bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reforming Earth science education in developing countries
Authors: Aswathanarayana U.
Published: October 2006

Improving the employability of Earth science graduates by reforming Earth science instruction is a matter of concern to universities worldwide. It should, however, be self‐evident that the developing countries cannot follow the same blueprint for change as the industrialized countries due to constraints of affordability and relevance. Peanuts are every bit as nutritious as almonds; if one with limited means has to choose between a fistful of peanuts and just one almond, it is wise to choose the peanuts. A paradigm proposed here would allow institutions in developing countries to impart good quality relevant Earth science instruction that would be affordable and lead to employment.
USGS warns of increased rain‐induced landslide risks
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Heavy rains in mid‐December have brought moisture levels in parts of the San Francisco Bay area to the point of soil saturation and the midst of a potential landslide season that could continue through March, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The 10‐county Bay area is just one of a number of regions across the United States where rain‐induced landslides are posing a serious, and often increasing, risk.
Previously unknown lake system found in Antarctica
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

There may be nothing new under the Sun. But under the deep ice in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, geophysical scientists believe they may have uncovered a previously unknown lacustrine ecosystem, which they have named Lake Vida.

Beneath 19 meters of ice—the thickest non‐glacial lake ice cover on Earth—researchers, including Peter Doran of the University of Illinois at Chicago, have reported finding an “ice‐sealed” lake. They concluded that this ice seal distinguishes Lake Vida from other lakes that receive meltwater below a floating ice cover and that annually exchange gases with the atmosphere.
‘Subduction‐Factory’ Meeting studies Izu‐Bonin‐Mariana Margin
Authors: Gill James , Klemperer Simon , Stern Robert , Tamura Yoshihiko , Wiens Doug
Published: October 2006

Subduction zones are regions in which the Earth's sedimentary layers and hydrosphere are recycled into the deep mantle. These downwellings provide most of the force needed to drive the plates and are the dominant mode of mantle convection. The cold material sinking in subduction zones releases water into the overlying mantle, causing mantle melting and fractionating elements between surface and deep mantle reservoirs. The term “subduction factory” captures the scale of these interactions and the fact that studying “balance sheets” of inputs and outputs provides powerful constraints for our understanding of how subduction zones work.
Comment on two articles, 3 September 2001 issue of Eos
Authors: Finegold Leonard
Published: October 2006

In “Reassessing Past European Gasoline Lead Policies” by von Storch et al., beginning geophysics students will be impressed by the superb precision in Figure 1, which relates to 110 587.9 ton of European lead emissions in 1965. Recalling their freshman physics, they will note that the last digit given has some significance; that is, it is presumably close to 9 and is not 8, nor is it 0. Thus, the full number should be meaningful to plus‐or‐minus 0.1 ton, which happens to be about my mass. Hence, the number is apparently good to one part in 10,000,000; the reader is invited to search for similar precision in geophysics.
WTC geochemical fingerprint recorded in New York Harbor sediments
Authors: Oktay Sarah D. , Brabander Daniel J. , Smith Joseph R. , Kada John , Bullen Thomas , Olsen Curtis R.
Published: October 2006

The terrorist‐instigated collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers in New York City on 11 September 2001; the resultant fires that burned at the excavation site for three months afterwards; and subsequent site‐remediation activities released dust, debris, and a wide variety of particle‐associated contaminants to the surrounding urban environment.

Although there is a general understanding of fine‐particle and contaminant transport and accumulation in coastal areas such as the Hudson River estuary, determining the spatial and temporal variations in particle and contaminant dynamics can be difficult, since fine‐particle transport usually involves numerous short‐term episodes of deposition and resuspension,and because intense, short‐term events (storms and catastrophes) are often more important than those that occur during normal flow conditions [Olsen et al., 1984; Olsen et al., 1993; Bopp et al., 1998; Woodruff et al., 2001]]
Recent reports on Earth and space science doctorates
Authors: Karsten Jill
Published: October 2006

Two newly published surveys of recent doctoral degree recipients, the Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards, 2001 (National Science Foundation, 2002) and the Earth and Space Science Ph.Ds, Class of 2001 (AGU/AGI, 2002), reveal a generally healthy status for the production of and job market for Earth and space sciences Ph.Ds. The NSF report, which is based on the detailed statistical data obtained in the annual Survey of Earned Doctorates (NSF; 2001), highlights these key findings:

The total number of science and engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded by U.S. universities has dropped 7%from a high point in 1998, to 25,500 degrees in 2001. Of these, doctorates in the physical sciences dropped from 3,825 in 1998 to 3,389 in 2001, after experiencing modest increases between 1992 and 1998.
Confronting a burning question: The Role of fire on Earth
Authors: Spessa Allan , Harrison Sandy P. , Prentice Colin , Cramer Wolfgang , Mahowald Natalie
Published: October 2006

Fire is an important process at the global scale, with far‐reaching effects on vegetation dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, and atmospheric chemistry. At least 8 Gt/yr of dry biomass is burned globally, equivalent to the release of over 4 Gt of carbon, or about 70% of anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions per year. Burning of tropical forests contributes about 2.4 Gt C per year. Fires of this magnitude can lead to substantial changes in ecosystem functioning and vegetation distribution, which in turn affect vegetation's susceptibility to fire. Fires are also a major source of several chemical species—including CO, N2O, NOx, and CH4—which play key roles in atmospheric chemistry and of carbonaceous aerosol particles, which affect the formation and physical properties of clouds.
Space‐based rain data useful for radio communication study groups
Authors: Roy Biswadev
Published: October 2006

Continuous, high‐resolution measurement of rainfall in the tropics was recently achieved using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. This satellite was launched from Japan in November 1997 and operated from an altitude of 350 km at an inclination of 35° [Simpson et al., 1996; Kummerow et al., 1998; Kozu and Iguchi, 1999]. The TRMM satellite carries the world's first space‐borne Precipitation Radar (PR). The PR is operated at 13.8 GHz with a cross‐track scan through nadir and ±17° that results in a 20‐km swath width. PR antenna beam‐width is 0.71° with 49 observation angle bins within the scanning angle of ±17°.
New array monitors seismic activity near the Gulf of California in Mexico
Authors: Trampert Jeannot , Paulssen Hanneke , Van Wettum Arie , Ritsema Jeroen , Clayton Robert , Castro Raul , Rebollar Cecilio , Perez‐Vertiti Arturo ,   CICESE
Published: October 2006

The Gulf of California rift forms a geologically young and active plate boundary that links the San Andreas strike‐slip fault system in California to the oceanic spreading system of the East Pacific Rise. Although this is a classical example of a transform‐rift plate boundary, the tectonic evolution of the Gulf of California and surrounding regions is complex and poorly understood due to a lack of geological and geophysical data. In 2002, the Network of Autonomously Recording Seismographs(NARS)‐Baja network was installed.lt consists of 19 broadband seismic stations deployed in the Baja‐California and Sonora provinces of Mexico (Figure 1). Since NARS‐Baja surrounds the Gulf of California rift system, it is ideal for constraining earthquake faulting processes and the crust‐mantle structure of the region. Moreover, NARS‐Baja, in combination with permanent Mexican and U.S. arrays, forms a unique linear array in excess of 4000 km that should lend itself ideally to seismological studies of the North American‐Pacific plate boundary on a larger scale. NARS‐Baja is planned to operate for at least 5 years. To promote involvement from the entire research community the data collected from the stations will be made available immediately following routine data quality checks.
Dziewoński receives 2002 William Bowie Medal
Authors: Wallace Terry C. , Dziewoński Adam M.
Published: October 2006

Adam Dziewonski was awarded the William Bowie Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on 8 December 2002, in San Francisco, California. The medal recognizes outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and unselfish co‐operation in research.
Physicist's “Sounds of Space” enters the repertoire of classical music on Earth
Authors: Jacobs Judy
Published: October 2006

With the support of NASA, AGU member Don Gurnett (SPA) has been collecting “sounds of space” from planetary magnestospheres and from interplanetary space. He collected these sounds over a 40‐year period using plasma wave receivers on over 30 space missions, including such well‐known missions as Voyagers 1 and 2, Galileo, and Cassini. A chamber work in 10 movements based on some of these sounds, and written for the San Francisco‐based Kronos Quarter, had is second performance at the Wortham Center in Houston, Txas, on January 23.
In Brief
Authors: Jacobs Judy
Published: October 2006

Helping State/local governments use remote sensing data. The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) has released its findings and recommendations for assisting state and local governments to overcome obstacles to the efficient acquisition and use of remote sensing data.
Linking ocean models to coastal management on Australia's north west shelf
Authors: Condie Scott , Fandry Chris , McDonald David , Parslow John , Sainsbury Keith
Published: October 2006

The need for integrated environmental studies to support the management of marine systems is now widely accepted. A significant number of such studies have been undertaken in the past two decades, particularly in coastal bays and estuaries; see, for example, Harris and Crossland [1999]. These studies have generally led to improved scientific understanding of various components of the natural ecosystem and direct impacts of human activities. However, the integration of this information into a single coherent framework has usually only been attempted in the final stages of a project or not at all [Knuttle, 2000]. Managers are then left with the daunting task of interpreting a disparate set of scientific results and incorporating them into a decision‐making process.
New immigration requirements for students in U.S. who are not U.S. citizens
Authors: Crum Emily , Jacobs Judy
Published: October 2006

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has delayed the date by which universities and colleges who enroll non‐U.S. citizens holding non‐immigrant visas must decide whether or not they are going to participate in the INS' new Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). The new deadline is 15 February.

The initial deadline was 30 January However, it has been delayed “to accommodate schools and visitors centers that are new users” of the Internet‐based SEVIS system, according to a statement released by the INS.
Unimpeded dissemination of scientific research versus national security needs discussed at workshop
Authors: Crum Emily
Published: October 2006

In the United States, the only mechanism for restricting publication of scientific research results because of national security concerns is classification by federal agencies according to deemed levels of sensitivity In the wake of heightened fears following the events of 11 September 2001, the U.S. government issued in March 2002 a new classification category “sensitive but unclassified,” which many in the U.S. scientific community consider vague and ill‐defined.

The issuance of this new classification category has raised concerns in the scientific community of a potential for unnecessary restrictions on the dissemination of data and other material that emanates from government‐sponsored research programs.
Center in India offers training in water management
Authors: Aswathanarayana U.
Published: October 2006

The Mahadevan International Centre for Water Resources Management in Hyderabad, India, conducted an interactive training course 7–17 December 2002, on the relationship of land surface hydrological processes to water resources management and extreme weather events. The course was designed to address the training needs of government personnel in Andhra Pradesh State working in the area of water resources management, particularly in the context of severe drought and over‐exploitation of groundwater.

The Mahadevan Centre, modeled after the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, serves as a clearinghouse for information pertaining to water sciences and technologies for the developing countries.
Laser Ranging Workshop draws international research community
Authors: Noomen R. , Klosko S.
Published: October 2006

Approximately 150 participants from organizations throughout the world recently attended the 13th International Workshop on Laser Ranging to discuss the status, problems, and progress of various elements of satellite and lunar laser ranging. The theme “Towards Millimeter Accuracy” was woven through the 13 sessions.

The International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) and the laser ranging community, which are concerned with both near‐Earth Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) techniques, organize these workshops every other year. On the hardware end of the spectrum, participants reported on developments on timing devices, calibration techniques, lasers, detectors, control systems, and other technology advancements that have led to a single‐shot precision of the range observations at the 5‐mm level, which is now achievable. The single‐shot observations, generated at 10 Hz, are typically compressed into so‐called normal points, which effectively reduces noise contributions to 1 mm or better. Researchers at the laser station in Graz, Austria, are currently working to reduce noise contributions further with the development of a laser range system that will operate with a frequency of 1 kHz.
Mass Media Fellowships bridge Science and Journalism
Authors: Rumbaitis‐del Rio Cristina
Published: October 2006

This past autumn, I had the chance to learn first‐hand how journalists work as an AGU/American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) Mass Media Fellow.

I took 10 weeks “off” from being a graduate student in ecology at the University of Colorado to work as a science reporter for WOSU‐AM, a National Public Radio station in Columbus, Ohio.
Paleozoic and Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution of Central Asia: From Continental Assembly to Intracontinental Deformation
Authors: Burke Kevin
Published: October 2006

Thirty years ago, the interior of Asia was inaccessible to most Earth scientists, as was much of the relevant literature. Students of continental evolution were frustrated. We knew that Asia, nearly alone among the Earth's continents, had been assembled in relatively recent geological times, but we could only speculate about the processes that led to its assembly. In the past 27 years, Asian and international researchers have improved our understanding. Ideas about continental evolution as diverse as modeling the deforming lithosphere as a thin, viscous sheet; tectonic escape; Altaid style assembly; crustal doubling; orogenic collapse; delamination; the role of ultra‐high pressure metamorphism; the role of localized erosion and active deformation on local and continental scales are all being tested in Asia. There is no consensus yet, but the Asian natural laboratory is being used well. We may soon come to know which ideas we should abandon.
Definition team of NASA's “Living with a Star” Geospace Mission sets science priorities
Authors: Kintner Paul M. , Guhathakurta Madhulika , Spann James , Giles Barbara
Published: October 2006

For decades, the geospace science community has emphasized the importance of solar influences on magnetospheric and ionospheric plasma dynamics, and the consequences of those influences on Earth‐ and space‐based technological systems. In 2000, NASA presented a compelling case for this new research to the United States Congress, which awarded NASAs Space Science Enterprise with a new initiative, Living HHMH with a Star (LWS), with a goal “to better study solar variability and understand its effects on humanity.” The primary goal of LWS is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to enable the U.S. to effectively address those aspects of the connected Sun‐Earth system that directly affect life and society.

The NASA personnel associated with the Sun‐Earth connection theme of the Space Science Enterprise eagerly stepped up to this challenge and began an accelerated activity to define LWS. As part of its definition activities, NASA appointed a panel, the LWS Geospace Mission Definition Team (GMDT), chaired by space physicist Paul Kintner of Cornell University. The panel was composed of scientists from universities, industry and government laboratories, and representatives from both the research and space operations user communities. In a recently released report, it presented recommendations for the science goals and implementation approach for the Geospace Project of the LWS program, a crucial component of the National Space Weather Program.
Center for oceanographic research opens in Chile
Authors: Lange Carina B. , Ulloa Osvaldo
Published: October 2006

The Humboldt Current System, with its coastal upwelling ecosystem off Peru and Chile, is one of the most productive marine systems in the world. Here, significant exchange of heat and CO2 takes place between the ocean and the atmosphere due to upwelling of sub‐surface, cold, nutrient‐rich, CO2‐saturated waters. In addition, the eastern South Pacific holds one of the three most important oxygen minimum zones of the global ocean. Through the biologically mediated process of denitrification, the oxygen minimum zone contributes to the global sink of nitrogen in the ocean and as a source of the greenhouse gas N2O to the atmosphere.
Taylor receives the 2002 Walter H. Bucher medal
Authors: Hofmann Albrecht W. , Taylor Stuart Ross
Published: October 2006

Stuart Ross Taylor was awarded the 2002 Bucher Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony which was held on 8 December 2002, in San Francisco, California. The medal is given for original contributions to the basic knowledge of the Earth's crust and lithosphere.
Shackleton receives 2002 Maurice Ewing medal
Authors: Moore Theodore C. , Shackleton Nicholas
Published: October 2006

Nicholas Shackleton was awarded the Ewing Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony which was held on 8 December 2002, in San Francisco, California. The medal is given for significant original contributions to the scientific understanding of the processes in the ocean; for the advancement of oceanographic engineering, technology, and instrumentation; and for outstanding service to marine sciences.
Ice logging with light and sound
Authors: Bay Ryan C. , Bramall Nathan , Price P. Buford
Published: October 2006

Polar ice may well be the purest solid substance on Earth, and yet the impurities it contains—gases, dust, and micro‐organisms—provide a rich record of Earth's past climate, volcanism, and one‐celled life going back ˜400,000 years. Until recently detailed records had been deciphered mostly in chemical and biological laboratories from meter‐long ice cores removed by drills capable of coring to bedrock thousands of meters down. Now, borehole instruments are adding a new dimension to the study of ice sheets. They can rapidly log records of past climate, volcanism, c‐axis ice fabric, and soon, even microbial life and grain size.

Gary Clow, a pioneer in borehole logging, has been measuring temperature profiles that provide information on climate and ice flow [Dahl‐Jensen et al., 1998]. From sonic velocity profiles, Kendrick Taylor and Gregg Lamorey are able to infer c‐axis fabrics, which record the history of ice flow Robert Hawley and Ed Waddington have developed a video logger that detects annual layers in firn ice.
Handling of petroleum tanker disaster upsets Spanish Earth sciences community
Authors: Jacobs Judy
Published: October 2006

In Spanish judicial and legislative arenas, and in the national press, investigations and accusations continue to be traded over exactly how the government made its decision to have the leaking petroleum tanker, Prestige, towed to a spot 220 kilometers off Spain's northwest coast—where it broke up—and whether this was the best way to keep the already‐leaking tanker from spilling more oil.

The incident occurred 19 November 2002; it has created one of Spain's worst environmental and economic disasters.
Schubert receives 2002 Harry H. Hess medal
Authors: Bercovici David A. , Schubert Gerald
Published: October 2006

Gerald Schubert was awarded the Hess Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on 8 December 2002, in San Francisco, California. The medal is given for outstanding achievements in research in the constitution and evolution of Earth and sister planets.
Nelson Spencer (1918–2002)
Authors: Brace Larry , Carignan George , Donahue Tom , Nagy Andrew , Hunten Donald
Published: October 2006

Nelson Spencer, former chief of the Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, died on 31 August 2002 in Bethesda, Maryland, at the age of 84 due to complications from Parkinson's disease. He had been an AGU member (SPA) since 1950.

He was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1941 with a degree in electrical engineering. Spencer served as a naval officer during World War II and attended Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while in the service. After the war, he returned to the University of Michigan for graduate studies, earning his master's degree in electrical engineering in 1953. He soon became director of that department's Space Physics Research Laboratory (SPRL), and later, a full professor. In 1960, Spencer moved to Washington D.C. to lead Goddard's upper atmosphere research effort, serving for many years as chief of the Laboratory for Atmospheres. He retired in 1986.
Self‐Organized Criticality in Earth Systems
Authors: Holliger Klaus
Published: October 2006

Scale invariance and the associated “fractal” power law distributions may be regarded as a common thread connecting a wide variety of phenomena throughout the various disciplines of the Earth sciences. The empirical Gutenberg‐Richter law, which states that the frequency‐size relationship of earthquakes scales according to the same power law for all seismogenic regions, regardless of geological history and tectonic setting, is but one prominent example. The initial enthusiasm over the abundance and seemingly universal nature of scale invariance largely focused on the detection of new examples and the evermore detailed description of the various phenomena. Conversely concerted attempts to systematically explore the origins of these ubiquitous fractal scaling laws were few and far between.
Stochastic Methods for Flow in Porous Media, Coping With Uncertainties
Authors: Paleologos Evangelos K.
Published: October 2006

Flow of water in sub‐surface geologic environments takes place through an array of interconnected pore spaces, the spatial distribution of which eludes us. The presence of complex variations in water pathways and geologic characteristics produces large spatio‐temporal fluctuations in the values of the variables describing water flow and/or transport of contaminants. The situation is accentuated by the small number of measurements that are usually available in groundwater studies, the dependence of parameter values onto instruments' resolution, measurement and interpretation errors during sampling procedures, and model uncertainties in the description of a hydrologic system. Traditionally analyses of groundwater problems relied on solution of partial differential equations that required precise definition of parameters, water sources or sinks, and conditions at the boundaries of the hydrogeologic system. However, and in addition to the hydrogeologic parameters' variation, one typically has to estimate water inputs or outputs to aquifers from agricultural activities, leakage from lagoons, lakes, or other sources of surficial water in an area, and to a large extent hypothesize the hydraulic conditions at the boundaries of aquifers. This combination of spatio‐temporal variation, measurement error, and uncertainty has led in the last 30 years to the development of stochastic sub‐surface hydrology.
Probing tectonic topography in the aftermath of continental convergence in central Europe
Authors: Cloetingh S. , Horváth F. , Dinu C. , Stephenson R. A. , Bertotti G. , Bada G. , Matenco L. , Garcia‐Castellanos D. ,   The TECTOP Working Group
Published: October 2006

Continental topography is at the interface of processes taking place at depth in the Earth, at its surface, and above it. Topography influences society, not only in terms of slow processes of landscape change and earthquakes, but also in terms of how it affects climate. The Pannonian Basin‐Carpathian Orogen System in Central and Eastern Europe represents a key natural laboratory for the development of a new generation of models for ongoing orogeny and its effect on continental topography development (Figure l). This system comprises some of the best documented sedimentary basins in the world, located within the Alpine orogenic belt, at the transition between the western European lithosphere and the East European Craton. It includes one of the most active seismic zones in Europe, with intermediate depth (50–220 km) mantle earthquakes of significant magnitude occurring in a geographically restricted area in theVrancea zone of southeastern Romania.
Report of the fellows committee
Authors: Hofmann Albrecht W.
Published: October 2006

The AGU Fellows Committee is pleased to announce it has just elected 41 AGU members as new Fellows for their “eminence in geophysics.” The total number elected each year is established by AGU's bylaws and is limited to 0.1% of the total membership.

The process of electing Fellows begins with the nominations submitted by the general membership to AGU, that are then sent to the section Fellows committees. The section committees review these nominations, prepare their rankings, and forward an allotted number of nominations with their rankings to the Union Fellows Committee. Additional “cosponsored” nominations supported by two or more sections are encouraged, and they have had a very high success rate in the final elections by the Fellows Committees.
Important from the Fellows Committee
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Union Fellows Committee is scientifically very heterogeneous by necessity simply because of the extremely wide range of scientific activities encompassed by the AGU. Since the Committee must read up to 100 or more dossiers, the following guidelines are provided to help nominators present the strongest package possible: The most eminent, outstanding, and deserving members of our community must first be identified and nominated.
Weill receives Edward A. Flinn III award
Authors: Liebermann Robert C. , Weill Daniel F.
Published: October 2006

Daniel F. Weill was awarded the Flinn III Award at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on 8 December 2002, in San Francisco, California. The award is given to an individual who personifies the Union's motto of unselfish cooperation in research through their facilitating, coordinating, and implementing activities.
2002 Charles S. Falkenberg Award
Authors: Moore Berrien
Published: October 2006

The Charles S. Falkenberg Award was presented posthumously to Charles S. Falkenberg and was accepted by his mother, Mrs. William S. Falkenberg.
Uncovering the footprint of former ice streams off Antarctica
Authors:   COHIMAR/SEDANO Scientific Party
Published: October 2006

Antarctic ice sheets and ice caps have been expanding and contracting following global climatic cycles. The last time the Antarctic ice cover peaked, at least in Western Antarctica, was ca. 21 ky ago during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The strong warming (nearly 2.8°C) over the past 50 years, and the yearly recent collapse of limited portions (hundreds to a few thousands of square miles per event) of ice shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula have brought to the headlines the debate about the potential collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the near future under the influence of global warming.

Such a catastrophe would substantially contribute to global sea level rise (a resulting 5 m increase is expected); alter water mass conditions, circulation, and productivity around Antarctica and in the world ocean; and modify the Earth's climate.The economic,social, and ecological impacts of these changes would depend greatly on the rate at which they might take place [Bindschadler, 1998” . A detailed knowledge of the past extent of ice sheets and the timing of their advances and retreats thus becomes essential to quantify the rates of change and to properly assess the future stability of the WAIS and nearby ice caps. The stability of ice sheets is largely dependent on ice drainage, which mostly occurs via ice streaming along glacial troughs. Ice streams are thus a key element to solve the puzzle linking ice sheet stability, sea level rise, and climate change at a global scale.
Does the Mesozoic dipole low really exist?
Authors: Thomas D. N. , Biggin A. J.
Published: October 2006

Documenting variations in the virtual dipole moment (VDM) of the geomagnetic field through geologic time has recently been the subject of considerable interest, not the least because a detailed and reliable VDM record would provide a key constraint for geodynamo modeling. Such a record would also inform the debate concerning issues related to Earth's geodynamic evolution, such as how the geomagnetic field responds to stages in supercontinent cycling. The relationship between variations in geomagnetic polarity and field intensity with lowermost mantle (LMM) processes is fundamental, but the paucity of the VDM record has focused research on the links between polarity and LMM processes. Nonetheless, authors agree on the crucial need to produce a detailed VDM record in which we can place sufficient confidence to allow these major issues to be addressed [e.g., Biggin and Thomas, 2003; Heller et al., 2002; Riisager et al., 2002; Tarduno et al., 2001; Selkin and Tauxe, 2000].
Claim of largest flood on record proves false
Authors: Sheffer N. A. , Enzel Y. , Waldmann N. , Grodek T. , Benito G.
Published: October 2006

A study of paleofloods in the Gardon River in southern France reveals the occurrence of past extreme floods that were larger than any observed historically. From 8 to 9 September 2002, during the course of the study by a complete coincidence, an extreme flood claimed the lives of 21 people and caused millions of dollars worth of damage to the towns and villages along the river. This flood was larger in magnitude than any flood on record, according to gaged data since 1890.

An autumn storm, which is typical of this region, struck with immense force. The rain cell migrated from the lower reaches of the basin on the evening of 8 September to the upper parts of the basin, producing 680 mm of rain in 20 hours.The flood's peak discharge is preliminary estimated at 6000 m3 s−1. This flood is now considered by the media and professionals to be “The largest flood on record.” However, our research proves otherwise.
Workshop advances interdisciplinary polar science and fast ice sheet drilling
Authors: Tulaczyk Slawek , Clow Gary D. , Elliot David H. , Powell Ross D. , Priscu John C.
Published: October 2006

Over the last 50 years, the polar ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland have become natural scientific laboratories. Thanks to their unique environments, they yield discoveries that advance different geophysical disciplines and capture the imagination of the general public. The scientific community interested in sampling polar ice sheets and their substrata has been growing recently, and now incorporates biologists, geologists, geophysicists, glaciologists,and paleo‐climatologists. This multidisciplinary interest is opening new research frontiers. Significantly advancing our scientific understanding along many of these frontiers will require targeted sampling strategies and the acquisition of data from arrays of deep access holes on spatial scales ranging from local to continent‐wide.
Gravel‐Bed Rivers V
Authors: Buffington John M.
Published: October 2006

Gravel‐bed rivers attract an interesting cross‐section of physical and biological scientists. The study of gravel‐bed rivers creates a common currency for interdisciplinary exchange among fluvial geomorphologists, civil engineers, hydrologists, lotic biologists, and riparian ecologists. Gravel‐bed rivers are also hotbeds for many current social and environmental issues: critical habitat for endangered salmonids; potential depositional zones for toxic byproducts of mining, industry, and agriculture; potential locations for exceeding Environmental Protection Agency standards for stream temperature and sediment load; and sources of destructive flooding for communities that encroach upon natural floodways.
Lanzerotti to head new AGU journal on Space Weather
Authors: Lifland Jonathan
Published: October 2006

Louis J. Lanzerotti has been named editor of a new AGU online publication devoted to the emerging field of near‐Earth space conditions and their effects on technical systems.

Space Weather: The International Journal of Research and Applications will be the first journal dedicated solely to the subject, and will include peer‐reviewed research, as well as news, features, and opinion articles. A quarterly magazine digest will also be published from the online edition and distributed free of charge to space weather professionals.
Sudicky receives 2002 hydrology award
Authors: Schwartz Frank W. , Sudicky Edward A.
Published: October 2006

Edward Sudicky received the Hydrology Award at the 2002 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, last December. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the science of hydrology.
Ancient Seismites
Authors: Pratt Brian R.
Published: October 2006

For most of us who were born and raised in cratonic interiors or at passive margins, earthquakes are the stuff of occasional newscasts about faraway mountain belts and subduction zones. We may forget what the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 did to western Europe: shocking the likes of Voltaire, thereby precipitating an intellectual revolt against the Church and helping to launch the Age of Reason. Perhaps civilizations came and went in Asia Minor because their world was sporadically rent asunder by calamitous earthquakes. Surely it is no accident, then, that the greatest centers of learning have thrived historically in places of persistent tectonic stability.
Continent‐ocean interactions within the East Asian Marginal seas
Authors: Clift Peter D. , Wang Pinxian , Kuhnt Wolfgang , Hall Robert , Tada Ryuji
Published: October 2006

Interactions between continents and oceans are a frontier area for the Earth sciences in the 21st century. An AGU Chapman Conference, Continent‐Ocean Interactions within the East Asian Marginal Seas, examined the nature of these interactions in the marginal seas of east Asia. The objective was to highlight both recent advances, and especially the contributions made by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)semi; as well as to identify key future science goals. The types of continent‐ocean interactions discussed were wide‐ranging, including climate‐tectonic interactions, continental‐oceanic climate linkages, and the material flux from the rivers of Asia to the ocean, as well as how continental tectonic evolution since the India‐Asia collision has influenced the tectonics of the western Pacific and vice‐versa. The marginal seas of east Asia form the transition between the world's largest continent and its largest ocean, and are major repositories of information on the interaction between the two.
Establishing a U.S. Water Commission
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

U.S. legislation to establish the Twenty‐First Century Water Commission would help to address the critical issue of the future of the nation's water supply, U.S. Rep. John Linder (R‐Georgia) told a House of Representatives Resources subcommittee on 1 April.

The bill, H.R. 135, would establish the commission to develop recommendations for a comprehensive water strategy to address the nation's future needs. H.R. 135 builds on legislation (H.R. 3561) which was introduced during the last session of Congress, and it now awaits consideration by the full Resources Committee.
Strategies to support exploration of Mars' surface
Authors: Kirkland L. , Sykes M. , Farr T. , Adams J. , Blaney D.
Published: October 2006

Visible‐infrared spectroscopy has a long history of providing fundamental compositional discoveries in the solar system. However, we are entering a new era of Mars exploration in which missions will take place nearly every 2 years. The visible‐infrared spectral community thus faces a more rapid influx in data volume and variety than it has previously handled. Visible‐infrared instruments are on the 1996 Mars Global Surveyor, 2001 Mars Odyssey, 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers, 2003 Mars Express, 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; and likely, on the 2007 and 2009 missions. Interpretations of those data sets provide a critical foundation for geologic and climatic interpretations as well as an opportunity to select landing sites.
Plasma Astrophysics: Kinetic Processes in Solar and Stellar Coronae, Second Edition
Authors: Gary S. Peter
Published: October 2006

A collision‐less plasma is an ionized fluid that is so hot and tenuous that interactions between individual particles are unimportant. In such a plasma, electric and magnetic fields mediate interactions among particles, and fundamental physics is addressed by kinetic theories that describe not only the spatial and temporal variations of the medium, but also its velocity‐space properties.

The outer corona of our Sun and the outer coronae of many stars are collision‐less plasmas. Thus, the preface of Plasma Astrophysics begins. “This textbook is intended as an introduction to the physics of solar and stellar coronae, emphasizing kinetic plasma processes.” But the content extends well beyond the stated purview. In fact, many plasmas of the universe are collision‐less, including many space plasmas—those that are subject to in situ measurements by spacecraft—and a wide variety of astrophysical plasmas. Thus, although the parameters and phenomena that characterize the collision‐less plasmas of space, the solar corona, and astrophysics are often very different, the physics in each case derives from the same fundamental kinetic plasma theory.
Settlement reached in air gun use in ocean‐based seismic research
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The U.S. National Science Foundation and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) have settled a lawsuit brought against NSF that had threatened to scuttle the use of air gun arrays for use in NSF‐sponsored seismic and geological studies at sea.

The parties agreed to a 14 April dismissal of the suit.
The EGS‐AGU‐EUG joint assembly, April 2003
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The first—and last—joint meeting of AGU, the European Union of Geosciences (EUG), and the European Geophysical Society (EGS) was held 6–11 April in Nice, France. It was AGU's Spring Meeting for this year, and the more than 10,000 participants from over 90 countries made it one of the largest gatherings of geoscientists ever.

For AGU, this was more than a Spring Meeting. It was an opportunity to celebrate the success of these European geophysical science societies, and to take pride in AGU's close relationship with both of them. AGU's efforts in fostering cooperation among geophysical science societies support the long‐term goal shown in the text box on next page. These efforts are also consistent with the vision statement in AGU's current strategic plan:“…through cooperative activities with regional, national, and international partner societies, the resources of all are extended, the geophysical sciences are given greater visibility and individual researchers and students are better served.”
Energy and the Environment
Authors: Gurney Kevin Robert
Published: October 2006

Of all human activity, the production and use of energy has some of the most profound and far‐reaching implications for the environment. With the ever‐mounting evidence for global warming and the implications this aspect of global change holds for the future, the need for a clean energy future looms increasingly prescient. Thoughtful contributors to the debate concerning our energy future must consider the basic thermodynamic and engineering realities of both the current and proposed technologies in addition to the environmental problems they create. Too often, treatments of the nexus between energy production, use, and environmental impact rigorously discuss energy technology but pay scant attention to the details of the environmental impacts and vice‐versa. Energy and the Environment aims to provide rigor in both arenas.
Maps measure net primary production
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

New maps of Earth's net primary production are the first consistent and continuous global measurements of the rate that plant life absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, NASA announced on 23 April.

The maps incorporate measurements of plant properties collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, with other satellite‐ and surface‐based measurements to produce a map every eight days that indicates how much carbon dioxide is taken in by vegetation during photosynthesis, minus the amount given off during respiration. This global measure of biological productivity of land and marine plants could provide insights into Earth's carbon cycle, according to NASA scientists.
Dresselhaus to Chair AIP Governing Board
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Mildred S. Dresselhaus has been chosen as the first woman to chair the governing board of the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

AGU is one of AIP's largest member organizations and is represented proportionately on AIP's various governing bodies. Robert E. Dickinson, AGU's current president, is a member of AIP's governing board, as is AGU's executive director, Fred Spilhaus, its director of publications, Judy Holoviak, and members James L. Burch (Southwest Research Institute), Louis Lanzerotti (Bell Labs), and Jeffrey J. Park (Yale University). In addition, Lanzerotti serves on AIP's 13‐member executive committee.
Sea level change tracked along U.S. coastline
Authors: Zervas Chris , Wright Darren
Published: October 2006

When long‐term changes in coastal water level are recorded from a fixed point on land, the absolute change in the level of the ocean or the land is not being measured; the difference between two independent variables is. Longterm changes in the level of the ocean are caused by changes in ocean temperatures, salinities, currents, winds, and atmospheric pressures, or changes in the total amount of water in the ocean basins. Long‐term changes in land elevation are caused by vertical tectonic motions due to glacial rebound or plate boundary interactions, volcanic processes, deposition and compaction of sediments, or the extraction of oil, gas, or water. For many purposes, only the relative change in water level is of interest; for other purposes, it is important to separate the fluctuations of the ocean from vertical land movement. Information necessary for interpreting changing water levels at many locations along the U.S. coastline is now available online from NOAA (tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov).
Geodynamics, Second Edition
Authors: Ito Garrett
Published: October 2006

Turcotte and Schubert's first edition of Geodynamics has become the premier textbook on applications of continuum physics to geologic problems. After 20 years of widespread use by students, educators, and researchers, the second edition of Geodynamics is a welcome revision. All individuals working in the solid Earth sciences should own this textbook.

Geodynamics provides practical insight into the governing physics of many processes in geology and geophysics. The general approach is to emphasize geological phenomena, derive the governing equations, and then expand to a variety of applications. Most of the applications are presented in one‐spatial dimension, and this provides an effective starting point for conveying the basic theory Derivations in multi‐dimensions are limited, however, largely because tensor and index notations are not used.
Operational Oceanography: Implementation at the European and Regional Scales. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on EuroGOOS
Authors: Urban Ed
Published: October 2006

The goal of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) is to create a coordinated, worldwide system of ocean observations from satellites, ships, in‐situ buoys, and other sources. GOOS was adopted as a priority activity by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in 1991, and as plans for GOOS developed, it became obvious that implementing an effective global system would hinge on a practical issue: how to create an integrated global system in terms of observations, data analysis, and data access when most observing systems are deployed and maintained by nations and regional intergovernmental organizations. Two obvious paths were taken: regional GOOS activities were developed throughout the world, and additional observations were submitted to the world data centers to make national data available worldwide.

European GOOS (EuroGOOS) was founded in 1994 (see www.eurogoos.org) as one of several regional GOOS acthdties. The proceedings of the Second International Conference on EuroGOOS (Operational Oceanography: Implementation at the European and Regional Scales) present a snapshot of the status of EuroGOOS and its possible components as of March 1999.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Cecil H. Green died on 11 April 2003, at age 102. He was an AGU Fellow and retired life member (Seismology) who joined in 1945.

Richard Hamburger died on 8 April 2003, at age 87. He had been an AGU member (Seismology) since 1948.
Ocean drilling memorandum signed by U.S. and Japan
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The next phase in scientific ocean drilling moved forward on 22 April, with the United States and Japan signing a memorandum of cooperation to proceed with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).

The agreement, which has been years in the making, provides the operational and scientific ramework for the IODFJ, which is scheduled to begin on 1 October and ramp up to full operation in 2007. The memorandum calls for cooperation on the program through 30 September 2013.