerical models and studies with satellite altimetry.
Precipitation in topographically diverse regions
Authors: Tarboton David
Published: October 2006

A 1991 AGU Fall Meeting session, Precipitation in Topographically Diverse Regions, focused on the understanding and modeling of precipitation in regions with significant topography, concentrating on the effect of topography on precipitation. Contributions ranged from detailed mesoscale atmospheric models to statistical approaches.

Two papers presented detailed physical modeling. A. P. Barros and D. P. Lettenmaier described their work, consisting of a threedimensional finite element model based on the measurement of moist static energy. Application of the model in the Olympic and Cascades mountains demonstrated its potential to model monthly precipitation totals to within 15%. F. Giorgi described some of the work being done at NCAR that is focusing on the regional impacts of global climate change. This work uses a mesoscale meteorological model (Penn State/NCAR MM4) embedded within a general circulation model. There were three papers from the USGS/Colorado State group that described work involving the RHEA‐CSU orographic precipitation model that has been coupled with the USGS/s distributed parameter Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). The orographic precipitation model has been integrated into a geographic information system to facilitate the use of digital elevation data. The PRMS is based on the concept of hydrologic response units, and the results presented illustrated the scale's sensitivity to these. When rectangular boxes were used instead of the usual response units defined by streams and drainage divides, there was no appreciable degradation in the quality of the simulation. The size and number of response units appears to be more crucial than whether they are demarcated by drainage divides and streams or simply arbitrary.
Hot rocks and massive sulfide: Northern Juan de Fuca Ridge
Authors:   Ocean Drilling Program Leg 139 Scientific Drilling Party
Published: October 2006

Leg 139 of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), completed on September 11, was the first part of a proposed two‐leg program to investigate hydrothermal processes and products at seafloor‐spreading centers covered with sediment. Sedimented spreading centers are unique and provide ideal targets for drilling; a regionally continuous, relatively impermeable sediment cover over zero‐age crust limits the recharge and discharge of hydrothermal fluids and thermally insulates the underlying crust. This creates a thermal regime in which high formation temperatures can occur at comparatively shallow levels in the crust. Where discharge of fluid does occur, very large hydrothermal sulfide deposits can be produced. The sediment may also preserve a relatively continuous stratigraphic record of magmatic, tectonic, and thermal events, providing clues to the spatial and temporal variability of these processes. The sediment also stabilizes the drill‐string and allows holes to be “spudded” without the operational expense of a complicated seafloor guidebase.
Antarctic science preserve polluted
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

Geophysicists are alarmed at the electromagnetic pollution of a research site in the Antarctic specifically set aside to study the ionosphere and magnetosphere. A private New Zealand communications company called Telecom recently constructed a satellite ground station within the boundaries of this Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), protected since the mid‐1970s. The placement of a commercial facility within this site sets an ominous precedent not only for the sanctity of other SSSIs, but also for Specially Protected Areas—preserves not even open to scientific research, such as certain penguin rookeries.

The roughly rectangular, one‐by‐one‐half mile site, located at Arrival Heights not far from McMurdo Station, is one of a number of areas protected under the Antarctic treaty for designated scientific activities. Many sites are set aside for geological or biological research, but this is the only one specifically for physical science.
Increasing involvement in local schools
Authors: Fuselier Stephen , Dusenberry Paul
Published: October 2006

In recent years, school science curriculum has come under severe criticism by several panels convened to study the U.S. education system. In September 1989, President Bush convened the historic “Education Summit” with the nation's governors in Charlottesville, Va. The major outcome of the summit was the creation of national goals for education reform and the framework for achieving them. Perhaps no goal is more challenging for science than the one that states, “By the year 2000, U.S. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement."
What causes the aurora?
Authors: Akasofu Syun‐Ichi
Published: October 2006

The aurora is the luminous emission of atoms and molecules in the polar upper atmosphere that appears as permanent, ringshaped belts called the auroral oval around the north and south geomagnetic poles (see Figure 1). It is associated with a global electrical discharge process that requires about 1 million MW or more. In fact, electric currents of a few million amperes flow along the aurora. Except for specialized books for professionals in this field, however, most books describe the aurora as a result of the direct entry of energetic particles from the Sun toward the polar region. This view is obviously too simplistic in terms of the progress we have made in this field since the advent of the satellite age. Indeed, we have begun to understand the generator process that powers the auroral discharge. In this article, the auroral process is described in terms of this latest knowledge.
Press calls for new technology policy
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

Based on the remarkable progress in science over the last decade, the United States is entering a new era in science and technology, said Frank Press, president of the National Academy of Sciences. In an address to the NAS's 129th annual meeting on April 27, he said that we will need to take new approaches to federal technology policy in response to new conditions in the world. We will need strength in science and technology, as well as excellence in marketing in order to maintain our leadership role, he said.

“It will be an era in which the boundaries between basic and applied research erode,” said Press. “More than ever before, science will drive technology and technology will accelerate scientific progress,” he added. Research‐based science and technology in universities and federal laboratories will play a major role in the economic development of the United States, he noted.
DOE Budget up slightly
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

The Department of Energy's budget request for fiscal year 1993 is $19,4 billion, a 2% increase from last year's total. The biggest increase was in environmental restoration, up 24% to $5.3 billion. A total of $3.0 billion is proposed for basic science research, an increase of 12% from fiscal 1992.

Budget cuts were proposed for national defense and energy‐related activities. Due to a shrinking and restructuring of nuclear weapons, national defense activities were decreased by 9%. Also, energy‐related activities, including increasing energy efficiency and securing future energy supplies, would decrease by 2%, which reflects a decrease in fossil fuel R&D funding.
Groundwater problems in Mexico
Authors: Escolero Oscar , Marin Luis E.
Published: October 2006

Mexico has two kinds of groundwater problems. The first, which is common to many nations, includes groundwater contamination, saltwater intrusion, and severe drawdown in aquifers. The second, which amplifies effects of the physical problems, is a lack of trained professionals in the hydrogeologic sciences. For a country with a population of more than 80 million inhabitants, this is a serious problem.

Of the approximately 2 million km2 of surface land in Mexico, at least 1.2 million km2 are of hydrogeologic interest. Almost 50% of the water used in Mexico comes from groundwater. In many areas, such as the Yucatan peninsula, groundwater is the only source of water available. Approximately 340 aquifers have been identified. Of these, eighty are over‐exploited, sixteen have salt water intrusion problems, ten have contamination problems, and five have land subsidence problems associated with groundwater extractions. Drawdowns range from a few meters to more than one hundred meters in the past 50 years in areas of northern Mexico.
Between Two Worlds
Authors: Skolnikoff Eugene B.
Published: October 2006

Lynton Keith Caldwell can fairly be considered the dean of American political scientists concerned with environmental issues. He has published many books on various aspects of environmental politics and policy and has had an influential role in the development of environmental legislation in the United States. This most recent book is different from his others, however, for it presents a philosophical and personal summary of the extent of the environmental crisis he perceives to be facing the world, and what he believes is required to avoid the plight he sees as near at hand. Lynton Keith Caldwel can fairly be considered the dean of American political scientists concerned with environmental issues. He has published many books on various aspects of environmental politics and policy and has had an influential role in the development of environmental legislation in the United States. This most recent book is different from his others, however, for it presents a philosophical and personal summary of the extent of the environmental crisis he perceives to be facing the world, and what he believes is required to avoid the plight he sees as near at hand.

Writing in the style of an extended essay or memoir, Caldwell takes the reader gradually through his deeply troubled analysis of how we came to the present situation. In his view, “modern society has reached a point in time and circumstance when its customary behaviors can no longer be continued. New ways of relating to the Earth have become necessary, and so the world is passing through a historical discontinuity.” He proceeds in a deceptively calm manner, avoiding inflammatory language, to present a radical view of what he believes is necessary to bring about a different world that “must be created if civilization, and perhaps humanity, are to survive.”
The GISP2 ice core and snow‐atmosphere chemical exchange
Authors: Bales Roger , Dibb Jack , Neftel Albrecht
Published: October 2006

Polar snow and ice are among the most valuable, or perhaps are the most valuable, tools for reconstructing past climatic conditions. Glacial‐ice records large changes over time scales ranging from intraannual to glacial‐interglacial transitions. Changes in the ice are thought to largely reflect changes in atmospheric chemistry and dynamics resulting from variations in biogeochemical cycling due to climatic, and other, perturbations [Oeschger and Langway, 1989].

However, two broad classes of processes, air‐to‐snow transfer and post‐depositional modification, combine to filter and potentially distort atmospheric signals before they can be preserved in the glacial record [Neftel, 1991]. Recognizing the critical need to understand air‐snow transfer and postdepositional modifications to unravel the climate information recorded in ice cores, the International Commission on Snow and Ice (ICSI) established a working group on Snow‐Atmosphere Chemical Exchange. With support from the National Science Foundation, Division of Polar Programs, the ICSI working group organized a workshop to develop a science plan for a 3‐ to 5‐year research effort focused on exchange processes. The workshop will follow the current Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2) drilling effort at Summit, Greenland.
Fourth International Symposium on Land Subsidence
Authors: Johnson A. I.
Published: October 2006

Subsidence, or land‐surface sinking, is a phenomenon that occurs in many parts of the world. Subsidence results from the heavy withdrawal of groundwater, geothermal fluids, oil, and gas; the extraction of coal, sulphur, and other solids through mining; the hydro‐compaction of sediments; oxidation and shrinkage of organic deposits; the catastrophic development of sinkholes in karst terrain; and other phenomena. Over 150 areas of contemporary subsidence are known, some at rates of 10 m in countries such as Mexico, Japan, and the United States, for example. More areas of subsidence are likely to develop in the next few decades due to the accelerated exploitation of natural resources necessary to meet the demands of increasing population and industrial development in many countries.
Progress in substorm research
Authors: Kan J. R. , Kennel C. F. , Vasyliunas V. M. , Akasofu S.‐I.
Published: October 2006

A substorm workshop was held at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, from September 18 to 21, 1991. Approximately thirty substorm researchers participated in the workshop, including twenty‐five from the United States, two from Canada, and one participant each from Germany, France, and Japan.

The purpose of the workshop was to critically assess our understanding of the substorm phenomenon. To understand a substorm is to understand how the magnetosphere and ionosphere interact with each other in response to the ever‐changing conditions in the solar wind. A substorm is a global phenomenon involving coupling of the solar wind, the magnetosphere, and the ionosphere. The complexity of this coupled system is the main reason why it has been so difficult to establish the temporal and spatial connections between substorm features observed in the polar ionosphere and in the magnetosphere.