bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geophysics at Katmai: Geophysical expedition to Novarupta Volcano, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Authors: Eichelberger J. C. , Ballard S. , Carrigan C. R. , Goodliffe A. , Hildreth W. , Iwatsubo E. , Kasameyer P. W. , Keith T. E. C. , Kienle J. , Papike J. J. , Pollard D. D. , Stone D. B. , Wallmann P. C. , Ward P. L. , Wilt M. , Yount M. E.
Published: October 2011

The great eruption of 1912 in the Aleutian Range of Alaska (Figure 1) is exceptional for both its size and relative simplicity. It was the largest eruption of this century and the largest rhyolitic outburst in almost 20 centuries. The 60‐hour, 30‐km3 (ejecta volume) eruption produced extensive fallout deposits, an ash‐flow sheet that gave rise to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, and the 3‐km‐diameter Mt. Katmai caldera. Because magma reached the surface through uniform nonvolcanic basement and the vent underwent little or no collapse (unusual for such a large event), the site provides an ideal target for surface geophysical and subsurface coring exploration of structures and conditions produced by explosive volcanism [Panel on Volcanic Studies at Katmai, 1989]. A project to investigate upper crustal magmatic processes at Katmai is part of the U.S. Continental Scientific Drilling Program [Eichelberger and Hildreth, 1986]. The surface studies phase of this project was undertaken last summer and preliminary results are now emerging.
U.S.‐U.S.S.R. Environmental Security Program
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Fresh from a 9‐day bilateral meeting in the Soviet Union on global environmental conservation, a delegation of U.S. ocean policy experts has announced a wide‐ranging, joint initiative with two research institutes of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences.

Led by James M. Broadus, director of the Marine Policy Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass., the U.S. delegation met in Moscow with Soviet scholars from the Institute for World Economy and International Relations and the Institute of Peace to discuss worldwide strategies for assurances against environmental threats to the world's oceans.
Section newsletter rejected
Authors: Crooker Nancy
Published: October 2011

At the SPR Executive Committee Meeting last December, some interest was expressed in having a section newsletter, but limited time prevented full discussion of the issue. Later, some of the interested attendees decided to take a sample poll of the SPR membership at the Spring Meeting this year to determine the level of enthusiasm for the project. Although no other section has a separate newsletter at this time, AGU has set guidelines for proposing and publishing them, and the outcome of the poll was to determine whether or not a proposal should be submitted. The text of the poll form is repeated below. “Proposal for a Solar‐Planetary Relationships Newsletter
Book Review: Physics and Chemistry of the Upper Atmosphere
Authors: Atreya Sushil K.
Published: October 2011

The recently published book, Physics and Chemistry of the Upper Atmosphere, by M. H. Rees, is now available through Cambridge University Press, London. Sushil K. Atreya, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, provides this review.

The Earth's upper atmosphere is a region of immense complexity. The behavior of this region is governed primarily by the energy deposited by solar ultraviolet photons and the energetic charged particles. This book is an excellent attempt at unraveling the mysteries of the upper atmosphere of the Earth. The upper atmosphere in this book refers loosely to the region of the thermosphere and ionosphere, although it is not uncommon to find, throughout the book, occasional references to the mesospheric processes.
Gold found in Idaho streams
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Fine‐grained gold has been found in stream sediments in parts of central Idaho, indicating that minable, higher‐grade deposits of gold may be present in the near‐surface rocks in the area, according to three U.S. Geological Survey scientists.

As part of a continuing USGS program to assess mineral resources in Idaho, the gold was found in sediments of several creeks south of Salmon in Lemhi County. George A. Desborough, a USGS geologist in Denver, Colo., and principal investigator on the project, said the sediment samples taken from Allison Lake, Mulky and Poison creeks were subjected to a laboratory tabletop mechanical panning technique that detected gold particles of a size too fine to be recognized by conventional hand panning.
Topographic maps of Mississippi completed
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The U.S. Geological Survey has completed an initial, once‐over topographic mapping of Mississippi, which will provide detailed, accurate, up‐to‐date tools for planning and managing the state's natural resources.

The l:24,000‐scale (one inch on a map represents 2000 feet on the ground), 7.5‐minute topographic maps show the shape and elevation of the landscape and delineate a wide range of natural and man‐made features. The maps will be used by engineers, scientists and managers of resource and environmental projects.
AGI doubles minority geoscience scholarships
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The American Geological Institute, Alexandria, Va., has had a significant increase in funds available for minority geoscience scholarships for the 1990–1991 academic year. The number of scholarships awarded this year has more than doubled from a total of 36 in 1989–90 to 80 available for 1990–1991.

The increase is due largely to a grant from the National Science Foundation. Total value of the awards, which will be given to undergraduate and graduate geoscience students, will be $221,000. For 1989‐–990 the total value was $36,750.
IAHS Bureau Meeting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A Bureau meeting of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences was held during the International Hydrological Program‐Council meeting in Paris on March 20, 1990. Representatives from almost all the IAHS Commissions, Committees and Working Groups, UNESCO and WMO attended. The next Scientific Assembly will take place in Japan in July 1993 and will be held together with the Scientific Assembly of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics. A Japanese organizing committee has been formed and preparations for the assembly have started.
Beach groin acts as barrier to longshore transport
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Bergen Avenue Groin in Harvey Cedars, N.J., a storm protection structure that confines alongshore‐moving sediment to create wider beaches, has been found to act as a barrier to longshore sediment transport according to Michael S. Bruno, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J. Using a wave transformation‐shoreline evolution model, Bruno examined the effectiveness of an existing stone groin on a commercially and historically valuable beach. His findings were summarized at the 21st Union of Panamerican Engineers meeting hosted by the American Association of Engineering Societies held in Washington, D.C., August 19–24.

Groins are low, narrow jetties made of timber, stone, concrete, or steel that extend roughly perpendicular to the shoreline. They are designed to protect the shore from erosion by currents, tides or waves, or to trap sand and littoral drift to build up or make a beach. The advantage of a groin is that it is a permanent solution to beach erosion, as opposed to the continuing process of beach replenishment required in nonstructural processes such as beachfills. This same permanence, however, is often the downfall of structural solutions because of the long‐term deleterious consequences associated with such devices.
A new competitor for the West's scarce water
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2011

Environmental factors have become key considerations in the scramble for scarce water supplies in the western U.S., alongside traditional users such as agriculture, municipalities, and industry. “In the last few years, the environmental demand for water for wildlife maintenance, fisheries, and water quality has been strengthened by a series of court rulings, legal interpretations, and societal pressure reflecting a renewed commitment to environmental quality,” according to David Brookshire, economist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Hydrologic Sciences Report
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Research Council's Water Science and Technology Board established a Committee on Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences, chaired by AGU Past President Peter S. Eagleson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. A report outlining the plans for the committee, prepared by Eagleson, was published in Eos, August 30, 1988 (pp. 817 and 821). A follow‐up article, “Profiles of the Hydrologic Community,” published in Eos, May 27, 1989 (p. 612), summarized the results of a questionnaire circulated among the 2000‐plus members of the AGU Hydrology Section. The following article by Committee Chairman Eagleson brings readers u p to date on the results of the NAS Committee's study and announces availability of their report.
Submarine groundwater discharge
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Measurement of groundwater discharge to rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans was the subject of a special session at the meeting of the North American Benthological Society, held at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va., May 22–25, 1990. The meeting was attended by more than 40 marine and aquatic ecologists, hydrologists, environmental engineers, and geophysicists and was organized by G. M. Simmons, Jr.

Focus of the meeting was the advective flux of water and solute across sediment‐water interfaces. This important linkage between land and surface aquatic environments via groundwater is receiving increasing attention with requirements to identify and predict all impacts of natural and anthropogenic solute inputs to surface waters, even those hidden from view and long neglected. Papers covered a wide range and dealt with such topics as measurements of upward advective flow 20 km offshore in oceanic settings, solute transport into estuarine marshes, geoelectric estimates of groundwater discharge along 300 km of Lake Michigan coastline, field, and lab studies of both reactive and nonreactive solute in groundwater discharge to surface waters, and use of environmental isotopes to trace flow paths and determine residence times of water in catchments.
Corrections: AGU Handbook
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Several incorrect e‐mail address were printed in the AGU Handbook (Eos, December 8, 1992).
Speak out
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

If you want your voice to be heard on this and other matters related to NSF or science, you should write one line, ten lines, or 100 lines to:

Jack Gibbons Director Office of Science & Technology Policy Washington, DC 20506
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Tor J. Nordenson died on April 15 at age 79. He had been a member of AGU (Hydrology) since 1946.

David C. Kayser died recently at age 52. He joined AGU (Space Physics and Aeronomy) in 1973.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

David R. Bates, 78, died January 5, 1994. He joined AGU (SPA‐Aeronomy) in 1960.

Ethel Ward McLemore, 86, died January 13, 1994. She joined AGU (Seismology) in 1947.
Ozone hole?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Evidence for long‐term global ozone depletion due to CFCs is still lacking, according to University of Virginia (UVA) scientists, who recently poked a hole in a paper published last November in Science by researchers from the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service. The UVA scientists, writing in a technical comment also recently published in the journal, took to task the Canadians' claim that because of depletion of stratospheric ozone over populated areas of North America, up to a 35% annual increase in surface ultraviolet radiation occurred over Toronto between 1989 and 1993. According to the UVA scientists, the observation resulted from a poor statistical analysis.
Washington on board
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

President Clinton has tapped Warren Washington, a climate circulation and climate system modeler with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., to be one of six new members of the National Science Board. The Senate must still approve the nominations of the 24‐member board, which oversees the National Science Foundation and serve 6‐year terms.
Aftershock enigma
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The mystery of the series of aftershocks that ranged more than 400 km away from the epicenter of the 1992 Landers earthquake in southern California may be solved, according to a report in the September 29 issue of Nature. Seismologists at the Carnegie Institution in Washington have an interesting interpretaion of data obtained by instruments in Long Valley. They suggest that bubbles of gas in the molten rock beneath the Earth's crust may be responsible. When an earthquake hits, pressure waves radiate from its epicenter. Though the pressure waves themselves go unnoticed, they can trigger aftershocks in volcanic areas at large distances.
So NEAR, but yet so far
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid is set for launch on February 16. Of course, as gravity‐assisted space travel goes, its destination is a distant 4 years off.

Part of NASA's Discovery Program, the Near‐Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) orbiter is designed to take up residence around the “Earth‐approaching” asteroid 433 Eros in early 1999. Discovered in 1898, Eros is the second‐largest of the near‐Earth asteroids, a group whose orbits pass near and sometimes cross Earth's path around the Sun. The asteroids are considered to be dead comets and fragments of asteroids jarred from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. NEAR will orbit Eros for a year, studying its composition and physical properties.
Worth its salt?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The idea that all underground salt deposits can serve as storage sites for toxic and nuclear waste does not always hold water—literally. According to Daniel Ronen and Brian Berkowitz of Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science and Yoseph Yechieli of the Geological Survey of Israel, some buried salt layers are in fact highly conductive of liquids, suggesting that wastes buried in their confines could easily leech into groundwater and nearby soil.

When drilling three wells into a 10,000‐year‐old salt layer near the Dead Sea, the researchers found that groundwater had seeped into the layer and had absorbed some of its salt.
Valuable water
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

In some places, money flows with water. Studying both the water quality and property values around 22 lakes in south‐central Maine, Kevin Boyle and Holly James of the University of Maine and Roy Bouchard of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection have found that good water quality makes waterfront property even more valuable. To gauge water quality, the researchers used Secchi disks to measure the clarity of the water at depth. They also reviewed 543 lakefront property sales between 1990 and 1994 to determine how values correlated with changing water conditions. The group also considered such factors as lake frontage, sizes of the houses and lots, and size of the lake.
Another bleak budget picture
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Though the budget proposed on March 18 by the Clinton Administration would provide a slight boost for many science programs in fiscal year 1997 (Eos, April 2), the realities of federal deficit cutting mean that funds for such programs will be cut sharply between 1998 and 2002. In a report released on April 17 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), policy analysts project that the budget for non‐defense research and development (R&D) will shrink by as much as 11.7% in constant 1995 dollars by the year 2002.
Clean Air Action
Authors: Carlowicz Mike
Published: October 2011

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, American electrical utility companies are ahead of schedule in reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide—a major contributor to acid rain—into the atmosphere. By the end of 1995, the 445 boilers with the highest emission levels had cut emissions from 10.9 million tons of SO2 to 5.3 million tons, 39% less emissions than were mandated by the Clean Air Act. Electric utilities account for more than 70% of sulfur dioxide emissions in the United States.
Cracked cue ball
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

The latest images sent by the Galileo spacecraft reveal that the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa may have contained a layer of “warm ice” or even liquid water. In fact, planetologists are wondering if perhaps it still does.

Photos taken earlier this summer show Europa to have a crust of smooth white and brown‐tinted ice scarred by long, jagged cracks; some scientists have said the moon looks like a cracked cue ball. “The scale of fracture patterns—extending a distance equivalent to the width of the western United States—dwarf the San Andreas fault in length and width,” said Ronald Greeley, a geologist from Arizona State University and a member of the Galileo imaging team. The cracks are believed to have been caused by the stress of tidal forces created by Jupiter's gravity. Warmth generated by tidal heating also may have been sufficient to soften or liquefy some of the ice.
Testing Earth science
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

The Keck Geology Consortium is offering students from ethnic minorities an opportunity to test their interest in careers in Earth science by conducting research on their own and in groups. Collegiate sophomores and juniors of African American, American Indian, Native Alaskan, Hispanic, or Native Pacific Island heritage will work for as long as a year on research projects that originate during a month of field and laboratory work in the summer of 1997.
Program animates North Sea model results
Authors: Luff Roger , Moll Andreas , Pohlmann Thomas
Published: October 2011

A PC‐based program that animates results from numerical models of the North Sea and the German Bight is now available free of charge via the World Wide Web. VISUMOD version 2.1 is written for the Windows 3.x/WIN95 operating system. To run the program, you will need at least a 386 PC with a VGA graphic card, a mouse, 8 Mbytes of RAM, and about 10 Mbytes of hard disc space.
Soaked
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

In 1996, the northeast region of the United States endured the wettest year since complete records were first kept in 1894, according to the Northeast Region Climate Center at Cornell University. The 12‐state average of 53.89 inches of precipitation broke the old recordof 51.34 inches, set in 1972 when Hurricane Agnes blew through the area. The normal yearly precipitation for the Northeast is 41.90 inches.

Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia all set precipitation records in 1996; Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, and Vermont all ranked 1996 among the top five years of precipitation in state history. The wettest state, Massachusetts, was doused with 60.98 inches—it normally receives 45.39 inches of precipitation in a year.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Lucien G. Bossy died September 21, 1996, at age 78. He had been a member (SPA—Aeronomy) since 1966.

Keith E. Chave died September 27, 1996, at age 68. He had been a member (Ocean Sciences) since 1959.
Remote centering
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

In an effort to promote collaborative, multidisciplinary research using remote sensing and observation system science, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Scripps Institution for Oceanography are forming a “virtual” center to increase collaboration between scientists and graduate students. The Joint Center for Observation System Science (JCOSS) will link researchers at Goddard's Earth Science Directorate with their counterparts at Scripps for studies of the climate, oceanography, hydrology, and natural hazards.
High‐sodium comet
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

In mid‐April, astronomers in the Canary Islands discovered that Comet Hale‐Bopp has a tail composed of sodium atoms, in addition to the commonly known ion and dust tails. Although sodium atoms have been seen at the centers of other comets, this is the first observation of a comet tail consisting of sodium.

The discovery by Gabriele Cremonese of the Padova Astronomical Observatory in Italy and Don Pollaco of the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes at the Canary Islands, came from images of Hale‐Bopp taken with a special wide‐field camera fitted with a filter that isolates emission from sodium atoms. The sodium atoms are distributed over an enormous region in and around Hale‐Bopp. It is not clear exactly how the sodium tail, which is 600,000 km wide and 50 million km long, was formed.
Scanning skies and ocean
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

On July 19, the new NOAA oceanographic research vessel, the Ronald H. Brown, was commissioned by Department of Commerce Secretary William M. Daley in Charleston, S.C. The 274‐foot ship was named after the late former Commerce Secretary who died in a plane crash in 1996, while on an overseas trade mission.

Scientists will use advanced sampling and analytical instruments aboard the ship to collect atmospheric and ocean data that are critical to understanding global climate change. “With its Doppler radar, upper‐air sounding system, and wind profiler system, the Brown is a world‐class atmospheric research platform, making it unequaled in the domestic research fleet for sampling both the oceans and atmosphere and discovering the profound interactions that bind them,” said D. James Baker, Commerce undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere. The ship and its team of university and NOAA scientists departed from Charleston on July 21 for the its first scientific cruise.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Climate control requires a dam at the Strait of Gibraltar’”]
Authors: Johnson R. G
Published: October 2011

In regard to the role of Mediterranean outflow water increase in initiating the last ice age and the proposal to eliminate the threat of new glaciation by a partial dam at Gibraltar, Marotzke and Adcroft question the wisdom of publishing a hypothesis “not substantiated through quantitative reasoning supported by data.” A hypothesis meeting these two requirements would have to be indicated by a well‐established numerical model. By these standards, Alfred Wegener's “outlandish” continental drift hypothesis would never have been published, and the fascinating development of the Cretaceous‐Tertiary impact hypothesis for extinction would have remained hidden within a narrow segment of the scientific community for many years. However, the data supporting the hypothesis of ice‐age initiation [Johnson, 1997] are quite substantial, and all of the supporting data should be carefully considered before the hypothesis is rejected or accepted.
Report outlines gender equity progress at MIT
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

In 1994, 3 tenured women faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) School of Sciences who were concerned about unequal treatment and the small percentage of women faculty there convinced the university to establish a committee to examine the issue.

Now 5 years later, and after much research and focus on the issue, working conditions have improved and women faculty at the school total more than 10%, still a low number but a significant increase compared to a total that had been fairly fixed at about 8% for at least the last decade, according to a new report by the Committee on Women Faculty.
Recent Ph.D.s
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A council that includes the heads of 12 United States federal agencies involved in funding ocean research or developing ocean research policy has called for the establishment of a national integrated and sustained ocean observing system.

Officials said the system should integrate new tools to monitor changes in the oceans' physical, biological, and chemical systems with the many already‐existing satellite and in situ observing elements. The system, they said, could improve long‐term climate forecasts, increase understanding of long and short‐term ocean phenomena, and help to answer some key questions concerning global warming.
Kansas strikes evolution from school standards
Authors: Folger Peter
Published: October 2011

On August 11, the Kansas State Board of Education voted 6–4 in favor of science standards for grades K‐12 that omit nearly all meaningful reference to Darwin's theory of evolution. A majority of school board members rejected an alternative set of standards, crafted over 13 months by the Kansas Science Education Writing Committee, that contain evolutionary principles like natural selection and descent with modification from a common ancestor.
Harnessing science and technology
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

A new report by the National Research Council says that the United States' ability to convert science and technology into new products, jobs, and profits is being fueled by a strong research and development base and by a favorable economic climate.

But the report cautions that serious deficiencies in pre‐college education and wavering support for basic research may erode the nation's ability to achieve sustained economic growth and improved living standards in the next century.
Customized hazard maps
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Finding out about the historic occurrence of six different types of natural hazards in any region in the United States recently became a little easier.

A Project Impact initiative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and ESRI—a leading provider of Geographic Information System (GIS) software and a Project Impact partner—offers the public customized online hazard maps.
Geophysicists
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Werner Stumm, professor emeritus and former director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control (EAWAG), died April 14, 1999. He was 74 years old.

Werner is remembered for coining the term “aquatic chemistry” and for introducing quantitative chemical equilibrium and chemical kinetic principles into the field of water science and technology. He transformed environmental chemistry by working from a molecular viewpoint and by concentrating on coordination chemistry at interfaces.
Soils and Geomorphology, Third Edition
Authors: Anderson Suzanne Prestrud
Published: October 2011

In accepting the Kirk Bryan Award in 1988 from the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division of the Geological Society of America, Pete Birkeland commented that he was passing the soil geomorphology baton on to the next generation. Fortunately for us, the hand‐off is still incomplete, as evidenced by the publication of a new third edition of his award winning book, Soils and Geomorphology.

Birkeland's book is notable for being a survey of soil science from a geological perspective. Thus the focus is on field aspects of soil science, particularly on pedology the study of soil genesis. The book is studded with field examples, drawn from the literature and from his own nearly forty years of fieldwork in the American West and around the world. The issues he addresses are often geological in nature: dating landforms, reading past climates from information in soils, and using soils as stratigraphic markers. His philosophy is that the principles of soil genesis must be learned and understood before one can interpret the geological record in soils.
What I did on my summer vacation
Authors: Hotinski Roberta
Published: October 2011

Imagine learning on Monday morning that you had to write an article on an area of science you knew little about. Now imagine that the article had to be finished by Thursday morning, in print by Friday, and scrutinized by millions on the following Monday morning. If you felt a rush of adrenaline reading that scenario, then you have a sense of my fellowship experience this summer. Instead of scaling mountains or feverishly experimenting in the lab, I explored a strange new frontier: the world of science journalism. I spent ten weeks immersed in the tumult and fervor of a news organization, and now have a new appreciation for the art of science communication as well as a new sympathy for science writers that would benefit any researcher.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Warren W. Denner died in November 1999, at age 61. He was a member (Ocean Sciences) who joined in 1967.

Werner F. Giggenbach died in 1997, at age 62. He was a member (Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology) who joined in 1989.
New AGU membership system
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The AGU membership and subscription database is being replaced with a new system that can evolve with emerging database technology The new system will provide improved order handling for books, journals, meeting registrations, and better delivery of other AGU products and services.

This project has been underway for the last 2 years under the purview of AGU's Committee on Information Technology.
Harnessing methane
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The total methane resource in hydrates—ice‐like substances found in deep ocean sediments and Arctic permafrost—exceeds the energy content of all other fossil fuel resources,such as coal, oil, and conventional gas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act, signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton on May 3, establishes a new federal commitment to developing methane hydrates, which has been touted as a potentially clean energy source that could make the U.S. less dependent on foreign sources of energy. The bill authorizes $47.5 million over five years for the Department of Energy to establish a federal methane hydrate research and development program.
Global warming at the summit
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

During the recent summit meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Bill Clinton, the two leaders reaffirmed their concerns about global warming and the need to continue to take actions to try to reduce the threat.

In a June 4 joint statement, they stressed the need to develop flexibility mechanisms, including international emissions trading, under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They also noted that initiatives to reduce the risk of greenhouse warming, including specific mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol, could potentially promote economic growth.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Planetary Sciences Section presented six outstanding student paper awards at the 1999 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, last December.
Group points to underlying causes of ecosystem, blodiversity loss
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Freshwater diversion, urban water pollution,and overfishing are leading to the decline of some of Pakistan's coastal mangrove ecosystems. In Mexico's Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, near the border of Guatemala, population growth and poverty are pushing forest clearing. Meanwhile, in Chilika Lake in southeast India, changes in economic policies and global markets have led to changes in commercial aquaculture that is partly responsible for the decline of local fisheries and the bird population.

These are the conclusions of some of the 10 case studies contained in a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, issued on July 6, that examines forests, wetlands, steppes, mangroves, and other habitats to determine the underlying causes for biodiversity loss.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Yam‐Tsi Chiu died on December 3, 1999, at age 59. He had been an AGU member (Magnetospheric Physics) since 1967.

Henri Bader died at age 93. He was a retired life member (Hydrology) who joined AGU in 1946.
Geoscientists and students prepare for Earth Science Week
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Geoscientists throughout the world will be celebrating the third annual Earth Science Week, October 8–14, with field trips, demonstrations, lectures, films, school visits, open houses, and other activities intended to increase public understanding of the Earth sciences and their importance to society.

Since the first Earth Science Week in 1998, the program has been supported by scientists throughout the United States and a dozen other countries. An estimated one million students have participated, and Earth Science Week materials have been used in more than 25,000 classrooms.
Ocean mixing studied near Hawaiian Ridge
Authors: Pinkel Robert , Munk Walter , Worcester Peter , Comuelle Bruce D. , Rudnick Daniel , Sherman Jeffrey , Filloux Jean H. , Dushaw Brian D. , Howe Bruce M. , Sanford Thomas B. , Lee Craig M. , Kunze Eric , Gregg Michael C. , Miller Jack B. , Merrifield Mark A. , Luther Douglas S. , Firing Eric , Brainard Rusty , Flament Pierre J. , Chave Alan D. , Moum James M. , Caldwell Douglas R. , Levine Murray D. , Boyd Timothy , Egbert Gary D.
Published: October 2011

The Hawaii Ocean Mixing Experiment (HOME) is a grassroots program to study turbulent mixing processes near the Hawaiian Ridge. The HOME is motivated by the desire to understand diffusive aspects of the advective‐diffusive balance that mediates the general circulation of the oceans. HOME is focused on tidally driven mixing, given the ubiquity of the tide as a deep‐sea energy source.

As the sea surface cools at high latitude, surface waters sink. Subsidence rate is sufficient to fill the worlds ocean with cold bottom water in approximately 3,000 years. Diffusive processes that transfer heat into the abyssal ocean are required to maintain a steady‐state thermal structure. An effective eddy diffusivity of order Kp=10−4 m2 s−1, 700 times the molecular diffusivity of heat, is necessary [Munk, 1966]. Such a diffusivity might be supported by either mechanical mixing (turbulent transport) or thermodynamic (so‐called doubly diffusive) processes.
How sick is the Spring AGU Meeting?
Authors: Goff John A.
Published: October 2011

I confess—I missed Spring AGU this year. But who can be surprised? After all, I am in the Tectonophysics Section, and almost none of us showed up.

Recently skimming the Spring 2000 AGU abstract volume, I was stunned to see that the Tectonophysics abstracts constituted only a bit more than twelve pages—slightly less than Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism, and a touch more than Geodesy. What has become of us?
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Operational oceanography: Shall we dance?’”]
Authors: Mooers Christopher N. K.
Published: October 2011

Stan Wilson and Muriel Cole have provided an instructive comment on my original essay (It was interesting to learn that they are performing ballet and not opera, and doing the jitterbug and tango and not the waltz and foxtrot, as could have been feared.)

For example, they revealed that at least 1,317 NOAA employees (i.e., approximately 10% of their total workforce) are “operational oceanographers.” ( I would like to assume that they individually recognize their professional or functional identity) When taken together with Richard Spinrad's declared estimate of 2,800 “operational oceanographers” working for the Navy the United States has (neglecting any that may work for other agencies or the private sector) a minimum of 4,000 “operational oceanographers, ”which I believe the research and academic oceanographers will find surprisingly yet interestingly large.
Workshop discusses problems African scientists have in publishing their research
Authors: Jenkins Gregory S. , Diongue Aida
Published: October 2011

Geoscientists from developing nations often encounter multiple obstacles in disseminating the results of their research to fellow scientists in other countries. Some of these obstacles as they pertain specifically to researchers from West Africa and proposals to overcome them were discussed as a component of a recent three‐day workshop. (However, these obstacles can be safely assumed to affect many geoscientists from developing countries, and from countries whose economies are in transition.)

The purpose of the workshop, held in Washington, D.C. on July 27–29, was to examine scientific and social issues associated with climate variability and change in West Africa. It was attended by atmospheric scientists, and by some participants in the ocean sciences, from Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, and the United States, representing universities, research laboratories, and meteorological services. The common thread among them was active involvement in weather‐ and climate‐related research in West Africa.
1999 Editors' citations for excellence in refereeing
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

These reviewers have been cited by Editors of AGU journals for excellence in refereeing. The Editors' citation recognizes this special service to the Union, and the individuals listed are to be commended for consistently providing constructive and thoughtful reviews. They were recognized at the Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Hazard alerts, delivered directly
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

March 27, 1994. Electronic media in northern Alabama broadcast a warning about a tornado 12 minutes before its touching down. Unfortunately none of the worshipers at the Palm Sunday service at the United Methodist Church in Goshen heard it, and 20 were killed.

February 22–23, 1998. The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) issued 14 late night and early morning tornado warnings for east central Florida. Still, 42 people died. They were either asleep during the warnings or did not own US. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) time‐alert weather radios.
Unique conjunction of planetary probes
Authors: Grün E. , Krüger H. , Srama R. , Horányi M.
Published: October 2011

The last two of the large planetary probes of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration and the European Space Agency will rendezvous at the end of the year at Jupiter. At that time, Galileo, which has been exploring Jupiter since the end of 1995, and Cassini, which is on its way to Saturn, will simultaneously observe the Jovian system with U.S.‐ and European‐built instruments.

Cassini will monitor the upstream solar wind conditions and image the magnetosphere and the moons of Jupiter; simultaneously, Galileo will report on the changing plasma conditions from inside the magnetosphere (Figure 1). This is a unique opportunity that will benefit the whole community studying the complex behavior of the Jovian system. The geometry of the two spacecraft during the encounter is especially fortunate for dust measurements, which will greatly enhance our understanding of the Jovian dust environment and the science return for both Galileo and Cassini at Jupiter. These measurements will also provide an opportunity to cross‐calibrate the dust instruments; this will be useful in the future analysis of the Cassini dust observations at Saturn.
Ocean commission comment period
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The long‐anticipated preliminary report of the U.S. on 20 April.The comment period extends through 21 May.

The commission, which was established by Congress in 2000, will present recommendations for a coordinated and comprehensive national ocean policy.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Michael John Hall, 63, 26 April 2005, Hydrology, 1971.

Charles David Keeling, 77, 20 June 2005, AGU Fellow, Ocean Sciences, 1964.
Corrections [to “Outstanding Student Paper Awards: 2006 Joint Assembly” and “Geophysicists”]
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

In the 25 July issue (Eos 57(30) 2006), in the article titled “Outstanding Student Paper Awards: 2006 Joint Assembly” an outstanding student paper award was presented to Joanne Muller by the Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Focus Group, not the Near Surface Geophysics Focus Group.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Georges Blaha, 69, 22 July 2008, Geodesy, 1978

Martin Casey, 59, 20 June 2008, Tectonophysics, 1985
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Mario Acuña, 68, 5 March 2009, Fellow, Planetary Sciences, 1969

Frank Arnott, Study of the Earth's Deep Interior, 1985
Research Spotlight: Stratigraphic column could provide insight into Mars's climate history
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

A new stratigraphic record of Martian polar layered deposits could help scientists shed light on Mars's climate history. These stratigraphic layers can give scientists important clues about the conditions at the time the layer of rock formed.

Fishbaugh et al. present the first highresolution stratigraphic column of Martian north polar layered deposits.
Research Spotlight: New study casts doubt on evidence for Younger Dryas impact theory
Authors: Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

A new study challenges a previous hypothesis that a comet explosion or impact about 12,900 years ago caused devastating fires over much of North America and Europe and triggered an abrupt global cold period known as the Younger Dryas. Proponents of the impact theory claim that carbonaceous spherules and nanodiamonds found in deposits from the Younger Dryas formed through intense heat following a comet impact. The new study, however, finds that the carbon spherules are actually fossilized balls of fungus, charcoal, and fecal pellets created by low‐intensity wildfires.
Research Spotlight: Underground clues to past atmospheric heat content
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Before a global climate model can be used by scientists to predict future climate patterns, it must first successfully predict the climate of the past as known by historical records or as inferred by proxy data (for example, oxygen isotopes in ice cores and tree ring records). Because historical records are spatially and temporally scarce, many climate models rely on proxy data, which by definition introduce significant error into model calibrations. Reducing this error is of high importance to climate scientists.
Research Spotlight: Widespread Amazon tree death caused by single storm event
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Extreme precipitation events are likely to occur more often in Amazonia and elsewhere as the world's climate changes. Storms are known to damage trees, but no systematic study has been done of tree loss during storms in tropical forests. To quantify tree mortality during a storm event, Negrón‐Juárez et al. combined field measurements, remote sensing data, and modeling.
Research Spotlight: Low solar activity explains contracted thermosphere
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

From 2007 to 2009, the outermost layer of the atmosphere, the thermosphere, was abnormally cool and contracted, with lower than normal densities at altitudes near 400 kilometers. In fact, the thermosphere's density, determined by measuring the drag on satellites, was lower during this period than at any time since the beginning of the space age.
Research Spotlight: Magma chamber imaged under Lake Toba
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

The Toba caldera in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, was formed about 75,000 years ago by an enormous explosive volcanic eruption that had a significant effect on global climate. To learn more about its underlying crustal structure, Stankiewicz et al. created a three‐dimensional image of the magma chamber underneath the lake using a technique called ambient noise tomography, which they applied to seismic noise data recorded by an array of 40 stations around Lake Toba between May and October 2008.
Research Spotlight: Sediment transport confuses record of environmental change
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Over time, landscapes transform in response to climate change, tectonic motion, and sea level variations. It is generally believed that these environmental changes are recorded in landscape patterns that scientists can use to interpret past changes. However, sediment transport can complicate the picture. New research by Jerolmack and Paola shows that sediment transport alters landscape patterns in nonlinear ways.
Research Spotlight: Assessing regional impacts of geoengineering
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

As the climate warms along with rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), geoengineering has been suggested as an emergency option to cool the planet. One possibility is implementing a solar radiation management project, such as injecting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere or deploying a solar “sunshade,” to counteract global warming by decreasing the amount of sunlight that reaches Earth's surface. However, a global intervention would have different regional impacts. For instance, geoengineering could result in decreased precipitation and increased droughts in some regions, with serious consequences for some human populations.
Research Spotlight: Explaining the differences between two popular ice cloud data sets
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

High‐altitude ice clouds play a critical role in Earth's climate system, serving both to limit the penetration of the surface by incoming solar radiation and to inhibit infrared radiation from escaping to space. Satellite‐based, long‐term global ice cloud remote sensing products are indispensable for understanding the radiative role of ice clouds and their proper representation in climate models. Unfortunately, retrievals from different satellite sensors often exhibit large differences in some key radiative parameters, such as ice cloud particle effective radius and optical thickness. Scientists are exploring the reasons for these differences.
Research Spotlight: Winter 2010 in Europe: A cold extreme in a warming climate
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Europe experienced abnormally cold weather and unusually large amounts of snow during the winter of 2009–2010. Cattiaux et al. analyzed records of temperature and atmospheric conditions to show that although the 2010 winter in Europe was very cold and snowy, it was not extreme relative to winters of the past 6 decades. They also found that the 2010 winter in Europe was actually warmer than expected given atmospheric circulation conditions, including a record persistence of the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. The 2010 winter is thus an example of a cold extreme in a warming climate.
Research Spotlight: Connections between climate patterns of the stratosphere and troposphere
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Roughly every 28 months, the zonal winds in the stratosphere at the equator cycle from easterly to westerly and then back to easterly. Known to atmospheric scientists as the quasibiennial oscillation (QBO), these shifting wind patterns result when the energy from perturbations in the troposphere ripples through the stratosphere. However, QBO patterns are known not to be regular—the shift in wind patterns can be weak or strong and does not occur at precise intervals.
Research Spotlight: Southern Hemisphere Westerlies influence atmospheric carbon dioxide
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

The Southern Hemisphere Westerlies, the prevailing winds in the Southern Hemisphere, can strongly influence ocean circulation. D'Orgeville et al. used a climate model to study how changes in the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies affect atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) through their influence on ocean carbon storage. The scientists confirm earlier assumptions that an increase in the wind amplitude would have the effect of accelerating the deep overturning circulation, decreasing ocean carbon storage, and releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.