bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ocean acoustics research figures in debate about protecting marine mammals
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A recent U.S. Senate committee hearing about the re‐authorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 focused on one word; harassment.

Concern about whether anthropogenically produced underwater noise actually harasses or even may be involved in the deaths of some marine mammals has become a heated issue which has led to recent lawsuits and court rulings to halt or restrict some scientific research and U.S. naval operations. (See Eos, 29 April 2003).

At a 16 July hearing, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R‐Maine), chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, said a balance needs to be found between research needs and military readiness on one hand, and protection of marine mammals on the other hand.
[Comment on barren lands: An epic search for diamonds in the North American Arctic Klondike]
Authors: Stern David P.
Published: October 2006

In the book review of Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic (Eos, 13 May 2003), one sentence caught my eye:“the man who triggered a mining stampede not seen since the Klondike Gold Rush of 1849.”
In search of long‐term trends in ocean color
Authors: Antoine David , Morel André , Gentili Bernard , Gordon Howard R. , Banzon Viva F. , Evans Robert H. , Brown James W. , Walsh Susan , Baringer Warner , Li Angel
Published: October 2006

There is an ongoing debate regarding the role of phytoplankton within the ocean carbon cycle, and the role of biology in possibly capturing part of the excess CO2 produced by human activities.

Without entering this debate, this article takes a few simple facts as granted; e.g., that the transfer of CO2 from the atmosphere toward the ocean interior mediated by photosynthesis (the so‐called “biological pump”) is active, so that any evolution of its strength or structure could impact the CO2 exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere.
Comment on “Discussions of ODP Leg 205 and drilling of Middle America Seismogenic Zone”
Authors: Murdock James N.
Published: October 2006

Von Huene et al. [2003] outline a plan to study convergent margin processes in the Middle America Trench area. They describe the area as mainly an “erosional convergent margin,” which they represent as a fundamental feature of the circum‐Pacific. The concept of tectonic erosion at this type of hypothetical margin has been reviewed by von Huene and Scholl [1991]. They portray tectonic erosion (or “subduction erosion”) to be occurring in a thrust fault zone located at the base of the landward wall of a trench. Tectonic erosion and subduction assisted by pore‐pressure phenomena, alluded to in the subject article, are used to explain the perceived absence of material in the forearc—for example, absence of byproducts of thrust faulting such as accreted oceanic rocks and accreted trench fill. The concept of tectonic erosion is based on and requires the major thrust fault of the plate tectonic model. The fault accommodates the assumed long‐term (millions of years), continuous, rapid convergence of the plates. This model convergence balances reported seafloor spreading.
Advancing ideas, methods in interdisciplinary climate change research for New Ph.D.s
Authors: Friddell Julie , Blenckner Thorsten
Published: October 2006

The global environmental changes that the Earth is experiencing today impact the smallest of organisms to global biogeochemical cycles. Climate change, one of the most noticeable alterations, is at least partly caused by our influence on worldwide physical, chemical, and biological systems. Climate change also has strong implications for political, economic, and social policy. Because climate change affects such a wide variety of disciplines and people, pursuing research in this field requires an interdisciplinary approach. This need to simultaneously understand climate change and forecast and effectively deal with its impacts on present and future generations presents a great challenge to the global research community.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘When Earth's freezer door is left ajar’”]
Authors: Gildor Hezi
Published: October 2006

I share, of course, the concerns of Richard Alley regarding the future of the Earth glaciers under future global warming (and of the glaciologists' well‐being). As mentioned in Gildor [2003] and Tziperman and Gildor [2003], we expect the temperature‐precipitation feedback [Le‐Treut and Gildor, 1983] to hold up to some limit temperature. Obviously, ice sheets need to have snow fall over them in order to grow. At temperatures in which more and more of the precipitation falls as rain instead of snow, the actual accumulation over continental ice sheets will decrease with increasing temperature.
Working toward improved small‐scale sea ice‐ocean modeling in the Arctic seas
Authors: Wang Jia , Kwok Ron , Saucier Francois J. , Hutchings Jennifer , Ikeda Moto , Hibler William , Haapala Jari , Coon Max D. , Meier H. E. Markus , Eicken Hajo , Tanaka Nori , Prentki Dick , Johnson Walter
Published: October 2006

Until recently the main motivation in sea ice modeling has been toward the development of large‐scale models for climate studies. These models describe sea ice as a plastic material, with a smooth yield surface and ice strength dependent on a thickness distribution that is based on statistical representations of sea ice deformation through ridging. With tuning, they are found to reproduce ice extent and concentration in the Arctic and Antarctic, though velocity fields are overly smooth and many details, such as polynyas and leads, are not captured.

There is increasing interest in regional ice modeling. In the near‐shore Beaufort and Chukchi seas, there is considerable interest from the oil industry in the formation and breakup of landfast ice, the propagation of oil spills, and prediction of sea ice conditions. The importance of resolving eddies in the ocean and modeling small‐scale (sub‐10‐km) sea ice processes is becoming apparent, as we begin to understand the non‐linear effect of small‐scale processes on the large‐scale motion. Recently, there have been advances in the direction of small‐scale process research and regional ice‐ocean model development. The most pertinent of these are outlined in this article.
Geodesy: The Challenge of the Third Millennium
Authors: Bendick Rebecca
Published: October 2006

Like many of my colleagues in the burgeoning field of geodesy I primarily apply geodetic techniques toward illuminating tectonic and geophysical problems. In doing so, I must confess that I often take the underlying methods of measurement and analysis for granted, assuming that surface velocity and surface strain observations are the fundamental data of our science.

Geodesy: The Challenge of the Third Millenniumreminds me that the science of geodesy encompasses a much wider range of endeavor upon which recent innovations depend greatly. It reminds me, too, that the derived geodetic products I use are the result of a long sequence of scientific discovery and innovation in fields as disparate as statistics, electronics, mathematics, and basic physics. This discovery continues today in the work of the authors who contributed to this volume.
Enrollment in graduate geosciences programs appears unaffected by changes in U.S. Immigration Regulations
Authors: Jacobs Judy
Published: October 2006

This is the first of a series about how academic programs and research in the geosciences in the United States have been affected by tightened U.S. immigration regulations
Chapman Conference on Time Scales of Geomagnetic Field
Authors: Geissman John , Channell Jim
Published: October 2006

An AGU Chapman Conference, “Time scales of the Geomagnetic Field,” was held recently on the 70th birthday of Neil D. Opdyke, professor at the University of Florida, as a tribute to his outstanding contributions to the Earth sciences over more than 4 decades. Seventy‐five participants, a quarter of whom came from outside North America, registered for the meeting and took part in the scientific sessions.

The meeting was organized into three topics, each of which occupied a day of lectures and posters.
New voting procedures for 2004–2006 elections
Authors: Filmer Paul
Published: October 2006

Your feedback from the first electronic election triggered improvements in the ballot and in election services. AGU Headquarters, with oversight by the Tellers Committee, will streamline election procedures and make the whole process more user‐friendly In November and December 2003, you will be able to cast your votes for the officers of your choice from among the 58 candidates by going to a secure Web site or by requesting a paper ballot.

In early November, all AGU members will receive an e‐mail message that contains instructions for voting. The URL for the ballot site will be published in Eos and voting booths will be available at the Fall Meeting in December. To log into the site, you will only need your membership number. Paper ballots will be available through the AGU Service Center.
New Mexico votes for strong science education standards
Authors: Folger Peter
Published: October 2006

On 28 August, the New Mexico State School Board voted unanimously to adopt science education standards which keep biological evolution as a centerpiece of scientific knowledge. The school board voted 13‐0 for the standards, which were strongly endorsed by scientific and educational organizations. This defeated efforts by intelligent design creationists to insert alternate language downplaying the treatment of evolution in the curriculum.

Scientists in New Mexico helped develop the standards and stayed active in defending them against the creationists. Numerous scientific organizations, including AGU, signed letters in support of the standards, and urged the school board members to cast a skeptical eye on a recent poll conducted by creationists purporting to show New Mexico scientists' support for intelligent design.
Carbon sequestration partnerships
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The U.S. Department of Energy named seven regional partnerships on 16 August to study the best methods for the non‐biological sequestration of carbon in different parts of the country.

DOE will provide about $11.1 million to these partnerships over the next 2 years, with participating organizations expected to contribute an additional $7 million.
Comment on “Are noctilucent clouds truly a “Miner's Canary” for Global Change?”
Authors: Thomas Gary E. , Olivero John J. , Deland Mathew , Shettle Eric P.Eric P.
Published: October 2006

A recent Eos article [von Zahn, 2003] has challenged the notion that Noctilucent Clouds may be a “miner's canary” of global change [Thomas, 1996]. We first note our terminology: we use the generic term Mesospheric Clouds (MC) to denote this phenomenon encompassing both the terms Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC) and Noctilucent Clouds (NLC). In this article, we address his specific criticisms on a point‐by‐point basis. We critically address his assertion that available data sets derived from satellite measurements of cloud radiance are too short for assessing long‐term trends. We argue that his inference of large and irregular natural variability of MC is based on statistically‐unreliable data from the older literature. We show from published space‐based data that substantial interdecadal trends are present in MC brightness. We point out that MC heights (which have apparently remained constant) are not necessarily sensitive indicators of changes of MC properties. Finally we address the question of attribution, raised by von Zahn. We argue that the space observations are readily explained by well‐documented water vapor variability.
Program fosters advances in shallow‐water acoustics in southeastern Asia
Authors: Ramp S. R. , Lynch J. F. , Dahl P. H. , Chiu C.‐S. , Simmen J. A.
Published: October 2006

Two impressive field programs were recently completed in the South and East China Seas as part of the Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment (ASIAEX). Under the direction of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), scientists from several countries joined together to collect unique and high‐quality acoustical, oceanographic, and geophysical data at the same place and time, enabling underwater acoustic fluctuations to be understood and modeled at the space and time scales of interest. A comprehensive field effort such as this one is required to decipher the cause and effect between environmental and acoustic variability which exist on a wide range of time and space scales.

Groundwork for the two largest experiments of ASIAEX was laid with preliminary survey and studies of spring in 2000. In 2000 in the East China Sea (ECS), a 21‐day cruise on the R/V Revelle allowed extensive geophysical surveys of the upper sea floor using chirp sonars and a low‐frequency air gun, as well as allowing some sampling of the physical oceanography. In the same year in the South China Sea (SCS), a SeaSoar survey aboard the R/V Ocean Researcher 1 delineated the major meso‐scale features of the northeastern SCS, while a limited moored array obtained a first look at the dramatic non‐linear internal waves. These pilot field studies proved indispensable when designing the two main field programs that were executed in spring 2001.
Farthest, Faintest detection of a comet
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Astronomers searching for small Trans‐Neptunian Objects announced on 1 September that they have captured the most distant observation ever made of a comet, and also the faintest comet observation.

The object happens to be Halley's Comet, which scientists at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Paranal, Chile, have detected at a heliocentric distance of 28.06 AU.
Identifying future directions for subsurface hydrocarbon migration research
Authors: Leifer I. , Clark J. F. , Luyendyk B. , Valentine D.
Published: October 2006

Subsurface hydrocarbon migration is important for understanding the input and impacts of natural hydrocarbon seepage on the environment. Great uncertainties remain in most aspects of hydrocarbon migration, including some basic mechanisms of this four‐phase flow of tar, oil, water, and gas through the complex fracture‐network geometry particularly since the phases span a wide range of properties. Academic, government, and industry representatives recently attended a workshop to identify the areas of greatest need for future research in shallow hydrocarbon migration.

Novel approaches such as studying temporal and spatial seepage variations and analogous geofluid systems (e.g., geysers and trickle beds) allow deductions of subsurface processes and structures that remain largely unclear. Unique complexities exist in hydrocarbon migration due to its multiphase flow and complex geometry, including in‐situ biological weathering. Furthermore, many aspects of the role of hydrocarbons (positive and negative) in the environment are poorly understood, including how they enter the food chain (respiration, consumption, etc.) and “percolate” to higher trophic levels. But understanding these ecological impacts requires knowledge of the emissions' temporal and spatial variability and trajectories.
Unique data repository facilitates ocean color satellite validation
Authors: Werdell P. Jeremy , Bailey Sean , Fargion Giulietta , Pietras Christophe , Knobelspiesse Kirk , Feldman Gene , McClain Charles
Published: October 2006

The oceans play a critical role in the Earth's climate, but unfortunately the extent of this role is only partially understood. One major obstacle is the difficulty associated with making high‐quality globally distributed observations, a feat that is nearly impossible using only ships and other ocean‐based platforms. The data collected by satellite‐borne ocean color instruments, however, provide environmental scientists a synoptic look at the productivity and variability of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere, respectively on high‐resolution temporal and spatial scales.

Three such instruments, the Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐view Sensor (SeaWiFS) onboard ORBIMAGE's OrbView‐2 satellite, and two Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) onboard the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's (NASA) Terra and Aqua satellites, have been in continuous operation since September 1997, February 2000, and June 2002, respectively. To facilitate the assembly of a suitably accurate data set for climate research, members of the NASA Sensor Inter‐comparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) Project and SeaWiFS Project Offices devote significant attention to the calibration and validation of these and other ocean color instruments. This article briefly presents results from the SIMBIOS and SeaWiFS Project Office's (SSPO) satellite ocean color validation activities and describes the SeaWiFS Bio‐optical Archive and Storage System (SeaBASS),a state‐of‐the‐art system for archiving, cataloging, and distributing the in situ data used in these activities.
Abandoned mines, mountain sports, and climate variability: Implications for the Colorado tourism economy
Authors: Todd Andrew , McKnight Diane , Wyatt Lane
Published: October 2006

Until recently, the allure of the mountains in the American West was primarily extractive, for commodities like timber, water, and precious metals [Baron et. al., 2000]. Now, the effective marketing and management of the regions “white gold” by the ski industry has stimulated significant recreation‐related growth and development in the last several decades. Under an uncertain climatic future, however, these burgeoning industries, and the communities that have grown up in relation to them, are facing water quality constraints inherited from historical mining practices, causing mountain water to become a limited resource more valuable than the precious metals of the past. Further, the current lack of proven, in‐situ approaches for addressing distributed, mining waste pollution of fresh water complicates potential remediation efforts.
Different views of the Grand Canyon
Authors: Elders Wilfred A.
Published: October 2006

Each year the spectacular scenery of the Grand Canyon of Arizona awes its more than 4,000,000 visitors. Just as its enormous scale dwarfs our human sense of space, its geology also dwarfs our human sense of time. Perhaps here, more than anywhere else on the planet, we can experience a sense of “Deep Time.” The colorful rocks exposed in the vertical walls of the canyon display a span of 1.8 billion years of Earth's history [Beus and Morales, 2003]. But wait! There is a different view! According to Vail [2003], this time span is only 6,000 years and the Grand Canyon and its rocks are a record of the Biblical 6 days of creation and Noah's flood. During a visit to Grand Canyon, in August 2003, I learned that Vail's book, Grand Canyon: A Different View, is being sold within the National Park.
[Comment on “Anonymous reviews: Self‐serving, counterproductive, and unacceptable”] No anonymity for associate editors
Authors: Geller Robert J.
Published: October 2006

In an ideal world, I would agree with the recent letters to Eos by M. Beck (1 July), C.J. Robinove (29 July), and R. E. Criss, and A. M. Hofmeister (29 July) calling for all reviews by referees and associate editors (AEs) to be signed. But in an ideal world, they as well as the rest of us, would invariably be fined for petty infractions such as exceeding the speed limit by even 1 km/hr, so it might not be much fun to live there. Human nature being what it is, offering anonymity to referees is probably necessary to ensure the smooth operation of journals.

The above correspondents did not distinguish between the problems created by anonymous referees and those created by anonymous AEs, but I believe this is an important distinction. The AGU publication guidelines state that the editor is the sole judge of what is accepted and what is rejected, while all other opinions are advisory. This is fine in theory but may not always reflect reality. When there is, say, only one editor assisted by a team of 20 to 30 AEs, as a practical matter, the AEs are the real decision‐makers and the editor cannot possibly find the time to study each manuscript carefully.
New “voice” assists in learning science
Authors: Grant Shermonta L.
Published: October 2006

“Moments of Discovery” is the latest addition to the award‐winning online “Exhibit Hall” series of the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics. The “Discovery” online module aims to assist in teaching science to students by using the actual voices of leading scientists to delve into how major discoveries are made.

Designed for the classroom and suitable for individual study (with presentation and discussion taking approximately 2 days), the exhibit provides extensive teachers' guides to help instructors utilize the modules, which are geared toward science courses in secondary schools or at the beginning college level.
Comments on “Anonymous reviews”
Authors: Forel David
Published: October 2006

I recently read four letters in Eos against anonymous reviews and zero letters for. I feel the need to add one to zero. When I started reviewing manuscripts, I had the ethical choice of whether or not to sign my name. After some thought, I decided I would not. Today, I feel the same for the same reason: I do not want people to think about who I am; I want them to think about what I write. R.E. Criss and A.M. Hofmeister would have me throw off my “cloak of secrecy—the costume of crooks.” Would seeing my face make my argument clearer or is it an excuse to judge the messenger?
Sea Legs
Authors: Macdonald Kenneth C.
Published: October 2006

Forty‐foot, storm‐swept seas, Spitzbergen polar bears roaming vast expanses of Arctic ice, furtive exchanges of forbidden manuscripts in Cold War Moscow, the New York city fashion scene, diving in mini‐subs to the sea floor hot srings, life with the astronauts, romance and heartbreak, and invading the last bastions of male exclusivity: all are present in this fast‐moving, non‐fiction account of one woman' fascinating adventures in the world of marine geology and oceanography.
Accounts from 19th‐century Canadian Arctic explorers' logs reflect present climate conditions
Authors: Overland James E. , Wood Kevin
Published: October 2006

The widely perceived failure of 19th‐century expeditions to find and transit the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic is often attributed to extraordinary cold climatic conditions associated with the “Little Ice Age” evident in proxy records. However, examination of 44 explorers' logs for the western Arctic from 1818 to 1910 reveals that climate indicators such as navigability, the distribution and thickness of annual sea ice, monthly surface air temperature, and the onset of melt and freeze were within the present range of variability.

The quest for the Northwest Passage through the Canadian archipelago during the 19th century is frequently seen as a vain and tragic failure. Polar exploration during the Victorian era seems to us today to have been a costly exercise in heroic futility, which in many respects it was. This perspective has been reinforced since the 1970s, when paleoclimate reconstructions based on Arctic ice core stratigraphy appeared to confirm the existence of exceptionally cold conditions consistent with the period glaciologists had termed the “Little Ice Age” (Figure 1a), with temperatures more than one standard deviation colder relative to an early 20th‐century mean [Koerner, 1977; Koerner and Fisher, 1990; Overpeck et al., 1998]. In recent years, the view of the Little Ice Age as a synchronous worldwide and prolonged cold epoch that ended with modern warming has been questioned [Bradley and Jones, 1993; Jones and Briffa, 2001 ;Ogilvie, 2001].
Dramatic end to Galileo mission to Jupiter
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Galileo, a workhorse NASA spacecraft that overcame numerous technical difficulties to provide important discoveries about the Jovian system, ended its 14‐year, 4.6 billion‐km mission by plunging into Jupiter's atmosphere on 21 September.

With the 5.3‐m‐high spacecraft running low on propellant, navigators set its final trajectory to avoid any potential impact or contamination of Europa, a Jovian moon that was found during the mission to likely harbor a sub‐surface ocean.
The Geographical Dimension of Terrorism
Authors: Hawkins Houston T.
Published: October 2006

The events of September 11 ushered us all into a world in which our security and sense of invulnerability were savagely replaced by vulnerability and irrational fear. To the delight of our adversaries who planned these attacks, we often responded in ways that furthered their agenda by weakening the cultural colossus that we call home. Normally terrorism is viewed as intense but localized violence. Seldom is terrorism viewed in its more expansive dimensions. It is burned into our collective memories as a collapsed building, a shattered bus, an incinerated nightclub, or facilities closed by a few anthrax‐laced letters. However, terrorism must be studied in dimensions larger than the view from a news camera. This conclusion forms the intellectual basis for The Geographical Dimension of Terrorism.
NSF Geosciences Advisory Committee solicits input
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Geosciences Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is soliciting the views and concerns of the geosciences community in advance of the committee's fall meeting. This is scheduled for 12–14 November at NSF's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. At this meeting, the committee will consider current and future geoscience plans and programs; reports from the Committee of Visitors; priority areas in cooperation with other NSF directorates; cyberinfrastructure issues; and additional topics of relevance to the geosciences community.

The chair and members welcome and solicit the views and concerns of the geosciences community so they may better represent their constituencies at upcoming meetings of the committee.
Kamchatkan volcanic eruption team celebrates tenth anniversary at Workshop
Authors: Neal Christina A.
Published: October 2006

Awareness of the hazards to aviation posed by explosive volcanic eruptions worldwide increased significantly in the 1980s and 1990s. On Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, 29 active volcanoes lie beneath and upwind of the heavily used airways of the North Pacific. Systematic monitoring and timely reporting of Kamchatkan volcanic activity geared toward the aviation community was largely lacking until 1993, when a collaborative effort between the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO; a joint project of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska‐Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys) and the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry (IVGG) prompted formation of the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT).
SST data improve modeling of North American monsoon rainfall
Authors: Gao X. , Sorooshian S. , Li J. , Xu J.
Published: October 2006

The North American Monsoon System (NAMS) is the large‐scale atmospheric circulation that results from complex ocean‐atmosphere‐land interactions. It strongly modulates the summer weather/climate over Mexico and the southwestern United States. From June to September, NAMS precipitation provides much‐needed water for the semi‐arid region, and is also the cause of frequent severe weather involving damaging winds, hail, lightning, and hydrological hazards, such as flash floods. In recent decades, the southwestern United States has experienced significant economic and population growth. Regional communities and agencies place strong demands on weather, climate, and hydrologic forecasters in an effort to better manage their water resources.
International summer course in geobiology gives emerging field a boost
Authors: Berelson William
Published: October 2006

Educators are always concerned with the quality of graduate courses and the fate of their graduate students. When my father wrote Graduate Education in the United States [Berelson, 1960], graduate students learned from lectures, lab, and technical assignments; they learned from one‐on‐one tutoring, from their fellow students, and they learned by taking on challenging research topics and producing and presenting justifiable results. That educational style hasn't changed. But in the 1950s and 1960s, there was no interdisciplinary graduate course taught on Catalina Island in which students and instructors mingled during kayak trips, mountain hikes, and during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
U.S. warms to Law of the Sea treaty
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The United States is moving closer to ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, with the Bush Administration bestowing its blessings, and a broad spectrum of interest groups expressing support during recent U.S. Senate hearings. They said that the convention, with some minor clarification, supports U.S. defense, homeland security, and resource, scientific, and environmental goals.

John Turner, assistant secretary of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the State Department, said that becoming a party to the convention “represents the highest priority of United States international oceans policy.” He spoke at a 21 October hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Experts warn against cutting NOAA Space Weather Center
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A well‐timed congressional hearing, coming in the midst of fierce geomagnetic storms, could help to restore funding to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center (SEC).

The center, which is the nation's official source of space weather alerts and warnings, currently is funded at $5.24 million for fiscal year 2003. That amount is $2 million less than it received the previous year. The Bush Administration has requested $8.02 million in funding. The appropriations bill, for the departments of Commerce, Justice, and State for fiscal year 2004, passed on 23 July by the House of Representatives, calls for funding the SEC at the $5.29 million level.
A coastal and marine digital library at USGS
Authors: Lightsom Fran
Published: October 2006

The Marine Realms Information Bank (MRIB) is a distributed geolibrary [NRC, 1999] from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), whose purpose is to classify, integrate, and facilitate access to Earth systems science information about ocean, lake, and coastal environments. Core MRIB services are: (1) the search and display of information holdings by place and subject, and (2) linking of information assets that exist in remote physical locations.

The design of the MRIB features a classification system to integrate information from remotely maintained sources. This centralized catalogue organizes information using 12 criteria: locations, geologic time, physiographic features, biota, disciplines, research methods, hot topics, project names, agency names, authors, content type, and file type. For many of these fields, MRIB has developed classification hierarchies.
Reply [to Comment on “Chapman and Alfven: A rigorous mathematical physicist versus an inspirational experimental physicist”]
Authors: Akasofu Syun‐Ichi
Published: October 2006

My article was not intended to be a history of magnetospheric research and magnetic storm study; in fact, I do not wish to be a historian. The purpose of my article was to point out only the veryroot of the Chapman‐Allven controversy at its outset. I concluded that it was a confrontation of a rigorous mathematical physicist versus an inspirational experimental physicist, as the title of my article indicates.
Atmospheric Chemistry in a Changing World
Authors: Brune William H.
Published: October 2006

The world is changing,and the atmosphere's composition is changing with it. Human activity is responsible for much of this. Global population growth and migration to urban centers, extensive biomass burning, the spread of fertilizer‐intensive agribusiness, globalization of business and industry, rising standards of living in the developing world, and increased energy use fuels atmospheric change. If current practices continue, atmospheric increases are likely for the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide; and for the chemically active gases nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide,and ammonia. Increases in global tropospheric ozone and aerosols are a distinct possibility.
Dealing with the increased problems associated with trans‐boundary water
Authors: Lakshmi Venkat
Published: October 2006

Water is an essential natural resource that is used by all living organisms. Local and regional shortages of clean water have started to occur at an (alarmingly) increasing frequency. The purpose of this Forum is to heighten awareness of the issues and possible strategies to comprehend—and possibly solve—the water shortage crises.
Outstanding student award
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGU's Mineral and Rock Physics Focus Group will formerly present their 2003 Outstanding Student Award to Annette Kleppe at the M&RP‐SEDI Reception. The reception will be held 9 December, during the 2003 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California.
The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science
Authors: Marsh Bruce
Published: October 2006

Frankly, I was offended at the outset by two things about this book: the title and the blurb about the author. It is one thing for the Chicago Press to put out a book on the technical details of style. After all, someone has to layout more than anyone would ever possibly need to know on the exactitudes of how to quote, reference, and punctuate. But what on Earth could Chicago ever tell us about how to write, review, and illustrate a scientific paper, proposal, or technical report? And, even more, what do they know about giving a riveting talk? Would this be the Midwestern version of how to present science? Will rival accounts follow from California, Massachusetts, and England? Who should we take seriously about something at which we already take ourselves to be masterful?
Probing geodynamic processes beneath the sea floor
Authors: Forsyth Donald W. , Detrick Robert S.
Published: October 2006

A new initiative in oceanic mantle dynamics is being designed to test geodynamic models of plate tectonics and convection with a new generation of higher‐resolution observations in the oceans. The plate tectonic revolution provided a quantitative kinematic framework for describing geodynamic processes in the solid Earth. Three and one‐half decades of geological, geophysical, and geochemical observations since this revolution, coupled with increasingly sophisticated numerical models of mantle dynamics, have led to an increased understanding of how plate tectonics works and how convection stirs the interior of the Earth. However, within this broad framework, many fundamental questions remain regarding the structure, composition, and dynamics of the sub‐oceanic mantle.
Investigation‐stimulated discussion sections make geoscience more relevant in large lecture class
Authors: Butler Eric M. , Bierman Paul R. , Gajda Rebecca H.
Published: October 2006

Have you ever posed a question to a large introductory lecture class and been greeted by silence in return?

Do you look out across the lecture hall and find half the seats empty on an average day?

Do you ever walk out of class feeling like you taught the material well but they just didn't get it?

At the University of Vermont, we've tried to changed this picture. Using education research to guide us [e.g.,McNeal and D'Avano, 1997], we developed—and are now teaching for the fourth time—an introductory course specifically designed to engage students and hold their attention by continually demonstrating the relevance of science to their lives and society in general.
Current perspectives on energy and mass fluxes in volcanic arcs
Authors: Leeman William , Davidson Jon , Fischer Tobias , Grunder Anita , Reagan Mark , Streck Martin
Published: October 2006

Volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire and other convergent margins worldwide are familiar manifestations of nature's energy, account for about 25% of global volcanic outputs, dominate volcanic gas emissions to the atmosphere, and pose significant physical threats to a large human population. Yet the processes behind this prolific activity remain poorly understood.

An international “State of the Arc” (SOTA) conference was held in August on the slopes of Mt. Hood, Oregon, to address current views on the energy and mass fluxes in volcanic arcs. This meeting brought together some 90 leading experts and students of subduction zones and their related magmatism.
Comment on “Can slow variations in solar luminosity provide missing link between the Sun and climate?”
Authors: Douglass David H.
Published: October 2006

Peter Foukal (Eos, 3 June 2003) has written an interesting and informative article on solar luminosity and climate. He mentions recent evidence correlating solar activity to climate changes during the last millennium and the last Ice Age and discusses possible mechanisms. He also presents the case for the importance of determining the correlation between solar variation and climate.

Foukal's discussion is mainly about “slow variations,” which appears to mean centennial‐to‐millennial time scales. However, in the “Future Direction” section, he discusses the desirability of the determination of the “climate sensitivity to the small irradiance changes so far observed [1979 to present].”
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Can slow variations in solar luminosity provide missing link between the Sun and climate?’”] Evaluation of climate sensitivity to solar influences is an important goal
Authors: Foukal Peter
Published: October 2006

The detection of an 11‐year global temperature signal by Douglass and Clader, and in other sutdies cited by David Douglass in his letter, is an important acheivement. However, these studies assume that the driver is the measured 11‐year variation in total solar irradiance. They do not attempt to estimate the possible contributions of the equally well‐measured 11‐year variations in solar ultraviolet flux, and in solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays. Both of these variable solar influences are under study as possible drivers of 11‐year global temperature variation [e.g. Haig, 1996; Svensmark and Friis‐Christensen, 1997.
Waves in the Ocean and the Atmosphere: Introduction to Wave Dynamics
Authors: Samelson Roger M.
Published: October 2006

Anyone who has stood on a ship or a beach will recognize that wave motions are an essential element of the ocean environment. And in its deeps, along its margins and across its basins, the ocean seethes with a wide spectrum of slow‐moving interior waves that are invisible to the casual eye of the surface observer. Their influence may ultimately be felt across the globe, on land as well as at sea, for years, decades, or centuries. The winds that buffet a land‐locked observer may seem less like waves and more akin to the continuous rush of water through a pipe or down a river channel. However, viewed from a broader perspective, even the ever‐changing weather patterns of the Earth's atmosphere have their own particular wave dynamics.
Elastic Wave Propagation and Generation in Seismology
Authors: Lees Jonathan M.
Published: October 2006

The majority of mature seismologists of my generation were introduced to theoretical seismology via classic textbooks written in the early 1980s. Since this generation has matured and taken the mantle of teaching seismology to a new generation, several new books have been put forward as replacements, or alternatives, to the original classical texts. The target readers of the new texts range from beginner through intermediate to more advanced, although all have been attempts to improve upon what is now considered standard convention in quantitative seismology. To this plethora of choices we now have a new addition by Jose Pujol, titledElastic Wave Propagation and Generation in Seismology.
AGU position statement on human impacts on climate
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Human activities are increasingly altering the Earth's climate. These effects add to natural influences that have been present over Earth's history. Scientific evidence strongly indicates that natural influences cannot explain the rapid increase in global near‐surface temperatures observed during the second half of the 20th century.

Human impacts on the climate system include increasing concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons and their substitutes, methane, nitrous oxide, etc.), air pollution, increasing concentrations of airborne particles, and land alteration. A particular concern is that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide may be rising faster than at any time in Earth's history, except possibly following rare events like impacts from large extraterrestrial objects.
Introduction to Geomagnetic Fields
Authors: Hinze William J.
Published: October 2006

Coincidentally, as I sat down in late October 2003 to read and review the second edition of Wallace H. Campbell's text, Introduction to Geomagnetic Fields, we received warnings from the news media of a massive solar flare and its possible effect on power supply systems and satellite communications. News programs briefly explained the source of Sun‐Earth interactions. If you are interested in learning more about the physics of the connection between Sun spots and power supply systems and their impact on orbiting satellites, I urge you to become acquainted with Campbell's book. It presents an interesting and informative explanation of the geomagnetic field and its applications to a wide variety of topics, including oil exploration, climate change, and fraudulent claims of the utility of magnetic fields for alleviating human pain.
Converting advances in seismology into earthquake science
Authors: Hauksson Egill , Shearer Peter , Vidale John
Published: October 2006

Federal and state agencies and university groups all operate seismic networks in California. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates seismic networks in California in cooperation with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in southern California, and the University of California (UC) at Berkeley in northern California. The California Geological Survey (CGS) and the USGS National Strong Motion Program (NSMP) operate dial‐out strong‐motion instruments in the state, primarily to capture data from large earthquakes for earthquake engineering and, more recently, emergency response. The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) provides leadership for the most recent project, the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN), to integrate all of the California efforts, and to take advantage of the emergency response capabilities of the seismic networks. The core members of the CISN are Caltech, UC Berkeley, CGS, USGS Menlo Park, and USGS Pasadena (http://www.cisn.org)
[Comment on “Different views of the Grand Canyon”] Comment: On science and pseudo‐science in National Parks
Authors: Asten Michael W.
Published: October 2006

The article by Wilfred Elders, “Different Views of the Grand Canyon,” (Eos, 23 September 2003) is a valuable reminder of the continuing need for geoscientists to argue geological facts with groups who confuse belief with scientific study. However, his good work is somewhat diminished by the suggestion at the end of his article that a book published by creationists should not be sold within a National Park. There is a whiff of censorship in this proposal that could have consequences beyond what he may intend.

I have noted in parks in the United States, and probably more obviously in parks in my own country of Australia, that much literature is available on the origins of the park's geology flora, and fauna, as presented by the lore of indigenous peoples who claim historical links with the area. Any attempt to censor literature published by creationists would logically result in censorship of material from traditional custodians of the land as well, since their material is equally dubious in terms of its scientific foundation as seen by our post‐Darwinian science. Such an attempt at censorship would be both unhelpful and unnecessary for the advancement of our profession in the eyes of the public.
Expeditions to drill Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic sites
Authors: Coffin Millard F.
Published: October 2006

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, an international collaboration of Earth, ocean, and life scientists, commenced on 1 October 2003 (IODP; www.iodp.org). Building on the successes of previous scientific ocean drilling programs, the IODP offers scientists worldwide unprecedented opportunities to address a vast array of scientific problems in all submarine settings.The scientific advisory structure of the proposal‐driven IODP recently planned the inaugural drilling expeditions, targeting critical scientific problems in the eastern Pacific, central Arctic, and north Atlantic Oceans in 2004 and 2005 (Figure 1, Table 1).

Co‐led by Japan and the United States, with initial, significant contributions from the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD),the IODP is guided by an initial science plan, “Earth, Oceans, and Life” (wwwiodp.org/isp.html), developed with broad input from the international geoscientific community. For the first time, scientists will have permanent riser and non‐riser drilling vessels and mission‐specific capabilities such as drilling barges, and jack‐up rigs for shallow water and Arctic drilling at their disposal. Japan is providing the new riser vessel, Chikyu,i the IODP beginning in 2006; the United States is supplying the non‐riser drilling vessel, currently ,JOIDES Resolution,, beginning in 2004; and the ECORD is furnishing mission‐specific platforms, also beginning in 2004.
Comment on “The predictability of the magnetosphere and space weather”
Authors: Moldwin Mark B.
Published: October 2006

Although the emphasis of the Eos article by Li et al. (16 September 2003) describing the predictability of the magnetosphere and space weather was not history, I would like to point out two historical errors that should be of interest to the readers of Eos. The first is the following assertion: “That the Sun might influence the Earth's magnetic field… was first realized in 1859, when the largest magnetic storm ever recorded occurred 17 hours after a white light flare on the Sun.” Seven years earlier, both Sabine [1852] and Wolf [1857] independently found that geomagnetic activity had the same 11‐year periodicity as the number of sunspots. Sabine concluded “…it is quite conceivable that affections of the gaseous envelope of the sun…may give rise to sensible magnetical effects at the surface of our planet…” [Sabine,1852].
Canadian entry requirements for attendees of 2004 Joint Assembly
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Canadian government has tightened entry requirements and the process for getting a visa in the past several years. Citizens of many countries are required to obtain visitor's visas if they intend to be in Canada for a short time. Members planning to attend the 2004 Joint Assembly in Montreal on 17–21 May should determine whether or not they are required to obtain a visitor's visa for Canada, and to begin the application process as soon as possible.

In general, if an applicant cannot apply in person at a visa office of the Canadian government, the application must be mailed in with all other relevant documentation to the visa office nearest to where they live. Applicants in the U.S. are advised to allow 3–4 weeks for processing if they are applying by mail; those outside the United States are advised to allow 8 weeks for processing. There is a processing fee of Can$75.