bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Earthquake hazards
Authors: Bolt Bruce A.
Published: October 2011

In this century, apart from Alaska, there has been only one great earthquake in the contiguous United States: the April 18, 1906, California earthquake caused 600 deaths and considerable damage in a number of towns and cities from shaking and subsequent conflagration of much of downtown San Francisco. Yet around the world, earthquakes continue as great killers and inflict heavy economic loss; on the average, about $7 billion a year (see Figure 1).

In 1976, for example, people grew alarmed at the dreadful toll of life in earthquake catastrophes. As many as 700,000 people may have died. The Guatemala earthquake on February 4 killed 23,000; the Italian earthquake on May 6 in the Friuli region caused about 1000 deaths; near Tangshan, China, an earthquake on July 28 (local time) killed more than 600,000 people; in West Irian, Indonesia, on June 25, a magnitude 7.1 shock resulted in 6000 casualties; in the following August an earthquake and accompanying tsunami in the Philippines caused 2000 fatalities; and over 4000 persons died in Turkey in an earthquake on November 24. Most of the deaths were caused by the collapse of weak houses and buildings.
An historical footnote on the origin of “Aurora Borealis”
Authors: Siscoe George L.
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this article is to correct the generally held impression that the metaphor ‘aurora borealis’ (northern dawn) originated with Gassendi in 1621. The first published use of it by Gassendi actually apeared in 1649 in a passage describing an auroral display that he observed in 1621. The metaphor appeared 30 years earlier, in 1619, in a work at least partially and probably completely authored by Galileo. We argue here that its appearance in this work, ‘Discourse on the Comets,’ is the origin of the metaphor.
Natural resources reorganization
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The following staff working proposal for reorganization of natural resources within the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government has been widely circulated. Such a reorganization would affect agencies of government that are of intimate concern to members of AGU. The document is reproduced here for the information of geophysicists and to encourage enlightened and early comment to those who are formulating or will approve the plan.

The present federal organization for managing our natural resources is scattered, cumbersome, and wasteful. It is no longer suited to the complex role of the Government in the wise development of our natural resources—development that insures conservation of the resources themselves and protection of their environmental values.
Snow accumulation, distribution, melt, and runoff
Authors: Anderson Eric A. , Colbeck Samuel , Slaughter Charles W. , Bissell Vernon , Male David H. , Crook Arthur G. , Wiesnet Donald R.
Published: October 2011

During recent winters the news media frequently reported very large snowfalls in the midwestern and northeastern states coincident with greatly reduced snowfalls in the Rocky Mountain and western states. The dangers of large snowmelt floods and restricted transportation in the Midwest and Northeast and the water management problems arising from the extended drought in the West brought national attention to the economic importance of the seasonal snow cover. Although we cannot eliminate the immediate problems of heavy snowfalls in areas such as Buffalo, New York, or water shortages in California, as snow hydrologists we should reconsider our research objectives in view of these serious national problems. In this article we outline our ideas about the current status and needs in snow hydrology in order to provide some guidance for the multitude of national and local organizations that are affected by these problems.
Meeting on radio interferometry techniques for geodesy
Authors: Counselman Charles C.
Published: October 2011

Developments and applications of radio interferometry techniques for geodesy were the subjects of a meeting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and the Northeast Radio Observatory Corporation's Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts, on June 19–21,1979. One hundred thirty persons from eight countries attended the meeting, which was cosponsored by the American Geophysical Union and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications, in cooperation with Special Study Group 2.51, on radio interferometry techniques, of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). Fifty‐four papers treated practically all aspects of this rapidly maturing geodetic method. Papers presented at the meeting are being collected in a NASA Conference Publication by Robert J. Coates of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This publication should be available by January 1980.
The Lomonosov ridge experiment: “Lorex 79”
Authors: Weber J. R.
Published: October 2011

In the spring of 1979 the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) undertook a large‐scale, multidisciplinary project to study the nature and origin of the Lomonosov Ridge. The scientific program was planned and coordinated by the Earth Physics Branch, and the logistic support was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Project/Scientists from other branches of EMR, from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and from a number of universities in Canada and the U.S.A. took part in the project code named Lorex 79.

The Lomonosov Ridge is an aseismic submarine mountain range that bisects the Arctic Ocean into the Amerasia and Eurasia Basins (Figure 1). It rises sharply to a height of some 3 km above the adjacent abyssal plains, the Makarov Basin to the west, and the Fram Basin to the east. It is close to 200 km wide where it approaches the North American and Eurasian continental shelves but narrows to 25 km at its midpoint near the North Pole. Its relatively flat top, the steepness of its flanks, and results from previous geophysical measurements indicate that it may be a sedimentary structure of continental origin rather than a structure of oceanic origin [Sweeney et al., 1978]. In this context it has been suggested on several occasions that it is a rafted fragment split off the Eurasian continental shelf at the time of the opening of the North Atlantic and the Eurasia Basin in Early Tertiary times. However, since the available geophysical, geological, and bathymetric data are relatively sparse and often of doubtful quality (because of the enormously difficult operating conditions), the continental nature of the Lomonosov Ridge has never been unambiguously demonstrated.
NOAA: Great Lakes on road to recovery
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Efforts to improve the quality of Great Lakes waters may show results sooner than expected, and Lake Ontario, at least, is already healthier than it was a few years ago, according to a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Results from a computer model indicate that the largest lakes could show decreasing loads of pollutant phosphorous in several decades—a tenth of the time predicted in earlier calculations—and Lake Erie could show such improvement in less than a year. The calculations were made by Steven Chapra of NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., using a model that simulates the effects of pollutant phosphorous in the lakes and predicts the results of pollution abatement efforts.
Death and renovation at the end of the Mesozoic
Authors: Emiliani Cesare
Published: October 2011

The first dinosaur remains, a mososaurian jaw more than a meter long, was unearthed near Maastricht, Holland, in 1770. As recounted by Desmond [1976], it created a scientific sensation. With the discovery of a wealth of additional fossils during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became clear that the dinosaurs had evolved into a fantastic array of forms and sizes and were reigning supreme during the Mesozoic. It also became clear that they disappeared very abruptly near the peak of their success. What killed them remained a mystery that fascinated scientists for more than a century and generated a host of more or less implausible theories.
Observations of St. Helens eruption
Authors: Ritsema A. Reinier
Published: October 2011

The atmospheric pressure wave generated by the explosive blast of Mount St. Helens volcano on May 18,1980, was recorded in station DBN at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute De Bilt situated at a distance of 8000 km from the source (see the figure).
Nd Isotopic Studies: Some new perspectives on Earth structure and evolution
Authors: DePaolo Donald J.
Published: October 2011

Geochronology is generally regarded as a branch of geochemistry that focuses on the determination of the ages of rocks. Although the reliable determination of ages of rocks is no trivial task, the above definition of geochronology is overly restrictive because the long‐lived radioactive nuclides that can reveal the age of rocks can also yield a unique type of information about the internal structure of planets and the processes by which that structure is formed. In the case of the earth and the terrestrial planets, the internal structure can be described grossly by the division into core, mantle, crust, and an atmosphere‐hydrosphere system where present. The present state of the earth (moon, Mars, etc.) can be studied by a number of methods, including photogeologic, petrologic, and chemical characterization of crustal rocks, and geophysical studies of the interior through the use of seismicity, gravity, heat flow, and other methods. But when and how this structure formed cannot generally be ascertained by those methods except by inference from theoretical models. The time dimension is uniquely accessible through the study of variations in the natural abundances of radioactive elements and their decay products, i.e., through geochronology. By using information about the geochemical properties of the elements, coupled with the measured isotopic variations, the nature of planetary differentiation processes and the associated time scales can be inferred. Such information is critical for linking what is known about the present structure of the earth to models of its evolution over the past 4.5 billion years. There is, however, an important restriction to the applicability of isotopic measurements, and that is that only if the geochemical properties of the particular elements are well understood can isotope abundance variations caused by radioactive decay be translated into information on planetary evolution.
High Energy Benthic Boundary Layer Experiment: HEBBLE
Authors: Nowell Arthur R. M. , Hollister Charles D. , Jumars Peter A.
Published: October 2011

HEBBLE's precise aim is to develop and to test explicit predictions about the response of adhesive/cohesive marine sediments to imposed and controlled stresses [Hollister et al., 1980; Kerr, 1980]. Pursuit of this goal has necessitated a co‐ordinated, interdisciplinary effort, to date including physical oceanographers, sedimentologists, radiochemists and biochemists, and biological oceanographers.

Current produced bed features reflect significant momentum exchange between the fluid boundary layer and the sediment surface. From photographs, and the few current meter records available, it appears that vast areas of the deep sea are presently being modified by energetic flows. The bed forms range in scale from kilometers to millimeters and are found where near bottom currents have been delineated by maxima in near bottom potential temperature. Moreover, on the Scotian Rise for example, many of these bedforms are being produced by present day currents because rapid destruction of the features by benthic organisms is evidenced in stereo‐photographs.
The Mineralogy, Chemistry, and Physics of Tropical Soils With Variable Charge Clays
Authors: Cassel D. K. , Nielsen D. R.
Published: October 2011

This book is the culmination of an effort started in 1974 when the senior author started assembling information for a tropical soils course that he taught while on sabbatical leave at North Carolina State University. The literature cited throughout the book was current when the book went to press.

Soil systems contain mineral and organic materials that have constant or permanent surface charges, such as montmorillonite, or constant surface potentials, usually referred to as variable charge materials. Most soil systems contain some of both kinds. In the tropics, most of the minerals with permanent charge have been severely weathered. Consequently, the surface charge of the remaining material results from adsorption of potential determining ions. This book treats the mineralogy, chemistry, and physics of the variable charge minerals and soil organic matter.
Welcome to the VGP news
Authors: Lipman Peter W. , Smith Joseph V.
Published: October 2011

Beginning with this issue of Eos, the Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology Section of AGU will publish brief and timely scientific reports, highlights of conferences, statements of opinion, section news, and other topical information approximately every 3 months in a new section of Eos called “The VGP News.”

Material for The VGP News will be handled by Eos Editor Bruce R. Doe. VGP Section President J. V. Smith has appointed the following editorial group to work with Doe: Peter W. Lipman, VGP Secretary, U.S. Geological Survey, MS 913, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 (telephone: 303‐234‐2901)
NASA global tropospheric experiment
Authors: McNeal Robert J. , Mugler John P. , Harriss Robert C. , Hoell James M.
Published: October 2011

A major research effort, the Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE), has been initiated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to study the chemistry of the global troposphere and its interaction with the stratosphere, land, and oceans. The project currently involves approximately 20 principal investigators from 16 different institutions and is expected to expand over the next decade. The first phase of the project is aimed at developing and validating measurement techniques for trace species in tropospheric chemical cycles. It is designed to lead toward development and implementation of a cooperative research program involving NASA, scientists sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, other government agencies, and research institutions abroad. The goal of the GTE is to understand the chemical cyles that control the composition of the global troposphere and its changes.
New hot vents in NE Pacific
Authors: Tunnicliffe Verena
Published: October 2011

Over the past few years many workers have been attracted to the Juan de Fuca ridge 500 km off the Pacific northwest coast to study its tectonics. Investigations by both American earth scientists in the southern part of the system and Canadians where the northern extension enters territorial waters provided much of the background for the first submersible venture on this actively spreading ridge. In August 1983 a joint expedition of Canadian and American geologists and biologists set out to examine the ridge in the area of a seamount that sits astride the spreading axis. Scientific participants came from the universities of British Columbia, Victoria, Washington, Toronto, California at Santa Barbara, and the Institute of Ocean Sciences, British Columbia.
International geoscience: Past and future
Authors: Drake Charles L.
Published: October 2011

The International Geophysical Year (IGY) differed from the preceding international polar years in that it had a significant component of solid earth research. The success of this venture led to succeeding programs, still under way, that have maintained and improved upon the communication mechanisms established during IGY. These programs differed from IGY in that they have a longer time span, usually a decade, and in that they have focused more on the exchange of ideas and data rather than shorter‐term, specially funded research programs aimed at particular goals.

To borrow an analogy from oceanography, one might liken IGY to the Challenger expedition of a century ago; a one‐shot venture that collected vast amounts of data during a single cruise; data that occupied the energies of a number of scientists over a period of years. The succeeding programs followed more the pattern of modern oceanography in which cruises take place continuously, steadily building the data base a n d generating new ideas. There is no question but that IGY was a major shot in the arm for solid earth research and it is fair to ask whether it is not time for another such venture. Our support mechanisms have tended to become more narrowly focused on disciplines and subdisciplines through time, reflecting the increasing complexity o f science. Perhaps it is time to choose some broad goals: to identify some experiments that require inputs from a number of disciplines and international collaboration in research and that promise us new and better insights into the nature and properties, the history and development of the earth.
Pioneer Venus
Authors: Luhmann Janet
Published: October 2011

In the tradition of the NASA special publications on planetary missions, the book, Pioneer Venus, offers a piece of history for a small investment. After a brief historical introduction, this book provides an informal but thorough documentation of a successful planetary mission with the human element very much at the forefront. Even the politics of funding are given acknowledgment. The amount of thought and planning that went into the design of the Pioneer Venus mission, from the feasibility studies and the announcement of opportunity in 1971 to the arrival of the orbiter and multiprobe spacecraft at Venus in late 1978, is given testimonial by the first half of the book, which is replete with tables and figures. It is evident from the vitality with which the two chapters on such mundane but crucial matters as mission operations, parachute development, tracking, data systems, and spacecraft engineering are written that the authors were intensely and actively involved in all aspects of the project. A separate chapter on scientific investigations gives brief descriptions of the experiments, highlighted with photographs of the instruments and principal investigators. The selection of experiments is especially noteworthy because the Pioneer Venus spacecraft was carefully outfitted to return complementary measurements, a trend that today's mission planners also adhere to.
Sadami Matsushita 1920”1984
Authors: Campbell Wallace H.
Published: October 2011

Sadami Matsushita, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, died on March 15, 1984, less than a half year after being told that he had stomach cancer. He was born in Kyoto, Japan, on February 12, 1920, the only son of Kiyomi and Taka Taniguchi Matsushita, from whom he acquired his lifelong appreciation of literature and the arts. In 1951, Matsushita obtained his Doctor of Sciences degree from Kyoto University where, continuing his research and lecturing, he soon became one of Japan's leading experts on the subject of ionospheric processes. In 1954, on an invitation from the Research Staff of Physics at the Imperial College of London, he spent a year in England. Before returning to his homeland, Matsushita was persuaded by Walter Roberts to visit the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colo. The visit became a permanent 29 years of significant scientific creativity at HAO (which became a part of the Center for Atmospheric Research).
R. Giovanelli 1915”1984
Authors: Piddington J. H.
Published: October 2011

Ronald Gordon Giovanelli, D.Sc. F.A.A., an eminent Australian scientist in the fields of physics and astronomy, died after a long illness on January 27, 1984, at the age of 69.

After graduating from the University of Sydney, he spent 2 years (1937–1938) as a Research Fellow at the Commonwealth Solar Observatory (Mount Stromlo). It was here that he developed his life‐long interest in solar optical astronomy and the theory of solar active regions.
Groundwater contamination
Authors: Freeze R. Allan
Published: October 2011

Since 1977, the National Research Council (NRC) has published 13 monographs in its Studies in Geophysics series. Earlier volumes have dealt with such diverse topics as energy and climate, geophysical prediction, continental tectonics, and explosive volcanism. Groundwater Contamination is the 14th volume in the series. It was produced by a Panel on Groundwater Contamination initiated by the Geophysics Study Committee of NRC in consultation with representatives of the supporting agencies and members of the scientific community. The preliminary scientific findings formed the basis of an American Geophysical Union symposium in San Francisco in December 1981. This monograph is the most concise and most accessible reference available on this important environmental problem.
Episodic volcanism and evolutionary crises
Authors: Campsie John , Johnson G. Leonard , Jones Janet E. , Rich James E.
Published: October 2011

It has long been recognized that the fossil record is characterized by a number of major extinction episodes, but the cause of these remains a controversy. Among the many suggested factors, a correlation with major rifting events has often been postulated [e.g., Hallam, 1984; Valentine and Moores, 1970], and we feel that the implication of this deserves much greater attention. The widespread volcanism, both submarine and subaerial, associated with such mega‐tectonic events with energy much greater than 1030 ergs, offers a natural explanation for several of the features that have been linked with extinction crises. The occurrence of widespread submarine volcanism is likely to have been especially important in promoting massive marine extinctions through chemical and biologic mechanisms. Of the numerous extinction events cited in the literature, there are five major episodes for which there is widespread agreement, and several minor ones (Figure 1). Significantly, each of these can be correlated with an important volcanic event, and the correlation is especially strong for the three more recent major crises for which data is available (Table 1). These are the ones occurring at the ends of the Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods.
Explosive magnetic reconnection: Puzzle to be solved as the energy supply process for magnetospheric substorms?
Authors: Akasofu Syun‐Ichi
Published: October 2011

During the last two decades, magnetospheric substorms have almost exclusively been discussed in terms of hypothetical explosive magnetic reconnection, a process which requires the initial accumulation and the subsequent sudden conversion of magnetic energy. However, it is only recently that the input‐output relationship of the magnetosphere has been examined, enabling us to test the validity of this hypothesis. The results are at variance with what we would expect from explosive magnetic reconnection. Instead, magnetospheric substorms can be understood primarily as a direct consequence of an increased energy input rate (power) of the solar wind—magnetosphere dynamo.
Hydrates, oil seepage, and chemosynthetic ecosystems on the Gulf of Mexico slope
Authors: Brooks James M. , Kennicutt M. C. , Bidigare Robert R. , Fay Roger A.
Published: October 2011

The northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope has been the site of a number of recent discoveries that may dramatically alter our understanding of biological and chemical processes on the continental slope. The Geochemical and Environmental Research Group at Texas A&M University reported in Science last year (vol. 225, p. 409, 1984) the first occurrence of thermogenic gas hydrates in deep ocean sediments. The hydrate discovery sites were located at water depths of 530‐560 m on the Louisiana slope. These hydrates, obtained by piston coring, ranged in size from minute crystals to objects several centimeters in diameter and were composed of methane through butane hydrocarbon gases. The hydrates were often dispersed in carbonate rubble within the cores and were distributed from the top of the core to a sediment depth of at least several meters.
Gravity wave study
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Incoherent Scatter Working Group has selected October 15–18, 1985 as World Days for the study of acoustic gravity waves (AGW). The month of October has become a target of opportunity for a coordinated worldwide study of acoustic gravity wave phenomena. Some of the topics of interest are AGW generation mechanisms, ion neutral coupling, effects of AGW dispersive propagation, measurements of attenuation constants, and effects and conditions of wave ducting.
Black smokers on the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge
Authors: Rona Peter A.
Published: October 2011

Evidence for a variety of active hydrothermal venting phenomena, including black smokers, was discovered at a site on the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge by a research team of government and university scientists. The work was accomplished on a cruise of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship Researcher during July 1985 as part of the NOAA Vents Program. The site of the venting phenomena is the Trans‐Atlantic Geotraverse (TAG) Hydrothermal Field on the east wall of the rift valley of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge at 26°N. The TAG Hydrothermal Field was the first hydrothermal field to be found on an oceanic ridge; it was discovered 12 years ago in 1973. However, until the present cruise, only low‐temperature hydrothermal activity had been documented, and the existence of higher‐temperature hydrothermal activity along slow spreading oceanic ridges (half rate 2 cm/yr), such as the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, was in question.
Advanced Soil Mechanics
Authors: Sterrett Robert J.
Published: October 2011

The fields of soil mechanics and foundation engineering already have many significant textbooks on these subjects; thus it seems that it would be difficult to produce a new textbook in this area. Braja Das, however, has strived and succeeded in producing a work with a refreshing approach to the subject.

The text is intended as an introductory graduate text. The book, as described by the author, has as its basis class notes that he prepared for teaching; thus the text is organized as a logical progression in the development of engineering thought in soil mechanics.
Cooperative earthquake research between the United States and the People's Republic of China
Authors: Russ David P. , Johnson Leonard E.
Published: October 2011

Cooperative research by scientists of the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) has resulted in important new findings concerning the fundamental characteristics of earthquakes and new insight into mitigating earthquake hazards. Much of the research is being conducted under the U.S. State Department Protocol for Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Earthquake Studies between the PRC State Seismological Bureau (SSB) and the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Science Foundation. Activities and progress accomplished under the protocol will be the subject of two special sessions at the 1985 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. A special session in tectonophysics will emphasize cooperative activities in earthquake prediction research and intraplate faulting, and a special session in seismology will examine earth structure and seismicity. A delegation of 20 scientists from China will join their American colleagues in presenting papers on cooperative research.
Mantle structure and dynamics
Authors: Silver Paul G. , Carlson Richard W. , Bell Peter , Olson Peter
Published: October 2011

On November 20 and 21, 1984, the Geophysical Laboratory and the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution sponsored a workshop on the structure and dynamics of the mantle. The participants represented several academic institutions and a wide range of disciplines within the earth and planetary sciences. The following is a description and partial synthesis of the discussions and conclusions of the workshop.
Heliotropism in microbial stromatolitic growths at Yellowstone National Park: Geophysical inferences
Authors: Vanyo J. P. , Hutchinson R. A. , Awramik S. M.
Published: October 2011

Examples of heliotropism are easily observed in the microbially produced stromatolitic columnar growths in the thermal effluents from geysers and hot springs at Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Six effluent regions with microbial mats that produce centimeter‐sized conical to columnar structures have been analyzed. The columns or cones tilt south at up to 30° zenith angles, independent of water flow direction (velocities up to 8 cm/s). Subsurface layers and shallow cores of siliceous sinter, presumably microbially produced, also appear to preserve evidence of earlier heliotropism. In combination with similar discoveries in living stromatolitic structures at Shark Bay, Western Australia, this evidence provides a foundation upon which a methodology can be developed for using selected ancient stromatolites to deduce paleo‐latitude, paleo‐obliquity of the ecliptic, paleo‐days per month and year (by using laminae counts), paleo—spin axis north‐south, paleolocation of the geomagnetic pole (using paleomagnetism), and other paleoearth and earth‐sun‐moon dynamics.
Volcanology from space: Using Landsat Thematic Mapper data in the central Andes
Authors: Francis P. W. , McAllister R.
Published: October 2011

It is a remarkable fact that we know much more about the highest volcano on Mars than we do about the highest volcano on earth. Olympus Mons is well known to planetary scientists, has been the principal subject of a number of papers, and has been mentioned in innumerable other papers and articles. By contrast, the highest volcano on earth, Nevado Ojos del Salado (on the frontier between Chile and Argentina at latitude 27°S) is so poorly known that there are no papers about it, and even its height (∼6800 m) is not well determined. Ojos del Salado is only one of the many volcanos in the great volcanic province of the central Andes, which extends between 14° and 29°S. The existing Catalogue of Active Volcanoes of the World (Including Solfatara Fields, Part XV, Chilean Continent, by L. Casertano, International Association of Volcanology, Naples, Italy, 1963) lists only 16 volcanos in the region as being “active,” but it is obvious after even the briefest visit that there are dozens of others that should be regarded as active. Many of these are over 6000 m high, and they include several of the earth's greatest volcanos.
The nature and composition of the Archean Mantle
Authors: Arndt N. T. , Bickle M. J. , Jenner G. A. , Nisbet E. G. , Zindler A.
Published: October 2011

In past decades, we have acquired a reasonable understanding of the workings of the modern earth, but our knowledge of how it got that way is extremely rudimentary. We know surprisingly little about how and when the continents, hydrosphere, core, and mantle came into being and evolved to their present state, and we have only the most fragmentary picture of the nature and tectonic operation of the young earth, despite a geological record which extends back at least to 3.8 Ga and probably to 4.3 Ga. One of the most fundamental and most interesting of the challenges left in earth science is the problem of understanding the tectonic and geochemical evolution of the Archean (pre‐2.5‐Ga‐old) earth. In particular, attention must be focused on the evolution of the mantle, for this is the part of the earth from which the continents and probably much of the atmosphere originally segregated.
The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric CO2
Authors: Sunquist Eric T. , Broecker Wallace S.
Published: October 2011

Readers of this book will generally fit into two groups. One group consists of geologists and geochemists, who have studied the global carbon cycle for many decades. These readers will find that the papers in this book present a new view of familiar themes. Whereas much previous work on the carbon cycle and other geochemical cycles has emphasized the nature of the steady state maintained by complex networks of feedbacks, recent attention has shifted to the changes implied by the way these feedbacks respond to perturbations.
TRIP illumines lightning
Authors: Hill R. D.
Published: October 2011

It is 8 yr since important measurements of lightning in single‐cell thunderstorms were made during the Thunderstorm Research International Project (TRIP), yet no theoretical interpretation of the lightning generation mechanism from the data has been made. This tardiness in interpreting the data is undoubtedly related to the existing confusion in lightning generation theories.

According to Chalmers [1967], there are two classes of thunderstorm charge separation theories: those that rely on gravitation and those that do not involve gravitation. In the gravitational class, Chalmers again distinguished two types of processes: those in which ions are naturally generated (e.g., by cosmic rays, etc.) and are then attached to particles in the cloud and those in which some process (e.g., collision, coagulation, etc.) generates positive and negatively charged particles from neutrals in the cloud. Some of these two process types, cited in Chalmers' work, are given in Table 1, together with some of the scientists who originally proposed these processes.
A new look at Gregory's Rift: The structural style of continental rifting
Authors: Bosworth William , Lambiase Joseph , Keisler Ron
Published: October 2011

We distinguish three major detachment systems and intervening accommodation zones in the central Gregory Rift of east Africa and point out that the geometry seen here is similar to that of other modern and ancient continental rift systems. The asymmetry of the rift (half‐graben form) alternates along the rift axis, with corresponding reversals in the polarity of the extensional detachment systems. This may be important to the overall understanding of rift tectonics, as the Gregory Rift is associated with an unusually voluminous volcanogenic province, regional doming, and other characteristics of continental “hot spots” (and their inferred subcontinental mantle plumes). The fact that all continental rifts appear to have very similar structural geometries, yet few are actually associated with these hot spot characteristics supports the contention that hot spots are only locally associated with and do not significantly affect the shallow geometry of continental rifting.
Climatic Change on a Yearly to Millennial Basis
Authors: Duplessy Jean‐Claude
Published: October 2011

Over the last 15 years, the analysis of marine and continental deposits has shed some light on the three major causes of the longterm evolution of the earth's climate. On the 1077–108‐year time scale, the displacement of continental masses modifies the atmospheric and oceanic circulation noticeably; on the 104–105‐year time scale, the chemical composition of the atmosphere (mainly its CO2 content), the insolation at the top of the atmosphere, and its distribution over the earth vary sufficiently to induce the development of the Quaternary ice ages. The climatic evolution of the last millenia is more poorly understood. However, the recognition of significant climatic shifts during the historical period has convinced climatologists that the study of the last millenia might help in the development of a system of long‐range weather forecasting.
Teams release first reports on Cameroon Lake
Authors: Katzoff Judith A.
Published: October 2011

The U.S. scientific and medical teams sent to Cameroon by the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the Agency for International Development (AID) to investigate the cause of the lethal gas release at Lake Nyos, Cameroon, have submitted their preliminary reports to the agency. While neither team could reach definitive conclusions without the opportunity to conduct laboratory analyses on their samples, they were able to make tentative statements about what may have occurred at the volcanic crater lake on the evening of August 21, 1986 (Eos, September 2, 1986, p. 659). At this early stage, it seems most likely that the gas release was triggered by a limnological phenomenon, such as an overturn of the lake, rather than by a sudden injection of volcanic gases. The origin of the gas seems most likely to be magmatic, but a biogenic origin has not been ruled out.
World slope map
Authors: Moore James G. , Mark Robert K.
Published: October 2011

A colored slope map (scale 1:80,000,000) was generated from digital land and sea floor elevations at 5‐min spacings from data tapes from the National Geophysical Data Center. Slope analysis is facilitated by examining the average slope in 250‐m altitude‐depth intervals both globally and in each of eight tectonic plates. The most striking feature of the map is the multiple parallel bands of steep slope at subduction zones. Submarine volcanic chains produce zones of steep slope that show little degradation at the scale of the map since the Cretaceous. The average slope, or roughness, of spreading ridges decreases exponentially with increasing spreading rate. The passive continental margins generate a steep zone at 1–2 km depth. The lowest average global slope (0.2°) occurs at sea level and reflects the base level that the sea provides for subaerial erosion and the upper limit for marine sedimentation. Slope minima also are caused by the abyssal plains at 4–6 km depth and by glacial ice caps at 3 km elevation.
Geophysics of permafrost mounds
Authors: Seguin Maurice K.‐
Published: October 2011

Palsas and associated permafrost mounds (also called cemetery mounds or cryogenic mounds) are common geomorphological features in northern Canada. Indeed, over 50% of the Canadian landmass and parts of the near offshore are underlain by permafrost. The cover photograph shows a typical palsa field, photographed from the air at Umiujaq on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, Quebec, Canada (longitude 76°W, latitude 57°N). The actual difference between palsas and permafrost mineral mounds is the presence of a peat cover (usually 1–2 m thick) that characterizes the palsa.
Another chip off the old Australian block
Authors: McCue K. , Barlow B. C. , Denham D. , Jones T. , Gibson G. , Michael‐Leiba M.
Published: October 2011

Large intraplate earthquakes have an almost universal property of occurring in unexpected places, and on March 30, 1986, the Marryat Creek earthquake confirmed this behavioral pattern. The earthquake took place in central Australia (26.2°S, 132.8°E) in a region that was cratonized in the Early to Middle Proterozoic and that has no record of significant previous seismic activity. The main earthquake had a magnitude of Ms ∼5.8 and was associated with a surface fault scarp that is in the shape of a boomerang (convex to the northeast) ∼13 km long, with a maximum displacement of 0.8 m. A preliminary fault plane solution for the earthquake indicates that the mechanism was a combination of thrust and strike‐slip faulting, with the pressure axis striking at N 220°E.
Problems and current trends in rock magnetism and paleomagnetism
Authors: Banerjee Subhir K.
Published: October 2011

Continental drift, seafloor spreading, plate tectonics: These terms conjure up a picture of the whole of Earth's lithospheric plates in motion, a picture that truly represents a revolution in the earth sciences that took place in the 1960s and permanently changed our view of a more static world. If someone were to ask which subdiscipline of the geosciences has provided the crucial quantitative evidence about the past locations of discrete parts of continental and oceanic plates, the answer would be geomagnetism and paleomagnetism. Polarity stratigraphy, based on radiometrically dated 180° reversals of the dipolar geomagnetic field, informs us about the locations of parts of the seafloor in the past, and paleomagnetically determined paleolatitudes of continental rocks provide similar information about past locations of continental plates.
Physics and microbial ecology of a buoyant estuarine plume on the continental shelf
Authors: Boicourt W. C. , Chao S.‐Y. , Ducklow H. W. , Glibert P. M. , Malone T. C. , Roman M. R. , Sanford L. P. , Fuhrman J. A. , Garside C. , Garvine R. W.
Published: October 2011

The MECCAS (Microbial Exchanges and Coupling in Coastal Atlantic Systems) Project was initiated in 1984 with support from the National Science Foundation to study the flow regime of buoyant plumes and the microbial ecology of pelagic communities that characterize these plumes. The project is interdisciplinary, with physical, chemical, and biological components (Table 1). Our goal is to determine how physical and biological processes influence the production and cycling o f carbon and nitrogen o n time and space scales that characterize the physics of plumes and the growth of microbial populations within plumes.
Kisiel Lecture
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The text of the Sixth Kisiel Memorial Lecture, Groundwater Contamination: Technical Analysis and Social Decision Making by R. Allan Freeze, is available from the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, for $5 per copy. The previous three lectures (Scale Problems in Hydrology by James L. C. Dooge, The Emergence of Global‐Scale Hydrology by Peter S. Eagleson, and Water Management in the United States—A Democratic Process by J . D. Bredehoeft) are also available. Copies of all four lectures may be ordered for $16 per set. Male checks payable to the University of Arizona.
A sunspot maximum prediction using a neural network
Authors: Koons H. C. , Gorney D. J.
Published: October 2011

Solar activity near the maximum of each 11‐year cycle causes a number of adverse effects on space systems. Satellites experience increased electrical charging of their surface and internal dielectric components, resulting in disruptive electrostatic discharges, and micro‐electronic devices experience upsets more often. Satellite communications links in the VHF/UHF range suffer signal fades more often and with greater severity. The increased atmospheric density increases the drag on satellites at low altitudes, causing difficulties in tracking and in predicting their orbit decay and time of reentry.
Hola! ADEOS
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2011

Three months after its launch, Japan's Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) is set to begin day‐to‐day science operations at the end of November. The global change research satellite, launched August 16 from the Tanegashima Space Center by Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA), has settled into a circular polar orbit at 800 km altitude. ADEOS includes instruments from Japan, the United States, and France that will observe ocean chlorophyll production, ocean temperature, atmospheric gases, polarization and direction of solar energy reflected by the Earth, and the distribution of vegetation.
Vigil network data now online
Authors: Orr Tade , Osterkamp W. R.
Published: October 2011

A project is under way to publish Vigil Network data on the World Wide Web, paving the way for the data to become a widely known, convenient resource for scientists interested in studying the effects of global climatic change. The network, a system of small sites and drainage basins where geomorphic, hydrologic, and biological data are periodically collected, was established in the early 1960s to address the need for long‐term, broad‐spectrum data collection and study [Leopold, 1962].

Network data are currently archived on microfiche held at various repositories, and the situation makes it difficult for many scientists. Researchers must either visit a repository in person to view and print the data and reports or request hard copies of site records. Repositories are at libraries of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston,Virginiasemi; Denver, Coloradosemi; and Menlo Park, California. Data are also archived at the Department of Physical Geography, Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden, and at the Jewish National and Hebrew University Library, Jerusalem, Israel.
New wireline seafloor drill augers well
Authors: Allerton S. , Wallis D. , Derrick J. , Smith D. , MacLeod C. J.
Published: October 2011

The first trials of a new wireline seafloor drill (Figure 1) have been a resounding success, and the new technology is expected to open up the ocean basins for in‐depth studies in microtectonics and paleomagnetism. Structural and paleomagnetic work has been extremely important for tectonics on the continents, and extending such studies into the ocean basins, through development of wireline drilling, puts us on the brink of a new phase in research.

Funded through the British Mid‐Ocean Ridge Initiative (BRIDGE), the drill is known as the BRIDGE drill. On its very first deployment from a ship, it recovered over half a meter of oriented gabbro core from the Atlantis Bank on the South West Indian Ridge (Figure 2). In the course of the research cruise, the drill took short oriented hardrock cores from 11 different seafloor sites [MacLeod et al., 1998].
Expedition gives fresh view of central Arctic geology
Authors: Jokat Wilfried ,   Shipboard Scientific Party, Stein Ruediger , Rachor Eike , Schewe Ingo
Published: October 2011

Important new information has been collected on the structure and evolution of the main geological features of the central Arctic Ocean. An expedition in July 1998 to the Alpha and Lomonosov Ridges produced the first multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles ever along Alpha. Biological probes, ice and aerosol sampling, and the collection of sediment cores also took place.

One intriguing finding was that, while Lomonosov is biologically rich, Alpha is a benthic desert. Alpha proved to be one of the poorest benthic environments ever investigated in the Arctic Ocean.
Sediment record linked to surface processes in the Cariaco Basin
Authors: Muller‐Karger Frank , Varela Ramon , Thunell Robert , Scranton Mary , Bohrer Richard , Taylor Gordon , Capelo Juan , Asto Yrene , Tappa Eric , Ho Tung‐Yuan , Iabichella Maria , Walsh John J. , Diaz Jose Rafael
Published: October 2011

The Cariaco Basin, off the northeast coast of Venezuela, has long been the center of attention of scientists trying to explain paleoclimate. This peculiar anoxic basin records climate change over several dozen millennia within layers of sediment [Black eta., 1999].

A joint U.S.‐Venezuelan research effort launched in 1995—the Carbon Retention in a Colored Ocean (CARIACO) Program— provides a link between the sediment record and processes near the surface of the ocean for this basin. Sediment traps maintained by the program show that over 5% of the organic carbon contained in particles formed near the surface through primary production (photosynthesis) by phytoplankton reaches 275 m depth, and nearly 2% reaches 1,400 m.This flux is significant, because it represents a sink for carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, and because it helps explain the record of ancient climate stored at the bottom of the Cariaco Basin.
Storing CO2 underground shows promising results
Authors: Zweigel Peter , Gale John
Published: October 2011

Long‐term underground storage of CO2 is an important element in concepts to reduce atmospheric CO2 emissions as the use of fossil fuels continues. The first results of a multinational research project evaluating the injection of CO2 into a saline aquifer in the North Sea are validating this method of CO2 reduction, and are serving to further define the research needed to develop the technology for large‐scale applicability.

Reducing the emission of substances that have potentially harmful effects on global climate— for example, CO2—has become a central issue of environmental policy at least since the 1997 Kyoto conference on climate change.