bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Davis takes the reins of JGR—Solid Earth
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Paul M. Davis is looking forward to carrying on the tradition of excellence that William Hinze and the associate editors have established for his term, which will formally begin January 1997 and end December 2000. He shares in the excitement of discovery as he assists new manuscripts on their path toward publication. “As I take on the reins as new editor, I am in awe of the excellent job done by William Hinze and his staff, and it has become all too clear the debt so many of us owe to Bill,” Davis commented.
Conference on Rock Magnetism Looks to the Future and the Past
Authors: Jackson Mike , Banerjee Subir K.
Published: October 2006

An unusually cool weekend in Santa Fe punctuated by drought‐breaking rains provided an appropriate backdrop for discussing abrupt changes in climate and in the geomagnetic field, and the resolution with which these changes are recorded in the magnetic properties of rocks and sediments. Modeled after the highly successful meetings in 1992 and 1994, the Third Santa Fe Conference on Rock Magnetism was held June 27–30, 1996, with 44 participants from eight countries. The conference format promoted extensive discussion that led to lively exchanges on the state of rock magnetism today and directions for the future.
A note about JGR's citation rate
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

If you read the September 2 issue of The Scientist, you may have seen the statistics on citation rates for scientific journals and thought: “The Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR) has really grown by leaps and bounds these last few years.” While JGR does continue to grow in size, influence, and excellence, its progress is not quite as astounding as the article made it seem.
WWW archive offers atmospheric radiation measurement data
Authors: Cheng M. D. , Hubbs Craig , McCord Raymond
Published: October 2006

Measurements related to meteorology, radiation, clouds, aerosols, surface fluxes, and water vapor obtained at the Cloud and Radiation Testbed site in Oklahoma are now available on‐line at no cost to scientists through the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) data archive. Other measurements made at the site by unmanned aircraft vehicles and satellites during intensive observing periods as well as derived data products are also included.
Studying Arctic sea ice at two scales provides more accurate picture
Authors: Overland James E. , Weeks W. F.
Published: October 2006

Historically, sea ice has been viewed on distinct scales depending on the problem understudy. Researchers rarely investigated the knowledge needed to bridge these scales. Two developments, however, are changing the status quo. Ice motions on scales of 5 km can now be observed using all‐weather data collected by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors on satellites combined with automated image analysis procedures. Second, the increased availability of high‐speed computer resources has made it feasible to resolve spacings of 10 km even in numerical models of the Arctic basin. In short, we now can observe and model pack ice on scales that approximate its granularity. Preliminary results using these new abilities confirm that sea ice behaves like a hardening plastic material on scales of 1–100 km.
Abriola wins Outstanding Educator Award
Authors: Thornburg Janet Bauder
Published: October 2006

The Association for Women Geoscientists Foundation (AWGF) honored Linda M. Abriola as the 1996 Outstanding Educator on October 29 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Colorado. Abriola is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a former secretary of AGU's Hydrology Section. By their selection of Abriola as the 1996 Outstanding Educator, AWGF recognized her excellence as a researcher, teacher, and mentor to aspiring women scientists.
Rhapsody in blue
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

Seven years after Voyager 2 flew by Neptune, the planet is coming into focus again. Researchers using the wide field planetary camera on the Hubble Space Telescope have produced new photos and video of the distant planet and again captured images of a large, dark spot in Neptune's Northern Hemisphere. In 1989, Voyager 2 discovered the Great Dark Spot, a pulsating storm the size of Earth in the planet's Southern Hemisphere.

Observations made with Hubble in 1994 and 1995 revealed that the southern spot had disappeared, but seemed to be replaced by an equally large spot in the planet's Northern Hemisphere. The new images, taken on August 13, 1996, show that the northern dark spot persists.
Peat bogs reveal history of atmospheric deposition of lead and other metals
Authors: Shotyk William , Norton Stephen A. , Farmer John G.
Published: October 2006

Records of atmospheric lead (Pb) deposition found in peat bogs, lake sediments, and polar ice are remarkably consistent. Each of these archives provides unequivocal evidence of significant anthropogenic Pb deposition extending back at least to Greek and Roman times. The “Roman Pb peak” has now been clearly identified in peat cores from northwestern Spain, Holland, Germany and Switzerland, and as far north as southern Sweden.
Comments sought: Educators work to shape education in Earth sciences
Authors: Ireton Frank
Published: October 2006

On November 15, 16, and 17, a diverse group of educators met to begin shaping the future of undergraduate education in Earth sciences. The workshop, entitled “Spheres of Influence: Shaping the Future of Undergraduate Earth Systems Sciences Education,” challenged participants to develop a set of recommendations composing a plan for the Earth sciences community to develop a coherent educational mission using Earth Systems Sciences as a focus. Earth System Science views the Earth as a single system consisting of processes operating at timescales from seconds to the age of the Earth. Earth System Science integrates aspects of geology, meteorology, oceanography, and biology, in which humans are an integral part of the system. The final recommendations will be available for distribution in the Spring of 1997, and special sessions at AGU meetings and those of other societies will focus on this mission.
Expensive water
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

Tapping water sources in the American West exacts a high toll on the pocketbook, according to a report released on December 10 by a Washington, D.C.‐based nonprofit research foundation. Researchers from the foundation Resources for the Future (RFF) stated that the value of water in the West is higher than in the rest of the country, largely because of its withdrawal uses.
Outstanding student papers
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Four presentations in the Space Physics and Aeronomy Section were named Outstanding Student Papers at the 1996 Spring Meeting in Baltimore, Md.
Special election for geomagnetism and paleomagnetism president for 1998–2000
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

In October, president‐elect of the Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section Myrl Beck resigned from that position for health reasons. Beck would have become president of the Section for the term 1998–2000.

To fill this vacancy in the Section leadership, the statutes and bylaws of the Union require the Executive Committee of the Section to appoint a successor to complete the term; however, that individual shall not hold any office without election after expiration of the incomplete term. Therefore to provide continuity in the Section leadership, early in 1997 a special election will be held for the presidency of the Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section for 1998–2000. The winner of that election will be appointed to fill out the rest of Myrl Beck's term as presidentelect and will go on to serve as president.
Continental terraces hold clues to the generation and preservation of the stratigraphic record
Authors: Austin J.
Published: October 2006

Multiple frequency, overlapping geometry (or “nested”) seismic images offer an unprecedented opportunity to study how geological processes create and preserve shelf/slope stratigraphy. Multifrequency seismic coverage, including multibeam backscatter/swath bathymetry (Figure 1), has been collected at two continental margin “natural laboratories,” New Jersey and northern California, which are each characterized by distinctive suites of depositional processes.
Strides made in understanding space weather at Earth
Authors: Buonsanto M. J. , Fuller‐Rowell T. J.
Published: October 2006

Disturbances on the Sun can produce dramatic effects in the space environment surrounding the Earth. Energetic particle effects become more intense and pose a hazard to astronauts and damage spacecraft electronics; satellite lifetimes are shortened by increased atmospheric drag, and communications and navigation are disrupted by the changing plasma environment.

“Space weather” has become the modern idiom for these effects, and periods of high activity are called geomagnetic storms. During a storm the ionosphere can be severely altered. A typical episode may reveal either a large decrease (negative phase) or increase (positive phase) in the normal daily peak ion density (NmF2) or total electron content (TEC). These changes in ion density are sometimes called ionospheric storms, and often persist for more than a day after a period of high geomagnetic activity.
Environmental data can improve fisheries research and management
Authors: Boehlert George , Schumacher Jim
Published: October 2006

Marine populations increase and decline in response to environmental conditions. Because significant changes in the abundance of exploited marine populations can lead to economic and societal consequences, fisheries science strives to sustain fisheries, protect species such as marine mammals, and maintain the marine ecosystems and essential habitats upon which these species depend. Today disciplines not traditionally applied to fisheries management are offering new possibilities to improve how these tasks are accomplished. Environmental information, in particular, has many applications to fisheries management.
Session serves up smorgasbord of paleoclimatic research
Authors: Evans Ted
Published: October 2006

At the Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting held in July 1996 in Brisbane, Australia, a session titled “Glacial/Interglacial Records of the PEP Transects” brought together scientists interested in applying their range of expertise to interdisciplinary endeavors. For example, where else could one learn of progress in quantifying paleo‐precipitation by using magnetic climofunctions, or how to obtain paleo‐temperature from racemization measurements on ancient emu eggshells, or how to determine changes in the volume of the oceans from U‐series ages on fossil reefs?
Gravity field of a continent‐ocean transition mapped from land, air, and sea
Authors: K¨osters Michael , Götze Hans‐Jürgen , Schmidt Sabine , Fritsch Jürgen , Araneda Manuel
Published: October 2006

Onshore and offshore data are providinga complete picture of gravity at the ocean‐continent transition of South America's western continental margin. Researchers are finding that the Andean gravity field seems to be linked to many processes that contribute to the tectonic framework of the Nazca subduction zone.

The data were collected on land, in the ocean, and from space. Since 1982, some 6,000 new gravity observations have been made on land in an Andean geotraverse covering northern Chile, southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina [Götze et al., 1994, 1995]. Offshore gravity data were collected in the summer of 1995 from the R/V Sonne between latitude 20°S and 24°S. Marine gravity data from satellite altimetry (poster) by D. T. Sandwell and W. H. F. Smith are available from the Geological Data Center, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093, (digital file, Version 7.2) anonymous ftp to baltica.ucsd.edu). In 1995, these data were added to the database to fill in marine areas that had not been surveyed by shipborne gravity.
Lehmann was at the core of studies of Earth's interior
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

In 1997, AGU will award the first Lehmann Medal in recognition of outstanding research on the structure, composition, and dynamics of the Earth's mantle and core. The medal, which will be awarded no more than every other year, is named for Inge Lehmann, the only woman to receive the Union's Bowie Medal. The Lehmann Medal is the first AGU honor to be named for a woman and the first to be named for a scientist who worked outside of the United States. What follows is a biographical sketch of Lehmann.
Reconstructing the southwest Pacific
Authors: Wood Ray , Sutherland Rupert
Published: October 2006

New Zealand's lithologic structure is the result of many dramatic geologic processes. It sits astride the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates (Figure 1) and evolved through plate interactions for most of Cretaceous and Cenozoic time. New Zealand, with its complex history, provides scientists with a laboratory for studying how margins evolve.

Over 30 scientists and students from New Zealand, the United States, and France met in Wellington, New Zealand, in June to discuss recent advances in understanding the Cretaceous and Cenozoic tectonic development of New Zealand and the Southwest Pacific. Of particular interest were questions about the timing and sequence of events associated with the change from subduction to seafloor spreading, the initiation of subduction and arc‐related volcanism, and how the balance between compression and strike‐slip faulting could change and be recognized along a complex, obliquely convergent margin.
Hot spot
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

Using an array of portable seismometers spread out directly above the proposed site of a hot spot, researchers from the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) recently produced the first high‐resolution seismic image of a mantle plume—a jet of hot material that rises from the deep mantle and partially melts, producing magmas that migrate to the surface through “hot spot” volcanoes.
Symposium targets recent Ph.D.s in the aquatic sciences
Authors: Weiler C. Susan
Published: October 2006

To foster cross‐disciplinary understanding and collaborations, the Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Limnology and Oceanography (DIALOG) program is holding a symposium from October 12 to 17, 1997, for aquatic scientists who recently received their doctorates. Participants will present posters, discuss their dissertation research, and participate in working groups focused on emerging aquatic science research, education, and policy issues. Participation is limited to about 40 students. The symposium will be held at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.
AGU Council makes major commitment to the future of electronic publication
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The establishment of a “perpetual care trust fund for AGU's electronic archives,” which was done at the December 1996 meeting, is perhaps one of the most far‐reaching actions ever taken by the AGU Council. The Union recognizes that it has a responsibility to the scientific community to assure that AGU publications are available in the future. Without the careful protection and upgrading of the files developed for AGU's electronic publications, there could be a hiatus in the archive of the body of knowledge. The costs associated with the maintenance of the electronic archive for these publications will be a continuing obligation of the Union, one that may be too large to be absorbed in the annual operating budget. Thus, the Council at the recommendation of the Publications Committee set up a trust fund to help ensure that AGU has the financial resources to maintain an archive of the material included in its electronic publications, to refresh these files on a regular basis, and to migrate the material in the archive to new formats and media as the technology for electronic publishing changes.
Geomagnetic storm forecasts and the power industry
Authors: Kappenman John G. , Zanetti Lawrence J. , Radasky William A.
Published: October 2006

There is a well‐recognized link between solar activity, geomagnetic disturbances, and disruptions to man‐made systems such as power grids, satellites, communications, and defense systems. As technology evolves, these systems become more susceptible to magnetic disturbances than their counterparts of previous solar cycles. Analysis suggests that these vulnerabilities will continue and perhaps even increase as these systems continue to evolve.

Geomagnetic disturbances can cause geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) to flow through the power system, entering and exiting the many grounding points on a transmission network. This is generally of most concern at the latitudes of the northern United States, Canada, and Scandinavia, for example, but regions much farther south are also affected during intense magnetic storms.
New Science Committee Chair Advocates “Basic” Research, smaller budgets
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

With election and inaugural activities complete, the 105th Congress of the United States is set to begin the work of lawmaking. The new session brings some new names to the leadership of several committees that oversee science policy and funding, yet it seems clear that efforts will be focused again on shrinking the federal budget deficit.

The Science Committee of the House of Representatives, which oversees NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and parts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has a new chairman—F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. The Republican from Wisconsin was the chair of the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee; he now replaces chairman Robert Walker (R‐Pa.), who retired after 20 years in the House.
Christian Junge (1912–1996)
Authors: Duce Robert A.
Published: October 2006

Christian Junge, a pioneer in atmospheric chemistry, died at the age of 83 in Uberlingen, Germany, on June 18, 1996. Junge is generally credited with being the father of the modern discipline of atmospheric chemistry. From a fragmented series of chemical measurements at a few locations, he began shaping atmospheric chemistry into an integrated discipline that addresses the fundamental chemical and physical processes that control the sources, transport, reactions, fate, and consequences of particles and gases in the global atmosphere.
Developing the capacity to better address societal concerns
Authors: Holoviak Judy C.
Published: October 2006

During the 1996 Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting, representatives of 18 scientific societies from Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed on a number of issues facing society that Earth and space scientists can help resolve. Despite the near unanimity on the issues, the group did not develop a clear plan for how they might collectively address these problems. Rather, the products of the convocation were a better understanding of the missions and approaches of the societies represented and a commitment to develop ways to share information on a continuing basis. Knowing more about the activities and interests of the different scientific societies will facilitate bilateral arrangements on matters of mutual concern. Electronic communication systems will be used to facilitate this sharing and several specific actions were agreed to as a follow‐on from the convocation.
Satellite‐derived data produced for the polar regions
Authors: Barry R. G.
Published: October 2006

The polar regions are crucial to global change research: climate signals are amplified at the poles, and snow‐ and sea ice‐covered areas are especially sensitive to climate change. Extensive remote sensing data are already available to address these issues, but the voluminous archives were inconvenient and expensive for most investigators.
Shoemaker receives the Bowie Medal
Authors: Anderson Don L. , Shoemaker Eugene M.
Published: October 2006

The 1996 William Bowie Medal, given by AGU for outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and unselfish cooperation in research, was presented to Eugene Shoemaker at the AGU Fall Meeting Honor Ceremony on December 17, 1996, in San Francisco. The “Drs.” in the title of the citation refers to both Eugene Shoemaker and his wife Carolyn Shoemaker.
Synchrotron sheds new light on geophysical materials
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

On December 20,1996, scientists working with the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois conducted “first light” experiments in a new laboratory for synchrotron radiation research in the geosciences. The demonstration marks the dawn of a new era in rock and mineral physics when, as geophysicist Thomas Duffy of Princeton University notes, researchers will be able to 'shine a bright new light on some of our planet's deepest and darkest secrets.”

The new light is from the APS, a particle accelerator dedicated to the production of brilliant X rays for research, and it shone on the GeoSoilEnviroCARS (GSECARS) experimental facility. The purpose of GSECARS is to develop X‐ray beamlines at the APS and make them available to scientists for frontier research in Earth, planetary, geophysics, soil, and environmental sciences.
Making over Europa
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

The latest images from the Galileo orbiter seem to show that ice‐spewing volcanoes and the movement of tectonic plates have completely reshaped the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. The images were gathered on a December 19, 1996, flyby that brought the spacecraft within 692 km of the moon's surface, more than 200 times closer than Voyager 2 flew in 1979.

The new images do not show active ice volcanoes or geysers, but they do reveal flows of material on the surface. “This is the first time we've seen actual ice flows on any of the moons of Jupiter,” said Ronald Greeley, a member of the Galileo imaging team and a planetologist from Arizona State University. “These flows, as well as dark scarring on some of Europa's cracks and ridges, appear to be remnants of ice volcanoes or geysers.” (See Figure 1.)
How APS produces synchrotron radiation
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

In the Advanced Photon Source (APS), electrons are produced by an electron gun, then accelerated to 200 million electron volts (MeV) and speeds approaching the speed of light. The electrons are aimed at a positron target—a thin wafer of tungsten that interacts with the electrons—to produce electron‐positron pairs. Positrons of the appropriate energy levels are selected and injected into a positron linear accelerator, which raises their energy to 450 MeV.

The positrons are then injected into a booster synchrotron, where the energy of the particles is raised to 7 billion electron volts (GeV) within one‐third of a second. Once the energy of the particles has been boosted, they are injected into the storage ring, a vacuum chamber 1104 meters in circumference (big enough to circle Chicago's Wrigley Field). The storage ring contains magnets that steer and focus the particle beam as it orbits the ring 271,739 times per second.
Earthquakes: Thinking about the unpredictable
Authors: Geller Robert J.
Published: October 2006

The possibility of predicting earthquakes has been investigated by professionals and amateurs, seismologists and nonseismologists, for over 100 years. More than once, hopes of a workable earthquake prediction scheme have been raised only to be dashed. Such schemes—on some occasions accompanied by claims of an established track record—continue to be proposed, not only by Earth scientists, but also by workers in other fields. The assessment of these claims is not just a scientific or technical question. Public administrators and policy makers must make decisions regarding appropriate action in response to claims that some scheme has a predictive capability, or to specific predictions of imminent earthquakes.
[Comment on “The Haskell Norm”] About Pascal and the unit of viscosity
Authors: Lliboutry Louis A.
Published: October 2006

I cannot leave unchallenged the assertion that Blaise (not Blasé) Pascal “was a nice man who essentially just used Torricelli's equipment to measure pressure.” I must answer the question of "What in Blasé's background qualified him for the viscosity honor?” (Eos, July 30,1996, p. 291).

Blaise Pascal, who was borm in 1623, was a genius indeed. In 1653, 34 years before Newton's Principia, he laid the foundations of hydrostatics. When he was 12 years old, he mastered, again by himself, Euclid's geometry up to the 32nd proposition. At 16, he wrote a fine essay on conics. At 19, he devised and constructed the first mechanical computer in the world. At 29, in addition to his work on fluids, he helped Pierre Fermat set up probability theory and differential calculus. He was also a mystic and a great Christian thinker who wrote outstanding thoughts that were discovered after he died at the early age of 39.
[Comment on “The Haskell Norm”] More on units of measure
Authors: Holmes Neville
Published: October 2006

The pseudonymous Dev L. Advocate rightly chides the S.1. people about their weird and prolific prefixes (Eos, July 30, 1996, p. 291). But propagating further standard units of measure is not really a better way of handling wide‐ranging numbers.

Richard P. Feynman pointed out in a letter to the editor of Scientific American in November 1970 that scaling factors properly belong to the numbers themselves, not to their units of measurement. Rather than prescribe strange prefixes, or propagate new units like Dev's Haskell, notice should be taken of the commonly used representation of scaled numbers in so‐called E‐form, under which one Haskell would be given as 1E21 Pa s or 1E22 poise. The problem with this style is that any number has too many convenient representations because the scaling base is only 10.
New challenges for North Sea research discussed
Authors: Weinstein Alan
Published: October 2006

Interactions between biology and physics, air and water, and the North and Baltic Seas were the focus of a recent international symposium on “New Challenges for North Sea Research.” The North Sea is affected by the North Atlantic, the Baltic, and rivers. As large‐scale ocean flows change and as riverine nutrients and heavy metals are reduced, the circulation, biology, and chemistry of the North Sea evolves.

Approximately 150 attendees gathered in Hamburg, Germany, in October 1996, for the symposium, which commemorated the historic Fladenground Experiment (FLEX '76). Participants called for more research on timeand space‐scales and discipline interaction—for example, a study of coastal response to global warming. Most attendees felt that a series of focused studies rather than one major experiment would be the most productive successor to FLEX '76.
AGU honors outstanding scientists
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The following individuals are recipients of AGU's 1997 medals and of the Flinn Award. Awards will be presented at either the Honors Ceremony at AGU's Spring Meeting in Baltimore (on May 28) or at the Fall Meeting in San Francisco (on December 10).
Fundamentals of Atmospheric Physics
Authors: Dickinson Robert
Published: October 2006

What the content of a core course in atmospheric sciences should be is of concern to both faculty and students of this discipline, as well as to scientists of other disciplines who wish to broaden their education.

Fundamentals of Atmospheric Physics provides one answer to this question. The book largely addresses the “homosphere” below an altitude of 100 km, but the first chapter on “Composition and Structure” also considers the region above 500 km and shows that heavier species take a long time to escape from the Earth's gravitational field.
The Sun in a new light
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

While observing the Sun from December 22–27, physicists using the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) received a Christmas present. With its large‐angle spectrometric coronagraph (LASCO), SOHO captured this photograph of the Sun against the backdrop of the Milky Way—with a dying comet streaking toward the star. In the center of the photo, LASCO's occulting disk (light blue shading) blocks the solar surface (white circle) and the nearby environment—out to three solar radii—in order to allow studies of the corona. Solar streamers, a source of solar wind, blow out from the equator and stretch as far as 20 million km from the surface. In this image, SOHO is peering toward the heart of the Milky Way, with the Sun drifting in front of the stars of the constellation Sagittarius and heading toward Capricorn. By capturing the Sun in its place in the Milky Way galaxy, SOHO provided one of the first direct views of a starfield behind the Sun (from Earth's perspective). At eight o 'clock on the edge of the occulting disk, Comet SOHO 6 plunges toward its demise. The comet was part of the family of “sungrazers,” remnants of a large comet that is believed to have broken up 900 years ago. SOHO 6—one of seven sungrazers detected by LASCO last year—curved toward the Sun and disappeared from view by December 24, presumably burning up during descent through the corona. Several movies and still photographs of the Sun can be viewed on the World Wide Web at http://lasco‐www.nrl.navy. mil/lasco.html. [Photo courtesy of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory].
Another thermostat
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

While Earth's surface temperatures have risen by 0.3°C to 0.6°C in this century, the eastern equatorial Pacific—a key component of the global climate system—seems to have cooled. According to a team of scientists from the Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory and NASA's Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes, this contradiction and the temperature gradients it leads to may help explain why global temperatures have risen by only half as much as computer models have suggested that they should.

According to Mark Cane, of Lamont‐Doherty, and colleagues, a natural air‐ocean circulation system in the tropical Pacific may be partially offsetting the effect of rising air temperatures, a possibility that has not been properly accounted for in computer models of climate. In a phenomenon related to El Niño, the Pacific Ocean may in fact be slowing, or at least regulating, the process of global warming by redistributing heat to regions where it dissipates more easily.
Session organizers: Contact committee chairs
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Anyone interested in organizing a special session in hydrology at a future AGU meeting is reminded that all Hydrology Section special sessions must be sponsored by one of its Technical Committees. Accordingly, if you plan to propose a special session for the 1997 Fall or 1998 Spring Meeting, you should contact the appropriate Committee Chair listed below before May 1, 1997. For additional information about the Hydrology technical committees, as well as other Hydrology Section information, please refer to the Section's web page at the following URL:
Mineral and Rock Physics seeks award nomination
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Mineral and Rock Physics Committee seeks nominations for its 1997 Student Award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions by promising young scientists to this interdisciplinary area of research. Student nominees may be members of any AGU section who have engaged in experimental and/or theoretical studies of minerals and Earth materials with the purpose of unraveling the physics and chemistry that govern their properties. The award includes a $500 cash award, contributed by members of the Mineral and Rock Physics Committee and may be used toward travel or other professional expenses.
Collins reflects on his GRL editorship
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Curt Collins currently serves as ocean sciences editor of Geophysical Research Letters. His term began in March 1996 and will extend to March 1999. Collins is a professor in the Department of Oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School, where he served as chair of the department from 1987 to 1994.
LASCO Data Dazzle Chapman Conference
Authors: Cliver E. W. , Webb D. F.
Published: October 2006

Research on coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—giant bubbles of magnetized gas blown into the heliosphere by the Sun (Figure 1)—has entered a time of dramatic growth. The large angle spectrometric coronagraph (LASCO) on the recently launched Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft has revealed unexpected aspects of the beautiful and puzzling CME phenomenon (see Figure 1), which was recently shown to be a key element for space weather. Studies of LASCO and other SOHO data combined with Yohkoh Soft X Ray Telescope observations are certain to provide new insight on how CMEs are initiated at the Sun. Concurrently, analyses of in situ plasma and field data from the Wind and Ulysses spacecraft are elucidating the structure of CMEs in the interplanetary (IP) medium.
Bell begins term as Eos Planetology editor
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Jim Bell, planetary scientist at Cornell University, succeeds Matthew Golombek, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as Eos Planetology Editor. Bell brings both enthusiasm and an interest in improving communications among AGU members to this editorship, which began February 1997 and extends to December 31, 1999.

Bell holds an M.S. in geology and geophysics (1989) and a doctorate in planetary geosciences (1992) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and a B.S. in planetary science and aeronautics (1987) from the California Institute of Technology. He received several fellowships beginning as an undergraduate: the Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship; the NASA Graduate Student Researcher's Program Fellowship (1989–1992); and the NASA/National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship (1992–1994).
New technique using laser ablation blasts into geochemical labs
Authors: Sylvester Paul J.
Published: October 2006

Geochemists have long sought a low‐cost, reliable instrument for analyzing trace elements in situ. After a quiet start in the mid‐1980s, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICPMS) has steadily captured the imagination of geochemists all over the world and is now becoming “standard equipment” in the modern geochemical laboratory. In recognition of this phenomenon, a special session on “Analytical methodologies and geochemical applications of LA‐ICPMS” was held at the Fall AGU meeting in San Francisco.
Cash flow
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

After conducting a survey of the state of the 55,000 water systems in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has found that communities need $12.1 billion in immediate funding to protect the nation's drinking water supplies and to meet minimum health‐based standards. Required by the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act to assess the needed capital improvements to drinking‐water supplies, EPA also estimated that $138.4 billion will be needed over the next 20 years to replace or upgrade the nation's eroding water infrastructure.
GEWEX Conference considers global water cycle
Authors: Rasool S. Ichtiaque
Published: October 2006

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment of greenhouse warming scenarios suggests an intensification (increase in cycling rates) of the global hydrological cycle over the next several decades. Accurate incorporation of water and energy cycles can substantially improve the predictive capability of global climate models. The Global Energy and Water Experiment (GEWEX) Science Conference offered an opportunity to determine how well the various components of the hydrological cycle can be quantified. The GEWEX project, which seeks to understand how water and energy interact with the global climate, is making progress in seasonal‐to‐interannual forecasting and decade‐to‐century scale climate prediction— two of the four major themes of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. We review here some of the highlights of the conference.
Representatives seek boost for science
Authors: Carlowicz Michael
Published: October 2006

A majority of Republicans and Democrats on the Science Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling for a 3% spending increase in the civilian research and development (R&D) that is supported by the federal government. However, such an increase should only be authorized if federal R&D programs meet certain requirements, lawmakers declared.
Gentler term proposed for “borrowers”
Authors: Peterson Thomas C.
Published: October 2006

Plagiarism is such an ugly word. Perhaps it is not the word but its connotations that are ugly. In any case, most geoscientists are loath to even say the word. In some institutions there are swift and sure punishments for plagiarism—at least for individuals without power. When I was in school, a fellow graduate student was instantly expelled for plagiarism. Yet, during our working careers, most of us have seen scientists who “use without due credit the ideas, expressions, or productions of another.” We may forget to cite a reference or consider a document to be too informal to bother with references, or in some instances, there may be less charitable motives. In any case, perhaps the reason some people continue such behavior is precisely because so few scientists are willing to openly use the p‐word.
Mediterranean ridge structure: Results from IMERSE
Authors: von Huene R. ,   IMERSE Working Group
Published: October 2006

As the African plate is subducted beneath Eurasia at the Mediterranean Ridge (Figure 1), part of its sediment cover is scraped off to form an accretionary wedge. The International Mediterranean Ridge Seismic Experiment (IMERSE) project has collected over 2650 km of high‐quality seismic reflection data and a grid of wide‐angle recordings to investigate the structure of this wedge. The data show that offscraped sediments include the thick Messinian evaporites which were deposited about 5–6 million years ago during desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea (Figure 2). The presence of these evaporites distinguishes the Mediterranean Ridge, which is characterized by an extremely broad and flat wedge, short wavelength folding at the seafloor, and large‐scale evaporite dissolution, from other accretionary systems.
Highlights of the meeting of the Hydrology Section Executive Committee
Authors: Bencala Ken
Published: October 2006

The meetings of Hydrology Section Executive Committee report on the details of the processes of the Section's activities and provide a forum for discussion of issues in the development of the hydrologic sciences.

The most visible Section activities occur at the Fall and Spring Meetings. The Hydrology Section continues to grow in participation at the Fall Meeting. At the 1996 Fall Meeting, approximately 800 Hydrology Section abstracts were presented. As the Fall Meeting continues to grow overall for the Union, members can anticipate a growing percentage of posters. The Spring Meeting is a well‐attended activity of the Section. Unfortunately, participation in the Spring Meeting by certain sections of the AGU is quite low. The Union's Meetings Committee is actively seeking to maintain the ail‐Union character of the Spring Meeting.
The devil's in the details: Hydrogeology of Middle Valley Active Venting Areas
Authors: Fisher A. , Langseth M. , Baker P. , Ryan W. , Stein J. , Glenn S. , Schultheiss P. , Zierenberg R. , Iturrino G. , Jin W. , Darlington E. , Goodfellow W. , Daniel D. N. , Conly A. , Cross S. , Grove M. , Cramer B.
Published: October 2006

A scientific team aboard the R/V Maurice Ewing conducted a fine‐scale examination of the hydrogeology of two areas of active venting in Middle Valley, northern Juan de Fuca Ridge. Earlier expeditions had identified moderate‐to‐high temperature vent activity at the two sites, as well as by‐products of hydrothermal processes: sediment alteration; massive, disseminated sulfide deposits; and extensive vent faunal communities. Preliminary analyses of new data reflecting fluid, heat, and chemical fluxes suggest that the flows are complex in their distributions, have a significant hydrothermal recharge within the vent areas, and may be more vigorous than previously thought.
Carl Sagan (1934–1996)
Authors: Chyba Christopher
Published: October 2006

Carl Sagan, Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences at Cornell University and past AGU Planetology Section president, died of pneumonia on December 20, 1996, following a two‐year battle with the bone‐marrow disease, myelodysplasia. Sagan, a planetary scientist of the first rank, was also well known for his exceptional skills in bringing science to policymakers and the public.

Following a broad undergraduate education with a degree in humanities and physics from the University of Chicago, Carl received his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from that institution in 1960. He quickly established himself as a pioneer in the investigation of the prospect for extraterrestrial life. His wide background in a variety of sciences, including a position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine, prepared him well for this new, interdisciplinary field. (Carl's first scientific publication, in 1957, had been “Radiation and the origin of the gene,” in the journal Evolution.) In 1968, Carl came to Cornell University as director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies, heading a research group that combined spacecraft and theoretical expertise with laboratory investigations of solar system and interstellar organic chemistry.
Drilling in the Arctic: Unearthing the planet's secrets
Authors: Johnson Andrea
Published: October 2006

The icy Arctic has long lured explorers, testing many and rewarding few. Now secrets of our planet's past, long buried in the Arctic's sediments and rocks, beckon to scientists. Among these hidden stories, one is making headlines: global climate change.

The Nansen Arctic Drilling Program (NAD), an international scientific effort, will unite scientists worldwide to tackle the challenges of the Arctic and answer questions about past global climate change: How has Earth's climate evolved apart from human influence? Has the Arctic driven or responded to changes in Earth's climate? If so, how? These aspects of Earth's history will be revealed from long cores of the Arctic Ocean floor.
1997 hazardous to coastal health?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The atmosphere above North America and the Atlantic turned violent with increasing frequency in 1995 and 1996, and some researchers expect that trend to continue in 1997. According to an April 4 forecast by William Gray of Colorado State University, Christopher Landsea of NOAA's Hurricane Research Division, and colleagues, the hurricane season of 1997 is likely to be more active than the average year and significantly more active than those of the early 1990s. Gray and colleagues are forecasting 11 named storms during the 1997 season, which lasts from June to December, the historical average is 9.3 named storms per season. The researchers predict 7 hurricanes (average is 5.8), three of which will be intense (category 3–4–5) hurricanes. The net tropical cyclone activity is expected to be 110% of normal.
Building on the legacies of the International Geophysical Year
Authors: Malone Thomas
Published: October 2006

During the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–1958, nearly 80,000 scientists and volunteers from 67 countries gathered data at about 8,000 stations from pole to pole on planet Earth in an ambitious endeavor to add to the storehouse of knowledge about our shared habitat. Lloyd Berkner, a prime mover of the IGY, noted that it was a program “operated by scientists, with the consent, cooperation and aid, but not the direction of governments.”

The 40th anniversary of the IGY will be observed at AGU's Spring Meeting on May 28th. The All‐Union Session Building on the Legacies of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) for the 21st Century I (U31A) offers an opportune occasion to reflect on the rich legacies of the IGY and begin planning for a comparable science‐inspired initiative in the 21st century.
Space Age meets Cretaceous
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

Few of the Earth's regions remain unmapped, but some inhospitable areas near the poles are poorly charted. The dense, permanent ice offshore West Antarctica has prevented research vessels from examining clues left by seafloor spreading during the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwanaland 180 million years ago. As a result, exactly how the giant continent broke into its puzzle pieces has remained a mystery.

Long‐hidden tectonic secrets have now been unlocked by satellite radar altimeter data, which has traditionally been useless where pack ice was present. Applying new analysis techniques to altimeter data collected by the European Space Agency's ERS‐1 satellite, Seymour Laxon of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey, England, and David McAdoo, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, produced detailed topographic maps of the polar regions that reveal the prehistoric path of tectonic plates. Three years ago, they applied their technique to data over the Arctic Ocean and discovered a previously unmapped spreading ridge in the ocean basin north of Canada.
Outstanding student papers
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Two presentations were named outstanding student papers in the Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section at the 1996 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California.
Meier receives the Horton Medal
Authors: Clarke Garry , Meier Mark F.
Published: October 2006

Mark F. Meier received the Roger E. Horton Medal on December 17, 1996, at the AGU Fall Meeting Honor Ceremony in San Francisco, Calif. The Horton Medal acknowledges outstanding contributions to the geophysical aspects of hydrology. The award citation and Meier's response are given here.
Irian Jaya earthquake and tsunami cause serious damage
Authors: Imamura Fumihiko , Subandono D. , Watson G. , Moore A. , Takahashi T. , Matsutomi H. , Hidayat R.
Published: October 2006

On February 17,1996, at 0559 UT, a major earthquake with moment magnitude (Mw) 7.9 killed 107 people and caused major damage at Biak Island, 30–40 km southwest of the earthquake's epicenter (Figures 1 and 2). A devastating tsunami washed away all of the houses at Korim, a small village located in a narrow bay facing directly towards the incoming wave, and it left behind clear evidence of sand erosion and deposition that indicated how far the tsunami advanced. An unexpectedly large tsunami run‐up of 7.7 m was measured at Wardo in western Biak, which faces away from the primary tsunami source. This high run‐up may have been caused by a local submarine landslide.
Hydrologists turn to nature for restorative lessons
Authors: Friebele Elaine
Published: October 2006

The old adage "let Nature take its course" is gaining more respect among engineers and scientists who are attempting to restore the complex ecosystems that evolved over millions of years only to be disturbed by humans in a blink of a geological eye. As the public recognizes the value of lost or degraded water resources, managers who faces piraling remediation costs are beginning to view the Earth's natural processes in a more practical light.
Ned A. Ostenso public service fund established
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

In memory of Ned Ostenso, who died on April 13, a public service fund has been established. Ned served AGU tirelessly for many years and was instrumental in starting the public affairs program. He served as chairman of the Public Affairs Committee, served as a member of the Budget and Finance Committee, and chaired the ad hoc Real Estate Committee that oversaw the construction of the AGU Headquarters building. Donations to the Ned A. Ostenso Public Service Fund will be used to strengthen AGU's role in public information, education, and other areas of public service.