bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urban Water '88
Authors: Zuidena Floris C. , Hoogart Hans
Published: October 2006

The Symposium on Hydrological Processes and Water Management in Urban Areas (Urban Water '88) was held in Duisburg, West Germany, and The Netherlands, April 24–29, 1988. Six themes were discussed during the 3‐day conference and 2‐day study tour: urban hydrological cycle, functions and uses of water, concepts of urban drainage and flood protection, effects of urbanization on surface and groundwater, and the role of water in city planning and integrated water management in urban areas.
Diplomat tells climate scientists to speak out
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2006

Former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations Stephen Lewis challenged scientists at a climate change conference to “move from dispassionate observation to passionate advocacy” and make their views on the threat posed by greenhouse warming known to fellow citizens and political leaders.

Lewis, who chaired a multinational conference on climate change last June in Toronto, delivered a principal address December 7 in Washington, D.C., to the Second North American Conference on Preparing for Climate Change. The conference was sponsored by the Climate Institute, an international environmental organization composed of scientists and policymakers. After retiring from the Canadian government last summer, Lewis became a special assistant on Africa to the U.N. Secretary‐General, Javier Perez de Cuellar.
Gravity Currents: In the Environment and the Laboratory, Ellis Horwood Series in Environmental Sciences
Authors: Csanady G. T.
Published: October 2006

There are books and courses on experimental physics, thorough and rigorous, which contain only simple formulae and use only elementary algebra. The subject is explained in lucid and precise language, with the help of many sketches, photos, and diagrams. The book under review belongs to this genre and is in fact one of its most successful members.

About half of the book is devoted to the description of a variety of natural phenomena in which gravity currents play an important role. The class of gravity currents is taken to be quite broad, to include almost any kind of quasi‐horizontal motion caused by density differences. The range of natural phenomena surveyed is correspondingly great, from tidal bores through thunderstorms to the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The atmospheric examples are especially thorough and interesting. The broad panorama certainly brings home to the reader the many ways in which fluids (including fluidized rock) can move under the influence of gravity. However, not all of the examples show typical gravity behavior, nor are they all treated with equal thoroughness. The Gulf Stream is mentioned, and the variability of its position is shown in an illustration, but this is not connected with anything typical of gravity currents, nor is the important interplay between Earth rotation and such large‐scale “gravity currents” (if one insists on calling them that) at all adequately explained.
Global ozone data on computer tape
Authors: Planet Walter
Published: October 2006

The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been obtaining global ozone information from its current series of polar orbiting operational meteorological satellites. The measurements are made by the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometers (SBUV/2) on the NOAA‐9 and NOAA‐11 satellites.

The SBUV/2 measures incoming solar ultraviolet irradiance and ultraviolet radiance backscattered from the atmosphere; from those measurements it is possible to derive ozone distributions in the sunlit portion of the globe. The ozone measurements include total column amount and vertical distributions over the region 25–55 km above Earth's surface. Ozone observations have been obtained daily from March 1985 with the NOAA‐9 instrument. NOAA‐11 was launched September 24; operational production of ozone values from NOAA‐11 is scheduled to begin in January 1989.
Alvarez receives Astral Tribute
Authors: Glen William
Published: October 2006

Eugene Shoemaker (right) presents Walter Alvarez of the University of California, Berkeley, with the photographic evidence of the asteroid named in honor of Walter and his late father, Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez.

Minor Planet 3581 Alvarez, the Mars‐crossing asteroid, was discovered at Palomar Observatory by Shoemaker, of the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz., and his wife Carolyn, who is the leading discoverer of comets in the 20th century. The presentation was made on the occasion of the second Conference on Global Catastrophes in Earth History, held October 20–23 at Snowbird, Utah.
George Bank
Authors: Codispoti L. A.
Published: October 2006

This book provides a rich feast for anyone who has a hunger to learn more about Georges Bank! Its 593 large pages provide articles on a wide variety of scientific and resource management topics. Many human interest features are also included. Among the latter are a photograph demonstrating the only proper way for a seagoing chemist to imbibe, and articles entitled, “My First Trip on Georges Bank,” and “‘Bait Up!’: Dory Fishing on Georges Bank.”

Proving that every cloud has a silver lining, interest in producing this book was driven by the climate of controversy that surrounded Georges Bank in the latter 1970s and early 1980s. This was a time when exploratory wells were being driven to search for oil and when disputes between Canada and the United States about jurisdiction over the Bank were reaching their peak. As Backus notes in the Foreword, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass., set up a Coastal Research Center in 1979 when “the oil/fish dispute on Georges Bank was hot.” The direct costs of publishing this book were, in turn, supported by the Coastal Research Center.
JGR to feature GEOSAT result
Authors: Douglas Bruce C. , Cheney Robert E.
Published: October 2006

A forthcoming special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research will be devoted to results from the GEOSAT altimeter mission. Contributions are solicited on all aspects of the data, including sea level, ocean dynamics, tides, marine geodesy, wind speed, wave height, data management, model assimilation, algorithm development, altimeter calibration, orbit determination, and geopotential improvement.

GEOSAT is a U.S. Navy satellite built and operated by the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. The GEOSAT data set has been prepared by NOAA National Ocean Service and is distributed through the National Oceanographic Data Center. The archive presently includes geophysical data records for 2 years (Cheney et al., GEOSAT Altimeter Geophysical Data Record User Handbook, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NGS‐46, 32 pp., July 1987); new data are added each month. An additional 18‐month wind‐wave data set is also available (Dobson et al., GEOSAT Altimeter Wind and Wave Data Record User Handbook, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Report SIR88U, 29 p p. March 1988).
The OSSA budget of NASA
Authors: Meredith L. H.
Published: October 2006

The optimism with the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) budget expressed in separate articles by P. Reiff,J. K. Alexander, and S. C. Solomon in the SPR News section of the March 8, 1988, issue of Eos (pp. 138, 148–149) deserves review by the full spectrum of the geophysical community. As described in the articles, the OSSA budget is based on five major themes:
On mantle carbon flux calculated
Authors: Marty B.
Published: October 2006

The news item “Mantle carbon flux calculated” (Eos, March 22, 1988, p. 169) described research on oceanic carbon outgassing rates by David Des Marais at NASA Ames Research Center. Des Marais analyzed carbon in samples of glassy ocean ridge thoeliites from the Mid‐Cayman Rise, East Pacific Rise, Mid‐ Atlantic Ridge, and Galapagos Ridge.

My colleagues and I have been doing the same kind of research for several years. To obtain a precise estimate of the C/3He ratio (the basic parameter for computing the carbon flux from the solid Earth) in the source of midocean ridge basalt, or MORB, several MORB glasses from various locations were analyzed for both CO2 and helium contents and isotopic ratios.
Antarctica: The Next Decade
Authors: Rowley Peter D.
Published: October 2006

Laurence M. Gould, in charge of United States efforts during the International Geophysical Year (IGY, 1957–1958) and a longterm spokesman for Antarctic science, once remarked that it was the cooperative efforts during the IGY in Antarctica, “coldest of all the continents, that witnessed the first thawing of the cold war.”

The Antarctic Treaty, which governs all activities on the continent, was an outgrowth of the IGY. The Treaty—the model international agreement for peaceful cooperation—was signed in 1959 and became effective in 1961. As it nears its historic 30‐year anniversary, it has been the subject of a blitz of recent publications, partly because of a general misapprehension that the Treaty might “expire” then and partly the result of controversial negotiations on the recently (June 1988) adopted Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA).
Indian Geophysical Union celebrates 25th anniversary
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Indian Geophysical Union under its president A.P. Mitra, director‐general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, is holding the seminar “Advances in Geophysical Research in India” at its 25th annual convention February 1–3 at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad. Broad disciplines covered in the seminar are solid Earth geophysics, physics of the oceans, atmospheric sciences, solar‐terrestrial relations, space sciences and planetology, and instrumentation. An international symposium on structure and dynamics of the Indian lithosphere is also part of the convention program.
Report on SEQUAL/FOCAL
Authors: Katz E. J. , Philander S. G. H. , Richardson P. L.
Published: October 2006

In Eos (April 6, 1982), United States plans for a program to study the dynamic response of the equatorial Atlantic to seasonally varying surface winds were described. Now, 6 years later, we report on progress toward our goal “to describe accurately, and to model correctly” the changes in the currents and density field of the upper equatorial Atlantic Ocean during a 2‐year period. A major effort toward this goal was the field phase of SEQUAL (Seasonal Response of the Equatorial Atlantic) and the closely coordinated French program FOCAL (Français Océan et Climat dans l'Atlantique Equatorial).

Between February 1983 and September 1984 changes in the surface winds and in oceanic conditions in the equatorial Atlantic were monitored continuously with a variety of instruments. Figure 1 shows key deployments and sections. The resulting data include six current meter moorings, 15 inverted echo sounders and island tide gauges, 57 near‐surface drifters, and 18 French and five U.S. cruises that made 1200 hydrographic stations and 800 current profiles. All these data, as well as nearly 10,000 expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) (from the cruises, from air‐dropped expendable bathythermograph (AXBT) programs, and from repeated ship of opportunity lines run between 1980 and 1985) were combined and documented by George Heimerdinger, of the National Oceanographic Data Center, and are available from NODC on request.
Geosat data give wind speed and wave height
Authors: Dobson Ella B. , Wilkerson John
Published: October 2006

The Navy has released Geosat radar cross section and significant wave height data from the 18‐month Geodetic Mission for use by the general public. These data, when combined with data from the Exact Repeat Mission, comprise the most dense global wind speed and wave height data set ever archived. The accuracy of the data when compared with NDBC buoys has been shown [Dobson et al., 1987] to be +/− 1.7 m/s for wind speed and +/− 0.5 m for wave height.

The Geosat altimeter orbits the Earth at an altitude of 800 km and, during the Geodetic Mission, laid down a ground track which precessed about 100 km every 3 days forming a tight mesh over 72 days which was repeated for three consecutive 72‐day periods. The primary mission of the instrument was to measure the marine geoid, but it also measured radar cross section (RCS) and significant wave height (SWH). RCS is the return signal backscattered from the ocean surface and is proportional to wind speed. SWH is obtained from the slope of radar‐returned pulse. Data are available at a one per second rate with complete global coverage.
William C. Ackermann 1913–1988
Authors: Changnon Stanley A.
Published: October 2006

William C. (Bill) Ackermann was a nationally known hydrologist who helped set the nation's water resources policies and the research agenda for the field of hydrology during the 1960s and 1970s. Bill Ackermann achieved a position of national recognition and influence following a career route that was very different than that of most scientists.

He learned the fundamentals of hydrology at the Unviersity of Wisconsin (graduating in 1935) and during 20 years as a hydrologist with the Tennessee Valley Authority. After a short stint with the Agricultural Research Service, Bill Ackermann became Chief of the Illinois State Water Survey in 1956, remaining in that capacity for 23 years. Ackermann's experience as a practicing hydrologist provided him with the sound foundation needed to become a leader in hydrology.
Warming will alter water resources
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2006

Drastic changes in water resources in all regions of the United States will be the most severe effect of global warming, according to a study reported January 16 at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco. However, said the scientists on the AAAS panel on climate and U.S. water resources, strong governmental involvement can greatly reduce the water supply problems climate change will bring.

The natural variability of present and future climate was the starting point for the AAAS study. The panel pointed out that it is difficult to identify the direction of potential change for many of the possible consequences of the greenhouse effect, partly because recent history provides little evidence of strong responses to such changes.
Observatory changes hands
Authors: Wainger Lisa A.
Published: October 2006

The Carnegie Institution of Washington (D.C.) announced on January 5 that it will transfer control of the Mount Wilson Observatory, which it has managed since 1904, to the Mount Wilson Institute, a private group established in 1986. The Mount Wilson Institute's board is made up of representatives from the Carnegie Institution, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, U.S. Forest Service, the southern California business community, and the astronomy departments of the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles.
Oceanographers form new scientific society
Authors: Baker D. James
Published: October 2006

1988 saw the formation of a new scientific society for oceanographers, The Oceanography Society. Modeled on other disciplinary societies like the American Meteorological Society and the American Astronomical Society, the goals of the Oceanography Society are to strengthen communication among oceanographers, to develop and disseminate knowledge of oceanography, and to provide recognition of the achievements of oceanographers. Aimed at serving all disciplines of ocean sciences including applications and technology, the new society had more than 1800 members by the end of the past year.

The Oceanography Society has come about because of the recognition by oceanographers of the need for a body to focus on oceanographic issues, which are becoming more and more important for our nation. Oceanography as a field of science has been immensely helped by publications, meetings and other efforts by supporting societies such as the Ocean Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union, the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the Marine Technology Society, and the American Meteorological Society. At the same time, there is recognition that oceanography needs a voice of its own, and that a society of ocean scientists can fruitfully exist alongside a national union representing the broader interests of all of the geophysical sciences.
Coping with drought: Toward a plan of action
Authors: Wilhite Donald A. , Easterling William E.
Published: October 2006

The scientific and policy communities have become increasingly aware, in recent years, of the vulnerability of developed and developing countries to drought. This awareness has been heightened by the widespread occurrence of severe, multiyear droughts that have produced serious socioeconomic and environmental consequences on a global scale. However, the occurrence of relatively short‐term droughts (e.g., the 1986 drought in the southeastern United States) has also resulted in severe impacts. Often, impacts of both short‐term and multiyear droughts have been exacerbated by poorly conceived or nonexistent assessment and response strategies by governments.
FROGS (Friends of Granite) Report Winter 1989
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The purpose of FROGS reports is to disseminate information and stimulate thinking about felsic magmatism granitoids in particular. We publish semiannually, as part of VGP News, brief updates from investigators whose current research concerns felsic magmatism, information about events and publications that are relevant to granitoids, and commentaries on new and controversial themes. FROGS Reports is critically dependent on response from people interested in these topics. Please keep me (Calvin Miller, 6028B, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235) informed about upcoming or recent conferences, major publications, and your own research. Also, please send me your suggestions for topics for pertinent commentaries for FROGS reports (or volunteer to write one yourself!).
Volcanic influences: International working group on volcanogenic sediments
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

A conclusion of the Geological Society of America Penrose Conference on Volcanic Influences on Terrestrial Sedimentation (August 28 to September 2, 1988) was that establishment of an informal working group would enhance our understanding of volcanogenic sedimentation. To establish the group, an ad hoc steering committee was formed at the conference and consists of W. J. Fritz (Georgia State University), R. S. Hildebrand (Geological Survey of Canada), R. Iverson (U.S. Geological Survey), P. Kokelaar (Chairman, University of Liverpool), T. C. Pierson (USGS), and G. A. Smith (University of New Mexico). The working group is open to researchers of any nation interested in the study of secondary transport and deposition of volcaniclastic materials in subaerial or subaqueous environments (e.g., transport, deposition, nomenclature, volcanic history, experiment, theory, hazard).
NASA research on global climate
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced opportunities for basic research in its Climate Research Program (NRA 88‐OSSA‐12, Theory, data analysis, and measurements relating to the Climate Research Program). NASA is the lead agency for solar and Earth radiation studies in the National Climate Program and works closely on such research with other organizations, particularly the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, and World Climate Research Program.

NASA's Climate Research Program is set up to study global climate parameters related to the basic nature of solar radiation, its transfer through Earth's atmosphere, and its interaction with land surfaces and oceans. The goal is to develop a space capability for global observations that will lead to improved understanding of the processes that control climate and its predictability.
New word needed
Authors: Neugebauer Marcia
Published: October 2006

I wish to report and protest the theft of a word. The numerical modelers have stolen the word “data” from the experimentalists and are using it for purposes for which it was never intended. They should give it back and go find or invent their own word.
Continental drilling superdeep drilling and deep geophysical research
Authors: Sass John , Barber G. Arthur
Published: October 2006

On August 23–29, 1988, the Ministry of Geology of the U.S.S.R., in cooperation with the Inter‐Union Commission of the Lithosphere, sponsored an International Seminar on Superdeep Continental Drilling and Deep Geophysical Research. The seminar was attended by more than 250 geoscientists and engineers representing 20 nations. It was held at the Dobrynin Palace of Culture and Technology in Yaroslavl, a city of some 800,000 people, situated on the Volga River about 200 km northeast of Moscow. The goals of the seminar were to discuss “results and future perspectives of superdeep continental drilling and its relations to deep sounding in the neighborhood of deep wells and on connecting geotraverses (transects).”
White House reply to AGU letter
Authors: Graham William R.
Published: October 2006

AGU President Don Anderson, in the January 24 Eos, wrote a letter to President George Bush, urging the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, to provide strong leadership in understanding Earth processes. The following is a reply to that letter, from the Director of the office, William R. Graham.

AGU members who would like to review Our Changing Planet, mentioned below and in the January 24 Eos, should contact their section officers as soon as possible.
Long‐term seismicity of North Armenia
Authors: Ambraseys N. N. , Adams R. D.
Published: October 2006

The earthquake of December 7, 1988, in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia occurred at 0741:25 UT or about 11:41 A.M. local time, with the worst effects in the region between Leninakan and Kirovakan, where there was great destruction and loss of life. The preliminary focus calculated by the National Earthquake Information Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colo., is 41.00°N, 44.20°E, constrained to a focal depth of 10 km. This position is about 38 km northeast of Leninakan and 18 km north northwest of the town of Spitak. The first reported Soviet determination put the preliminary epicenter midway between Leninakan and Spitak about 18 km from each [Markov, 1988].
Mapping the wind in the polar thermosphere a case study within the CEDAR Program
Authors: Smith Roger W. , Meriwether John W. , Hernandez Gonzalo , David Rees , Wickwar Vincent , de la Beaujardiere Odile , Killeen Timothy L.
Published: October 2006

The thermosphere is that region of neutral atmosphere in which atmospheric constituents are gravitationally bound to the Earth but are barometrically distributed according to their molecular or atomic weights. Unlike the lower atmosphere, mixing processes a reweak, which allows each constituent gas to behave independently. The thermosphere begins at about 100‐km‐altitude and extends up to 500 km or beyond. The temperature increases with height throughout the layer, which is a stabilizing influence.
Canada issues booklet describing acid rain
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

A booklet recently released by Environment Canada describes acid rain in terms easily understood by the general public. Although Acid Rain — The Facts tends somewhat to give the Canadian side of this intercountry controversial subject, it nevertheless presents some very interesting, simple statistics of interest to people in either the U.S. or Canada. Copies of the booklet can be obtained from Inquiry Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A OH3, Canada, tel. 613‐997‐2800.

The booklet points out that acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Once released into the atmosphere, these substances can be carried long distances by prevailing winds and return to Earth as acidic rain, snow, fog, or dust. The main sources of SO2 emissions in North America are coal‐fired power generating stations and nonferrous ore smelters. The main sources of NOx emissions are vehicles and fuel combustion. From economical and environmental viewpoints, Canada believes acid rain is one of the most serious problems presently facing the country: increasing the acidity of more than 20% of Canada's 300,000 lakes to the point that aquatic life is depleted and acidity of soil water and shallow groundwater is increasing, causing decline in forest growth and water fowl populations, and eating away at buildings and monuments. Acid rain is endangering fisheries, tourism, agriculture, and forest resources in an area of 2.6 million km2 (one million square miles) of eastern Canada, about 8% of Canada's gross national product.
Anderson testifies on Planet Earth
Authors: Wainger Lisa A.
Published: October 2006

AGU president Don Anderson joined former astronaut Sally Ride and National Aeronautics and Space Administration official Lennard Fisk March 8 in testifying before the Senate committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The three had been asked to speak on the future of the Mission to Planet Earth, proposed both in a National Academy of Sciences report and a NASA study.

Anderson was chairman of the National Academy of Science's Task Group on Earth Sciences, which prepared the report Mission to Planet Earth as part of the series Space Science in the Twenty‐First Century. In his testimony, Anderson highlighted parts of the report and quoted the frontispiece “We now have the technology and the incentive to move boldly forward on a Mission to Planet Earth. We call on the nation to implement an integrated global program using both spaceborne and earth‐based instrumentation for fundamental research on the origin, evolution and nature of our planet, its place in our solar system, and its interaction with living things, including mankind.”
Continental scientific drilling
Authors: Friedman Melvin
Published: October 2006

Deep Observation and Sampling of the Earth's Continental Crust, Inc. (DOSECC), held its annual board and corporation meetings March 2–3 in Chandler, Ariz. DOSECC is the university consortium, supported by the National Science Foundation, that plans, coordinates and implements U.S. continental scientific drilling.

Actions taken at the meetings will enable DOSECC to continue to provide scientific and engineering support for NSF‐approved drilling projects and to participate in coordinated continental scientific drilling program (CSDP) activities of NSF, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Department of Energy. To facilitate development of a truly national CSDP, DOSECC member representatives unanimously agreed to broaden the consortium membership to include nonuniversity entities of the Earth sciences community from private industry, state geological surveys, and government and national laboratories. Interested parties can obtain information on Affiliate Membership from DOSECC's Washington office (1755 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036‐2102, tel. 202‐234‐2100).
Crafoord Prize to James Van Allen
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will give the 1989 Crafoord Prize to James Van Allen for his “pioneering exploration of space, in particular the discovery of the energetic particles, trapped in the geomagnetic field, which form the radiation belts—the Van Allen belts—around our planet Earth.” The prize is a gold medal, a diploma, and about $250,000.

The prize was established in 1980 by a donation to the academy from Anna‐Greta and Holger Crafoord. It is awarded each year to a scientist who has made outstanding contributions in astronomy, biological sciences, geosciences, or mathematics, areas in which the academy's Nobel prizes are not awarded. The 1989 prize is in magnetospheric physics.
1989 AGU Fellows
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Twenty‐two distinguished scientists have been elected Fellows of the Union. A Fellow of the American Geophysical Union is a scientist who has attained acknowledged eminence in a branch of geophysics. The number of Fellows elected each year is no more than 0.1% of the total membership at the time of election. Pictures of the 1989 Fellows and their citations follow.
How to save data data alternative
Authors: Bohlin J. David
Published: October 2006

Regarding Marcia Neugebauer's plea (Eos, February 28, p. 129) for an alternative to “datum” for the name of a computer generated product, may I suggest COGEN = COmputer GEnerated Number.

Besides the accuracy of its derivative name, this acronym has the advantage of being close to “cogent,” which is defined in Webster's New Riverside University Dictionary (1984) as “appealing strongly to the intellect or reasoning powers,” something that most numerical modelers feel is true of their codes, and, thence, results.
Effort is hopeless
Authors: Kaula William M.
Published: October 2006

While I sympathize with Marcia Neugebauer's dislike for the use of the same word “data” to mean things given by human invention as well as by nature, this usage has become so entrenched among the millions who use computers that it is hopeless for the thousands who do observational and experimental science to persuade them to change. Probably the best experimenters can do is to emphasize what is factual about their products.

A related matter is the distinction between “experiment” and “simulation.” The latter is clearly more related to computers than the former. But “simulations” are a subset of “experiments,” and sometimes “experiment” is better in describing a computer exercise, because it emphasizes the uncertainty of the outcome.
Comets and life
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2006

New simulations suggest that large amounts of the organic molecules needed to form the first life on Earth could have been brought by comets that bombarded the planet early in its history. The models show that comets of moderate size would have slowed down enough during entry into Earth's atmosphere for their organic component to survive the impact intact.

The chemical precursors to carbon‐based life are thought by many scientists to have been compounds such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), essential for formation of amino acids and DNA, and formaldehyde (H2CO), a building block of simple sugars. The source of these and other compounds is not known with confidence: photochemical reactions in the young Earth's CO2‐rich atmosphere may have created 1020–1021 g of hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde from 4.3 to 3.7 billion years ago, but these processes are highly dependent on the composition of the primordial atmosphere, which is not well known.
EOS experiments named
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has named teams of investigators for 56 instrument and data analysis projects for the Earth Observing System (EOS), a major program to continuously monitor Earth from four polar‐orbiting platforms. The first of the satellites is scheduled for deployment from the space shuttle in October 1996.

NASA received 455 proposals for EOS research projects and awarded contracts for three types of experiments: instruments built by investigators that will fly on the polar platforms, experiments using one of the six “research facility instruments” that NASA will build for the platforms, and interdisciplinary analyses of data from one or more of the EOS instruments.
Mantle Xenoliths
Authors: Helz Rosalind T.
Published: October 2006

Mantle Xenoliths, edited by Peter H. Nixon, provides a valuable summary of both the state of our knowledge of mantle xenoliths and the current interpretations of them. It is generally well edited and surprisingly well integrated for a large, multiauthored volume.

Useful integrating features include introductory sections (by Nixon) an d a summary chapter (chapter 50), by Nixon and Davies, a single large (∼2500 entries) bibliography and good index. Last but not least, there is a glossary to help readers with some of the more specialized (not to say overlapping or conflicting) terminologies used by the different schools of xenolith buffs. These features plus the generally high quality of text layout, figures, and the 25 color plates, indicate that the editor and authors have made a serious effort to put together a book that will reach an audience beyond the circle of xenolith experts.
Landsat funded until April 17
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2006

The U.S. Department of Commerce rescinded plans to shut Landsats 4 and 5 off on March 31. The satellites will continue to operate under a pledge of funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies that was organized through the office of Vice President Dan Quayle and the National Space Council, which he heads.

The amount of money involved in the stopgap funding has not been specified by the Bush administration, nor is it known what will happen to the satellites after April 17. There is no money in the Fiscal Year 1989 budget to keep Landsats 4 and 5 going; a source of funding through the end of the fiscal year in September remains to be determined.
Identifying the sea level signal: Surf's up
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2006

Of all the dire consequences of the greenhouse effect, global sea level rise is potentially the most destructive to human life and property. But the processes that increase the volume of the oceans are so poorly understood that theoreticians are taking their lead from scientists trying to actually measure current changes in sea level that might be caused by the greenhouse effect. As with surface temperature, precipitation, and other measures of climate change, identifying the greenhouse signal is a daunting problem.

Climate models that predict mean temperature increases around the world of up to several degrees C in the next 50–100 years in response to human‐induced global warming have given rise to a scientific consensus that mountain glaciers and ice sheets will begin to melt and the water in oceans will slightly expand, raising sea level. Such increases would inundate some of the most densely populated and highly cultivated areas on the planet, displacing and endangering many millions of people at a devastating economic and social cost.
Marine Diaries of Past Climate: Report on the GICME Workshop
Authors: Druffel Ellen
Published: October 2006

The determination of past climate from annually banded corals and other integrators of marine processes was the topic of the Geological Indicators of Climate From Marine Environments (GICME) Workshop held at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass., May 25–26, 1988. This event, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Geological Survey, was attended by 22 scientists from geological, chemical, biological, and modeling backgrounds. Their primary goal was to present state‐of‐the‐art observations made from marine organisms (i.e., corals, mollusks) and varved sediments, which record some aspect of their environment for the past few decades or centuries. It is projected that these indicators, when used in conjunction with global oceanographic models, will be useful in decadal or interdecadal climatic predictions.
Snowbird II: Global catastrophes
Authors: Chapman Clark R.
Published: October 2006

Recently, on a National Public Radio retrospective on American life a quarter‐century ago, a commentator remarked that 1963 was one of the last years when we knew that the dinosaurs died out “because they were stupid, just plain too stupid,” and not due to some exotic mechanism. In 1989, catastrophic causes still reign supreme. Yet, in the public's mind, the controversy has not yet been settled: was it an asteroid, explosive volcanism, or a comet shower? Technical debates have raged since the late Luis Alvarez, his son Walter, and their Berkeley coworkers distributed preprints nearly a decade ago of their seminal paper [Alvarez et al., 1980] on the extraterrestrial cause for mass extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous Period. A recent conference, Global Catastrophes in Earth History, has shown that the debate is now mainly over. The meeting was held October 20–22, 1988, at Snowbird, Utah, and hereafter I refer to it as the “Snowbird II meeting.”
Substorms: Future of magnetospheric substorm—Storm research
Authors: Akasofu S‐I.
Published: October 2006

We have made good progress in revealing and understanding the great complexity of magnetospheric substorm phenomena and processes during the last two decades. In spite of such advance, however, there are several areas in which a serious attempt for new advance is required. Seven areas are identified for discussion. I would like to encourage the younger generation to take up some of these subjects as a challenge, in particular, efforts to unify the “reconnection” models and the “nonreconnection” models; to image the entire magnetosphere; and to identify the origin of the north‐south component of the interplanetary magnetic field.
Monitoring global change in Antarctica
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

A recently released satellite image atlas of Antarctica is the first in an 11‐chapter volume, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World, being produced by the U.S. Geological Survey. Each chapter or subchapter is authored by one or more of the 50 scientists from 30 countries who have collaborated on the atlas project. Editors of the volume are two USGS geologists, Richard S. Williams, Jr., and Jane G. Ferrigno. Using Landsat images, acquired during the 1970s, USGS and cooperating scientists are establishing a global benchmark of the areal extent of the world's glaciers.
Auroral green line
Authors: Schröder W.
Published: October 2006

I note with interest the paper (Eos, July 19, 1988) by Hendriksen and Egeland [1988] concerning the beginning of auroral spectroscopic research. I am writing this note to call attention to early work on auroral spectroscopy that was not mentioned in their paper.

The background to the development of auroral spectroscopy was provided by the new academic disciplines of astrophysics and electron physics. First, I call attention to the work of Karl Friedrich Zöllner (1834–1882), who became, in the 19th century, the first professor of astrophysics at the University of Leipzig. Zöllner worked mainly in the field of photometry. He developed new instruments for spectral investigations of solar flares. He was interested in solar‐terrestrial relationships, and he observed the auroral green line. During the great aurora of October 25, 1870, he observed both green and red auroral lines. He interpreted his observations as a consequence of impact on Earth's atmosphere by solar particles [Zöllner, 1881]. In the paper entitled “Uber den Ursprung des Erdmagnetismus und die magnetischen Beziehungen der Weltkorper” (1871, reprinted in the work of Zöllner [1881]) he dealt with several physical aspects of solar‐terrestrial relationships, as well as the nature of the aurora borealis. He suggested that solar activity has an impact on magnetic variations. From measurements of the auroral green line, Zöllner and later, K. H. Vogel (1842–1907) [cf. Vogel, 1872] concluded that auroras are caused by solar particles impacting the upper atmosphere (see also Schröder [1984]).
MIZEX East 1987: Winter Marginal Ice Zone Program in the Fram Strait and Greenland Sea
Authors:   MIZEX '87 Group
Published: October 2006

The overall objective o f MIZEX is to gain a better understanding of the mesoscale physical and biological processes by which atmosphere, ice, and ocean interact in the marginal ice zones (MIZ) that are found at the boundaries between ice‐covered and open oceans. Improved modeling and better prediction of ice‐edge position, ice concentration, and ice type in these regions would be a major step toward expanding human activities, for example, seaborne commerce, fishing, oil exploration and production, and naval operations. In addition, when more accurate parameterizations of mesoscale physical processes are available for inclusion in large‐scale models, the result will be a major improvement in hemispherical climatological studies.

Winter MIZEX '87 was conducted during March and April 1987 in the Fram Strait and Greenland Sea (see cover) and extended along the MIZ from about 75°N–79°N and 5°W–5°E. The experiment included an intensive 2‐day investigation of the Barents Sea MIZ carried out between the southern tip of Svalbard and Bear Island. Two Norwegian ships, R/V Håakon Mosby and the ice‐strengthened R/V Polar Circle, and the R/V Valdivia of the Federal Republic of Germany participated in the experiment. Flight operations were carried out by two Canadian aircraft equipped with Synthetic Aperature Radar (SAR), a U.S. plane equipped with passive microwave sensors, a Norwegian P3 aircraft, and a helicopter based on the Polar Circle.
Let “data” change
Authors: Baker D. N.
Published: October 2006

Neugebauer insists a robbery has occurred in that the word “data” has been stolen by numerical modelers. This allegation reminds one of the adage that stealing from one author is called plagiarism, while stealing from many authors is called scholarship. Neugebauer wishes to preserve the present and traditional meaning of the experimentalist's product. As editor of Reviews of Geophysics she has more power than most to enforce her point of view.
Pseudodata
Authors: Van Valen Leigh M.
Published: October 2006

“Pseudodata” is a word sometimes used in theoretical biology for the output of simulations. It concisely expresses both the resemblance to real data and the difference from them. It deserves more general use by simulators in other fields.
GIS Symposium: Integrating technology and geoscience applications
Authors: Hinze William J. , Shaw Brian R. , Usselman Thomas M.
Published: October 2006

An international symposium on geographic information systems (GIS), entitled “GIS: Integrating Technology and Geoscience Applications,” was held September 26–30, 1988, in Denver, Colo. GIS is a relatively recent technology for managing, retrieving, modeling, and displaying large spatial data bases and has its primary application in analysis of maps of all sorts.

A map is a two‐dimensional portrayal of related geographic, geologic, and geophysical attributes on paper. In fact, many geophysical applications can be used and interpreted only in terms of a map. For example, the processing of seismic data is contingent on the shot point and geophone location and elevation. Without these essential spatial relationships, there is no meaningful seismic section. Of course, the ultimate interpretation of seismic, as well as other geophysical, data is the representation of the attributes of a portion of Earth as a map. The procedure that consumes the most time and labor in geophysical analysis is not data processing, but the production of an accurate and fully annotated base map, complete with cultural and geologic information and other thematic values. The basic management of geophysical data also commands significant resources, and frequently becomes unmanageable as data are archived. The loss of data and the inability to search for and retrieve “old” data for inclusion during the development and course of a project constitute a staggering problem, recognized by every organization involved with geophysical and geologic data.
Submarine volcanic activity: Detection, monitoring, and interpretation
Authors: Talandier Jacques
Published: October 2006

Volcanic edifices on the ocean floor are much more numerous than suggested by available bathymetric charts [Batiza, 1982; Jordan et al., 1983]. More recently, Smith and Jordan [1987] have proposed an exponential model for the distribution of seamounts based on their dimensions. From Sea Beam surveys there would be, on the average, about 4000 volcanic edifices per million oceanic km2, 200 of which would be higher than 1 km. However, for lack of direct observations, the assessment of submarine volcanic activity clearly remains highly conjectural.
Storm response in the coastal ocean: The oceanographic component of the Canadian Atlantic Storms Program (CASP)
Authors: Anderson C. , Dobson F. , Perrie W. , Smith P. , Toulany B. , Schwing F.
Published: October 2006

The Canadian Atlantic Storms Program (CASP) is a joint oceanographic and meteorological research program to examine the mesoscale structure and dynamics of winter storms and the associated oceanic response on Canada's east coast. The mesoscale meteorology of these destructive storms is not well understood and presents great challenges to the meteorological forecaster. Likewise, the oceanic response is poorly documented and requires a more complete and quantitative understanding. Atmospheric and oceanic observations made in the Canadian Maritime provinces during the CASP field program, in the winter of 1985–86, are now being analyzed and modeled by investigators at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) of the Government of Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Atmospheric Environment Service (AES) of the Department of the Environment, and several Canadian universities.
Agreement on FY 1990 budget plan
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Bush administration has reached agreement with congressional leaders over a thumbnail version of the Fiscal Year 1990 budget. The plan contains few details but could have implications for NASA's Space Station Freedom and other big science projects.

Overall, the budget agreement would achieve Gramm‐Rudman‐Hollings targets for budget deficit reduction without raising taxes, mostly through accounting manipulation and unspecified cuts in social programs. But a supplemental bill that calls for $1.2 billion in new spending for FY 1989 is expected to go to the House floor soon. That measure would violate the new agreement and add to the deficit.
Intracontinental rift comparisons: Baikal and Rio Grande Rift Systems
Authors: Lipman P. W. , Logatchev N. A. , Zorin Y.A. , Chapman C.E. , Kovalenko V. , Morgan P.
Published: October 2006

Both the Baikal rift in Siberia and the Rio Grande rift in New Mexico, Colorado and Texas are major intracontinental extensional structures of Cenozoic age that affect regions about 1500 km long and several hundred km wide (Figures 1, 2). In the summer of 1988 these rifts were visited by study groups of U.S. and Soviet geoscientists during cooperative field workshops sponsored by the Soviet Academy of Sciences, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and U.S. Geological Survey.

In the Rio Grande region, we spent 2 weeks examining rift features between El Paso, Tex., and Denver, Colo. Particular emphasis was on the sedimentary record of rift evolution, widespread volcanic activity from inception of rifting to the present, geophysical expression of rift features, and relations between rifting and the larger‐scale evolution of the North American Cordillera. In the Baikal region, which presents formidable logistic problems for a workshop, we travelled by bus, truck, helicopter, and ship to examine young seismotectonic features, rift‐related basalt, and bounding structures of the Siberian craton that influenced rift development (Figure 3).
Global Environmental Change Symposium
Authors: Bush Susan M.
Published: October 2006

The global environmental warming issue has been catapulted to the forefront of media attention as a result of the drought of 1988 and extremely warm temperatures. NASA scientist James Hansen testified last year that the warming trend has begun and that part of the temperature rise is due to gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluro‐carbons (CFCs) being released into the atmosphere by human activity.

In response to recent scientific speculation on the issue, the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., hosted the symposium Global Environmental Change April 24 as part of their annual meeting. Speakers included Bert Bolin, University of Stockholm; Robert White, National Academy of Engineering; Stephen Schneider, National Center for Atmospheric Research; and Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden. Moderator was Russell Train, World Wildlife Fund.