bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
AGU's exciting new magazine gives geophysical information to teachers
Authors: Rassam Ghassan N.
Published: October 2006

The Gulf Coast province provides an array of scientific dilemmas ranging from the origin of the gulf itself to the causes and effects of long‐lasting circulation of hot, deep waters throughout the thick sedimentary section. The nature of the underlying crust and superjacent sediments and their contained waters; the precise timing of rifting; depositional history and diagenesis of the sedimentary sequence; fluid dynamics; geochemistry; hydrocarbon generation and migration; thermal history, including unusually high thermal gradient; and the fluid pressure regime in the deep sedimentary section are too poorly understood to permit quantitative analysis of processes that are of enormous scientific and practical importance. The area centered on DeWitt and Victoria counties, Texas, on the southeastern extension of the San Marcos arch, is probably the best location for a deep borehole to investigate these important phenomena and problems. The arch extends southeastward from exposed Grenville‐age basement rocks of the Llano uplift and separates the deep South Texas and Houston embayment salt basins. Seaward of the Llano uplift, highly deformed and slightly metamorphosed rocks of the Ouachita‐Marathon orogen have been intersected beneath Cretaceous sediments. The inferred edge of continental crust underlies an extensive Lower Cretaceous reef trend southeast of known Ouachita orogen rocks. Rapid thickening of Tertiary and possibly of Cretaceous sediments southeast of the shelf edge, together with geophysical indications of a relatively shallow Moho, suggests that “transitional continental crust” underlies sediments basinward of the inferred edge of continental crust. This transitional crust, the ultimate objective for a proposed deep well, could be rifted Grenville basement, buried rocks of the Ouachita trend, an island arc related to the Ouachita trend, or exotic continental basement related to a proto‐South American continent. To achieve optimum results to guarantee adequate basement penetration, a borehole should be designed to penetrate a relatively thin succession of lower Mesozoic synrift, graben‐fill sediments seaward of the shelf edge. Because of expected high temperatures and pressures, new technologies will need to be developed to successfully drill and test the well.
95% of nation's large rivers flow below normal during drought
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Streamflow was below normal (long‐term median) during June at 41 of the 43 “Large River” index stations across the country, according to scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior.

USGS scientists said streamflow decreased from May to June at 38 of the 41 stations and set several record lows for June. For example, flows of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina, the Tombigbee River in Alabama (and also the other three index stations on smaller rivers in Alabama), and the Scioto River in Ohio were all record lows for June.
Standards for groundwater monitoring
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The American Society of Testing and Materials Subcommittee D‐18.21 on Groundwater Monitoring is charged with developing standards for methods and materials used in the conduct of groundwater and vadose zone monitoring investigations. The subcommittee, which is part of ASTM Committee D‐18 on Soil and Rock, is chaired by David M. Nielsen of Westerville, Ohio; vice‐chairman is Ivan Johnson of Arvada, Colo., and secretary is Joseph D. Ritchey of Keck Consulting Services, Inc.

Sections within the subcommittee have been formed to address a variety of narrower subject areas, including

surface and borehole geophysics, Wayne Saunders, chairman

vadose zone monitoring, Lome Everett, chairman

monitoring‐well drilling and soil sampling practices, Robert Pentergast, chairman

determination of hydrogeologic parameters, Doug Bedinger, chairman

monitoring‐well design and construction, Martin Sara, chairman

monitoring‐well maintenance, rehabilitation, and abandonment, Steven Nacht, chairman

groundwater sample collection, handling, and field analysis, Beth Martin, chairman

design and analysis of hydrogeologic data systems, Roger Henning, chairman

special problems of monitoring in karst terrains, James Quinlan, chairman

groundwater modeling, J . D. Ritchey, chairman
ASLO Special Symposium on Regional Effects of Acid Deposition on Surface Waters
Authors: Watras C. J.
Published: October 2006

Of the 10 papers presented in the ASLO special symposium, Regional Effects of Acid Deposition on Surface Waters, seven were regional case studies of lakes (four papers) or streams (three papers). These papers stressed the importance of hydrologic settings and flow paths in regulating pH and the acid neutralizing capacity (ANC). Three papers dealt with special topics: fishery models, paleolimnological reconstructions, and an overview of lake‐watershed‐airshed interactions. Geographically, data were derived primarily from a triangular section of the eastern and central United States (from Maine to Minnesota and Florida) corresponding to regions 1, 2, and 3 of the National Surface Water Survey.
ASLO Hutchinson Medal to Piatt
Authors: Penhale Polly
Published: October 2006

The winner of the 1988 Hutchinson Medal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanogrphy is Trevor Piatt, Chief of the Biological Oceanography Division at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO), Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The award was presented by outgoing president Richard Barber at the ASLO 51st Annual Meeting in Boulder, Colo.

After Trevor Piatt received his M.A. in physics from the University of Toronto , he was hired in 1965 by what was then the Fisheries Research Board of Canada to work on optical oceanography at the Bedford Institute. His previous research on focusing and steering electron beams for a linear accelerator notwithstanding, he soon put his knowledge of the measurement of radioactivity and of optics to work as the leader of a project on phytoplankton photosynthesis in a group which later became known as the Marine Ecology Laboratory. Out of this experience and the influence of Lloyd Dickie came an awareness of the need to determine the representativeness of individual field samples, and there followed a Ph.D. thesis (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia) on the scales of variability in phytoplankton biomass and productivity. The themes of variability and optics have continued through his present research on the spatial field of chlorophyll to make estimates of primary production over large space scales.
Sonar data classification
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGU's special committee, established to examine classification of geophysical information by the U.S. Department of Defense, received a letter from NOAA alerting them to proposed restrictions on side‐looking high‐resolution sonar data. NOAA chief scientist, Melvin Peterson, stressed in his letter to committee chairman John Bossier that “the strength of our science programs in the ocean and our ability to attract good students in the future will b e affected.”

At the committee meeting to discuss the issue a NOAA representative briefly outlined the plans of the National Academy of Sciences to have the Naval Studies Board rereview the issue. AGU's committee decided it would be more appropriate to coordinate efforts with NAS rather than act independently. President Don Anderson wrote to Frank Press of NAS to suggest a cooperative effort and proposed the inclusion of two AGU members on the Naval Studies Board. He described both members as experts in their fields that could contribute to the assessment of the problem.
New editorial structure for WRR
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Manuscripts published in Water Resources Research have been divided into two general topical areas: one including hydrology, auwnd physical, chemical, and biological sciences; and another covering policy sciences— economics, systems analysis, sociology, and law. Beginning with the appointment of new editors in September 1988, there will be three topic areas. AGU feels that expansion of the number of editors will help strengthen areas that may be underrepresented or emerging. It will also expedite the manuscript review process and will make the job of each editor more manageable.
Geochemical self‐organization
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Wind ripples on sand, alternate bars and river meandering, calcareous concretions and oil seals, banded skarns, banded structure in intrusive bodies, oscillatory zoning of crystals… do these have anything in common? The participants at the Geochemical Self‐Organization Workshop held at the University of California, Santa Barbara (June 27–July 1), presented theoretical, experimental, and observational results and debated models and theories to answer this question and beyond.

The conference was superbly organized by Peter Ortoleva of Indiana University at Bloomington and was attended by 50 scientists from both academia and industry. More than 40 papers on a wide range of topics were presented by mathematicians, chemists, physicists, chemical engineers, and biologists, as well as geologists. The topics included bifurcation theory and the mathematical basis for nonlinear reaction‐transport modeling; natural convection, kilometer‐scale patterning in sedimentary basins and diagenetic reaction‐transport systems; geomorphic patterns; patterns in magmas; metamorphic differentiation and mechano‐chemical systems; reaction front patterning; and oscillatory crystal zoning.
NASA supports climate research
Authors: Wainger Lisa A.
Published: October 2006

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is soliciting research proposals for interdisciplinary studies in three areas of climate research: the role of the hydrologic cycle in atmosphere‐surface interactions, trace gas fluxes from ecosystems and their fate in the troposphere, and detection of changes and identification of forcings due to the greenhouse effect in the climate system.

Educational, industrial, and nonprofit organizations, and NASA centers and other governmental agencies may participate. The proposal deadline is December 16. Proposals will be evaluated by peer and technical reviews in January and February 1989.
High‐Pressure Research in Mineral Physics
Authors: Hazen Robert M.
Published: October 2006

Advances in high‐pressure science and technology have transformed solid Earth geophysics. In the last decade, high‐pressure researchers have reproduced the full range of Earth pressure and temperature conditions in the laboratory, and they have synthesized single crystals of dense silicate phases, unknown at the Earth's surface yet suspected to comprise most of the Earth's volume. These and other extraordinary accomplishments are chronicled in High‐Pressure Research in Mineral Physics, an outgrowth of the third U.S.‐Japan High‐Pressure seminar, held in Kahuku, Hawaii, January, 13–16, 1986. The well produced and reasonably priced volume is dedicated to Syun‐iti Akimoto, dean of Japanese high‐pressure research, who recently retired from the University of Tokyo. Akimoto's fascinating historical account of pressure research at the Institute for Solid State Physics at the University of Tokyo is the leadoff article.
Instrumentation money from DOE
Authors: Bush Susan M.
Published: October 2006

Six geoscience and environmental departments have received awards through the Department of Energy's University Research Instrumentation Program. A total of $4.8 million has been given to 22 universities in 19 states. The money will go for scientific instruments for energy‐related research, helping alleviate a shortage of new equipment and upgrade outdated instruments.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts received $217,450 for a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. Jean K. Whelan said she and coworkers at WHOI are interested in oil and gas generation and will use this more sensitive and accurate spectrometer to measure changes in the time and temperature history of sediments where oil forms. They will be able to look at structures in organic compounds and to identify biomarkers.
NOAA's Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations in the western Gulf of Alaska
Authors: Reed R. K. , Schumacher J. D. , Kendall A. W.
Published: October 2006

Efforts to understand the growth and decline of various commercial fish stocks in relation to their environment have a long history. For example, systematic studies of the northeast Atlantic started with the establishment of the International Commission for the Exploration of the Sea in 1902 [Mills, 1983]; a large part of this effort has been investigations of fisheries resources and surveys and descriptions of the physical environment (temperature, salinity, and circulation). Numerous other programs in “fishery oceanography” have had similar goals. A general premise in these studies has been that changes in abundance are related to biological and physical events that occur during the early life stages of fish.
Galveston Symposium: Physical Oceanography of the Louisiana/Texas Continental Shelf
Authors: Mitchell Thomas M. , Brown Murray
Published: October 2006

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region sponsored a symposium on the Physical Oceanography of the Louisiana/Texas (LA/TX) Shelf in Galveston, Texas, on May 24–26, 1988. The symposium brought together a number of physical oceanographers, meteorologists, and ecologists to discuss the state of knowledge and to begin the planning process for a long‐term study of shelf circulation covering the region from the mouth of the Mississippi River to approximately 24° latitude along the Mexican coast and from the shore out to a depth of approximately 500 m. The proposed study, to be a component of the ongoing MMS Environmental Studies Program, is expected to take place during the period 1989–1991. It is anticipated that the work will be done principally through contracts after a competitive procurement process. Specific charges to the participants were as follows:

to assess the current state of knowledge concerning the circulation on the LA/TX shelf

to identify significant gaps in that knowledge

to recommend a field measurement program to address these gaps

to recommend a circulation modeling program for the LA/TX shelf that will improve MMS' oil spill risk assessments

to identify and initiate coordination mechanisms and data‐sharing arrangements with other proposed research efforts
Working at cross‐purposes: Holmes and Vening Meinesz on convection
Authors: Allwardt Alan O.
Published: October 2006

Beginning about 1930, Arthur Holmes and Felix Andries Vening Meinesz both argued that subcrustal convection currents were inevitable because of differential radioactive heating and that these currents exerted a viscous drag on the base of the crust. Holmes and Vening Meinesz, however, were in distinct disagreement on the mechanism by which convection currents caused crustal “downbuckling” at island arcs, and more generally, the global pattern of ascending and descending convection currents. Hence it is somewhat misleading to portray them as scientific allies, as is commonly done.
Modeling Magnetospheric Plasma
Authors: Moore Tom , Waite J. H.
Published: October 2006

Existing models of the plasma distribution and dynamics in magnetosphere/ionosphere systems form a patchwork quilt of different techniques and boundaries chosen to define tractable problems. With increasing sophistication in both observational and modeling techniques has come the desire to overcome these limitations and strive for a more unified description of these systems. On the observational side we have recently acquired routine access to diagnostic information on the lowest energy bulk plasma, completing our view of the plasma and making possible comparisons with magnetohydrodynamic calculations of plasma moments. On the theoretical side, rising computational capabilities and shrewdly designed computational techniques have permitted the first attacks on the global structure of the magnetosphere. Similar advances in the modeling of neutral atmospheric circulation suggest an emergent capability to globally treat the coupling between plasma and neutral gases.
Shocked quartz found at the K/T boundary
Authors: Loper David E. , McCartney Kevin
Published: October 2006

What killed the dinosaurs? This is the most popular question of the “Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) controversy,” which is concerned with the extinction some 65 m.y. ago of more than 75% of the world's existing floral and faunal species [Surlyk, 1980]. A popular hypothesis of their untimely demise is the impact of a meteorite [Alvarez et al., 1980]. However, despite the claim [Alvarez, 1983] that this has been proven, some serious doubts remain [Hallam, 1987; Officer et al., 1987]. A rival claim, that the dinosaurs were done in by a catastrophic volcanic eruption, has attracted some proponents and has some evidence in its favor, but that case is far from proven. However, it does have the advantage of having a definite event to point to the Deccan Traps in India. These are the largest continental flood basalts known from the Phanerozoic. According to recent studies [Courtillot et al., 1986; Feraud et al., 1988], the Deccan Traps were emplaced close to 65 m.y. ago. Is this timing a coincidence or are the two events (the mass extinction and the Deccan volcanism) related?
“Headwaters Hydrology” and “Indian Water Rights” Symposia
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The American Water Resources Association's 1989 Spring Symposia, “Headwaters Hydrology,” concurrently with “ Indian Water Rights and Water Resources Management,” will be held in Missoula, Mont., on June 27–30, 1989.

“Headwaters Hydrology” will present a timely collection of interrelated topics representing the breadth of water resource management problems and controversies encountered in headwaters regions, including the broad subject themes of wildland hydrology degradation and rehabilitation, and water policy and management.
Symposium on Paleohydrogeology
Authors: Konikow Leonard F. , Siegel Donald I.
Published: October 2006

A full‐day special session was held at the 1988 AGU Spring Annual meeting in Baltimore on “Paleohydrology: Evolution of Groundwater Flow Systems.” The symposium was cosponsored by the Groundwater Committee of the Hydrology Section of AGU and by the U.S. Committee of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. The symposium focused on how and why long‐term changes in groundwater flow systems can influence the modern distributions of hydraulic head, temperature, and solutes in regional aquifers.

Most groundwater investigations today are on problems associated with recent human impacts on present‐day hydrogeologic conditions. For example, groundwater flow and transport models are commonly calibrated using historical data collected during a few years or decades. When models are calibrated, it generally is assumed that the aquifer system is in a natural steady state condition prior to human influence. Papers presented during this symposium demonstrate the fallacy of this assumption in many situations.
13th EGS Assembly
Authors: Barton P. J.
Published: October 2006

About 1000 scientists from all over the world met in March in Bologna at the European Geophysical Society's 13th General Assembly. Among them were 57 students whose travel to the meeting was subsidized by a travel grant program run by EGS.

The meeting sessions were divided among the three sections of EGS, Solid Earth and Planets, Hydrospheres and Atmospheres, and Upper Atmospheres, Ionospheres, Magnetospheres, and External Geophysics. Upcoming issues of Eos will carry reports from the meeting, section by section. Below are reports from two joint sessions.
Best Student Papers for 1988 Spring Meeting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

As a means of encouraging student participation, AGU sections may select Best Student Papers at AGU meetings. Three AGU sections chose to award Best Student Papers at the 1988 AGU Spring Meeting in Baltimore.

The Best Student Paper Award for the Geodesy Section was given to Spiros D. Pagiatakis for his paper entitled “Displacements Due to Ocean Tide Loading: An Improved Model Incorporating Anisotrophy, Rotation and Viscoelasticity.” Pagiatakis received his B.Sc.E. from the National Technical University of Athens in 1979 and his M.Sc.E. from the University of New Brunswick in 1983. Since the Spring Meeting, he completed his Ph.D. at the University of New Brunswick, where the title of his thesis was “Ocean Tide Loading on a Self‐Gravitating, Compressible, Layered, Anisotropic, Viscoelastic and Rotating Earth With Solid Inner Core and Fluid Outer Core.” Pagiatakis is currently a Research Fellow with the Geophysics Division of Energy, Mines and Resources in Ottawa.
The French ECORS Program
Authors: Bois Christian , Courtillot Vincent
Published: October 2006

The French Etude de la Croûte Terrestre en France par Méthode Sismique (ECORS) program, which began operations in 1983, has now, after 5 years of existence, completed 700 km of onland seismic reflection profiles (200 km with Spain and Italy as partners) and over 2500 km at sea (with the United Kingdom and Spain as partners). The program was started in 1982 as a partnership of the French Science Foundation (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (CNRSINSU)), the French Petroleum Institute (IFP), and the Elf‐Aquitaine oil company. The Institut Français de Recherches pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) joined all the sea surveys. Occasionally, other oil companies joined in specific profiles. The ECORS program was obviously inspired by the success of the Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP) program, and at the same time tried to avoid some of its shortcomings, primarily by associating narrow‐ and wide‐angle reflection and refraction seismology, but also by encouraging an integrated approach in which field geology, gravity, and magnetic surveying and magnetotellurics were all used. Existing data, including many boreholes, were assembled and critically reviewed, but large amounts of new data were also obtained as part of the ECORS program.
Hurricane Gilbert
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Hurricane Gilbert, one of the most powerful (category 5) storms on record, devastated the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, on September 14, 1988. Two days earlier, it destroyed an estimated 100,000 of Jamaica's 500,000 houses. Two day slater, it again madel and fall, striking north eastern Mexico, causing more than 200 people to perish.

The damage potential scale categories of the Saffir‐Simpson Scale of hurricanes ranges from category 1, a minimal‐sized hurricane with central pressure equal to or greater than 980 mbar, up to category 5, a catastrophicstorm with centralpres sure lower than 920 mbar. Two other category 5 hurricanes affected the Gulf of Mexico region in this century: one in September 1935, which devastated Key West, Fla., and hurricane Camille of August 1969, which caused extensive damage along the Mississippi and Louisiana coastlines.
Editors' citations: Excellence in refereeing
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The 12 reviewers whose photographs appear below have been cited by editors of AGU's journals for excellence in refereeing. The time and diligence contributed by these reviewers enhance the quality of AGU's journals. The editor's citation recognizes this special service to the Union, and the individuals who are listed below are to be commended for consistently providing constructive and thoughtful reviews.
Bacon‐Bercey Award to Pruett
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Renee A. Pruett, a graduate student at the University of Oklahom; Norman, has been selected as the recipient o the 1988 June Bacon‐ Bercey Scholarship for Women in Atmospheric Sciences. The scholarship, which is administered by AGU, is provided through a gift from noted meteorologist June Bacon‐Bercey.

Pruett received her B.S. in mathematics and meteorology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and is currently enrolled as a graduate student in the University of Oklahoma's School of Meteorology. Her graduate research involves a numerical investigation of convective‐scale and mesoscale predictability and concentrates on using the three‐dimensional Klemp‐Wilhelmson cloud model as a predictive tool. Eventually, her study will incorporate Doppler radar data to initialize and periodically update the numerical model.
U.S. verification method disputed
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2006

Milo Nordyke, senior scientist at Lawrence Liver more National Laboratory in Liver more, Calif., testified October 6 at a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Soviet test ban noncompliance and the recently concluded Joint Verification Experiment. He said that the the government's method for on‐site test monitoring is intrusive, expensive, and could limit some U.S. weapon design programs. In addition, Gregory Van der Vink of the congressional Office of Technology Assessment presented new evidence that White House charges that the Soviet Union has not complied with the current 150 kiloton test limit are probably without basis.

Also testifying were Paul Robinson, U.S. negotiator for the Nuclear Testing Talks; Peter Sharfman, program manager for International Security and Commerce at OTA; and physicist David Hafemeister of California Polytechnical State University, San Luis Obispo.
Modeling Groundwater Flow and Pollution
Authors: Konikow Leonard F.
Published: October 2006

During the past several years, groundwater has become a subject of great concern to the public. Unfortunately, this attention is the result of many serious subsurface pollution problems. The need to manage or clean up these pollution aquifers has created a great demand for methods or tools to accurately predict groundwater flow and pollutant transport, and how they will change in response to imposed stresses. Bear and Verruijt (p. xi) state, “The necessary information about the response of the system is provided by a model that describes the behavior of the considered system in response to excitation.”
Marine gravity
Authors: McAdoo David C. , Sandwell David T.
Published: October 2006

The U.S. Navy satellite, GEOSAT (Figure 1) is third in the series of microwave altimeter satellites which make, or made, precise, direct observations of the marine geoid. GEOSAT, launched March 1985, is active today. Its two predecessors are NASA's Geos‐3 mission which operated from 1975 through 1978 and NASA's SEASAT mission which functioned only during the summer of 1978. Each of the three has provided highly significant, abundant, new information about the gravity field of the oceans. As such, these missions have begun a revolution in marine geodesy and geophysics. One exemplary result of this ongoing revolution is the global map of marine gravity constructed from SEASAT altimeter data by Haxby [1987]. In fact, members of the marine geophysical community were, and, in some cases, still are, largely unaware of the spate of gravity field information coming from these satellites. Our purpose here is to help assure that this same community is aware of the very major increase in our knowledge of the marine gravity field which will come from GEOSAT, and that this increase will come on top of the gains made from SEASAT and Geos‐3!
IAHS Third Scientific Assembly Progress
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Nearly 400 oral and poster papers have been selected and programs are fully developed for all eight symposia of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences Third Scientific Assembly. The proceeding volumes are being typed in preparation for printing prior to the Assembly. A wide variety of organizational details are being handled by AGU staff, serving as the adminstrative group for the Assembly.

The Second Circular was printed in its entirety in the July 19 issue of Eos and thus distributed to all AGU members. In addition, separate copies of Circular 2 were printed and distributed widely. Anyone not having this Circular (containing registration and hotel reservation forms) or the Eos article (also with forms) may request copies from the office of the Meetings manager, at AGU headquarters; tel. 202‐462‐6900.
USGS National Water Summary Available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The fourth in a series of the National Water Summary was released recently by the U.S. Geological Survey. The National Water Summary series describes the status of the nation's water resources and addresses selected water issues of concern to decision makers at all levels of government and the private sector.

The focus of the current report is groundwater quality, and it contains an illustrated summary of the principal aquifers in each state, their overall water quality, and information on the sources and distribution of natural and human‐induced groundwater contamination. The report also contains case studies of point and nonpoint sources of groundwater contamination and discussions of groundwater management policy from state and federal perspectives.
Groundwater monitoring standards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Water Watch section in the September 20 issue of Eos described activities and accomplishments of standards Subcommittee D18.21 on Ground‐Water Monitoring, part of the American Society for Testing and Materials Committee D18 on Soil and Rock. A typographical error provided the wrong publication number for the proceedings resulting from the symposium held in 1986 in Cocoa Beach, Fla. The publication should be listed as ASTM STP‐963 “Ground‐Water Contamination Field Methods.”

The ASTM Ground‐Water Monitoring Subcommittee will meet, as will all its Sections and Task Groups, in Orlando, Fla., January 23–25, 1989, at the Walt Disney World Hilton Hotel. A number of draft standards will be discussed by the sections and Task groups in preparation for Subcommittee ballot. The meetings are open to anyone and there is no registration fee. Detailed schedules and hotel reservation information may be obtained by contacting Robert Morgan, ASTM, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103; tel. 215‐299‐ 5505.
Vadose zone monitoring
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

American Society for Testing and Materials Section D18.21.02 is developing a vadose zone soil gas monitoring performance guide (Eos, Oct. 25, p. 978). This performance guide, an ASTM standard, will pertain to the existing methods of soil gas collection, sample handling, sample analysis, QA‐QC, data reporting, and compositional data analysis.

Lome Everett, Section Chairman, and William Ullom, Task Chairman, are seeking participation in this effort by users and suppliers of vadose zone soil gas monitoring methods. As a starting point, a performance guide draft outline development questionnaire has been submitted to ASTM for distribution to practitioners of vadose zone soil gas monitoring. The subcommittee invites comments and participation. For a copy of the questionnaire, Bob Morgan may be reached at ASTM, 1916 Race St., Philadelphia, PA 19103; tel. 215‐299‐5400. Deadline for returning completed questionnaires is December 31, 1988.
Quakes to have better locations
Authors: Kennett Brian
Published: October 2006

New travel time tables to locate earthquakes are being developed under the Subcommission on Earthquake Algorithms of the International Association of Seismology and the Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI).

The standard travel time tables used by seismological agencies such as the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., and the International Seismological Centre (ISC) in Newbury, U.K., are the Jeffreys and Bullen tables published in 1940. These tables were developed 1930–1939 based on available observations, when station time keeping was frequently not reliable. Although the limitations of these tables have been recognized, no other tables provide such a complete representation of P, S and core phases.
Why scientists should do history
Authors: Glen William
Published: October 2006

Scientists often say that only a practicing scientist can understand certain things vital to the workings of science, things that often escape historians. Scientists, more often than not, believe that the sense required to understand how science is done can be gained only by doing it. They suggest that history written by historians, especially internal history, which is based on critical examination of the scientific ideas themselves, will be wanting.

The historian, on the other hand, through the methods and techniques of history, social studies and philosophy— tools not often possessed by scientists—can show scientists how their discipline has come to be, how it is bedded in society, and how it derives its esteem and support for being.
U.S.‐U.S.S.R. Space Cooperation
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

A renewed spirit of cooperation in space exploration is spurring enthusiasm for U.S.‐U.S.S.R. scientific exchanges, but NASA officials want to make sure that space science personnel and information flow in both directions.

At a meeting of a U.S.‐Soviet Joint Working Group (JWG) on Solar System exploration in November, scientists from both countries discussed plans for participation in each other's missions to Mars and the shared use of all data the spacecraft collect. However, an onslaught of proposals for travel to the Soviet Union and the possibility that U.S. instruments may fly on future Soviet missions has led to questions about reciprocity and technology transfer.
Second meeting on IGBP
Authors: Colenbrander H.
Published: October 2006

The second meeting of the International Council of Scientific Unions Special Committee for the International Geosphere‐Biosphere Program took place in Cambridge, Mass., February 8–11, 1988. The meeting confirmed the four underlying themes of IGBP already identified:

documenting and predicting global change

observing a n d improving our understanding of dominant forcing functions

improving our understanding of transient phenomena

assessing the effects of global change that would cause large‐scale and important modifications affecting the availabilty of renewable and nonrenewable resources

It also considered preliminary reports from the Coordinating Panels set up to oversee the different research projects being developed:

Terrestrial Biosphere‐Atmospheric Chemistry Interactions (Chairman P. J. Crutzen)

Marine Biosphere‐Atmosphere Interactions (Chairman T. Nemoto)

Biospheric Aspects of the Hydrological Cycle (Chairman S. Dyck)

Effects of Climate Change on Terrestrial Ecosystems (Chairman B. H. Walker) and from the working groups established to assess the current state of knowledge and future prospects on

Global Geosphere‐Biosphere Modelling (Chairman B. Bolin)

Data and Information Systems (Chairman S. I. Rasool)

Techniques for Extracting Environmental Data of the Past (Chairman H. Oeschger)

Geo‐Biosphere Observatories (Chairman R. Herrera)
Pacific current may signal El Niño's end
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The eastward flow of a major equatorial current in the Pacific Ocean was interrupted and reversed for about a month late last year and may have signaled the end of the 1986–1987 El Niño, according to oceanographers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The findings, based on moored current meter measurements, showed that during September and October 1987, the Equatorial Undercurrent in the western Pacific flowed west at about 0.2–0.4 m/s. Normally the 400‐km‐wide current flows east at about 0.5 m/s across the equatorial Pacific 50–250 m below the ocean surface. The discovery may be important for understanding climate disturbances associated with El Niño since the global climate system is particularly sensitive to variations in the upper ocean heat balance of the western tropical Pacific.
New wetlands plan
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

“Protecting America's Wetlands: An Action Agenda,” a report by the National Wetlands Policy Forum, was released November 15 by New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean, chair of the Forum. The group has outlined recommendations to halt and hopefully to reverse the deterioration of our wetlands resources. The report is a start toward solving the nation's wetland problems.

Other members of the Forum included co‐chairman Governor Carroll Campbell (S.Dak.), Governor Booth Gardner (Wash.), Conservation Foundation president William K. Reilly, National Wildlife Federation president Jay D. Hair, and ARCO senior vice president Willard T. Chamberlain. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee M. Thomas requested the year‐long study by the Forum.
Does the Antarctic ozone hole have a future?
Authors: Singer S. Fred
Published: October 2006

In spite of recent discoveries related to the mechanism of the Antarctic ozone hole (AOH), we do not as yet have a sufficient scientific base to answer important policy questions: is the AOH a completely new phenomenon, or is it are current one? Is it produced by human activities? And what can and should be done about it? I suggest here a hypothesis concerning the cause of the AOH, which may provide at least partial answers.

The AOH is more than a scientific curiosity. Its dramatic discovery in 1985 raised fears about the fate of global ozone and provided the impetus for an international effort to limit and roll back the worldwide production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), synthetic chemicals widely used in refrigeration and industrial processes.
First SEDI Symposium
Authors: Benton Edward R. , Cain Joseph C. , Loper David E. , Doornbos Durk
Published: October 2006

How should the seismic irregularities observed in the lowermost 100–200 km of the mantle (the D″ layer) be partitioned between thermal and chemical heterogeneity, anisotropy, and core‐mantle boundary (CMB) topography? How smooth is the core‐mantle boundary? Do mantle convection and the thickness of D″ regulate the core geodynamo? How large is the outward temperature fall across the D″ layer? What is the temperature within the core? At what depths, or range of depths, do the vigorous upwellings and downwellings, demanded by dynamo action, occur within the outer core? Are seismically excited internal oscillations of the outer core observationally detectable in surface superconducting gravimeter records?

These constitute an illustrative sample of the questions discussed by almost 200 scientists at the first Study of the Earth's Deep Interior (SEDI) symposium entitled “Structure and Dynamics of the Core and Adjacent Mantle,” held on the Costa Brava of Spain, at Blanes from June 23–25, 1988, in conjunction with the 17th International Conference of the Committee on Mathematical Geophysics. SEDI is a new committee of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, created at the Vancouver General Assembly in August 1987. This symposium and the SEDI secretariat have been sponsored by the National Science Foundation with help from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The following is a report of the SEDI symposium, which consisted of 13 oral presentations, 48 posters, and 5 open discussion periods during which the posters and general issues were discussed.
Global gravity survey by an orbiting gravity gradiometer
Authors: Paik Ho Jung , Leung Jurn‐Sun , Morgan Samuel H. , Parker Joseph
Published: October 2006

Three dedicated space missions proposed for the 1990s promise to provide data for recovering the Earth's gravity anomaly with unprecedented accuracy and resolution: the Geopotential Research Mission (GRM), the Aristoteles Mission, and the Superconducting Gravity Gradiometer Mission (SGGM). SGGM, the most ambitious of the three, aims at recovering the global gravity field to a precision of 2–3 mGal with a resolution of 50 km. Such accuracy and resolution are required to answer many key questions in geophysics. The SGGM instrument package is a three‐axis superconducting gravity gradiometer which is integrated with a six‐axis superconducting accelerometer and a six‐axis shaker for active platform control. The intrinsic sensitivity of the gradiometer is 10−4 E Hz−½ (where E represents the unit of gravity gradient (1 E = 1 Eötvös = 10−9 s−2)) and that of the accelerometer is 10−13 gE Hz −½ in linear acceleration and 10−11 rad s−2 Hz−½ in angular acceleration. While precise attitude control of the Experiment Module is essential to mission success and is also technically the most challenging, pointing accuracy and disturbance isolation requirements of SGGM are less stringent compared to that of other missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Gravity Probe‐B (GP‐B). Thus they are within the reach of technologies of the 1990s. In the recently completed Phase A study, the SGGM Study Team addressed the problem of scientific requirements and mission feasibility. Marshall Space Flight Center is continuing with mission and spacecraft design, while mission simulation is being done at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. At the University of Maryland, prototypes of the three‐axis gradiometer and the six‐axis accelerometer are being fabricated, improved, and tested. A Shuttle flight test of the Experiment Module with the actual instrument package is suggested for 1994–1995. The full science mission hopefully will take place before the year 2000.
Optical disks
Authors: Prada Kenneth E.
Published: October 2006

The need for large‐volume storage for oceanographic and environmental measurement applications is critical to the success of modern instrument systems. The use of similar media in differing recording applications (ships, buoys, or land stations) strongly enhances ease of analysis. Magnetic media have been used in many forms for years, accompanied by the inherent problems this mediapresents. Recent magnetic disk technology presents unique potential but, for many reasons, is not suitable for field use in applications where extremes of temperature and motion prevail.
Seamount acoustic scattering
Authors: Boehlert George W.
Published: October 2006

The cover of the March 1 issue of Eos showed a time series of acoustic scattering above Southeast Hancock Seamount (29°48′N, 178°05′E) on July 17–18, 1984. In a comment on that cover Martin Hovland (Eos, August 2, p. 760) argued that gas or “other far reaching causes” may be involved in the observed acoustic signals. He favors a hypothesis that acoustic scattering observed above a seeping pockmark in the North Sea is a combination of bubbles, stable microbubbles, and pelagic organisms and infers that this may be a more general phenomenon and indeed plays a role in the attraction of organisms to seamounts
Ocean studies board has new chairman
Authors: Katsouros Mary Hope
Published: October 2006

John Sclater of the University of Texas at Austin has succeeded Walter Munk as chairman of the National Research Council's Ocean Studies Board. His term runs to June 30, 1991. The 17 members of OSB represent major disciplines in oceanography. The board advises the academic community and agencies of the federal government responsible for funding basic and applied research in oceanography and for maintaining the wellbeing of the oceans.
AGU organizes SEDI Committee
Authors: Lay T.
Published: October 2006

The new AGU technical committee on studies of Earth's deep interior (SEDI) has been formed to provide a focus within the Union for interdisciplinary investigations of the deep mantle and core of Earth. The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics created a multinational SEDI Committee in August 1987 when it met in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Archaeology–A tool to study active tectonics
Authors: Stiros S. C.
Published: October 2006

Around the Aegean Sea, tectonic activity has affected ancient and modern towns and has played a role in the area's history. The remains of magnificent civilizations that flourished several thousand years ago show that towns have been buried in volcanic eruptions and destroyed by earthquakes. Ancient harbors have been elevated as much as 8 m and adjacent coastal sites submerged (for example, Flemming [1978] and Pirazzoli et al. [1982]).
Non‐Newtonian gravity or gravity anomalies?
Authors: Rubincam David Parry , Chao B. Fong , Schatten Kenneth H. , Sager William W.
Published: October 2006

We emphasize the importance of gravity anomalies in interpreting geophysical data, which has indicated a deviation from the Newtonian inverse square law. In particular, we point out that gravity anomalies, if not accounted for properly, mimic non‐Newtonian behavior. On the other hand, omitting them provides a false signal contributing to the “fifth” or “sixth” forces discussed recently. Basically, we utilize the equations which govern gravity meaurements made inside the Earth to consider the effects of long‐ and intermediate‐wavelength gravity anomalies.
Proceedings: International Symposium on Marine Positioning
Authors: Born George H.
Published: October 2006

This is a publication of papers from the Symposium on Marine Positioning held in Reston, Va., in October 1986. To paraphrase the words of the editors, the symposium was conceived by the Marine Geodesy Committee at Oceans 84, Washington, D.C., when it became clear that it was appropriate to focus attention on individual problem areas under the broad umbrella of marine geodesy.

This is a publication of papers from the Symposium on Marine Positioning held in Reston, Va., in October 1986. To paraphrase the words of the editors, the symposium was conceived by the Marine Geodesy Committee at Oceans 84, Washington, D.C., when it became clear that it was appropriate to focus attention on individual problem areas under the broad umbrella of marine geodesy.
IHP Council meets
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Eighth Session of the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Program (IHP) was held June 21–25 in Paris. Gordon Young of Canada was elected chairman for the next 2 years. The council elected four vice chairmen: Mario C. Fuschini Mejia (Argentina), Riyadh Al‐Dabbagh (Iraq), Umar Kawu (Nigeria), and Slavoljub Jovanovic (Yugoslavia). Anat Arbhabhirama (Thailand), as chairman of the previous council, is a member of the Bureau.

Of the 30 council members, 29 attended the meeting. Observers were present from 30 Unesco Member States not council members. The United Kingdom and United States also participated as observers under a ruling of the Unesco Executive Board. Other organizations represented were the African Union for Water Distribution, Arab Federation for Technical Education, Food and Agriculture Organization, Comite Interafricain de Etudes Hydraulique, International Association of Hydraulic Research, International Association of Hydrogeologists, International Association of Hydrologic Sciences, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, International Water Resources Association, Palestine Liberation Organization, and World Meteorological Organization.
New metric initiatives
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

There has been major national legislation, signed by President Reagan, on August 23 that should have considerable impact on the U.S. move into the metric system. The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (OTCA) of 1988 contains a section that amends the U.S. National Metric Act of 1975 to state that Congress directs each federal agency to convert to the metric system by 1992. This date may have been influenced by several earlier actions: The Department of Defense announced all procurement, specifications, etc., would be metric by 1992 and the Common Market Countries will prohibit sale of nonmetric products in those countries after 1992.
Continental ice sheets
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Most of the contributions in the session Continental Ice Sheets at the AGU Spring Meeting in May in Baltimore dealt with issues relating to the stability of the ice sheets in the face of ongoing or projected future changes. One approach involves monitoring the ice sheet by repeated satellite imagery (Richie Williams and Jane Ferrigno, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.). This technique will probably reveal the first major changes in sheets due to climatic and other changes.