bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
AGI Scholarships
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The American Geological Institute in Alexandria, Va., has received a $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to provide 1990–1991 scholarships to Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans. These ethnic minority groups are currently underrepresented in the Earth sciences work force.

Of about 3000 Earth science professionals in the U.S. surveyed by AGI in 1988, only 4.6% belonged to ethnic minorities, including Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans. Of total enrollment in U.S. academic programs in Earth sciences in 1987–1988, 6.5% were ethnic minorities, another AGI survey showed.
New climate lab at
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2011

NOAA has set up a new laboratory to monitor and predict climate change. The lab will be staffed by members of three groups within NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory, and will be based at the agency's Environmental Research Laboratories in Boulder, Colo.

The Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL), as the new lab will be called, will run programs to analyze data from the atmosphere and oceans and will use the information to characterize global processes that affect climate and to develop predictive models.
Viewing minerals, atom by atom
Authors: Maggs William Ward
Published: October 2011

With state‐of‐the‐art technology supported by scissors and bungy cords, Earth scientists are beginning to look at mineral surfaces and mineral‐fluid interactions on an atomic scale.

The instrument that can provide such a detailed view is the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which made a great theoretical and practical splash when it was introduced in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, physicists at IBM's laboratory in Zurich. They won a Nobel Prize in Physics for their work 5 years later.
Toa Baja Drilling Project Puerto Rico
Authors: Larue D. K.
Published: October 2011

The results of drilling the Toa Baja hole will help answer some fundamental questions about the evolution of the Puerto Rico area. What is the thermal history of the arc massif, and its relation to deep and shallow fluid circulation, and the cooling effects of the down‐going slab? What were the sedimentary environments of Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene time, and what is the origin of the North Coast Tertiary Basin? What is the nature of organic matter and fluids in the borehole, and their relationship to paleoenvironments of deposition, thermal regime, and flow through porous media? What are the stress orientations and fracture characteristics in the North Coast Tertiary Basin, and their relation to regional tectonic motions?
Global change in FY 1991 budget
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Global change studies will have increased support in Fiscal Year 1991 if Congress accepts the budget that President George Bush sent to Capitol Hill January 29. Global change research by federal agencies would receive 57% more money, from $659 million in FY 1990 to $1,034 billion in FY 1991.

FY 1991 highlights of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which was announced as a Presidential Initiative in January 1989, were reviewed January 29 at a news briefing in Washington, D.C., by the Committee on Earth Sciences of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology. The committee advises the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive Office of the President.
Alvin expeditionary hotline
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

This note is call for dive requests, coordinated to the extent practical, from those scientists interested in opportunities for an Alvin/Atlantis II expedition to some remote area. In an effort to facilitate planning for Alvin and to help focus the attention of investigators with diverse scientific interests in remote areas, Feenan Jennings of Texas A & M University, College Station, who chairs the University‐National Oceanographic Laboratory System's (UNOLS') Alvin Review Committee (ARC), has announced establishment of an Alvin planning bulletin board on electronic mail. The bulletin board, ALVIN.PLANNING, is to help inform potential users of community interest in conducting Alvin/Atlantis II research projects, especially those involving expeditions to remote areas. ALVIN.PLANNING will be implemented early in 1990. Notice and further details will be broadcast throughout the ocean community.
Earth Radiation Budget Experiment
Authors: Barkstrom Bruce R. , Harrison Edwin F. , Lee Robert B. ,   ERBE Science Team
Published: October 2011

During the past 4 years, instruments of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) have been collecting data on two satellites. The first of these is the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS). The second is the operational NOAA‐9 satellite. In addition, ERBE has instruments on the operational NOAA‐10. The NOAA‐10 instruments have been collecting data for the last 2 years. The ERBE Science Team has recently completed validation of an initial sampling of these data. As a result, the ERBE Project will be placing these data in the archive at the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC). The validation activity has involved intensive examination of data in 4 months during 1985 and 1986: April, July, and October 1985, and January 1986. This paper reports on the data being placed in the archive to acquaint the scientific community with their availability.
Space station gets new scrutiny
Authors: Jones Richard
Published: October 2011

In what is one of a series of hearings planned this year on Space Station Freedom, the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications recently received testimony from William B. Lenoir, associate administrator of the Office of Space Flight, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, about continuing design changes and budget cutbacks to this program.

If there was one message that Lenoir wanted to leave with the subcommittee, it was that the Space Station program was still on schedule but budget cutbacks could cause significant future difficulties.
The Vigil Network: A reviving of interest
Authors: Osterkamp W. R. , Emmett W. W. , Leopold L. B.
Published: October 2011

The deficiency in detailed data on hydrologic and geomorphic processes led to the idea of establishing a network of small drainage basins and other selected sites where observations of basic processes would be made over long periods of time [Leopold, 1962a, c]. The network of observational sites has been named Vigil, from the Latin vigilia, a watch or surveillance over time.
Joint Commission on rock properties
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A joint commission on Rock Properties for Petroleum Engineers (RPPE) has been established by the International Society of Rock Mechanics and the Society of Petroleum Engineers to set up data banks on the properties of sedimentary rocks encountered during drilling. Computer‐based data banks of complete rock properties will be organized for sandstones (GRESA), shales (ARSHA) and carbonates (CARCA). The commission hopes to access data sources from members of the commission, private companies and the public domain.
Continental coring of the Newark Rift
Authors: Olsen Paul E. , Kent Dennis V.
Published: October 2011

The entire Late Triassic record of the Newark continental rift of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania will be drilled to recover about 7000 m of continuous core under the National Science Foundation's Continental Lithosphere Program. Unlike the relatively well‐known postrift sedimentary succession of continental margins, there is hardly any continental rift sequence known in the detail necessary for quantitative tectonic or stratigraphic models. The Newark basin is one of the most accessible and most studied rifts in the world. While much has been learned over the 150 years of study by piecing together the record from discontinuous outcrops [Manspeizer, 1988; Olsen et al., 1989], inevitable uncertainties in correlation and facies relationships have hampered the development of a comprehensive tectonic and stratigraphic history.
Seafloor quake detector
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

New seafloor seismic equipment designed at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N. Mex., has shown greater sensitivity to earthquakes and a longer lifespan than earlier models. The Seafloor Earthquake Measurement System (SEMS) will monitor undersea seismic disturbances off the southern California coast for the next 8 years, gathering information to aid in the design of earthquake‐resistant offshore oil platforms.
Burke new Tectonics editor
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Kevin C. Burke, National Academy of Sciences/ National Research Council (NAS/NRC), assumed responsibilities as Editor in Chief of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) journal Tectonics at the beginning of 1990, taking over from Raymond A. Price, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. Asger Berthelsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, continues as the European Editor, and Paul F. Hoffman, Geological Society of Canada, assumes the task of North American Editor. Tectonics is a joint publication of AGU and the European Geophysical Society.
Transient reconnection: Search for ionospheric signatures
Authors: Lockwood M. , Cowley S. W. H. , Sandholt P. E.
Published: October 2011

The concept of magnetic reconnection originated with the suggestion by Giovanelli [1946] that particles could be energized during solar flares near nulls in the magnetic field. Hoyle [1949] subsequently proposed that such a process could also act at nulls between the geomagnetic field and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) to generate the energized particles responsible for auroral displays. However, the idea of the interconnection of the two magnetic fields, as we know it today, was first presented by Hoyle's student, Dungey [1953, 1961].
2nd GICME Workshop: Role of corals, varved sediments and models in understanding global environmental change
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The growing need for a geological perspective in studies of the Earth's climate system provided the focus for the 2nd Geological Indicators of Climate From Marine Environments (GICME) Workshop, held at the U.S. Geological Survey's Center for Coastal Geology and Regional Marine Studies, St. Petersburg, Fla., January 18–19, 1990. Sponsors were the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S.G.S. The primary goals of the workshop were to obtain state‐of‐the‐art assessments of how paleoenvironmental data can be extracted from coral and varved sediment data, and how data and models can be used interactively to test model sensitivities and to unravel the causes of climatic change. Without a global record of long paleoenvironmental time series, it may prove impossible to understand decadal to millennial scale climatic variability or to test how realistically we can model this variability.
Lake Superior Rift basins
Authors: McGinnis L. D.
Published: October 2011

Sedimentary basins of late Precambrian age have been identified beneath Lake Superior using seismic reflection profiles leased by Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill., from Grant Norpac, Inc. [McGinnis et al., 1989]. These data, along with 650 km of Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Program for Crustal Evolution (GLIMPCE) profiles [Behrendt et al., 1988], are being used to develop an understanding of failed rift processes, from initial plate separation, through basin evolution, to final quiescence.
1990 Hydrology Prize awarded
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The International Association of Hydrological Sciences awarded its 1990 International Hydrology Prize to Z. Kaczmarek of Warsaw, Poland. The award was presented on March 16 in Paris, France, during Unesco's Commemorative Symposium on 25 Years of the International Hydrological Decade/International Hydrological Program.

The IAHS International Hydrology Prize, a silver medal, was first approved in 1979 as an annual award to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to hydrology and gives the candidate universal recognition of his international stature. The IAHS national committees give nominations to the IAHS Secretary General for consideration by a nominating committee, which consists of the IAHS president, the first and second vice presidents and representatives of Unesco and the World Meteorological Organization. The citation for the award to Kaczmarek, which was given by IAHS president Vit Klemes, follows.
New UNESCO Water Division Director named
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Andras Szollosi‐Nagy is the new director of the Division of Water Sciences of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in Paris, France. He replaces Sorin Dumitrescu, who recently retired. The Unesco Division of Water Sciences serves as the Secretariat for the International Hydrological Decade and for the continuing International Hydrological Program.

Szollosi‐Nagy was born in Budapest in 1949. In 1972 he graduated as a civil engineer from the Budapest University of Technology, where he also received his doctorate in hydrology and mathematical statistics and joined the Water Resources Research Center (VITUKI) the same year. His main research fields are time series analysis and real‐time forecasting and control of water resources systems using recursive algorithms.
Venus, Mars volume to be published
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The AGU Chapman Conference, Mars and Venus: Comparative Atmospheres, Ionospheres, and Solar Wind Interactions, held in Balatonfüred, Hungary, June 4–8, will be the subject of a monograph to be published by AGU. The editors of the book will be Janet G. Luhmann and Mariella Tatrallyay.

The book will include invited reviews presented at the conference on subjects ranging from atmosphere evolution to the space plasma physics of the solar wind interaction. In addition to these papers, contributions are being solicited from other authors. Papers for this volume must be received by the editors by October 30, 1990.
Proposed study of the Basin and Range from Death Valley to Yucca Flat
Authors: Borns David J. , Sass John H. , Schweickert Richard A.
Published: October 2011

On March 1 and 2, 1990, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N. Mex., organized a meeting of Earth scientists in Denver, Colo. This meeting set out to develop a research program that would embrace common goals of the Continental Scientific Drilling Program (CSDP) and the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). The motivation for this meeting came from many directions, including Congress, which identified the solution of waste‐isolation problems as a potential contribution of the CSDP. Another impetus is that Yucca Mountain itself lies in a region of dramatic crustal extension and melting, which are crustal processes of great scientific interest to the CSDP program.
Probability of San Francisco quake increased
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The probability that a large earthquake (magnitude 7.0 or greater) will occur in the San Francisco Bay area in the next 30 years is 67%, according to a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey. This is a substantial increase from the 50% probability estimated in a similar report released by the USGS in 1988.

The new report also says that scientists estimate the probability of a M‐7.0 or larger quake in the Bay area in the next 20 years is 50%, compared to 30% from the 1988 report. For the next 10 years, probability is 33%, compared with 20% in the 1988 report. The new probability estimates for the nine‐county Bay area are the result of a 6‐month study by the California Working Group on Earthquake Probabilities. The group consists of a 12‐person panel of earthquake specialists from the USGS, the University of California, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, Stanford University, the Lamont‐Doherty Geologic Observatory at Columbia University, and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
Physical basis of coastal productivity: The SEEP and MASAR experiments
Authors: Csanady G. T.
Published: October 2011

Two major cooperative experiments, code‐named Shelf Edge Exchange Processes (SEEP) I and II, were carried out on the northeast U.S. continental shelf and slope by an interdisciplinary group of scientists in the past decade. The work, supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Health and Environmental Research, had the broad aim of determining whether or to what extent energy‐related human activities interfere with the high biological productivity of coastal waters. Much of SEEP I work was reported in a dedicated issue of Continental Shelf Research, including a summary article on the experiment as a whole [Walsh et al., 1988[. A parallel experiment, supported by the Minerals Management Service and code‐named Mid Atlantic Slope and Rise (MASAR), had the objective of exploring physical processes over the continental slope and rise, including especially currents in the upper part of the water column. A good deal of MASAR work was also reported in the SEEP issue just mentioned, mainly in an article by Csanady and Hamilton (1988). There have been other papers and publications on these experiments, and more are forthcoming. While many questions remain, our horizons have broadened considerably after a decade of work on this problem, as if our aeroplane had just emerged from clouds to expose an interesting landscape. In this article I shall try to describe the physical (‐oceanographic) features of that landscape, not in the chronological order in which we have espied them, but as the logic of the subject dictates.
Senate recommends NSF funding increase, NASA cuts
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Senate VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Barbara Mikulski (D‐Md.), recommended on September 12 to increase fiscal year 1991 funding of the National Science Foundation (NSF) by $27 million above the level approved by the House. At the same time the subcommittee approved a spending level for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that is $855 million below that recommended by the House.

NSF funding under the Senate bill (H.R. 5158) would be $2.36 billion, an increase of 14% over last year. Like the House bill, the Senate's bill eliminates funding for a gravitational wave observatory. Science education programs were increased to $322 million, higher than both the House bill and President Bush's request.
New color display techniques help to interpret deep seismic reflections
Authors: Marillier Francois , Hull Peter , Roest Walter R. , Durling Paul
Published: October 2011

Deep seismic reflection data typically sample the entire Earth's crust and usually have reflection patterns different from those of sediments. Continuous reflections over distances longer than a few kilometers are rare, and their amplitudes and dips may vary considerably within a small portion of the seismic section. This makes it difficult to observe consistent trends in the reflections. Such observations are important because the interpretation of deep seismic data relies on consistent reflection patterns that identify tectonic units. For example, Marillier et al. [1989a, b] identified three lower crustal blocks underlying the northern Appalachians in eastern Canada, on the basis of consistent seismic characteristics over several hundreds of kilometers. Another important feature, the crust‐mantle boundary, is sometimes difficult to detect because the reflectivity of the lower crust diminishes gradually with depth.
New focus for Global Biogeochemical Cycle
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The new editor of Global Biogeochemical Cycles, an international journal for global change published by AGU, is Karl K. Turekian, the Silliman Professor of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University.

Turekian's assumption of the editorship of Global Biogeochemical Cycles is in keeping with AGU's interests in global change. Turekian hopes that the journal will be the vehicle for publishing important research information and insights on all aspects of global change. The journal's scope will reflect this commitment.
Fukushima to receive Smith Medal
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The 1990 Waldo E. Smith Medal for extraordinary service to geophysics will be given to Naoshi Fukushima, who earned an international reputation for his pioneering work in geomagnetic disturbance and ionospheric electric currents. Now retired from the University of Tokyo, Japan, Fukushima is being cited for his public service to international geophysics, and, in particular, his contributions to the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy, of which he was Secretary General from September 1975 to August 1983.

The Smith Medal will be presented as part of the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Night festivities, Wednesday, December 5, in San Francisco, Calif. Three James B. Macelwane Medals, the John Adam Fleming Medal, and the Maurice Ewing Medal will also be presented (see Eos, February 20, 1990, p. 294).
Galileo's Earth‐Moon encounter set for December 8
Authors: Fanale Fraser P.
Published: October 2011

On December 7, 1995, the Galileo spacecraft will arrive at the Jovian system. A fully instrumented probe released from the orbiter 156 days before arrival will enter the Jovian atmosphere while the orbiter relays compositional and structural data from the probe to Earth. Over the next 2 years, the orbiter will proceed to 12 encounters with the Galilean satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, at distances up to 200 times closer than the Voyager spacecraft approached. Galileo's special capabilities derive from its long stay in the Jovian system, from the extreme closeness of approach to the satellites, and from its advanced instrumentation.
Erosion, debris flows and environment in mountain regions
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

An International Symposium on Erosion, Debris Flows and Environment in Mountain Regions will be held July 5–9, 1992, in Chengdu, China. The symposium is jointly organized by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences and the Institute of Mountain Disasters and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
Locating the K/T boundary impact crater(s)
Authors: Bush Susan M.
Published: October 2011

Stratigraphic, mineralogical, chemical and isotopic evidence have led to the large (˜10‐km) asteroid or comet impact theory as the cause of the Cretaceous period coming to an end. However, a suitable crater has not yet been found. Although the crater may have been destroyed because half of what was then the ocean floor has since been subducted, researchers are still hot on the trail of the impact site(s).

A. R. Hildebrand and W. V. Boynton, Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, believe that locating the original crater(s) would resolve the volcanism versus impact debate over what ended the Cretaceous period. Based on a large concentration of shocked mineral grains and the largest grains occurring in North America, and impact‐wave deposits at the K/T boundary only from the Caribbean and southern North America, they suggest that the K/T boundary impact occurred between North and South America. They suggest the 300‐km‐diameter buried basement structure in the Columbia Basin as a possible K/T impact crater. The location of impact‐wave deposits and possibly seismically triggered slumps also helped the two decide that impact(s) musthave occurred in the Caribbean region.
NSF, NASA budgets approved by Congress
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The final fiscal year 1991 appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation contained both good news and bad for geophysical research in the year ahead. On the positive side, the House/Senate conference committee report on H.R. 5158, the VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies appropriations bill, provided new start funding for NASA's Earth Observing System program, more than doubled the allocation for NASA's Earth Probes, and restored most of the requested funding for the Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby mission, which the Senate version of the bill had deleted.

The Earth Observing System received $67 million and a separate budget line was created for the EOS Data Information System (EOSDIS), which will be funded at $36 million this year. The Earth Probes received an additional $31 million to its $25 million request, and the CRAF/Cassini project received $145 million, $3 million less than its full request.
The impact of man
Authors: Wolman M. Gordon
Published: October 2011

There is no doubt that mankind is now altering the Earth significantly and that no part of the global system is immune. The envelope of air surrounding the globe, the oceans—which cover about 70% of the surface—the land surface, the subsurface, and the biosphere all feel the impact of man. Also, it is true that however brief the period of time that human beings have lived on Earth, and long before the present, they have altered the land and water in important ways. All energy used by mankind, the number of people on Earth, and the combination of the two, which stresses the global system far beyond anything experienced heretofore makes the 20th century different than previous times.
Meteorologist saved D‐Day 50 years ago
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

June 6, 1944, might have been remembered as doomsday instead of D‐Day if General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief weatherman had been wrong about his forecasts.

When J. M. Stagg was appointed chief meteorological officer of the Allied Forces in October of 1943, he had no idea he would pay a crucial role in shaping world history. Little did he know it would be his analysis on which the U.S. Supreme Commander would base his decision to launch the Allied invasion on the beaches of Normandy.
New service
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The International Association of Geodesy (IAG) has launched a new information service on the Internet called IAGIS. Files on the structure of the IAG and the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and lists of more than 1600 scientist's addresses, e‐mail addresses, geodetic symposia, geodetic data centers, IAG National Correspondents, and geodetic publications are now accessible.
Radar remote sensing aids study of the Great Flood of 1993
Authors: Brakenridge G. Robert , Knox James C. , Paylor Earnest D. , Magilligan Francis J.
Published: October 2011

Until recently, remote sensing of river floods was constrained by low spatial resolution and cloud cover, which made it impossible to obtain data during the initial stages of most large events. The 1991 launch of the European Remote Sensing (ERS‐1) satellite removed both of these constraints. In 1993, ERS‐1 put its capabilities to the test, acquiring imagery and a wealth of information about the flooding of the Upper Mississippi Valley.

The cloud‐penetrating C‐band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on board ERS‐1 produces ground range (cross‐track) resolution of approximately 30 m, and azimuth (alongtrack) resolution of approximately 6–30 m. While ERS‐1 and its successor, ERS‐2, are multipurpose research satellites and their operating systems are not optimal for flood investigations, the satellite's busy operating schedule and its near‐global capability have resulted in the chance acquisition of many images of major flood events.
Core transfer
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Good news for all petroleum geoscientists, mining and environmental scientists, university researchers, and the like: Shell Oil Company has deeded its Midland core and sample repository to the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of Texas at Austin. The Midland repository includes more than 1 million linear meters of slab, whole core, and prepared cuttings. Data comprising one of the largest U.S. core collections—the geologic samples from wells drilled in Texas and 39 other states—are now public data and will be incorporated into the existing BEG database. Both Shell and the University of Texas at Austin are affiliated with the American Geological Institute, which assisted in arranging the transfer as part of its goal to establish a National Geoscience Data Repository System at regional centers across the United States.
Letting off steam
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Thanks to the keen hearing of U.S. Navy surveillance instruments, ocean scientists in the Pacific Northwest are getting a rare opportunity to study undersea hydrothermal venting in progress. Twice in the past month, scientists have been able to pull together spur‐of‐the‐moment trips to the Gorda Ridge, 150 km off the coast of Oregon, to glimpse underwater volcanism first‐hand.
More exact change
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

The National Science Foundation is investing in change. Global change, that is.

The agency recently awarded $16.8 million in grants to six institutions to study the human dimensions of global changes to the environment. “Population growth, environmental changes, natural resources, public health, technological advances, social organizations, and political and economic shifts are among the critical factors,” says Cheryl Eavey, coordinator of NSF's Human Dimensions of Global Change research program. “By combining research in the natural and the social sciences, we hope to discover ways to better predict the impact of changes on populations and their environment.”
Depleted hole
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Despite predictions of a new record, as well as an early, fast‐paced start, the ozone hole over Antarctica has not grown as wide or as deep as researchers initially expected (Eos, September 17). According to data gathered by NASA's total ozone mapping spectrometers and by researchers using ground‐based instruments, the average size of the Antarctic ozone hole in 1996 was almost as large (21.6 million km2) as it was in the peak year of 1993 (22.1 million km2). But ozone concentrations are higher than they were during the record lows in 1994. Ozone concentrations dropped as low as 111 Dobson units at the center of the hole on October 5, with values below 222 Dobson units measured over a wide area. The record low point value in 1994 was 88 Dobson units.
Silver Anniversary, Golden mission
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

A mission that produced a string of firsts and volumes of scientific information has reached a new milestone. It also is approaching its end.

On March 2,1997, NASA celebrated the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, the most distant and longest‐lived planetary explorer of the Space Age. But at the same time, NASA officials announced that the venerable craft has finally reached the end of its useful life.
Find the sunblock
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

There is no clear evidence that we were less likely to be exposed to UV radiation in the 1980s than we are today, according to a new study published in the April 20 issue Journal of Geophysical Research. Rather, measurements seem to indicate a slight increase in the amount of UV radiation that reached the Earth's surface in the 1980s. Results of a new analysis by Elizabeth C. Weatherhead of the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin and University of Chicago, dispute claims published in Science in 1988 that UV radiation decreased during the 1980s.
Chronicling coral death
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2011

How would a geologist approach an assessment of the health of coral reefs? Readers of the June 1997 issue of Geotimes learn the answer by following the thoughts of George, a fictional geologist attending an international conference on global reef decline.

In “Gauging the Health of the World's Coral Reefs: Monitoring vs. Mapping,” University of Miami marine geologist Robert N. Ginsburg, using the voice of George, suggests that mapping dead and dying corals would document the history and extent of reef decline and provide more clues about the relationship between coral health and such factors as location and ocean circulation than would monitoring. By some estimates, as many as 10% of the world's reefs have been seriously damaged by over‐exploitation, pollution, disease, ocean warming, and predators. Twenty years ago, 50% of the sea floor near Jamaica was covered by living coral; today, that coverage has decreased to 5%. In response to this decline, an international coalition has designated 1997 as the International Year of the Reef.
Fewer scientists immigrating
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

A recent decline in the number of scientists and engineers immigrating to the United States could indicate that a surge throughout the 1980s and early 1990s may have been temporary.

The number of people with science and engineering degrees admitted to the United States on permanent visas with work certificates dropped 26% between 1993 and 1994—from 23,534 to 17,403—according to a new National Science Foundation (NSF) data brief that analyzes information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. A lack of demand for employment‐based admissions caused the decline, according to the INS.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘The Zen of Venn’” by Priestley Toulmin]
Authors: Berkman Paul Arthur
Published: October 2011

While Venn diagrams, “strictly speaking,” may not have been designed for the “peritechnical literature” they certainly provide a symbolic framework for integrating concepts beyond the context of “mathematically defined objects.” It is interesting that Toulmin was offended and compelled to protest the application of Venn diagrams that are not bound by his “valid methodology.” Such disciplinary constraints on creativity appear contrary to the original writings of John Venn who esteemed interdisciplinary approaches and argued fiercely against those who objected to his introducing mathematical symbols into logic [Venn, 1894]. “Symbolic Logic” itself was crafted with a view toward a general utility “in the solution of complicated problems” [Venn, 1894].
Environmental Defense Department
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is among the leading U.S. government agencies working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent global warming, according to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner. Browner, in a September 25 Pentagon news conference, said that DoD is “a leader” in using energy‐efficient technologies in military construction and renovations as well as weapon systems design. She says the Navy and Army have applied such technologies to design new ship bows and produce lighterweight combat vehicles that save fuel.
ARCO Chairman forecasts end of oil dominance
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The head of one of the world's biggest oil companies said in February that the era of oil dominating the global energy market is creaking to a close. Future energy needs will be met by a mix of fuels that are less harmful to the environment, he said, and he called for the energy and automobile industries to collaborate on solutions to reduce emissions.

“We've embarked on the beginning of the last days of the age of oil,” ARCO Chairman Mike Bowlin said at a Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston, Texas, where he also described how ARCO is moving toward a new energy model. “Our challenge is not merely to survive today's low prices, but to plan for a future in which hydrocarbons are just one of a wide variety of clean fuels that will build the global economy of the 21st century”.
Early 20th century global warming
Authors: Singer S. Fred
Published: October 2011

Can the global warming during the early part of the century, from about 1880 to 1940, “be unequivocally related to humaninduced changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere” [Jones, 1998]?

The IPCC [1996a] arrived at the ambiguous conclusion that “the balance of evidence suggests there is a discernible human influence on global climate,” based on “fingerprints” in the climate record—an increasing correlation (with time) between observed and calculated global temperature patterns. However, this positive trend in correlation depended entirely on the arbitrary choice of the time interval 1940–1990, during most of which temperatures were actually decreasing. A different choice of interval would have produced a zero or even a negative trend. Another piece of evidence cited in the IPCC report to support a human influence depended on showing an increasing temperature trend in the middle troposphere of the Southern Hemisphere (presumably related to the cooling effects of sulfate aerosols in the Northern Hemisphere). Again, this result is related entirely to the particular choice of time interval [Michaels and Knappenberger, 1996]; more complete datasets give a contrary result—a greater warming trend in the Northern Hemisphere.
Strangers in the Night
Authors: McDonald Gene D.
Published: October 2011

Strangers in the Night was written by a father and son team, the elder of whom is a cosmochemist. Probably because of this view‐point, the book makes a few novel points about the evolution of thinking on the origin of life and extraterrestrial life. A notable example is the mention of the first synthesis of a biological molecule (urea) by Freidrich Wohler in 1828, as one of the turning points in the gradual acceptance of the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Another high point in the book is the discussion of the other “life in meteorites” controversy the debate in the early 1960s concerning “organized elements” in carbonaceous chondrites. This chapter in the history of meteoritics is not very widely known and is highlighted with good cause by the authors as a stern warning about interpretation of possible biological structures in meteorites.
U.S. science budget
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Science agency budgets were slashed July 30 by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, which voted significant cuts to the proposed fiscal year 2000 budgets of NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other agencies.

While the funding levels may change in early September when the Senate takes up the appropriations bill for NASA, EPA, and NSF— which funds the Veterans Administration (VA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and independent agencies—Congress appears to be trying to maintain budgetary caps established in 1997. A separate House appropriations bill covering the Commerce Department cut research funding at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by 10%.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Volcanology Geochemistry & Petrology (VGP) Section presented three outstanding student paper awards at the 1999 AGU Spring Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, last June.
The Restless Sea: Exploring the World Beneath the Waves
Authors: Knauss John A.
Published: October 2011

I have often been disappointed by popular science books. In the attempt to reach a large audience the author too often loses the subtlety and the excitement that accompanies scientific discovery. Even knowing the author was the 1994 recipient of AGU's Walter Sullivan Award, given for excellence in science journalism, I approached The Restless Sea: Exploring the World Beneath the Waves with little anticipation.

But by the third chapter I was hooked. By the last chapter I was prepared to recommend it, and recommend it strongly not only to the nonocean members of AGU, but to all of my fellow members of the Ocean Science section as well.
Electromagnetic technique's success at Vesuvius points to use in forecasting eruptions
Authors: Müller M. , Hördt A. , Neubauer F. M.
Published: October 2011

A newly refined electromagnetic technique has imaged the electrical structure of Vesuvius, and its success indicates it can be a very effective tool in forecasting volcano eruptions. The hope is to be able to gather enough data from active volcanoes to establish an adequate baseline of information for volcano surveillance and to better understand their structure.

Known as the long‐offset transient electromagnetic (LOTEM) technique, its development has been made possible by modern modeling algorithms and higher computing power, both lacking in earlier electromagnetic work in the 1970s and 1980s. Such advances allow for analysis of complex topographic and three‐dimensional (3‐D) structures of volcanoes [A. Hördt and M. Müller, unpublished manuscript, 1999].
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Planetary Sciences Section presented two outstanding student paper awards at the AGU 1999 Spring Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, last June.
AGU to host Second Meeting of Heads and Chairs of Earth and Space Science Departments
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

On November 12–14 the second Meeting of Heads and Chairs of Earth and Space Science Departments will be held at AGU headquarters in Washington, D.C. The theme of the meeting is “Preparing for the future: What changes should be considered in order to keep abreast of rapidly changing times?”

Currently many Earth Science departments are at a crossroads of change and are uncertain about the future. As the 21st century approaches, the context for undergraduate and graduate science education is evolving rapidly, with greater emphasis needed on the life sciences, integration of knowledge from across traditional disciplines, and remote sensing technologies. Both student demographics and societal needs are also undergoing fundamental shifts. With increased public scrutiny, funding agencies are changing how they operate.
Antarctic's role pursued in global climate change
Authors: Mayewski P. , Goodwin I.
Published: October 2011

The impact of Antarctica on global climate change and the impact of global climate change on Antarctica are the focal points of a current series of expeditions there, and an international, interdisciplinary array of researchers met this past spring to go over the expeditions' progress. Advances were reported in describing the impact of the seasonal cycle, semiannual oscillation, and the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle on Antarctic accumulation in recent decades.

Difficulties still remain, however, in explaining fully the history and forcing of the Antarctic climate and the links between tropical forcing and high‐latitude response. The difficulties arise largely because of the relatively short duration and sparse spatial coverage of Antarctic meteorological data.
Year on ice gives climate insights
Authors: Perovich Don K. , Andreas E. L. , Curry J. A. , Eiken H. , Fairall C. W. , Grenfell T. C. , Guest P.S. , Intrieri J. , Kadko D. , Lindsay R. W. , McPhee M. G. , Morison J. , Moritz R. E. , Paulson C. A. , Pegau W. S. , Persson P.O.G. , Pinkel R. , Richter‐Menge J. A. , Stanton T. , Stern H. , Sturm M. , Tucker W.B. , Uttal T.
Published: October 2011

Research involving a yearlong drift with the ice pack in the Arctic Ocean witnessed surprisingly thin ice at the start and even thinner ice at the end. Also, the extent of open water during the summer of 1998 in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas was the greatest of the past 2 decades.

As the ice is melting from under your feet there is an understandable tendency to blame global warming. But the project, known as the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA), though motivated by climate change, was not designed to detect global warming. Definitive climate change pronouncements can not be made based on a single experiment.
The Road to Total Earthquake Safety
Authors: Frohlich Cliff
Published: October 2011

Cinna Lomnitz is possibly the most distinguished earthquake seismologist in all of Central and South America. Among many other credentials, Lomnitz has personally experienced the shaking and devastation that accompanied no fewer than five major earthquakes—Chile, 1939; Kern County, California, 1952; Chile, 1960; Caracas,Venezuela, 1967; and Mexico City, 1985. Thus he clearly has much to teach someone like myself, who has never even actually felt a real earthquake.

What is this slim book? The Road to Total Earthquake Safety summarizes Lomnitz's May 1999 presentation at the Seventh Mallet‐Milne Lecture, sponsored by the Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics. His arguments are motivated by the damage that occurred in three earthquakes—Mexico City, 1985; Loma Prieta, California, 1989; and Kobe, Japan, 1995. All three quakes occurred in regions where earthquakes are common. Yet in all three some of the worst damage occurred in structures located a significant distance from the epicenter and engineered specifically to resist earthquakes. Some of the damage also indicated that the structures failed because they had experienced considerable rotational or twisting motion. Clearly, Lomnitz argues, there must be fundamental flaws in the usually accepted models explaining how earthquakes generate strong motions, and how we should design resistant structures.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Arnold Courtdied on September 13, 1999, at age 85. He was a retired life member (Atmospheric Sciences) who joined in 1942.

William G. Dowdied on October 17, 1999, at age 104. He was a retired life member (Planetology) who joined in 1962.
Evolutionary processes a focus of decade‐long ecosystem study of Antarctic's Lake Vostok
Authors: Bell Robin E. , Karl David M.
Published: October 2011

As scientists probe for life in new habitats and try to understand the processes that triggered the origin and guided the evolution of life on Earth, environments beneath large ice sheets are beginning to emerge as key ecosystems. Modern subglacial environments are analogues both for the icy moons of Jupiter and the environmental stresses that led to widespread evolutionary radiation following the Neoproterozoic “snowball” Earth.

The largest modern analogue to these distant systems is Lake Vostok, a great Antarctic subglacial lake, and the international science community is developing a plan to systematically survey and explore this complex system over the next decade. Approximately the size of Lake Ontario, Lake Vostok lies beneath the 4 km thick East Antarctic ice sheet (Figure 1). The lake is much deeper than Lake Ontario—remotely measured water depths reach 670 m.
John Robert Philip (1927–1999)
Authors: Burges Stephen J. , Ford Phillip W. , White Ian
Published: October 2011

John Robert Philip, AGU Fellow, and winner of the Horton Award and the Horton Medal, was killed in a traffic accident in Amsterdam on June 26, 1999. He had just spent 2 weeks at the Mathematics Institute there after a visit to Israel, and was en route to the United States to meet with colleagues.

Officially he retired 7 years ago but remained an (unpaid) full‐time researcher (starting at 7 a.m. rather than his previous 5 a.m.) at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO),Land and Water, in Canberra, Australia, producing a substantial body of new work each year. He won the Horton Award with Dan de Vries in 1957 and the medal in 1982.
Urban air
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Air pollution and the risk of potential health effects are not sufficiently convincing reasons for people to stop driving their cars, according to a study by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) released on November 18.

While sufficient levels of suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and lead can present health concerns, the study found that many people surveyed for the study were not convinced of the clear linkage between air pollution and health.