bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What is the Southern California Earthquake Center?
Authors: Aki Keiiti , Henyey Thomas , Heaton Thomas
Published: October 2006

On February 11, Congressman George E. Brown, Jr., Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, together with the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey, and state and local officials, helped inaugurate the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) on the campus of the University of Southern California. SCEC is one of 14 new NSF Science and Technology Centers and includes a substantial commitment from the USGS for FY91. The center is a consortium of seven core academic institutions—USC (coordinating institution), Caltech, Columbia University's Lamont‐Doherty Geological Observatory, University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of California at Santa Cruz, and University of California at San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography—in partnership with the USGS's Office of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering (OEVE). The center grew out of an April 3–5, 1989, workshop at Lake Arrowhead, Calif., convened by the USGS to discuss the need for an expanded effort in earthquake research in southern California.
Agencies asess Pinatubo research
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

The status and future of the coordinated response by federal agencies to the Mt. Pinatubo eruption last June were the topics of a report by the Solid Earth Process Task Group of the Working Group on Global Change released in July. Under the direction of Miriam Baltuck of NASA, the group was asked by the interagency Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences to assess the response status. The group also met on September 11 in Washington, D.C., to discuss their technical studies and plans for the future. Agencies involved in the study are NASA, National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Energy, and U.S. Geological Survey.
CEAREX Drift Experiment
Authors:   CEAREX Drift Group
Published: October 2006

The Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX) was conducted to study the processes regulating eastern Arctic Ocean exchange of momentum, heat, and biomass. The primary CEAREX objectives were to understand the structure and function of mesoscale (order 10 km) and submesoscale processes in the transport of heat northward, and to understand the ice behavior and associated acoustic ambient noise and coherence. The Drift Experiment described here was one part of the comprehensive CEAREX program. It focused on the transition period during freeze up and on the dark winter period. The Drift Experiment was designed to observe atmosphere, ice, and ocean behavior simultaneously. Specific observations were carried out under independent research programs by investigators from a number of organizations. The concurrent information provided an opportunity to measure and understand the relationship between stresses observed in individual ice floes and the geophysical driving forces and overall ice conditions, and to identify and describe noise generated by different processes. The coordinated effort has resulted in a complete set of data for helping to understand the dynamic interactions among ice, ocean, and atmosphere. This large, valuable, and unique data set will be archived by the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. Some subsets will be available on CD‐ROM for simple and inexpensive use on personal computers.
CONFLUENCE 1988”1990: An intensive study of the southwestern Atlantic
Authors:   Confluence Principal Investigators
Published: October 2006

The CONFLUENCE Program is a joint Argentine, French, and U.S. effort to study the dynamics of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. The program concentrates on the Brazil and Malvinas (or Falkland) currents along the coast of Argentina and Uruguay. This article is an overview of the 1988–1990 field work, with a few preliminary results.
NASA begins to “Think Small”
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

NASA has begun to show clear signs of scaling down its science missions as it bows to reigning budget realities. The mammoth Earth Observing System (EOS) is already well on the way to being split into smaller components (see Eos, Sept. 24, 1991). Concurrently, a committee of scientists has advised NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) to rank smaller missions before large ones.

“Small innovative missions” that “provide frequent access to space for each discipline” should be placed ahead of intermediate and large missions, said Berrien Moore III, chair of OSSA's scientific advisory committee, in a letter to Lennard Fisk, the office's associate administrator. The letter conveyed the recommendations from the committee's meeting at Woods Hole this summer.
Congress sets NASA, NSF budgets for 1992
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

Space Station Freedom emerged a clear winner from the House and Senate conference on September 26, which was Congress's final action of the year on the NASA budget. Selected members from the appropriations committees of both houses ironed out a compromise between the Senate and House budget bills that cover NASA and the National Science Foundation.

The conference report, as the compromise is called, followed the general approach of the Senate rather than that of the House in funding NASA for FY 1992. NASA will receive $1.4 billion less than the $15.7 billion requested by the president.
IUGG 1991: Geophysics as a global endeavor
Authors: Brett Robin
Published: October 2006

The 20th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) met in Vienna in August for the first time since the 1987 meeting in Vancouver. About 5,000 geophysicists from at least 39 countries attended, including an estimated 800–1,000 from the United States.

The IUGG is comprised of seven associations covering different disciplines, rather like the sections of AGU. These associations resemble feudal baronies bound loosely in a federation. Attendance varied greatly from one association to another; this was reflected in the strength of their scientific programs at the meeting.
Musings about the word “absolute” in Earth science literature
Authors: Duffield Wendell A.
Published: October 2006

Rather than face the prospect of old age and retirement sometimes disturbed by the niggling feeling that I should have said something earlier, here is a public statement about a pet peeve concerning the use, if not the abuse and misuse, of the word absolute as it appears in a variety of Earth science literature. The triggering event for taking action, after a couple of decades of inaction, was seeing yet another title of the sort “The Absolute Age of the… Volcanic Rock”, combined with a little too much spare time during evenings in a lonely, isolated field camp.

Because my interests are principally in magmatic systems and secondarily in global plate tectonics, I see absolute used mostly with reference to the ages of igneous rocks and to the motions of lithospheric plates. People in other fields of Earth science surely will think of their own examples.
Roger R.D. Revelle 1909–1991
Authors: Goldberg Edward D.
Published: October 2006

Roger Randal Dougan Revelle was born on March 7, 1909, in Seattle, Wash. He received a bachelor's degree in geology from Pomona College, Claremont, Calif., in 1929 and a doctorate in oceanography in 1936 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. He remained at Scripps and rose through its academic ranks. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships and subsequently was involved in the establishment of the Office of Naval Research. From 1951–1964 he served as director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 1964 he founded the Harvard University Center for Population Studies and assumed the Richard Saltonstall Chair as professor of population policy. He returned to UC at San Diego as professor of science and public policy in 1975, a position he held until his death on July 15, 1991.
Dynamics of the Ross Ice Shelf
Authors: Casassa Gino , Turner John
Published: October 2006

The Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea have been examined as part of the study of Antarctic coastal cyclones conducted at the Byrd Polar Research Center [Bromwich, 1991], using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data at 1.1‐km resolution. Several glaciological features appear clearly on the images (Figure 1). The most interesting are flow stripes, which have not been detected before on this coarse resolution imagery. From these AVHRR features we have compiled a glaciological map, which shows strong evidence for changing flow of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Remote sensing of Italian volcanos
Authors: Bianchi R. , Casacchia R. , Coradini A. , Duncan A. M. , Guest J. E. , Kahle A. , Lanciano P. , Pieri D. C. , Poscolieri M.
Published: October 2006

Over the past few years, the authors of this paper, under the auspices of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), have carried out several airborne remote‐sensing missions over active and recently active volcanos in southern Italy. These activities were aimed at exploring the uses of new airborne remote‐sensing techniques to provide thermal, lithologic, structural, and geomorphic information in a synoptic format for use in geological mapping and volcanic process studies. In addition, because of the intimate mixture of urban centers and active volcanos in Italy, there was and is substantial interest in assessing the utility of remote‐sensing techniques for civil protection, hazard prediction, and damage reduction as related to volcanic activity.
Issues in water and environmental sciences
Authors: Jarrett Robert D.
Published: October 2006

Emerging Issues in Water and Environmental Sciences was the theme of the 46th Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Research Center (RMHRC), which includes the Rocky Mountain Hydraulics Laboratory. Fifty people participated in the meeting, which was held at the Wild Basin Lodge in Aliens Park, Colo., August 17, 1991. The meeting was organized by Robert Jarrett of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The purposes of the meeting were: 1) To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among researchers, faculty and students, and practicing scientists and engineers with an emphasis on field‐oriented research in the Front Range of Colorado; 2) to provide university faculty and students with an opportunity to interact with researchers on a broad spectrum of water and environmental science issues; and 3) to make researchers aware of the research center, to enhance cooperative research, and to encourage faculty, students, and others to conduct research at the center.
Congress orders Space Station overhaul
Authors: Mulhall Marguerite
Published: October 2006

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is in the process of reassessing its plans for the space station. It has been directed by Congress to come up with $6 billion in savings in the program over 5 years and must include plans to keep yearly expenditures within specific ceilings. The agency is expected to have the plan completed by January 22.

NASA has already stopped work on several station‐related science projects and an underwater training facility. The science experiments were being managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and were to be attached to the exterior of the space station. Cuts in the science projects alone will eliminate 240 jobs, most of them with contractors. About 2000 jobs will be affected by the cuts in the program's operating budget.
Deep convection and deepwater formation: Progress and new directions
Authors: Gascard Jean‐Claude
Published: October 2006

Focused interest in deep convection and deepwater formation was evidenced as early as 1972, when an international colloquium entirely dedicated to oceanic deepwater formation was convened by the Laboratoire d'Oceanographie du Museum in Paris. Discussions concentrated heavily, but not exclusively, on observations taken in the northwest Mediterranean Sea by the Medoc Group [1970], who proposed that processes leading to deepwater formation could be divided into three phases: preconditioning, violent mixing, and sinking and spreading. A new feature—the chimney—was identified, which tends to define the horizontal extent of an area where deep convection occurs to great depths and leads to deepwater formation.

In terms of mechanisms for destroying stratification, double diffusion was the prevalent choice at that time among most participants. However, the effect of advection was also considered. Stommel [1972] claimed that the deep convection observed in the Mediterranean Sea was of a nonpenetrative type, since the density of the mixed layer increased steadily with thickness and time instead of decreasing as for penetrative convection. Most of these conclusions were based on the fact that the problem was believed to be truly one dimensional. Stommel recognized that the small size of the sinking area was not related to a hydrodynamical phenomenon such as the one he described in 1962 [Stommel, 1962] nor even directly forced by the atmosphere, which acts at a much larger scale. Rather, he indicated that the small size of a deep convective area was preconditioned by the general circulation in the basin. The major discovery during the following 10‐year period (1973–1983) was realization of the important role played by baroclinic instability, active during ALL phases including the initial preconditioning.
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
Authors: Reber Carl A.
Published: October 2006

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) [Burr and Reber, 1985; Reber, 1985] is an important new National Aeronautics and Space Administration program aimed at improving our knowledge of the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere, emphasizing those levels that are known to be particularly susceptible to change by external agents. Using a combination of measurements and theoretical studies, UARS will provide a focus for resolving scientific questions about the chemistry, dynamics, and overall energy balance of the upper atmosphere.
Report explores Congress' science policy
Authors: Jones Richard
Published: October 2006

Scientists interested in understanding how Congress develops science policy would find it useful to read a recent report by the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government. “Science, Technology and Congress: Analysis and Advice from the Congressional Support Agencies” contains revealing insights about the often hard‐pressed system that Congress uses to analyze science and technology issues.

“Congress is on the front line of many battles over the directions of science and technology,” says the 70‐page report. “The quality of congressional decisions on these issues often depends on the quality and usefulness of information and analysis made available to Congress.” The report describes the overwhelming amount of information received by members of Congress, few of whom have “substantial training or experience” in science and technology. Making this information understandable and useful is the role of the Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional Research Service, the General Accounting Office, and the Congressional Budget Office.
Joseph F. Poland (1908–1991)
Authors: Johnson A. Ivan
Published: October 2006

On June 4, 1991, AGU Fellow Joseph Fairfield Poland died in a Sacramento, Calif., hospital at the age of 83 after a long fight with Parkinson's Disease. A recognized expert on land subsidence and a retiree from the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division, his death occurred only 2 weeks after the end of the 4th International Symposium on Land Subsidence, held in Houston, Tex. Frequently known as “Mr. Land Subsidence,” it was appropriate that the proceedings of that symposium had been dedicated to him.

Born in Boston, Poland earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Harvard University in 1929. He was resident geologist for Tropical Oil Company in Colombia from 1929 to 1931. After returning to the United States, Poland earned his master's degree in geology from Stanford University in 1935, taught groundwater hydrology, and consulted on groundwater and geophysical problems in the West and Southwest.
Landsat moves to NASA, DOD
Authors: Bush Susan
Published: October 2006

As the first session of the 101st Congress draws to a close, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology George Brown is looking for a decision on the management, funding, and policy concerning the Landsat program. “The development of a new policy framework for Landsat cannot be postponed any longer,” he said at a November 26 hearing.

His concern seems to have been recognized, as on November 25, the National Space Council, under the leadership of Vice President Dan Quayle, announced that the Department of Defense and NASA will take over the Landsat program. In their endorsement of the remote‐sensing program, the council said that “global change research and other U.S. government needs beyond Landsat 6 will be provided through the achydroquisition and operation of a Landsat 7. NASA and DOD will undertake the development and operation of this system.” Technical and administrative details of the program are still to be worked out, and funding for Landsat 7 and related activities will be included in the president's FY 1993 budget.
Wayne V. Burt (1917–1991)
Authors: Smith Bob
Published: October 2006

Wayne V. Burt, 74, professor emeritus and founder of the Oceanography Department at Oregon State University, died of a heart attack while fishing near Newport, Oreg., on August 24.

Burt was born in 1917 in South Shore, S.Dak., and moved to Oregon in 1924. He earned a B.S. degree in mathematics from Pacific College in 1939 and taught mathematics and physical science in rural Oregon high schools until 1943 when he was commissioned in the U.S. Navy and trained as a meteorologist. He received a Certificate of Meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1944 and served as a meteorologist in the South Pacific. He was sent to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to study wave forecasting in anticipation of an amphibious invasion of Japan. When the war ended, Burt returned to Oregon to study mathematics at the University of Oregon but, fortunately for many of us, he returned to Scripps to enter its first organized class of oceanographers in fall 1946. Burt received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles for his studies at Scripps. The Ph.D. was awarded in 1952 for his work in underwater light transmission. Burt was a faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University and Chesapeake Bay Institute until 1953 and a research oceanographer at the University of Washington from 1953 to 1954.
NASA overhauls grant process
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

A university recently received a NASA grant so quickly that the recipients, used to a long wait for money even after a grant had been approved, assumed a mistake had been made. Such a story has been making the rounds since NASA began to refurbish the procedure by which it issues grants, speeding up and streamlining the process in response to suggestions from space scientists.

One way NASA has measured success so far is how quickly it has cleared the decks of pending grants. The agency reduced the backlog from 572 grants on September 11 to zero by the end of the month, according to Don Bush, NASA's deputy assistant administrator for procurement. But that's just the beginning of changes Bush expects to be completed by March or April next year. The new procedures are first being tested out at headquarters, which issues over half of the agency's space science grants. NASA centers will also adopt the procedures after full approval.
Update on Congress and new budget
Authors: Jones Richard
Published: October 2006

Thanks to some all‐night sessions, Congress has adjourned until next year, having completed work on all but one of 13 appropriations bills. Hearings are being held by the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on economic growth packages, with little else scheduled. Congress is due to reconvene briefly on January 3, but will recess again until January 21.

The action on the budget for fiscal year 1993, which begins on October 1, 1992, is now at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Departments, agencies, and the Office of Management and Budget are in the midst of assembling the budget request for FY 1993. The executive branch maintains an almost total blackout on any official or unofficial news about what is being requested, much less what will be in the new budget.
Impacts in nature and in the laboratory workshop
Authors: Gratz A J. , Nellis W. J.
Published: October 2006

Impact is probably the most widespread geologic process in our solar system. All of the planets, moons, and asteroids have extensively cratered surfaces; on many, impact is the dominant process acting on the crust, and on others it is the primary mode of resurfacing. As we look to detailed mapping and exploration of the planets, an understanding of shock metamorphism is essential for both geological understanding and construction of impact‐resistant structures. At the same time, the discovery of shocked minerals at the K/T boundary has highlighted the role of impacts in the evolution of life on Earth and led to an intensified search for terrestrial impact effects.

The most striking aspect of shock deformation is the extreme rapidity of the process. Whereas geologists are used to tectonic events requiring millions of years or more, an impact process can accomplish the same strain in a billionth of a second. Thus, over 20 orders of magnitude separate tectonic strain rates from those seen in shock; the gap is more than 10 orders of magnitude even for “fast” deformation (10−4/s) in conventional uniaxial presses. Typically, impactites are intensely deformed—and often chemically reactive—with densely‐packed fractures, twins, or dislocations, and melting is common. Despite their obvious importance, impact processes and products are much less well studied and understood than slow‐strain‐rate processes.
International geodesy discussed in Vienna
Authors: Rapp Richard H. , Schutz Bob , Dickey Jean
Published: October 2006

The International Association of Geodesy (IAG) met for 2 weeks in August 1991 during the 20th General Assembly of the IUGG in Vienna. Numerous plans were made for future scientific projects and meetings and a large number of scientific and administrative activities were completed.

IAG is an organization whose objectives are to promote the study of scientific problems of geodesy;; to promote and coordinate international cooperation in geodesy;; and to provide, on an international basis, an opportunity for the discussion and publication of geodetic research. To implement these objectives, the IAG is organized into five sections and several groups that fall outside the section definition. The five sections are Positioning (I), Advanced Space Technology (II), Determination of the Gravity Field (III), General Theory and Methodology (IV), and Geodynamics (V). Each section has a structure that is organized through the president of the section.
Do we know what difference a delay makes?
Authors: Risbey James S. , Handel Mark David , Stone Peter H.
Published: October 2006

In our original comment [Risbey et al.., 1991] we argued that the work of Schlesinger and Jiang [1991a] is too limited to determine whether or not (as they put it) “the penalty is small for a 10‐year delay in initiating the transition to a regime in which greenhouse‐gas emissions are reduced.” In their reply, Schlesinger and Jiang [1991b] (hereafter S&J) presented their reasons for concluding definitively that the penalty is small. However S&J's discussion of the evidence and literature on climate change and greenhouse warming contains significant omissions and mis‐statements.

In dismissing our concern that their model was too simple to evaluate the possibility of abrupt climate change, S&J rely on results from coupled ocean‐atmosphere general circulation models (GCMs), in particular the work of Cubasch et al.. [1991]. Here S&J make two claims, one of which is incorrect and the other questionable. First, they claim that “the coupled atmosphere‐ocean model of Cubasch et al. [1991] does allow the nonlinearities that Risbey et al.. [1991] criticize our simple model for not including.” In fact we explicitly mentioned changes in polar ice caps [Oerlemans and van der Veen, 1984] and release of methane from clathrates [MacDonald, 1990; Bell, 1982], neither of which are included in the model of Cubasch et al.. [1991]. Indeed, none of the published simulations of global warming using coupled ocean‐atmosphere GCMs include these effects. Nor do these models yet include in their enhanced greenhouse simulations many of the possible feedbacks involving the carbon cycle and biosphere [Lashof, 1989; Bacastow and Maier‐Reimer, 1990; Sellers, 1987] that could significantly alter greenhouse gas concentrations and surface properties. The published simulations with these models do allow for some changes in deep ocean circulation and cloud behavior, but there is controversy over whether they correctly represent these processes [Marotzke, 1991; Mitchell, 1989; Cess, 1990]. In addition the coupled models must be arbitrarily tuned (requiring substantial artificial fluxes of heat and moisture) to get the current climate right [Manabe et al.., 1991; Cubasch et al.., 1991]. Their greenhouse change simulations are at least partly constrained by these flux adjustments.
U.S. drops rules on association participation
Authors: Jones Richard
Published: October 2006

In a memorandum dated December 9, 1991, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics advised professional associations that it was deleting previously published draft regulations on the participation of federal employees in such associations. New proposed regulations will be issued at a future date.

This announcement makes official previous statements by Stephen Potts, Director of the Office of Government Ethics, at an October 22 hearing of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee (see Eos, Oct. 29, 1991). Potts's office received 980 sets of comments on the 37 pages of proposed regulations issued July 23. The December 9 memorandum notes that “an overwhelming majority of those who commented objected to the proposed section as too restrictive in terms of the use of official time for administering the internal affairs of the professional associations.”
Climatic responses to increasing greenhouse gases
Authors: Schlesinger Michael E. , Jiang Xingjian
Published: October 2006

Projections of greenhouse gas (GHG)‐induced future climate change are based on climate models whose complexity ranges from the simple energy‐balance, climate/upwelling‐diffusion ocean model we used to make our Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections [Houghton et al., 1990] and the revised projections of our Nature paper [Schlesinger and Jiang, 1991b], to the coupled atmosphere‐ocean model which Cubasch et al. [1991] have now used to repeat our earlier projections. It is likely that even the most comprehensive model may not include some physical processes, and such absent physical processes, along with those included by potentially inadequate parameterizations, will render uncertain the validity of the results.

Risbey et al. [1991b] are correct that the Cubasch et al. [1991] model does not include melting of the polar ice caps or the potential release of methane from methane clathrates. However, based on our simulations of glacial onset from 115,000–105,000 years BP with our atmospheric general circulation/mixed‐layer ocean‐ice sheet/asthenosphere model (M. E. Schlesinger and M. Ya. Verbitsky, Simulation of glacial onset with an atmospheric general circulation/mixed‐layer ocean/ice sheet/ asthenosphere model, in preparation, 1991), it appears that the time scale of changes in the polar ice sheets is too long to be important for the greenhouse issue during the next century. Furthermore, Cicerone and Oremland [1988] conclude that: “In principle, there is a clear possibility of future atmospheric methane increases due to methane hydrate destabilization, but the size of the effect needs better quantification.” Consequently, the only way to assess the significance of not including these and other processes in our most comprehensive, contemporary climate models is to include them and then repeat the simulations, in the vein of those recently performed by Cubasch et al. [1991].
A Phased‐in approach to greenhouse‐gas‐induced climatic change
Authors: Schlesinger Michael E. , Jiang Xingjian
Published: October 2006

To address this concern, it will be helpful to describe the motivation, objective, approach, and scope of our Nature study. One of us, Schlesinger, was an invited participant at the White House Conference on Science and Economics Research Related to Global Change, held in Washington, D.C., April 17–18, 1990. At this conference two opposing policy positions were espoused, neither of which appeared to have been based on a scientific evaluation of the global warming issue. This motivated our study to assess the urgency of this issue.

Our approach was to use our simplified climate/ocean model, which we employed in projections for the IPCC report on global warming to the year 2100 [Houghton et al., 1990], to determine how much of the potential reduction in future global warming would be lost if the initiation of a 20‐year transition from the emission rate of the IPCC “business‐as‐usual” scenario A to the emission rate of any other IPCC scenario (B, C, D) was deferred by 10 years. Our findings were that 5% of the potential reduction, at most, would be lost by such a 10‐year deferral, regardless of the temperature sensitivity of the climate system to a CO2 doubling (ΔT2x) , within the 0.5–4.5° range we considered. This result indicates to us that the urgency of the global warming issue is not as great as some have thought, and suggests that we have some time to improve our understanding of the issue to enhance our ability to respond appropriately
Kinematics of coastal deformation
Authors: Haines A. J. , Holt W. E.
Published: October 2006

Relating the distributed strain and often complicated styles of faulting in deforming continental lithosphere to relative motion of the oceanic plates has proven difficult. A new method to study the kinematics of continental deformation in Asia has been used by A. J. Haines and W. E. Holt, Geology and Geophysics Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Wellington, New Zealand.

Moment tensor elements from large and moderate‐sized earthquakes in Asia over the last 85 years [Molnar and Deng, 1984; Molnar and Lyon‐Caen, 1989; Ekstrom and England, 1989; W. E. Holt et al., unpublished manuscript, 1990] have been used to determine strain rates, relative velocities, and relative rotations within the deforming regions of Eastern Tibet, Western Sichuan, and Yunnan. That is, velocities and rotations within a deforming zone can be uniquely determined in a given reference frame if the strains are known everywhere within that zone [Haines, 1982]
McBirney honored with Bowen Award
Authors: Marsh Bruce D. , McBirney Alexander R.
Published: October 2006

Alexander R. McBirney of the University of Oregon received the 1990 N. L. Bowen Award of the Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology section of AGU for outstanding contributions to volcanic geology and to the understanding of physical processes in magmas. The citation, deliverd by Bruce D. Marsh on December 5 at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony in San Francisco, and McBirney's response are presented below.
Eugene Linden wins AGU Sullivan Award
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Eugene Linden of Time Magazine is the winner of AGU's 1991 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism for his article “The World's Water,” which appeared in the November 5, 1990, issue of Time. Linden's article was selected from 25 entries. He is the second winner of AGU's competition, which was established in 1989 to stimulate and recognize excellence in science journalism and to improve the public's understanding and appreciation of geophysics. Linden will receive $2000 and a commemorative plaque, to be presented to him on May 29 during AGU's Spring Meeting in Baltimore, Md. Time Magazine will also receive a plaque.
James Dungey receives Fleming Medal
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

James W. Dungey was awarded the John Adam Fleming Medal for original research and technical leadership in geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity, aeronomy, and related sciences, on May 29 at the annual Spring Meeting Honors Night in Baltimore, Md.
Directory of Japanese researchers available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The National Center for Science Information System Japanese Scientific and Engineering Database Access Project, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Japan's NACSIS, has added four new databases to its free service, bringing the total number of available databases to 13.

The new Directory of Japanese Researchers covers researchers affiliated with Japanese universities and academic research centers. Each researcher is listed by name, date of birth, organizational affiliation, education and degrees, memberships and awards, areas of specialization, and representative publications. Non‐Japanese researchers are also covered.
Why radiation belts exist
Authors: Van Allen James A.
Published: October 2006

In this article, I describe some of the reasons for the existence of radiation belts around the Earth and other planets and some of their basic properties. A radiation belt is an important component of a larger and more complex physical system called a magnetosphere. In another article in this series [see sidebar] the similarities and differences among the diverse and dynamic planetary magnetospheres that have been investigated thus far will be discussed in a more general context.

A magnetosphere is that region surrounding a planet within which the planet's intrinsic magnetic field has an important role in physical phenomena involving electrically charged particles. But even unmagnetized planets, satellites of planets, comets, and (presumably) asteroids exhibit similar rudimentary plasma physical effects. The Earth's magnetosphere extends about 10 planetary radii toward the Sun and hundreds of times that far in the direction away from the Sun. Its outer boundaries and much of its physical dynamics are attributed to the solar wind—the tenuous, ionized, magnetized gas (plasma) that flows outward from the solar corona through interplanetary space. The solar wind does not readily penetrate the geomagnetic field but compresses and confines the field around the Earth. The sunward boundary is located where the external pressure of the flowing solar wind equals the internal pressure of the geomagnetic field. A complex process of interconnection of the solar wind's magnetic field and the geomagnetic field stretches out the magnetic field in the direction away from the Sun, creating the long magnetotail.
Flux transfer events and reconnection at the magnetopause
Authors: Gonzalez W. D.
Published: October 2006

For the general reader on magnetopause reconnection, it would appear that mixed information is coming from the global and quasi‐steady type of large‐scale reconnection (LSR) models and from the “patchy” and transient character of models related to flux transfer events (FTEs). I will attempt here to address complementary aspects of both types of models, with the goal of moving toward a unified model of magnetopause reconnection.

Motivated by the Eos article on transient reconnection at the magnetopause by Lockwood et al. [1990] as well as by a previous article on the subject by Lee [1988], both of which serve to summarize a large body of work since the initial papers on FTEs or “flux erosion events” by Russell and Elphic [1979] and Haerendel et al. [1978], I would like to comment on two aspects involving FTEs and LSR [Petschek, 1964; Gonzalez and Mozer, 1974; Vasyliunas, 1975; Forbes and Priest, 1987; Sonnerup, 1984, 1988].
The greenhouse debate: Time for action?
Authors: Risbey James S. , Handel Mark David , Stone Peter H.
Published: October 2006

In recent years, debate has intensified over whether to act now or delay actions that would reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. In a recent contribution to this debate in Nature, Schlesinger and Jiang [1991] conclude that “the penalty is small for a 10‐year delay in initiating the transition to a regime in which greenhouse‐gas emissions are reduced.” This conclusion is premature, since these authors did not consider a number of pertinent factors.

Schlesinger and Jiang used a simple energy‐ balance climate model with an upwelling‐ diffusion ocean to examine the surface temperature response to transitions between various Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [Houghton et al., 1990] trace gas scenarios. They found that “a delay of 10 years in initiating a 20‐year transition from the IPCC [business as usual] scenario to any other IPCC scenario has only a small effect on the projected warming in 2100.” From this they concluded that “the penalty for a 10‐year delay is small.” We offer several reasons why we think this is a non sequitur.
Toward a standardized definition of geomagnetic sudden impulses and storm sudden commencements
Authors: Kamide Y. , Joselyn J. A.
Published: October 2006

In an attempt to resolve some ambiguity in defining geomagnetic sudden impulses (Sis) and storm sudden commencements (SSCs) using the existing phenomenological definition (see, for example, Mayaud and Romana [1977]; Mayaud [1980]), Joselyn and Tsurutani [1990] recently constructed a scheme in which SSCs are a subset of Sis, depending on the magnitude of subsequent geomagnetic activity. For quantitative application, they have proposed that an SI be specified as a sharp change (at least 10 nT in 3 minutes or less) observed nearly simultaneously (within a few minutes) in either component of the horizontal magnetic field at globally spaced observatories near 20° geomagnetic latitude. In addition, SSCs are those Sis followed within 24 hours by an hourly Dst index of at least −50 nT. Because the Dst index is not readily available, the recommended provisional alternative indicators are a 3‐hourly Kp index of 5 or more and a half‐daily a a index of 60 or more. Joselyn and Tsurutani [1990] have recommended these new quantitative definitions of the two terms (Sis and SSCs) for open discussion.
Climate and history in the late 18th and early 19th centuries
Authors: Feldman Theodore S.
Published: October 2006

As in many areas of human knowledge, the notion of climate acquired a deeper historical content around the turn of the 19th century. Natural philosophers, geographers, and others became increasingly aware of climate's own history and its relation to human, plant and animal, and Earth history. This article examines several aspects of this “historicization” of climate.

The lively 18th century discussion of the influence of climate on society is well known. Montesquieu is its most famous representative, but Voltaire, Hume, Kant, and others also participated. Their debate was literary more than scientific, their goal the understanding of man, not climate. Partly for this reason and partly because of the lack of good information on climates, they made no attempt to gather substantial climatic data. In fact, the importance of systematically collecting reliable data was scarcely understood in any area of natural philosophy before the last decades of the century [Cf. Frängsmyr et al., 1990; Feldman, 1990]. Instead, participants in the debate repeated commonplaces dating from Aristotle and Hippocrates and based their conclusions on unreliable reports from travelers. As Glacken wrote of Montesquieu, “his dishes are from old and well‐tested recipes” [Glacken, 1967, chapter 12]. This is not to say that the debate over climatic influence was not significant—only that its significance lay more in the history of man than in the atmospheric sciences.
Earmarking draws fire
Authors: Leath Audrey T. , Jones Richard
Published: October 2006

Earmarking will be a hotly debated issue in Congress next year. At a time when federal research dollars are scarce, key representatives and senators are turning to earmarking as a guaranteed, no‐competition source of federal funding for research activities in their states and districts. Senator Sam Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is expected to be a leader in renewed efforts to reduce earmarking. During last November's Senate consideration of HR 2521, the Defense Appropriations Bill for FY 1992, Nunn spoke at length about earmarking of funds.

“There are numerous earmarkings for defense research money for special projects at specific universities and colleges,” Nunn said. “What makes this most objectionable is the explicit direction by the conferees to waive existing federal statutes that require these types of awards to be made on the basis of a fair and open competition. In fact, the appropriation conference report specifically prohibits competition for $94.6 million in funding that is directed in 16 colleges and universities in 12 states.”
Advancing information technology at AGU
Authors: Clauer C. Robert
Published: October 2006

Since its inception in 1990, AGU's Information Technology Committee has been charged with considering and advising the Union on applications of established and emerging technology to Union activities. The committee has focused its attention on electronic access to AGU information and services, advanced publication technology and ways that AGU can assist members in preparing author‐produced manuscripts, considered a new journal to publish numerical methods and algorithms related to geophysical and space sciences, and made recommendations regarding a Union position on the development of the National Research and Educational Network (NREN). Current members of the committee include Ray Walker (chair), Ray Arvidson, Bob Clauer, Jeff Dozier, Bill Emery, Jim Green, Andy Lazarewicz, Russ Merrill, and J. Bernard Minster.

The improvement of Kosmos, AGU's electronic communication and information system, is considered by the committee to be of fundamental importance because Kosmos provides basic electronic access to AGU information and products. A Kosmos connection is available through PINET, which is operated by the American Institute of Physics. Using Kosmos on PINET provides access to a variety of data bases, including the AGU membership directory, meetings information, and various geophysical and political news. Connection to PINET may be made through the TCP/IP Internet (pinet.aip.org) or through SPRINTNET. Local access numbers for SPRINTNET can be obtained by calling 800‐336‐0437. The AGU computer is also now directly connected to the TCP/IP Internet (kosmos.agu.org).
New report on global geodesy network
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

The National Research Council recently issued a report, “International Global Network of Fiducial Stations: Scientific and Implementation Issues,” written by the Panel on a Global Network of Fiducial Sites.

The panel strongly endorsed the use of a global network for research on important geophysical issues‐sea‐level change, postglacial rebound, and the monitoring of tectonic plate motion and deformation. “These topics cannot be tackled, however, until other, more purely geodetic problems are solved,” the report noted.
Magellan is back
Authors: Simarski Lynn Teo
Published: October 2006

NASA plans to put Magellan back to work mapping Venus on January 24, using a backup transponder to transmit radar data back to Earth. The spacecraft's primary transponder failed January 4. At this point, the backup unit is only able to send data at approximately 43% of the previous rate, which will restrict mapping coverage. NASA engineers predict that the backup unit will be able to operate at full capacity again by January 24.

Magellan is beginning its third mapping cycle, in which “we'll try to fill in the remaining data gaps, and we'll try to revisit, for stereo imaging, areas that appear to be of particular scientific value,” said David Okerson, mission program engineer. The spacecraft will be able to map, in stereo, the Maxwell Montes area, including the highest mountain on Venus. The transponder glitches made Magellan miss the Ushas area, which Okerson said will be mapped at the end of the third cycle.
USGS collects ice core through Alpine glacier
Authors: Naftz David L. , Miller Kirk A.
Published: October 2006

On August 24, 1991, a U.S. Geological Survey study team from Wyoming completed a core hole to bedrock underlying Upper Fremont Glacier in the Wind River Range of central Wyoming. During the month of core drilling, the team collected a 160‐m ice core from the glacier at an elevation of 4000 m above sea level using a solar‐powered thermal drill (See photo). The drill was constructed and operated by personnel from the Polar Ice Coring Office (PICO) in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The 1991 drilling project is part of ongoing research conducted by the USGS since 1988 on temperate glaciers in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. The objective of the project is to use variations in concentrations of chemical and isotopic constituents in samples of ice cores to reconstruct records of the chemical quality of atmospheric deposition and to extend long‐term climatic records. A maximum of 300–500 years of record is estimated to be available in upper accumulation zones of the Wind River Range glaciers. The proximity of the Wind River Range glaciers to atmospheric pollution sources in the western United States makes them unique environmental records. Cooperating in the project were the Shoshone and Arapaho Indian tribes, Wyoming Water Development Commission, PICO, Wyoming State Engineer, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Soviet/U.S./Canadian cooperative cruises successful
Authors: Hein James R. , Keigwin Lloyd
Published: October 2006

Three legs of an expedition aboard the Soviet ship R/V Akademik Alexandr Vinogradov involving the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences and several U.S. and Canadian groups were successfully completed between April and July 1991. The cooperative program was initiated in 1988 by Mikhail F. Stashchuk, who headed the Processes of Mineral Formation Laboratory at the Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI), U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, and James R. Hein of the U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif. Stashchuk, a renowned Soviet geologist and geochemist, passed away on March 5 at age 60.
AGU Congressional Fellow's Impressions of Capitol Hill
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Vivian Pan, AGUs Congressional Science Fellow for 1991–1992, is serving on the staff of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. Here she reflects on her first few months in Washington.

This fellowship is a genuine opportunity. I came to Washington with expectations of playing a role in some of the issues facing Congress. Having worked only in scientific research for the past 8 years and having no experience in public policy, I faced an enormous challenge. I arrived in Washington in late August to find policymakers scrambling about trying to keep pace with the changing global environment. This was exemplified during my 1‐month orientation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. We Fellows undergoing the orientation—scientists and engineers from different fields—heard from policy specialists on issues facing the 102nd Congress. It is no exaggeration to say that our guest lecturers were literally searching for words. Their prepared talks on national security and foreign policy issues were outdated overnight.