bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Discovery of continental stretching and oceanic spreading in the Tasman Sea
Authors: Lafoy Y. , Géli L. , Klingelhoefer F. , Vially R. , Sichler B. , Nouzé H.
Published: October 2006

A deep seismic survey conducted within the western part of New Caledonia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (Figure 1) from 8 September–5 October 2004 revealed for the first time the thinned continental and oceanic natures of the crust beneath the eastern Tasman Sea.

The survey which was conducted by an international group of scientists a board the Institut Francais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la MER (Ifremer) R/V L'Atalante, aimed at improving the understanding of the geological framework, crustal characteristics, and evolution of the submarine basin and ridge system located west of New Caledonia's mainland. The study area, located east of both Australia and the oceanic Tasman Sea Basin, is composed of continental fragments: the Lord Howe Rise and the Norfolk Ridge, which are separated by the New Caledonia and Fairway basins.
Magnetic images of the Sumatra region crust
Authors: Purucker Michael , Ishihara Takemi
Published: October 2006

Magnetic images of the region surrounding the Great Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 26 December 2004 provide a current and historical view of subduction in the region. A quasi‐static far‐field image (Figure la) clearly shows the compressional boundary between the Eurasian and Indo‐Australian plates. Along the fault rupture, magnetic crustal thicknesses increase markedly in an easterly and northeasterly direction. Both the island arc and the subducting slab are magnetic, and the subducting slab is diving into the mantle at a steep angle, further increasing the magnetic thickness.

To the east, between Singapore and the south coast of the island of Borneo, a previously unrecognized first‐order feature parallels the currently active subduction zone. Like the present subduction zone, the feature is characterized by a two‐fold to three‐fold increase in magnetic thickness in a northeasterly direction. While the feature's origin is enigmatic, it probably reflects the past history of subduction in the region.
Fundamentals of Seismic Wave Propagation
Authors: Aster Richard
Published: October 2006

The analytic characterization and modeling of seismic wave propagation using ray theory based formulations is a core aspect of seismology with a distinguished and very important history. Fundamentals of Seismic Wave Propagation, by Chris Chapman, provides a mathematically rigorous and substantially complete summary of theory and techniques, with exercises, written at an accessible level for intermediate‐to‐advanced seismology graduate students and for the general research community
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

John C. Freeman, 84, 18 November 2004, Atmospheric Sciences, 1991.

Thomas Gold, 84, 22 June 2004, Retired Life Member, AGU Fellow, Planetology, 1958
Griffin nominated to head NASA
Authors: Keelor Brad
Published: October 2006

U.S. President George W Bush nominated Michael Griffin as NASA administrator on 11 March. Griffin, who has expressed strong support for the Bush administration's Vision for Space Exploration, is head of the space department at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Among his previous positions, Griffin was president and chief operating officer of In‐Q‐Tel, and chief engineer and associate administrator for exploration at NASA.
[Comment on “Sun unleashes Halloween storm” by R.E. Lopez et al.] Large solar flares and sheared magnetic field configuration
Authors: Choudhary Debi Prasad
Published: October 2006

This comment gives additional information about the nature of flaring locations on the Sun described in the article “Sun unleases Halloween storm” (Eos, 85(11), 16 March 2004), by R. E. Lopez, et al.

What causes the large explosions from solar active regions that unleash huge magnetic storms and adverse space weather? It is now beyond doubt that the magnetic field in solar active regions harbors free energy that is released during these events. Direct measurements of the longitudinal and transverse components of active region magnetic fields with the vector magnetograph at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), taken on a regular basis for the last 30 years, have found key signatures of the locations of powerful flares.
An Introduction to Ocean Remote Sensing
Authors: Gille Sarah T.
Published: October 2006

For more than three decades, satellites have been observing the ocean from several hundred kilometers above the surface of the Earth. From the vantage of space, they have given us a global view of the ocean surface and its variability Satellite instruments that are in orbit today detect a broad range of ocean variables that touch on all aspects of oceanography These include sea surface temperature, surface wind velocity, chlorophyll, sea surface elevation, and ice cover, among others. The unifying element of satellite remote sensing is not just that measurements are made from space, but more specifically that satellite instruments detect electromagnetic radiation that is either emitted from or reflected off the surface of the ocean.
Geophysics could explain Ancient Maya Myth
Authors: Bruchez Margaret Sabom
Published: October 2006

According to Maya mythology, the splendor of the principal entity, the Feathered Serpent, is exalted at Lake Atitlán in southwestern Guatemala. A chance look at a phenomenon in the natural environment reveals the possible geophysical basis of this myth.

More than poetic fancy, the flight of the Feathered Serpent could refer to the dissipation of a soliton wave formed in the 130‐km2 caldera lake. In the myth, recounted in the sixteenth century document los anales de los caqchiqueles, the newly acceded leader of the Kaqchikel‐speaking Maya tribe rises from the lake transformed as the Feathered Serpent [Recinos and Goetz, 1953, p. 76]. Residents claim a gigantic serpent, Xocomil, still lives in the waters.
Mud and Mudstones: Introduction and Overview
Authors: Bloch John D.
Published: October 2006

This volume is exemplary of the adage that one should not judge a book by its cover. The cover photo is, indeed, striking, and is a spectacular example of contrasting mudstone rheologies; but alas, the photo description is wrong (the formation ages are reversed and Albian is misspelled)! But once the reader is past the title page, Mud and Mudstones: Introduction and Overview is a well‐crafted, concise, and, for the most part, comprehensive discussion of fine‐grained clastic rocks.

Information about mudstones in sedimentary petrology curricula is commonly meager or completely lacking. Standard texts with content on fine‐grained clastics are rapidly becoming outdated, and the need for a contemporary overview of mudstones is acute.
NSF Geosciences Advisory Committee solicits input
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Geosciences Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is soliciting the views and concerns of the geosciences community in advance of the committee's spring meeting scheduled for 11–12 May at NSF Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. At this meeting, the committee will consider current and future geoscience plans and programs and additional issues of relevance to the community.

The chair and members welcome and solicit the views and concerns of the geosciences community so they may better represent their constituencies at upcoming meetings of the committee.
10th Generation International Geomagnetic Reference Field
Authors: Maus Stefan , MacMillan Susan
Published: October 2006

The International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) released the 10th Generation International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) on 12 December 2004. This is the latest version of a standard mathematical description of the Earth's main magnetic field, and is used widely in studies of the Earth's deep interior, crust, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. The coefficients were finalized by a task force of IAGA, Division V, Working Group V‐MOD: Geomagnetic Field Modeling. The IGRF is the product of a large collaborative effort between magnetic field modelers and the institutes around the world involved in collecting and disseminating magnetic field data from satellites and observatories.
Environmental Sensor Networks
Authors: Hart Jane K. , Martinez Kirk
Published: October 2006

This report is based on the 2004 AGU Fall Meeting's session entitled “Special Focus: Advances in Data Acquisition, Management, Analysis and Display: Cyberinfrastructure for Earth Systems Science IV: Sensor Networks.”

An environmental sensor network comprises an array of sensors that gather data autonomously and automatically forward the data to a central server. What differentiates modern sensor networks from previous techniques is an emphasis on “intelligence” in the sensor packages as well as the data network. Modern sensor networks also typically publish the data on the server to the World Wide Web and allow real‐time access to the data. These networks require a unique combination of technological and environmental understanding, and have the potential of creating a revolution in environmental monitoring, similar in impact to satellite remote sensing in the 1970s.
Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Yim W. W.‐S.
Published: October 2006

This is a topical book on tropical cyclones, known more popularly as hurricanes in the Americas and typhoons in eastern Asia. The subject may appeal to academics and researchers as well as to the general public.

The best way to predict the future variability of tropical cyclones is by examining their past record. Prehistoric records can be obtained from geological or archeological studies while historical records are provided by documentation and instrumentation. Of particular interest now are the changes in frequency and landfall pattern of tropical cyclones during El Niño years, La Niña years, and neutral years, extending back in time to cover the past 8,000 years for disaster planning.
New edition of the Global Paleomagnetic Database
Authors: Pisarevsky Sergei
Published: October 2006

A new version of the Global Paleomagnetic Database—GPMDB V 4.6—is available now at the Tectonics Special Research Centre of the University of Western Australia Web site (http://www.tsrc.uwa.edu.au/). This version contains 9259 paleomagnetic poles from 7513 rock units published in 3673 articles up to December 2004 inclusive.

This version has also been completely updated using the latest International Stratigraphic Chart published by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) on its Web site (www.stratigraphy.org). This new timescale is significantly different from the timescale which has been used in the database for the past decade. All entries in the database based on biostratigraphic ages have had their absolute minimum and maximum age limits revised according to this new scale. Therefore, users of the database who have compiled their own files based on the old database should be aware that the assigned absolute ages have now changed.
Earth as an Evolving Planetary System
Authors: Meert Joseph G.
Published: October 2006

“System” is an overused buzzword in textbooks covering geological sciences. Describing the Earth as a system of component parts is a reasonable concept, but providing a comprehensive framework for detailing the system is a more formidable task.

Kent Condie lays out the systems approach in an easy‐to‐read introductory chapter in Earth as an Evolving Planetary System. In the book, Condie makes a valiant attempt at taking the melange of diverse subjects in the solid Earth sciences and weaving them into a coherent tapestry.
NASA Earth science budget and plans criticized
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A new report by the U.S. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences sharply criticizes NASA's budget and commitment to the Earth sciences, and states that “today the nation's Earth observation program is at risk.”

The report, issued on 27 April, states that “recent changes in federal support for Earth observation programs are alarming. At NASA, the vitality of Earth science and application programs has been placed at substantial risk by a rapidly shrinking budget that no longer supports already‐approved missions and programs of high scientific and societal relevance.”
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The following members received Outstanding Student Paper Awards at the 2004 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California.
Consortium forming to standardize oceanographic instrument protocols
Authors: Connor Judith
Published: October 2006

The U.S. National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative has identified the need for innovations to support straightforward, practical integration and communication with the wide variety of oceanographic instruments on observing platforms and networks, such as the North East Pacific Time‐Series Undersea Networked Experiments (NEPTUNE) and the Monterey Accelerated Research Program (MARS).

A discussion group of oceanographic instrument developers, users, and manufacturers formed in March 2005 as a first step toward the creation of a Marine Plug and Work Consortium.
Evolution teacher survey
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

More than 30% of teachers responding to an informal survey indicated that they feel pressured to include creationism, intelligent design, or other nonscientific alternatives to evolution in their science classrooms.

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), which conducted the survey of 1,050 teachers, announced the results recently. According to the survey, 22% of teachers indicated that most of the pressure to include these nonscientific alternatives comes from students, while 20% indicated that parents provide the pressure. Thirty percent of teachers noted that they feel pushed to de‐emphasize or omit evolution or evolution‐related topics from their curriculum. However, 74% of teachers indicated that they disagree about de‐emphasizing or omitting from their lessons the term “evolution” so that attention is not drawn to it.
Eos as an interdisciplinary communication tool
Authors: Mote Philip
Published: October 2006

When I attended my first AGU meeting as a graduate student 13 or 14 years ago, I eagerly dashed from sessions in my own small corner of atmospheric sciences to sessions in planetologyvolcanology and other geophysical subjects. In that same spirit of curiosity one of the things I most appreciate about my AGU membership is the opportunity to learn about work in other fields by reading Eos every week.

Almost every issue, however, displays a startling disparity in skill with which Eos authors make their subjects accessible to readers outside their own disciplines. Here's an example from the 28 September 2004 issue: One article, on Indonesian throughflow, clearly explains in the first paragraph why it is important and how little is known. The article reads well for a nonspecialist.
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Authors: Stern David P.
Published: October 2006

If you believe that our universe began with a divine miracle of six days, this book is not for you. Others, however, will find here a most readable and comprehensive account the story of creation, as traced by science. A Short History of Nearly Everything opens with the Big Bang and ends with Homo sapiens' most recent ancestors. In between come volcanoes, asteroids, the strange development of microbial life, and hundreds of stories and details.
Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids
Authors: McFadden Lucy
Published: October 2006

Gravitational interactions between planets and small bodies in the solar system can theoretically send asteroids and comets onto a collision course with Earth. This happens persistently in the fall of meteorites to Earth, though with masses that only rarely do any damage. The finding of craters on almost all solid bodies in the solar system when spacecraft image their surfaces brings home the fact that no planet is spared collisions. Asteroids larger than 50 m across collide with Earth, on average, once every 600 years.
The need for better contacts between hydrologists in the two Americas
Authors: Clarke Robin T.
Published: October 2006

The purpose of this article is to (1) draw attention to the lack of contact between researchers in hydrology and water resources in the two Americas, North and South; (2) invite views about what can, or should, be done about it; and (3) invite suggestions about how to improve contacts not only among hydrologyists, but also among geophysicists in the two subcontinents generally.
International Conference on Aerosols, Clouds and the Indian Monsoon
Authors: Singh Ramesh P. , Tare Vinod , Tripathi S. N.
Published: October 2006

In recent years, dense haze and fog problems in the northern parts of India have affected the 460 million people living in the Indo‐Gangetic basin. Substantial Indian research activities related to aerosols, clouds, and monsoon are taking place in the central and southern parts of India.

To attract attention to the problems, a three‐day International Conference on Aerosols, Clouds and Indian Monsoon was recently held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in the central part of the Indo‐Gangetic basin. About 120 delegates from India, Germany, Greece, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States attended the conference.
Fellows celebrated in New Orleans
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

One of the highlights of the 2005 Joint Assembly was the presentation of certificates to the 2005 class of Fellows. At a black tie ceremony President Orcutt introduced each Fellow and recited a brief statement of the achievements for which he or she had been selected. The presentations were followed by a reception for all meeting attendees and then a banquet at which many family members and close colleagues further feted the honorees.

Election to AGU Fellowship is a very high recognition by one's peers. Only 0.1% of the membership may be elected in any given year. Each individual must be nominated by at least four colleagues; nominations are evaluated by Section committees and a limited number are forwarded to the Fellows Committee, who makes the final choice of those who will be honored for the year.
Appenzeller receives 2005 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism
Authors: Addison Lynn , Appenzeller Tim
Published: October 2006

When National Geographic began plans to address the issue of global climate change, we asked Tim Appenzeller to write the keystone piece for a series of articles that would document the most recent scientific consensus. His description of the carbon cycle in “The Case of the Missing Carbon” would be a fundamental part of the entire package. To explain that complex, finely calibrated global mechanism to six million readers was the task we set before him.

A daunting task perhaps, but not for Tim Appenzeller, a science journalist with great talent for precise thinking and elegant writing. “The Case of the Missing Carbon” lays it all out, tracing the circulation of carbon between air, land, and water that sustains life on Earth and controls its climate.
Advances in large‐scale crop modeling
Authors: Scholze Marko , Bondeau Alberte , Ewert Frank , Kucharik Chris , Priess Jörg , Smith Pascalle
Published: October 2006

Intensified human activity and a growing population have changed the climate and the land biosphere. One of the most widely recognized human perturbations is the emission of carbon dioxide (C02) by fossil fuel burning and land‐use change. As the terrestrial biosphere is an active player in the global carbon cycle, changes in land use feed back to the climate of the Earth through regulation of the content of atmospheric CO2, the most important greenhouse gas,and changing albedo (e.g., energy partitioning).

Recently, the climate modeling community has started to develop more complex Earthsystem models that include marine and terrestrial biogeochemical processes in addition to the representation of atmospheric and oceanic circulation. However, most terrestrial biosphere models simulate only natural, or so‐called potential, vegetation and do not account for managed ecosystems such as croplands and pastures, which make up nearly one‐third of the Earth's land surface.
Outstanding student paper awards: Geomagnetism and paleomagnetism, ocean sciences
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The following members received Outstanding Student Paper Awards at the 2005 Joint Assembly in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Winners in other sections and focus groups will be announced in subsequent issues of Eos).
Mountain Geomorphology
Authors: Meyer Grant A. , Selverstone Jane
Published: October 2006

The title of this volume implies a comprehensive overview. Although Mountain Geomorphology does not meet this expectation, it nonetheless provides a useful reference with strength in several areas, including in its review chapters on mountain erosional processes and denudation. As explained in the preface, the book had its origin in a 1990 meeting, “Mountain Geomorphology: A Canadian Perspective,” and while some of this initial regional focus is still detectable, later contributions provide a much broader range.

The book is well organized into three primary sections on historical, functional, and applied geomorphology. These are fronted by a general introduction that defines these areas of inquiry, and are capped by a final chapter that considers mountain geomorphology and global environmental change. The introductory chapter foreshadows the presentation of a conceptual framework in complexity theory, which appears in a nascent stage in the final chapter.
Comment on “A strategy to rapidly determine the magnitude of great earthquakes” by W. Menke and V. Levin
Authors: Weinstein S. A. , McCreery C. , Hirshorn B. , Whitmore P.
Published: October 2006

We appreciate W. Menke and L. Levin's comments (Eos, 86(19), pp.185, 189, 10 May 2005) on the need to develop new seismological techniques to more accurately determine the magnitude of great earthquakes quickly. However, in the first few paragraphs, Menke and Levin suggest that the many thousands of people died because an accurate assessment of the true nature of the 26 December 2004 Sumatra earthquake was not known within the first hour after it occurred. Although this may serve as a wake‐up call to seismologists on the importance of better and more rapid magnitude estimation procedures, it should not be used to obscure the most urgent need, which is to establish an effective global tsunami warning system.
Earth and space scientists Visit Capitol Hill
Authors: O'Riordan Catherine
Published: October 2006

AGU's Office of Public Affairs organizes frequent opportunities for members to meet with Congress. Recently AGU members participated in two events: an annual Congressional Visits Day and the Coalition for National Science Funding congressional reception.

Over 200 scientists and engineers met with key legislators and their staffs on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. as part of the 10th annual Science, Engineering, and Technology Congressional Visits Day (CVD) held on 10–11 May. In their meetings, participants advocated this year's CVD theme: Federally funded research secures our nation's future.
Fundamentals of Ground Water
Authors: Schincariol Robert A.
Published: October 2006

The hydrologic sciences continue to grow in importance as issues of drought, population growth and pollution, and politics come together to raise water issues to new levels. While groundwater hydrology plays a central role in the hydrologic sciences, relatively few comprehensive textbooks cover this field.

Between 1959 and 1979, Ground Water Hydrology (D.K.Todd) guided students and professionals. In 1979, Groundwater, (R.A. Freeze and J.A. Cherry) integrated geology and hydrology physics and chemistry and science and engineering. That text was followed in 1980 by Applied Hydrogeology (C.W. Fetter). Addressing a need for a new textbook, Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology (P.A. Domenico and F.W. Schwartz) was published in 1990.
Rule would stiffen export controls at universities
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A U.S. Department of Defense proposed rule on export controlled technology could significantly increase the number of export control clauses that appear in university contracts, according to the American Association of Universities (AAU).

The rule, published in the Federal Register on 12 July, does not recognize the fundamental research exclusion that protects fundamental university research from export control licensing requirements, AAU noted.
Women, work, and the academy
Authors: Bell Robin E. , Laird Jennifer D.
Published: October 2006

Harvard University President Lawrence Summers triggered an avalanche of media coverage and debate about the status of women in science in a 14 January 2005 speech. When Summers posited that the persistent absence of women in science could be due to a lack of “intrinsic aptitude” and an unwillingness to pursue high‐intensity academic careers, he placed the blame on women and minorities.

Summers also made reference to economist Gary Becker, who developed the theory that market forces will eventually address any persistent discrimination because discrimination is costly and inefficient in a competitive market. These arguments are not supported by current research on implicit bias and organizational behavior.
[Comment on “Eos as an interdisciplinary communication tool” by Philip Mote] Inaccessible terminology
Authors: Burnham Kathleen
Published: October 2006

I share Philip Mote'ss appreciation for the opportunity to learn about disparate fields through reading Eos (Eos as an Interdisciplinary Communication Tool, Letters, 86(20), 194, 17 May 2005), and I share his frustration at the frequency with which one encounters inaccessible terminology. Eos, has consistently exhorted authors to write for a wide audience, but often scientists immersed in a field lack an adequate understanding of how much or how little of their work is understood by those outside the field.

In general, when a few people err, then the root of the problem lies with the individuals, and it is up to the individuals to solve it. However, as in this case, when many people err in the same way, then the problem lies in the social or institutional structure, and requires a social or institutional solution.
River chemistry as a monitor of Yosemite Park mountain hydroclimates
Authors: Peterson David , Smith Richard , Hager Stephen , Hicke Jeffrey , Dettinger Michael , Huber King
Published: October 2006

High‐frequency, high‐altitude measurements of water chemistry provide insights into processes relating to the hydrology, climate, and geochemistry of mountain catchments. When such observations are combined with stream stage, temperature, snow, weather, and other surface hydroclimate measurements, they are particularly useful in allowing connections between climate, river discharge, river chemistry, and ecosystems to be discerned.

Climate is the major source of variability in U.S. and global water resources. For example, large‐scale variations in the global atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean are responsible for much of the variability in river discharge in Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. Pacific Northwest, and the U.S. Southwest [Cayan and Peterson, 1989], and thus are closely linked to water and energy resources of the western United States [Cayan et al., 2003].
Comment on “Testing the Interbasin Flow Hypothesis at Death Valley, California”
Authors: Winograd Isaac J. , Fridrich Christopher J. , Sweetkind Donald , Belcher Wayne R. , Thomas James M.
Published: October 2006

In the 1960s, a major hydrogeologic investigation was conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS, Figure 1) that included drilling, hydraulic testing, and hydrogeochemical studies in conjunction with geologic mapping and geophysical surveys. This work demonstrated that a large part of south central Nevada is underlain by thick (several kilometers) highly fractured Paleozoic carbonate rocks that typically act as an aquifer. The aquifer flanks and underlies most of the intermontane basins from east central Nevada southward, through the NTS, to the southern Funeral Mountains east of Death Valley (Figure 1). Water levels measured in many test holes demonstrate that the potentiometric surface in the carbonate aquifer generally is uninterrupted by the ridges that separate the many topographically closed basins of the region.
Reply to [“Comment on “Testing the interbasin flow hypothesis at Death Valley, California’”] Winograd et al.
Authors: Nelson Stephen , Anderson Nelson Katherine , Mayo Alan
Published: October 2006

We happily respond to Winograd et al. regarding our recent Eos article concerning interbasin flow [Nelson et al., 2004]. We reiterate that we specifically reject interbasin flow only to Death Valley (DV) from Ash Meadows (AM) through the southern Funeral Mountains (FM), but suggest it should be critically reexamined elsewhere. Clearly, fractured carbonate rocks may be transmissive and deliver much water to a well or spring. We question, however, the spatial scales over which interbasin flow has been invoked, involving as it must continuously connected fracture permeability over tens to hundreds of kilometers.
Mud in the surf: Nature at work in a Brazilian bay
Authors: Buynevich Ilya , Asp Nils , Klein Antonio , Siegle Eduardo , FitzGerald Duncan , Cleary William , Angulo Rodolfo
Published: October 2006

Massive discharge of mud from coastal rivers is a well‐documented phenomenon. However, in areas with limited historical and instrumental records it is often difficult to assess the nature and history of the process. This article looks at Tijucas Bay, in southern Brazil (Figure 1a) (an area that was the landfall region in March 2004 for South America's first recorded hurricane [Bossack, 2004]), to examine the time frame for extensive deposition of fluid muds in the nearshore (Figure 1b).

The new geological data suggest that whereas recent human activities (e.g., massive sand mining) along the Tijucas River may be important in increasing the suspended sediment discharge, the shift to a mud‐dominated regime was part of the natural evolution of this coastal plain.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The following members received outstanding student paper awards at the 2005 Joint Assembly in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Winners in other sections and focus groups will be announced in subsequent issues of Eos.)
Applied Stratigraphy
Authors: Lucas Spencer G.
Published: October 2006

Stratigraphy is a cornerstone of the Earth sciences. The study of layered rocks, especially their age determination and correlation, which are integral parts of stratigraphy, are key to fields as diverse as geoarchaeology and tectonics. In the Anglophile history of geology, in the early 1800s, the untutored English surveyor William Smith was the first practical stratigrapher, constructing a geological map of England based on his own applied stratigraphy. Smith has, thus, been seen as the first “industrial stratigrapher,” and practical applications of stratigraphy have since been essential to most of the extractive industries from mining to petroleum. Indeed, gasoline is in your automobile because of a tremendous use of applied stratigraphy in oil exploration, especially during the latter half of the twentieth century. Applied stratigraphy, thus, is a subject of broad interest to Earth scientists.
A U.S. interagency distributed climate modeling project
Authors: Bader D. , Bamzai A. , Patrinos A. , Fein J. , Leinen M.
Published: October 2006

When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes its Fourth Assessment Report of the Scientific Basis of Climate Change (AR4) in 2007, a significant portion of the report will analyze coupled general circulation model (GCM) simulations of the climate of the past century as well as scenarios of future climates under prescribed emission scenarios.

Modeling groups worldwide have contributed to the report. Three U.S. contributors are: the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) project, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Sciences, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). This collection of model results is providing a wealth of new information that will be used to examine the state of climate science, the potential impacts from climate changes, and the policy consequences that they imply.
Commerce report could limit fundamental research
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A controversial recommendation by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Inspector General (IG) to tighten controls on “deemed“ exports used in the course of university research has prompted more than 300 comments. The comments to the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, RIN 0694‐AD29, “Revision and Clarification of Deemed Export Related Regulatory Requirements,” were posted to the department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Web site (http://www.bis.doc.gov) on 11 August.
Outstanding student paper awards from 2005 joint assembly
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The following members received outstanding student paper awards at the 2005 Joint Assembly in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Winners in other sections and focus groups will be announced in subsequent issues of Eos.)
Founding father of Finnish geomagnetic research
Authors: Nevanlinna Heikki
Published: October 2006

J. J. Nervander, born 200 years ago, on 23 February 1805 (Figure I),can be considered the founding father of Finnish geomagnetic research, as well as one of the early pioneers in the research of solar influence on the terrestrial weather and climate.

Nervander, who studied physics and mathematics at the University of Turku (later at Helsinki), in Finland, was the first scientist in Finland who studied electromagnetism. At that time, it was a new scientific discipline, after the pioneering work by H. C. Örsted and others in the 1820s.
Comment on “Could the Mw = 9.3 Sumatra earthquake trigger a geomagnetic jerk?”
Authors: Dumberry Mathieu
Published: October 2006

In a recent issue of Eos, Florindo et al. [2005] suggest that large seismic events, such as the magnitude 9.3 Sumatra earthquake of 26 December 2004, may cause changes in topography at the core‐mantle boundary (CMB), thereby affecting flow in the core. They hypothesize that this effect may trigger a geomagnetic jerk, which would be observed at Earth's surface after a time delay to allow for the signal to propagate through the weakly conducting mantle. However, they do not provide any estimates of the amplitude or form of the CMB topography changes that are required, or of the actual CMB deformation that may have occurred as a result of the Sumatra event.

Here, I argue that it is unlikely that large earthquakes can lead to geomagnetic jerks.
Comment by R. M. W Musson on “Comparison between probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and flood frequency analysis”
Authors: Musson R. M. W.
Published: October 2006

It must be a rare occurrence to see, in the same scientific newspaper in the space of a little over a year, the same errors repeated by the same authors in two different articles, despite the fact that those errors had been refuted in that newspaper in the interim. I pointed out [Musson, 2004] the fallacies in a paper by Wang et al. [2003]. These errors are now repeated by Wang and Ormsbee [2005], who refer back to Wang et al. [2003] but not to Musson [2004].

This raises questions about scientific method: We expect that science proceeds in some sort of forward direction and that errors are not repeated when identified. To see such a repetition as this raises at least the question of how Wang and Ormsbee [2005] were reviewed.
Response to comment by R. M. W. Musson [on “Comparison between probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and flood frequency analysis”]
Authors: Wang Zhenming
Published: October 2006

Musson's comment on our article is a good example of “the inability of PSHA proponents to communicate clearly and directly to anyone but themselves just what it is that they are doing” [Hanks and Cornell, 1994, p. 1/1–1 ].

Musson's [2004] comment on an earlier paper by Wang et al. [2003] was addressed in a response by Wang et al. [2004]. However, it seems that Musson is still sure he is right and Wang et al. are all wrong when he says, “I pointed out [Musson, 2004] the fallacies in a paper by Wang et al. [2003]. These errors are now repeated by Wang and Ormsbee [2005], who refer back to Wang et al. [2003] but not to Musson [2004].” Now Musson is trying to impose his self‐righteousness on the whole scientific community by asking Eos not to publish any paper that contains a point of view different from his.
Satellite altimetry and the intensification of Hurricane Katrina
Authors: Scharroo Remko , Smith Walter H. F. , Lillibridge John L.
Published: October 2006

Remotely sensed infrared images of Hurricane Katrina taken on 26, 27, and 28 August 2005 (Figure 1, left panels) show the aerial extent of the cloud cover and the central “eye” increasing as the storm that swamped areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast intensified. Computer animations of such image sequences show forecasters the tracks of storms and are a familiar staple of weather news. Less well known is the role that satellite altimetry plays both in forecasting conditions that can intensify a tropical storm and in observing the storm conditions at the sea surface.

Satellite altimeter data indicate that Katrina intensified over areas of anomalously high dynamic topography rather than areas of unusually warm surface waters. Altimeter data from Katrina also for the first time observed the building of a storm surge.
Remote sensing and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts
Authors: Morin Paul
Published: October 2006

Remotely sensed images provide emergency response officials and scientists with a unique perspective for assessing damage and targeting relief. These images also offer educators a unique, teachable moment for the classroom. In the classroom, an event such as Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on 29 August along the central U.S. Gulf Coast and prompted the flooding of much of New Orleans, Louisiana, can make Earth science relevant in a way that a daily lecture cannot.

The U.S. Geological Survey's Center for Earth Resources Observations and Science (USGS/EROS) is the nation's central clearinghouse for visual, satellite, and land‐surface data. EROS also is the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's organization for data distribution. When first responders expressed an urgent need for information to help determine the best way to save stranded homeowners in New Orleans—by either boat or truck, depending on how deep the floodwaters were—the EROS Emergency Response Team collated the data necessary to create a bathymetric map of the city.
Quantitative Seismic Interpretation: Applying Rock Physics Tools to Reduce Interpretation Risk
Authors: Sondergeld Carl H.
Published: October 2006

This book is divided into seven chapters that cover rock physics, statistical rock physics, seismic inversion techniques, case studies, and work flows. On balance, the emphasis is on rock physics. Included are 56 color figures that greatly help in the interpretation of more complicated plots and displays.

The domain of rock physics falls between petrophysics and seismics. It is the basis for interpreting seismic observations and therefore is pivotal to the understanding of this book. The first two chapters are dedicated to this topic (109 pages).
Project helps constrain continental dynamics and seismic hazards
Authors: Holt William E. , Kreemer Corné , Haines A. John , Estey Lou , Meertens Chuck , Blewitt Geoffrey , Lavallée David
Published: October 2006

The Global Strain Rate Map project II‐8, initiated in 1998 by the International Lithosphere Program (ILP), provides constraints for understanding continental dynamics and for quantifying seismic hazards in general. To date, the Global Strain Rate Map (GSRM) model is a numerical velocity gradient tensor field solution (i.e.,spatial variations of horizontal strain rate tensor components and rotation rates) for the entire Earth surface [Kreemer et al., 2003].

The global model consists of 25 rigid spherical plates and ∼25,000 0.6°×0.5° deformable grid areas within the diffuse plate boundary zones which lie between these plates (e.g., western North America, central Asia, the Alpine‐Himalaya belt). This model provides an estimate of the horizontal strain rates, rotation rates, and velocity fields for the diffuse plate boundary zones as well as an estimate of the motions of the spherical caps.
Satellite imagery maps Hurricane Katrina‐induced flooding and oil slicks
Authors: Rykhus Russell P.
Published: October 2006

In the early morning of 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras, Louisiana, as a Category 4 hurricane. With wind speeds of about 233 kilometers per hour, a storm surge of 8.5 meters, and heavy rains, Katrina pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi with lifethreatening flooding and destruction. Katrina's high winds and storm surge breached the levees protecting New Orleans, a city located below sea level, and flooded approximately 80% of the city.

Katrina also caused major damage to the region's oil and natural gas production and refining capabilities. On 2 September 2005, the Associated Press reported that Katrina had damaged 58 oil platforms, 30 of which were reported lost; one damaged platform had been blown nearly 100 km from its original location.
Recent advances in the ocean carbon system
Authors: Doney Scott C. , Glover David M.
Published: October 2006

Ocean biogeochemistry is a critical component of the Earth's climate system, regulating on timescales of decades to millennia the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), and other radiatively active gases. Since the pre‐industrial era, the ocean has taken up about half of the carbon released by fossil fuel combustion, partially mitigating climate change. The future behavior of this oceanic sink, however, is not well understood and remains one of the major climate uncertainties [Sarmiento and Gruber, 2002].

The ocean carbon inventory depends, in part, upon the complex responses of the natural ocean ecosystems and carbon system to changes in ocean circulation, dust deposition, ocean pH, ultraviolet radiation, and other factors [Fasham, 2003]. Addressing this problem requires an integrated research effort on a variety of fronts, ranging from monitoring the temporal evolution of the ocean inorganic carbon inventory to innovative studies of poorly known biological and chemical dynamics.
A Geologic Time Scale 2004
Authors: Geissman John W.
Published: October 2006

This may be the most straightforward book review imaginable to write. Just buy this book and use it! You will not regret it.

Verlyn Klinkenborg's 23 August 2005 editorial in the New York Times (“Grasping the depth of time as a first step in understanding evolution”) serves as a most timely way begin a review of A Geologic Time Scale 2004 (GTS2004). Klinkenborg writes, “One of the most powerful limits to the human imagination is our inability to grasp, in a truly intuitive way the depths of terrestrial and cosmological time.”
Probing South Pacific mantle plumes with ocean bottom seismographs
Authors: Suetsugu D. , Sugioka H. , Isse T. , Fukao Y. , Shiobara H. , Kanazawa T. , Barruol G. , Schindelé F. , Reymond D. , Bonneville A. , Debayle E.
Published: October 2006

The seismic structure beneath the South Pacific superswell has not been well explored in spite of its significance for mantle dynamics. The region is characterized by a topographic high of more than 680 m [Adam and Bonneville, 2005]; a concentration of hot spot island chains (e.g., Society Cook‐Austral, Marquesas, and Pitcairn) whose volcanic rocks have isotopic characteristics suggesting deep mantle origin; and a broad, low‐velocity anomaly in the lower mantle that has been revealed by seismic tomography

These observations suggest the presence of a large‐scale mantle flow from the bottom of the mantle beneath the region, which is called a ‘superplume’ [McNutt, 1998[.
Archiving numerical models of biogeochemical dynamics
Authors: Thornton Peter E. , Cook Robert B. , Braswell Bobby H. , Law Beverly E. , Corvallis Wilfred M. , Shugart Herman H. , Rhyne B. Timothy , Hook Leslie A.
Published: October 2006

No adequate community‐wide mechanism or set of standards currently exists to ensure the long‐term reproducibility of results from numerical modeling in biogeochemical research. Various investigators maintain copies of code and supporting materials through ad hoc methods, and some models and modeling studies are not archived by any mechanism other than the published manuscripts describing specific research results. This state of affairs invites trouble.

To illustrate this situation, one of the authors of this article was recently involved in producing a state‐of‐the‐art review on the topic of the effects of climate change on forests. The literature on this topic contains a rich array of results from dynamic models of global or regional vegetation produced by forcing these models with climate change scenarios.
U.S. rainfall satellite missions in flux
Authors: Zielinski Sarah
Published: October 2006

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) received a reprieve in September when the agency decided to continue the mission until at least fiscal year 2009 and possibly until 2012. Earlier agency plans had called for discontinuing TRMM this year while the satellite still had enough fuel for a controlled re‐entry.

Despite the TRMM reprieve, however, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is already preparing for TRMM's replacement, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.
U.S. Navy sued over sonar use
Authors: Kumar Mohi
Published: October 2006

The Natural Resources Defense Council and other environment groups on 19 October filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against the U.S. Navy over its use of mid‐frequency sonar, the principle system used aboard U.S. naval vessels to locate submarines and underwater objects.

This sonar operates around the three kilohertz range. The lawsuit alleges that midfrequency sonar harms marine mammals and violates environmental laws, including the Marine Mammals Protection Act. NRDC lawyer Andrew Wetzler said the goal of this suit is to compel the Navy to use commonsense measures to avoid harming marine species.
Meet the Editor: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Authors: Kumar Mohi
Published: October 2006

Meinrat Andreae was named the editor of the AGU's journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles last year.

Andreae, director of the biogeochemistry department at the Max Plank Institute for Chemistry (MPIC), located in Mainz, Germany said that he plans to maintain the journal as a resource that highlights the broad spectrum of interdisciplinary themes that showcase the interactions between the biosphere and the geosphere. “Our special niche is in the field of larger‐scale, more integrative studies that have global scope,” he explained.
Environmental Satellite Program over budget, behind schedule
Authors: Zielinski Sarah
Published: October 2006

The U.S. National Polar‐orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) will exceed its $6.9 billion cost estimate by at least 15 percent, and its planners are now considering cutting instruments and satellites in addition to long delays.

“[NPOESS] is so badly broken … we could lose a lot of the climate [components], we could lose instruments,” NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) project scientist Jim Gleason told a committee of the National Research Council of the U.S. National Academies at a 25 October meeting.