bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Breath of fresher air
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

In its 1996 annual report on air quality trends, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that, over the past 25 years, major air pollutants in the United States have decreased by almost 30%. Air quality has improved for all six of the “criteria pollutants” monitored by EPA, including carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ground‐level ozone (smog), particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. The agency notes that over the same period, the gross domestic product of the nation has grown by 100%.
American studies
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Of more than 25,000 Ph.D.s conferred by universities in the United States in 1995, more than 40% were granted to non‐U.S. citizens. According to the statistics from the Science Resources Division of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the number of non‐U.S. citizens earning doctorates remained steady in 1994 and 1995 after nearly continual increases since the 1950s. Most of the 10,493 doctorates awarded to non‐U.S. citizens were conferred on students from Asian countries, with students from China (2,751 students), Taiwan (1,239), India (1,204), and Korea (1,004) leading the way.
Seeing fewer spots
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Contrary to the prediction by many space physicists that the next solar maximum could be a record‐setter, a pair of researchers foresee a rather ordinary peak of solar activity. Running counter to statistical models and other estimates of the Sun's activity in 2000–2001. Kenneth Schatten of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Sabatino Sofia of Yale University recently asserted that there will be an average number of sunspots and decreased magnetic activity on the Sun in the next decade.
Stay the course
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Reviewing NASA's current plans for Mars exploration, a panel of the National Research Council has advised the space agency to resist the urge to overhaul its program in the wake of the finding of possible life in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. In a report released on December 9, 1996, the Committee on Lunar and Planetary Exploration (COMPLEX) asserted that “it is inappropriate to predicate an important aspect of future Martian studies on the unconfirmed results in a single science paper.”
Watermark in the U.K.
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Activity in and around the waters of the United Kingdom contribute nearly 5% to that nation's gross domestic product, according to a recent report published by the Inter‐Agency Committee on Marine Science & Technology. In 1994–95, marine‐related activities contributed £27.8 billion ($47.3 billion U.S.) to the British economy, with about 2% of that share (£561 million) coming from oceans research and development (R&D).
Deadly toll
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

In just 2 months, the death toll from earthquakes in 1997 has already exceeded the number of earthquake‐related deaths worldwide in 1996. More than 1,000 people have died as a result of two quakes—one in Pakistan, the other in Iran—at the end of February, according to Patrick Leahy, chief geologist of the U.S. Geological Survey. In 1996, 449 people died as a result of earthquakes.
Second circular updates for IASPEI 97
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The 29th General Assembly of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior will take place August 18–28, 1997, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Refer to the second circular that is now available in either hard copy or on the World Wide Web at http://www.iaspei97.auth.grand http://www.csd.net/~bergman/iaspei/. At these WWW sites, you will also find all the necessary meeting forms (registration, hotel accommodation, and abstract) which can be submitted electronically or downloaded and mailed to LOC IASPEI 97, Geophysical Laboratory, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR54006 Greece.

Abstract and early registration deadline is March 31, 1997.
Posthumous honor for Sagan
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has posthumously awarded the agency's Distinguished Public Service Award to renowned planetary scientist Carl Sagan in honor of his lifetime of achievements as a scientist and communicator. The award is bestowed upon scientists, politicians, journalists or other benefactors of science in recognition of “exceptional service or contribution of ideas, facilities, equipment, human resources, and voluntary activities or consultations added significantly to NSF's mission.” The agency had not presented its Distinguished Public Service Award since 1994.
Deus ex scientia
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Times have changed, but the percentage of American scientists who believe in a god has not changed, a pair of researchers found in a recent survey. Replicating a survey that was first taken in 1916, Edward Larson of the University of Georgia and Larry Witham of Burtonsville, Maryland, found that better and widespread education have not deterred some scientists from their belief in a deity. Psychologist James Leuba— who in 1916 shocked the nation when he found that only 42% of the scientists of his day believed in a supreme being—had predicted that the advance of scientific knowledge would undermine religion in the United States.
Cost of a dry well
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

How much is drinking water worth? How should irrigation water be priced? What is the value of the water circulating through an ecosystem? How much does it cost to clean up a contaminated aquifer? Currently, there are no ready answers to these questions. Groundwater, which supplies more than half of the nation's drinking water and a substantial portion of agricultural and industrial needs, is undervalued because there is no widely accepted means to measure its benefits to society, according to a recent report from the National Research Council (NRC). That may change, as the NRC explores ways to assess the economic value of groundwater and the costs of contaminating or depleting this resource.
How fast is fast?
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

Thanks to the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, in 5 years, information could flow a thousand times faster through business computer lines. Moreover, the Internet images and movies that slowly form on home computers today could arrive a million times faster, through the initiative by NASA and five other federal agencies—if Congress gives the go‐ahead.

After endorsing NGI during his campaign and State of the Union address, President Clinton proposed $100 million for each of the next 3 years to fund the initiative. In April, however, the House Science Committee voted to postpone NGI funding until the Administration provides a more detailed plan. After discussion of the interagency program at a hearing, the committee is likely to authorize funding NGI in a separate bill.
Old boy network?
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

Ideally, peer review is an objective process. In reality, scientists who are male or have a connection to the reviewer receive higher peer review scores than their counterparts with equal qualifications. These findings were published in the May 22 issue of Nature, by Swedish researchers Christine Wennerås and Agnes Wold, who obtained access to peer‐reviewers'scores for postdoctoral fellowship applications to the Swedish Medical Research Council in 1995. Using six independent, objective criteria of “scientific productivity,”Wennerås and Wold, of the University of Goteborg, Sweden, found that women systematically scored significantly lower in the peer review process than men for the same level of scientific productivity. Applicants who were associated with reviewers also scored consistently better than those who were not. Scores were not significantly affected by the education, nationality, field of research, or postdoctoral experience of the applicant.
Pinpointing the weather
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

Accurately predicting weather in regions like the west, which have a variety of climates in high mountain, coastal, and desert sites, can be tricky. Now the National Weather Service (NWS) is testing an experimental computer model that will help forecasters predict weather conditions with greater detail. The Eta‐10 model allows forecasters in 24 western NWS offices to monitor the development of weather systems at a 10‐km resolution.

From data collected daily from weather balloons, Doppler weather radar, automated surface observing systems, and advanced satellites, the model simulates the atmosphere in a three‐dimensional grid. Once a day, the experimental model analyzes the high‐resolution data and prepares forecasts for 33 hours into the future.
Metal, rock, ice?
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

Observations during two of Galileo's recent encounters with Jupiter's moon Europa suggest that its 100–200‐km‐thick outer shell is mostly ice and water. “We know that Europa has a very deep layer of water in some form, but we don't yet know whether that water is liquid or frozen,” said John Anderson, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who reported the results with coworkers in the May 23 issue of Science. The measurements also indicated that Europa's deep inner core is very dense and may consist of either metal surrounded by rock or a mixture of metal and rock.

In the same issue of Science, Margaret Kivelson of the University of California at Los Angeles reported possible evidence of a magnetic field on Europa based on magnetometer data from Galileo's pass in December 1996.
True rewards
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

The National Science Board invites nominations for the 1998 NSB Public Service Award. Candidates should meet at least one of the following criteria: increased understanding of science and engineering or encouraged others to do so; promoted the engagement of scientists and engineers in public outreach and scientific literacy; helped to develop broad science and engineering policy and its support; influenced and encouraged the next generation of scientists and engineers; achieved broad recognition outside area of specialization; and fostered awareness among broad segments of the population. The award may be given to one or more individuals, to a company, corporation, or organization, but not to members of the U.S. government.

The deadline for nominations is July 31, 1997. Nominations must be accompanied by the addresses and telephone numbers of both the nominee and nominator, a summary of the nominee's activities, and the nominee's vitae (no more than three pages).
Tracking Earth's attraction
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

Very small changes in the Earth's gravity field—which might result from shifts in deep ocean currents, melting of ice sheets in Antarctica, or accumulation of seasonal snow pack in the mountains—could be detected and mapped using newly developed instruments on future satellite missions. A new report from the National Research Council recommends the satellite missions, which would detect gravity changes that are 100 to 100,000 times smaller than those measured previously, to map the Earth's gravity field and provide new data for a variety of scientific fields.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Eduard Berg died recently, at age 68. He had been a member (Seismology) since 1965.

Charles L. Drake died July 8, 1997, at age 74. He had been a member and Fellow (1967) who joined AGU in 1950.
Week 2: Sojourner smorgasbord at the Hard Rock Cafe, Mars
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

ARES VALLIS, MARS—While children on Earth scoured their local toy stores for the Mattel “Hot Wheels” models of Mars Pathfinder and rover Sojourner, the Pathfinder team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., settled down to the business of “doing science” on the Red Planet. To accomplish “science” this week, Sojourner was commanded to drive from Yogi rock through the granular patch known as the Cabbage Patch and on to Scooby Doo.
Dehydration
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

The news that the Earth is losing 1,000 gallons of water every day is nothing for the planet's inhabitants to sweat, given the vast amount of water in the oceans. But this new information, gathered from measurements on the POLAR satellite, has shed new light on ways that water and other materials leave the atmosphere. The new data should also improve models of how the atmospheres of Earth and other planets evolve.

Using a unique instrument to reduce electrical interference from the satellite, the research team took the first accurate high‐altitude measurements of the polar wind—charged gas or plasma that escapes from Earth and its ionosphere through the poles. The team, headed by Los Alamos physicist Beth Nordholt, proved that the polar wind is one mechanism by which the atomic constituents of water vapor and other atmospheric gases are dragged outward from the ionosphere, where they spiral along the planet's magnet field lines. Sunlight breaks the water into ionized hydrogen and oxygen gases in the upper atmosphere.
Happy trails
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

From nearby Rocky Mountain peaks to wide open eastern plains to the Denver skyline 25 miles off, Boulder, Colorado sits amidst a dramatic assortment of changing meteorological phenomena that makes it an ideal location for weather watching.

Last month, the Mesa Laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), located on the southwest edge of Boulder, cut the ribbon for what is believed to be the first interpretative weather trail in the United States, and the third in the world. The Walter Orr Roberts Weather Trail, named for the NCAR founder, leads visitors along an easy, half‐mile loop annotated with 11 signs about the weather.
Sweet gas
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

When poisonous hydrogen sulfide contaminates a natural gas deposit, the drilling company usually caps the well and moves on to other areas that may contain larger reserves and offer stronger economic incentives. Chemical and biological methods exist to purify these wells, but most are complex and costly. However, a group of scientists now is developing what could be a cheaper, easier method to clean up and utilize this polluted natural gas.

The technique—which involves growing “enrichment” cultures of bacteria that metabolize the hydrogen sulfide into harmless compounds—could be particularly useful to poor and energy‐starved developing nations, says Norman Wainwright, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. “We're hoping the technique can be robust enough and inexpensive enough to be used in a developing country,” Wainwright says. Other scientists involved with the project are Porter Anderson, a University of Rochester professor emeritus associated with the lab and Ben Ebenhack, also of Rochester.
Quake centers funded
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $30 million in contracts to three research centers to study earthquakes and develop technologies to reduce hazards and future losses.

The centers—which hope to match agency funding with outside sources—are forming consortiums of public and private institutions and will focus on separate earthquake issues. The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley will develop technologies to reduce urban earthquake losses. The Mid‐America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois' Urbana‐Champaign campus will study how to reduce potential losses from low‐frequency seismic events in the central and eastern United States.
KidSat Kodak moments
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The Atlantis space shuttle mission last September was mired in controversy over continued U.S. involvement with Mir. But students at the University of California at San Diego and at 52 U.S. middle schools were too busy for politics. They focused instead on snapping satellite images of rainforest fires in Indonesia, the coastline of Australia, and other features on Earth through a mounted Kodak camera aimed through a shuttle window. The students are participants in NASA's KidSat pilot education program that uses space to teach subjects ranging from mathematics and geography to literature and history. KidSat also brings space exploration to an increasing number of students and makes them feel integral to the mission.
Scientists measure Arctic Ozone Hole
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

A possible ozone hole has opened in the Arctic stratosphere, according to research published in the November 15 issue of Geophysical Research Letters. Scientists report that ozone values in the northern polar region set record low levels during the spring of 1997. They speculate that the record ozone depletion may have been caused by a fundamental shift in polar climatology and an unusual springtime cooling trend of the lower Arctic stratosphere.

Long‐term records of total ozone from both the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite instrument and from groundbased observations show a continuing decrease over the last several years, according to the papers. Chlorine gases, particularly the radical CIO, have been conclusively identified as the cause of the ozone depletion.
Missouri student wins NASA Spacecraft Naming Contest
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Eos readers may have thought pretty highly of the original name for the flagship spacecraft for NASA's Earth Observing System. But a naming contest cosponsored by NASA and AGU found yet another very good name for “EOS AM‐1.”

It will be known as “Terra,” thanks to the winning essay written by Sasha Jones, a 17‐year‐old senior at Brentwood High School in St. Louis, Missouri.
NRC looking for some grand ideas
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

A U.S. National Research Council (NRC) committee is identifying potential grand challenges in the environmental sciences, and invites submissions of ideas from the geosciences community.

The committee—which defines environmental sciences to include natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering—was asked by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to identify and prioritize scientific research initiatives and programs that may have the greatest scientific importance, research potential, and practical value over the next 10–30 years.
Record number of twisters hit U.S
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

More tornadoes ripped through the United States this past January than in any previously recorded January, according to the National Weather Service's (NWS) Storm Prediction Center. Of those 163 tornadoes, 87 occurred on January 21—mostly in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee—more than on any previous January day of record.

“Any time of year, we hate to see destruction and loss of life,” said Joe Schaefer, director of the center located in Norman, Okla. “Frankly, we consider this to be a significant number of tornadoes for a March day—the height of tornado season. These numbers in January are unprecedented.”
Parks awash in light pollution
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The first‐ever nationwide survey of light pollution impacts on the U.S. National Park System has found that light pollution is a pervasive threat to national parks, and interferes with visitors' ability to observe stars and the night sky. The survey, which queried National Park Service (NPS) staff, found that dark night skies are a vital park resource, and that light pollution is considered a resource problem in many parks.

The survey credited the National Park Service with already taking some steps to reduce light pollution within parks, but added that the agency can do more to deal with the problem.
Congressional environmental agendas
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

While Democrats and others have roundly criticized the Republican‐controlled U.S. Congress for attempting to undercut existing and proposed environmental regulations during the past several years, a wing of the Republican party has tried to pursue a moderate environmental agenda. On Earth Day April 22, U.S. Senator John Chafee (R‐R.I.), Rep.Sherwood Boehlert (R‐N.Y), and other Republicans laid out environmental initiatives for the 106th Congress, which they said fit within the environmental legacy of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The “TR 10” list, named for the former president, includes support for estuary restoration and protection legislation that Chafee and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R‐Md.) intend to introduce soonsemi; the Coral Reef Conservation Act, (Senate Bill 275), introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R‐Me.); and a Chafee‐sponsored bill (S. 547, with a House bill expected shortly) that would provide credit for voluntary action by companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Monitoring environmental hazards and public health
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Saying that no national system exists to monitor public health problems linked to environmental hazards, former U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker, Jr., announced on May 11 the launch of a Pew Charitable Trusts blue ribbon panel to focus on this issue.

The panel, which includes representatives from academia and health care organizations, will focus on how the United States tracks diseases and recommend ways to fill data gaps; review what tools are needed to improve disease tracking; and focus on children's health issues, such as asthma, childhood cancer, and birth defects that may be linked to the environment, according to Pew Environmental Health Commission Executive Director Shelley Hearne.
The Search for Life on Other Planets
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Search for Life on Other Planets is a very readable and wide‐ranging survey of the issues surrounding the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. The author's writing style is clear and straightforward. The chapter on current thinking regarding the origin of life on Earth is particularly well done and comprehensive and will serve as a very good summary of the topic for planetary scientists who may not have followed this field closely in the past. The book is aimed mainly at an undergraduate or lay audience, however, and professionals in the planetary science community may find the coverage of more familiar topics such as planetary geology and atmospheres a bit shallow.
A whale of a problem
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

While the Makah Indian tribe recently killed a gray whale off the coast of the U.S. state of Washington, and Japan and Norway have threatened to bolt from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) over disagreements about commercial catches, on May 26, the U.S. commissioner to the IWC told delegates about another, and far more widespread, threat affecting cetaceans.

Global environmental changes could jeopardize whale stocks throughout the world, said Commissioner James Baker, who also serves as administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Conservation enhancement programs add up
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

A new partnership between the U.S. federal government and the State of Delaware will provide $10 million to improve the water quality of the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and other water bodies.

The agreement, which establishes the Delaware Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), marks the eighth such partnership established since 1997 and brings the total U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investment in CREP programs to $1.45 billion for improving water quality and restoring wildlife habitat. USDA is expected to pay up to $8 million to enroll up to 6,000 acres in the Delaware CREP program.
Honors
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A new partnership between the U.S. federal government and the State of Delaware will provide $10 million to improve the water quality of the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and other water bodies.

The agreement, which establishes the Delaware Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), marks the eighth such partnership established since 1997 and brings the total U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investment in CREP programs to $1.45 billion for improving water quality and restoring wildlife habitat. USDA is expected to pay up to $8 million to enroll up to 6,000 acres in the Delaware CREP program.
Recent Ph.D.s
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The health sector should take its rightful place at the core of the sustainable development agenda, Gro Harlem Brundtland, director‐general of the World Health Organization (WHO), told attendees at the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in London, England, on June 16.

Brundtland listed a series of major challenges to health and the environment on a global and regional basis. These challenges include the lack of adequate water supplies for one billion people worldwide and lack of proper sanitation facilities for three billion people, and at least one‐half million deaths worldwide each year due to outdoor air pollution.
Honors
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The health sector should take its rightful place at the core of the sustainable development agenda, Gro Harlem Brundtland, director‐general of the World Health Organization (WHO), told attendees at the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in London, England, on June 16.

Brundtland listed a series of major challenges to health and the environment on a global and regional basis. These challenges include the lack of adequate water supplies for one billion people worldwide and lack of proper sanitation facilities for three billion people, and at least one‐half million deaths worldwide each year due to outdoor air pollution.
Deep pockets for deep seas
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Peter Auster, a fisheries ecologist with the National Undersea Research Center in Connecticut, plans to assess degradation of the deep‐shelf seafloor from bottom trawling. Magnus Ngoile, an official with Tanzania's National Environmental Management Council, will work on building capacity of poor villagers to protect their coastline. And Alison Rieser, a lawyer with the University of Maine School of Law, will produce a textbook to educate scientists on how to apply the law for marine conservation.

These individuals are among 11 recipients of the Pew Charitable Trust's 10th annual marine conservation fellowships, announced on July 12. With each recipient receiving an award of $150,000, the program is the world's largest award for marine conservationists. Other 1999 recipients will be involved with areas including investigating marine pollution in the Arctic region, examining economic incentives for conservation in Baja, Mexico, and establishing a marine conservation biology training program for minority students.
A new miniaturized absolute gravimeter developed for dynamic applications
Authors: Brown J. M. , Niebauer T. M. , Richter B. , Klopping F. J. , Valentine J. G. , Buxton W. K.
Published: October 2011

A new miniaturized absolute gravimeter has recently been developed to aid in the acquisition of absolute gravity for geophysical investigations and survey applications. The new instrument is much smaller than previous absolute gravimeters and can acquire data at a much higher rate. This technology will enable the development of a new generation of land, marine, and airborne absolute gravimeters.

The absolute gravimeter is based upon a direct measurement of the acceleration of a test body in free‐fall using a very precise laser interferometer. A small reflective test‐body is launched into the air for about 7 cm and tracked using a precise laser over its symmetric rise&fall path of over 200 ms. These individual measurements can be repeated very quickly, at a rate of 2 throws/second.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Atmospheric Sciences Section presented six outstanding student paper awards at the 1999 AGU Spring Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, last June.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Tectonophysics Section presented two outstanding student paper awards at the 1999 AGU Spring Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, last June.
Ultrahigh‐Pressure Mineralogy: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth's Deep Interior (Reviews in Mineralogy Volume 37)
Authors: Tyburczy James A.
Published: October 2011

How high is “ultrahigh” and how deep is “deep”? In experimental Earth science, these terms have changed meaning over time, and it is now possible to access the entire pressure range from the surface down to the Earth's core.

Our knowledge of the Earth's interior is shaped by constraints from cosmochemistry petrology of mantle rocks and xenoliths, and geophysical observations. The goal of the ultrahigh pressure mineralogist is to combine these constraints with analyses of the properties of materials at high pressures and temperatures to develop meaningful chemical, mineralogical, and thermal models of the planet's interior. Ultrahigh‐Pressure Mineralogy: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth's Deep Interior describes recent advances in the ultrahigh pressure study of Earth materials, places the current understanding of physical properties firmly into the context of geophysical and seismological observations, and points to directions for new breakthroughs in our understanding of the Earth.
Survey of Washington monument helps test GPS equipment
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Although construction of the Washington Monument, an obelisk rising above the Washington, D.C. skyline, was completed in 1884, nobody knew exactly how tall it was until this past August.

Preliminary results of a new, three‐dimensional positioning survey conducted in August, using the latest GPS (global positioning system) equipment, have added 7.6 cm to the landmark's height, making it 169.39 m tall. The U.S. National Park Service had maintained that the structure is 169.29 m tall, based on an earlier government survey conducted 65 years ago.
Turkey devastated by another major earthquake
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The total number of dead from the disastrous earthquake that struck northwestern Turkey on August 17 could reach 40,000 and the property loss could be $40 billion, according to some reports. A week after the quake, relief efforts focused primarily on helping the tens of thousands injured and the hundreds of thousands homeless.
Cassini cruises to Saturn
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

While some people had warned that the Cassini spacecraft might crash into the Earth's atmosphere and spread plutonium dust around the planet, its flyby around the Earth on route to Saturn went smoothly, according to NASA.

The $3.4 billion probe that is powered by more than 32 kg of plutonium swung by the Earth at 03.28 Universal Time on August 18 at a distance of 1171 km above the Earth, according to engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Natural disaster web site
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

For natural disaster information concerning Latin America, the Virtual Disaster Library offers a useful, new Web site.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Franklin S. Harris, Jr. died at age 87. He was a retired life member (Atmospheric Sciences) who joined in 1961.
Political parties exchange charges of playing politics with science funding
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

With the U.S. federal government beginning a new fiscal year on October l,the Clinton Administration has gone on the offensive to protect U.S. federal funding for science and technology against cuts voted by the Republican‐led House of Representatives.

However, a key Republican congressman has shot back that the Administration's budget is “gimmickry”
Associations caution U.S. Congress on budget cuts
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

A coalition of 25 U.S. scientific, engineering, and business associations—including AGU—urged Congress on September 9 not to enact deep cuts to a number of federal science agencies and programs, but rather to increase funding.

As part of its fiscal year 2000 budget process, Congress is targeting NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy, and other agencies for significant funding cuts.
Werner Stumm, 1924–1999
Authors: Schnoor Jerald L.
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.
Los Angeles Basin, an international model for pollution reduction, still has far to go to clear the air
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Joe Cassmassi, chief meteorologist for California's South Coast Air Quality Monitoring District (AQMD), calls them the “Jethro Bodine” oddball ideas for cleansing the region of smog. Bodine was the dim‐witted nephew on the popular 1960s television show, “The Beverly Hillbillies.rdquo;

This handful of grandiose and exorbitant schemes—dreamed up decades ago when the Los Angeles Basin, or South Coast, was thick with smog and desperate to take action—took aim at “correcting” the basin's pollution‐trapping topography and climate.
Analysts examine implications of U.S. Senate defeat of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The U.S. Senate's October 14 vote against the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) came in the wake of the October 12 military coup in Pakistan—the first‐ever coup in a nuclear state. Shortly beforehand, representatives from 92 nations attending an October 6–8 conference in Vienna, Austria, had urged laggards to speed their ratification of the CTBT On October 6, AGU and the Seismological Society of America (SSA) issued a joint position statement expressing confidence that the combined worldwide nuclear test monitoring resources, when implemented, would meet the verification goals of the CTBT.

In the aftermath of the Senate vote, politicians and analysts are examining the potential fallout from that action, including the international reaction, the possibility of achieving the accord's goal of halting the proliferation and testing of nuclear weapons, and the future of the treaty itself.
Himalaya and Tibet: Mountain Roots to Mountain Tops, Geological Society of America, Special Paper 328
Authors: Ryerson F. J.
Published: October 2011

After the ocean basins, the next thing that might catch the eye of approaching aliens as they invade the Earth could very well be the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Standing at an average elevation of close to 5000 m is a topographic anomaly whose extent has probably not been approached in at least the last billion years of Earth history.

The Indo‐Asian collision provides geoscientists with a unique record of the process of continent‐continent collision and uplift extending from its onset over 50 million years ago to that which is occurring along the boundaries of the plateau today The deeply eroded regions within the Alpine Himalaya provide an opportunity to view the mid‐ and lower‐crustal processes associated with the collision and resultant crustal thickening, and also to preserve excellent records of the pre‐collision history.
U.S. Congress considers exploration of the sea act
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

With dozens of recent reports on the need to better understand and protect the world's oceans, and a national oceans conference held last year, oceans are receiving an increasing amount of attention. But that focus needs to translate into action, say some scientists and policy makers.

One of the most recent ocean research initiatives is legislation before the U.S. Congress that calls for the Commerce Department to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to establish an advisory panel on the feasibility and social value of a coordinated international oceanography program.The panel would include experts in oceanography, marine geology, marine biology, and other fields.
Mexico‐U.S. Ocean Science Cooperation
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Mexico and the United States should take measures to work more closely on a wide range of ocean research issues, and Mexico should provide more support for ocean science activities and joint research, according to an October 26 report prepared by a joint committee of the US. National Research Council (NRC) and the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias.

“At present, the lack of an institutional focus for ocean sciences in Mexico hinders cooperation between the nations,” states the report, “Building Ocean Science Partnerships: The United States and Mexico Working Together” “The Mexican federal government should examine the merits of creating an agency responsible for marine affairs and ocean information services, including ocean sciences and technology either as a new agency or placed within an existing one.”
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Michael Buonsanto died on October 20, 1999, at age 47. He was a member (SPAAeronomy) who joined in 1975.
NASA reports findings on Martian mission mishap
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

NASAs Climate Orbiter and Polar Lander were meant to work as a team, with the Polar Lander relaying data to the Earth via the Orbiter.That scenario was altered dramatically when the $125 million Orbiter was apparently destroyed when it approached Mars too closely on September 23. With the Polar Lander scheduled to touch down on the planet on December 3, NASA ordered several reports to investigate the incident and provide some assurance that the mistakes of the Climate Orbiter mission will not be repeated.

On November 10, a NASA review panel—the Mars Climate Orbiter Mission Failure Investigation Board—confirmed earlier reports that the initial error that led to the crash was a technician's failure to convert English measurement units into metric units.
Picture perfect moon shots
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The images are out of this world, mostly A collection of 129 shots from NASA's Apollo missions—with several from the Gemini missions, selected for a photo sequence of a spacewalk—are incorporated into a book, “Full Moon” (Knopf, 1999) by photographic artist Michael Light. Fifty‐one of these images hang in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) through January 11,2000.

For those attending the AGU Fall Meeting in December in San Francisco, this stunning exhibit offers a chance to take a deeper look at one of the most remarkable scientific missions of the 20th century.
Extend your commitment to AGU
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Voluntary contributions are essential for AGU to maintain and enhance its many innovative programs. In addition to unrestricted contributions to AGU, up to half of your Supporting Member contribution may be designated to one or more of the special funds. One such group of funds are the Section Funds.

The Section Funds were established by the Council to support special Section activities. The Hydrology Section has used some of its funds to tape Langbein Lectures given by Wilfried Brutsaert, Shlomo Neuman,and Mark Meier, and to produce videotape interviews with John Philip, Terrence O'Donnell, James C. I. Dooge, David Dawdy Mark Meier, Gilbert White, Stanley Davis, and Peter Eagleson. Other Sections have used their funds to subsidize tickets for the Best Student Paper awardees to attend the Section luncheon at the Fall and Spring Meetings, give partial travel support to other Bowie lecturers, and give partial travel support to luncheon speakers. More information is available online at http://www.agu.org/inside/supportmember_top.html.
Water cycle study group town hall meeting
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The development of a global water cycle initiative for fiscal year 2000 and beyond is the topic of a “town hall” meeting to be held during the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco on Monday December 13, from 5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m.

The meeting will be conducted by a water cycle study group appointed by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).The group's charge is to “formulate a research strategy and scientific plan for investigating the global water cycle, its role in climate, and the fundamental processes that govern the availability and the biogeochemistry of water resources, [and to] develop the strategy and science plan for a national program.”
Whichever way the wind blows, scientists and engineers try to find ways to protect people and property
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Timothy Marshall, a failure and damage consultant with the Haag Engineering Company in Dallas, Texas, possesses a passion for storm chasing. On the afternoon of May 3, 1999, with atmospheric conditions creating a potentially explosive situation, Marshall drove several hours north to central Oklahoma to spot tornadoes. A storm started blowing up near Lawton and moved parallel to Interstate 44, with Marshall ahead of it in his Chevy pickup. He parked on the Newcastle overpass bridge, videotaping the long‐tracked twister for later study At 7:04 p.m. local time, with the vortex now just one mile away and moving straight toward him, it started appearing three‐dimensional, debris and projectiles flying about, the tornado roaring like freight trains, wind howling, red mud raining down, and things “getting a little out of hand,” Marshall recalled. He drove out of its path, only to watch the tornado tear through the suburban streets and houses of Moore, on its way to Oklahoma City.
One for history
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

As the calendar changed and many people celebrated the disputed start of the new millennium on January 1, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released satellite images of the last sunset of 1999 and the first sunrise of 2000.
Travel grants available for U.S. graduate students to IAVCEI Meeting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The U.S. National Committee for IAVCEI, NSF, and AGU have announced plans for support of student travel to the July 2000 IAVCEI General Assembly Meeting in Bali (http://www.vsi.dpe.go.id/iavcei/). The goals of this initiative are: To encourage U.S. graduate students to participate in the meeting and associated field trips.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

D. K. Bailey died on August 27, 1999, at age 83. He was a retired life member (SPA‐Aeronomy) who joined in 1958.

Richard G. Grassy died at age 89. He was a retired life member (Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology) who joined in 1942.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Joseph F. Dracup died on January 16, 2000, at age 80. He was a retired life member (Geodesy) who joined in 1973.

Richard Horowitz died on May 19, 1999, at age 71. He was a member (SPA‐Aeronomy) who joined in 1958.
Adrift at the pole
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Far from any land masses or observing stations, the North Pole has been a difficult area for scientists to obtain longterm measurements of temperature and other variables.

In April, though, an international scientific team is heading north to lay the groundwork for a 5‐year project to take the pulse of the Arctic Ocean and learn how the world's northernmost sea helps to regulate global climate.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

William T. Holser died on December 25, 1999, at age 79. He was a Fellow and member (Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology) since 1986.

Tsuyoshi Kohno died in June 1999, at age 56. He was a member (SPA‐Solar and Heliospheric Physics) who joined in 1977.
AFS program on climate and fisheries
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The American Fisheries Society (AFS), together with the National Sea Grant College Program Office (NSGO), National Marine Fisheries Service, AGU, and other co‐sponsors have developed a program to benchmark scientific understanding of climatic influences on fish and fishery dynamics.The 2.5‐year program will consist of symposia, workshops, published proceedings, a “Climate and Fisheries” Web site, and reports on information needs and policy issues.

An 18‐month fellowship is an integral part of the program. The fellow, with guidance from a steering committee, will organize an international symposium, in conjunction with the AFS2001 Annual Meeting, to address climatological impacts on living aquatic resources. The closing date for applications is June 1, 2000.
2000 Horton (Hydrology) Research Grants
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The 2000 Horton (Hydrology) Research Grant Committee selected two recipients thisyear. The research grant, which is separate from the Horton Award, supports research projects in hydrology and water resources by doctoral candidates at institutions of higher learning. The grant's objective is to foster graduate student research leading to the completion of doctoral dissertations.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Cynthia J. Engberts died at age 39. She had been a student member (Oceanography‐Marine Geology and Geophysics) since 1997.

Millington Lockwood died in July 1999, at age 56. He had been a member (Ocean Sciences) since 1985.
Report warns of NEO impact threat
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Stating that potential Near Earth Object (NEOs) impacts to the Earth “represent a significant risk to human and other forms of life,” a new study prepared for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Science urges national and international steps to improve knowledge about these objects and the confirmation of potential hazards, and to consider issues such as disaster management, mitigation including possible deflection of objects, and outreach to the general public.

“Means now exist to mitigate the consequences of such impacts to the human species,“ notes the September 18 report of the Task Force on Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Objects.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Dan Yaron died at age 78. He was a retired life member (Hydrology) who joined AGU in 1978.
Magmatism and Geodynamics: Terrestrial Magmatism Throughout the Earth's History
Authors: Koster van Groos August F.
Published: October 2011

Magmatism and Geodynamics presents a comprehensive review of the origin of magmas and their relation to geodynamic processes through the Earth's history by O.A. Bogatikov and three of his colleagues, V I. Kovalenko, E. V Shakov, and V.V.Yarmolyuk, from the Institute of Ore Deposits, Petrology, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The work presents a global view of magmatism and its geodynamic setting through geologic time, and is based primarily on Russian literature, although the authors have added an appropriate discussion of non‐Russian studies.

The principal question the authors address is whether, and to what extent, the geochemical and tectonic setting of magmatism has changed during geologic time. This is a difficult task, because even at the present, no clear and detailed consensus has been established for the geochemical and structural setting of many igneous events. The authors are successful in illustrating significant changes in the structural environment of magmatism during the Earth's history although many of their conclusions represent a highly personal view and are more conjectural than based on solid evidence. Perhaps the most valuable asset of the book, therefore, is that it provides a rich and extensive review, although somewhat dated, of Russian petrologic literature not previously available in English.