bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Priorities of earthquake research may be on shaky ground
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Congressional checks on the effectiveness and direction of earthquake research and development in the United States may mean securing grants for basic research will be tougher in the future, some observers say, that is, unless scientists can do a better job of getting their message out.The January Northridge earthquake has prompted awareness, as well as criticism of current federal efforts to reduce earthquake hazards. In addition to a study launched in February by the White House, the Office of Technology Assessment recently gave the thumbs up for a study, requested by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, to evaluate federal efforts in reducing earthquake damage—how best to set research and development priorities and to ensure practical use of research findings.
Alfred O. C. Nier (1912–1994)
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Alfred O. C. Nier, a well‐known geophysicist who is considered one of the founders of isotope geology, geochronology, and isotope geochemistry, died on May 16 after a car accident.In 1938, Nier, working with a mass spectrometer, measured the isotopes of lead. His results allowed determination of the Earth's age at 5 b.y. In 1940 he used a mass spectrometer in his basement workshop at the University of Minnesota to identify uranium 235, a major step in the evolution of the atomic bomb. In 1943, he went to work on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tenn., to develop the first atomic bomb.
Geophysical Society Presidents meet at AGU
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

AGU's new headquarters and the 75th Anniversary celebration had a major boost from a unique gathering of presidents of geophysical societies outside the United States on May 20–22 in Washington, D.C. AGU president‐elect Marcia Neugebauer welcomed the group by pointing out that they were the first to use the facility, which was available by virtue of a special use permit prior to the final completion of the construction. Several of the presidents who had stopped by the new headquarters earlier in the day shared in the amazing transformation that a few hours had made.Representatives from twenty‐seven national and regional geophysical societies and five international organizations gathered to gain a better understanding of the needs and expectations of geophysical scientists around the world and to explore ways to extend the limited resources of the societies through worldwide collaboration. They had come from all continents and represented all the scientific areas embraced by AGU.
Gamma ray flashes add to mystery of upper atmosphere
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Atmospheric electricity research has come a long way since Benjamin Franklin's kite‐flying days. But what researchers have been learning lately about above‐thunderstorm electricity has wrought a whole new era of mysteries.For a start, last summer a Colorado meteorologist sparked interest in a terrestrial phenomenon that the community first observed more than 100 years ago: optical flashes that occur above thunderstorms—at least 30 km above Earth. Walter Lyons with the Ft. Collins‐based Mission Research Corporation, demonstrated that such flashes are not anomalies, as conventional scientific wisdom had held. He filmed hundreds of flashes during a 2‐week period.
Parallel electric fields in lab and space plasmas reviewed
Authors: Whipple E. C. , Lemaire J. F. 
Published: October 2006

A symposium was held at the Union Radio Scientifique Internationale (URSI) General Assembly in Kyoto in 1993 to review research concerning electric fields that have a component parallel to magnetic field lines; that is, when E.B is not equal to zero. Under these conditions the frozen‐in‐theorem of ideal magnetohydrodynamics is not applicable. Indeed, E.B = 0 is one of the cornerstone conditions on which the demonstration of this well‐known theorem is founded.The similarity between laboratory double layers and those observed in the magnetosphere is not always obvious. However, the symposium, Parallel Electric Fields in Laboratory and Space Plasmas, showed that cross fertilization of laboratory plasma physics and space plasma physics can be achieved.
Calendar's O.K.; get rid of B.P.
Authors: Schaffer Jeffrey P. 
Published: October 2006

In the May 10, 1994, issue of Eos, Cesare Emiliani suggested a new calendar, since the current one “singles out an event—the birth of Christ—which has no significance in non‐Christian civilizations.” I am neither Christian nor religious, yet I have no problem with the current calendar.However, I do have problems with Emiliani's proposed calendar. First, set at exactly 10,000 B.C., it is tied directly to the birth of Christ, so if Emiliani has tried to select an arbitrary, non‐Christian date, he has failed. Perhaps he ought to try 10,000 years before the first year of the Chinese calendar (if that could be precisely established.) After all, there are more Chinese on this planet than Europeans, their civilization and calendar preceded those of the Europeans, and they stand to be the superpower of the next century.
Watching for fireballs on Jupiter
Authors: Boslough Mark B. , Crawford David A. , Robinson Allen C. , Trucano Timothy G. 
Published: October 2006

Over a period spanning six nights starting July 16, a series of hypervelocity impacts will take place on a scale never before witnessed. Comet fragments of sizes possibly measured in kilometers will collide with Jupiter at 60 km/s.This event has captured the imaginations of planetary scientists, professional and amateur astronomers, physicists, seismologists, atmospheric scientists, theoretical astrophysicists, and computational mathematicians. Current expectations are that the fragments of Comet Shoemaker‐Levy 9 will be too small to generate impacts that will be visible to Earth‐based observers.
Sound's effects on marine mammals need investigation
Authors: Green David M. 
Published: October 2006

Protecting marine mammals and conducting certain types of marine research, in particular, those that use sound in the ocean, have categorically come into conflict because of our lack of knowledge of the effects of low‐frequency sound on marine mammals. Despite its intentions to improve Earth's overall environment, the proposed Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) project, and by implication, other uses of sound in the ocean by oceanographers, are now under fire because of the dearth of data on this very issue.By passing the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, the United States acknowledged that marine mammals are indeed a valuable national resource. Since World War II, the United States has developed and maintained a high‐quality marine science research effort.
Team investigates activity at Mt. Semeru, Java, volcano
Authors: Hellweg Peggy , Seidl Dieter , Brotopuspito Kirbani Sri , Brüstle Wolfgang 
Published: October 2006

In February 1994 a large eruption continued a pattern of activity that Mt. Semeru volcano—the highest mountain in Java, Indonesia—has exhibited since 1967. Mt. Semeru lies south of the Tengger Caldera, which encloses the volcano Mt. Bromo. Together, they form one of the largest volcanic complexes in the province of East Java.Although Mt. Semeru is one of the most continuously active volcanos in Indonesia, it has been the subject of few scientific investigations. Observations of the volcano's activity are made from a distance and compiled in monthly and annual reports by the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia (VSI), but the most recent detailed map of the summit region was published in 1938 in the Atlas of the Dutch Colonies.
NSF's South Pole station plan clears technical hurdles
Authors: Wakefield J. 
Published: October 2006

A National Science Foundation review panel has given the thumbs up for the proposed South Pole Redevelopment Plan, which would take about 8 years to complete and cost more than $171 million (Table 1).If not rebuilt, the already overburdened Amundsen‐Scott Station will be rendered useless within the decade, according to NSF officials. Present conditions at the nearly 20‐year‐old station are already hurting the efficiency of environmental and global change research conducted there, as well as the morale of scientists who not only work and live in isolation from the rest of the world for months at a time, but endure many hardships, such as the subzero temperatures that reach −85°C in winter.
Exploration of global oceanic ridge system unfolds
Authors: Detrick Robert S. , Humphris Susan E. 
Published: October 2006

Less than 10% of the global mid‐ocean ridge system has been studied in detail. To remedy this problem, a program called Ridge Interdisciplinary Global Experiments (RIDGE) is integrating observational, experimental, and theoretical studies into a decade‐long effort to understand the geological, geochemical, and biological processes responsible for creating new oceanic crust along this system of ridges on the ocean floor.RIDGE tackles many scientific fronts simultaneously—since the first field program went to sea in 1991, more than 60 field programs, experimental and laboratory investigations, and theoretical studies involving over 70 investigators have been supported.
“Daunting” task of assembling data for a geospace global circulation model begins
Authors: Siscoe George , Fedder Joel 
Published: October 2006

This is the second article in a series of three on the Geospace Environment Modeling program. The first article, “Milestones in Geospace Environment Modeling,” appeared in the December 28, 1993, issue of Eos.The Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) Program is quickly moving toward a general circulation model (GCM) for geospace similar to the powerful GCMs that now support troposphere‐stratosphere and thermosphere‐ionosphere research. Since, according to Richard Feynman, “the test of a science is its ability to predict,” the geospace GCM (GGCM) holds the key to validating magnetospheric science, unifying its researchers, and demonstrating the mastery of the field to other geophysicists.
Outstanding student papers
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Two presentations were named Outstanding Student Papers in the Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section at the 1994 Spring Meeting.Stuart Gilder, who presented “Constraints on the Tectonic Evolution of South China From Isotopic Mapping of the Nanling Granite Field,” recently received his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He holds a B.A. in geology from San Francisco State University and an M.S. in geology from the University of Texas at El Paso. Since studying at Fudan University in Shanghai in 1985, his research has focused on the tectonics of Asia. He often incorporates paleomagnetism, isotope geochemistry, and field‐based structural work, and he is currently using the diamond anvil cell to determine the magnetic character of the high‐pressure phases of iron.
Outstanding student papers
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Seven presentations were named Outstanding Student Papers at the 1994 Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego, Calif.Tammi Richardson was honored for her presentation “Buoyancy Regulation and Vertical Movements of a Coastal Marine Diatom in a Laboratory Water Column.” Tammi is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Oceanography at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a B.S. with honors in biology (1986) and an M.S. in invertebrate zoology and biochemistry (1988) from the University of New Brunswick, Canada. Her research interests include buoyancy regulation by diatoms, physiology and biochemistry of marine algae in an ecological context, and molecular and biochemical aspects of marine photosynthesis.
Microwave measurements produce global climatic, hydrologic data
Authors: Ferraro Ralph , Grody Norman , Forsyth David , Carey Robert , Basist Alan , Janowiak John , Weng Fuzhong , Marks Gerard F. , Yanamandra Radha 
Published: October 2006

Accurate measurements of rainfall, water vapor, and snow cover are necessary for monitoring the short‐term fluctuations in Earth's atmosphere and surface that impact the hydrological cycle. Such measurements are used to observe and predict climate variations caused by phenomena such as El Niño and major volcanic eruptions. Until recently, the measurements of rainfall, water vapor, and snow cover that could be obtained from space were limited in range and accuracy.A seven‐channel radiometer that measures Earth‐emitted radiation at four frequencies—the Defense Satellite Meteorological Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I)—is now operational and is generating data products that improve the accuracy, range, and availability of atmospheric and hydrologic data.
Research at Decade Volcanos aimed at disaster prevention
Authors:   IAVCEI Subcommission on Decade Volcanoes
Published: October 2006

About 100,000 people have died from volcanic eruptions in the past 100 years, including about 30,000 in the past 50 years. Many of these deaths could have been prevented through timely warnings of ensuing volanic activity.Within the past decade, timely warnings have allowed at least as many lives to be saved as lost and possibly 2 or 3 times more, we estimate. During the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, only 57 lives were lost and several thousand were protected. During the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, between 200 and 300 lives were lost, while at least 10,000 and perhaps as many as 25,000 were saved.
Fraser brings the south Pacific to GRL
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Earlier this year, Brian J. Fraser of the University of Newcastle, Australia, began a 3‐year term as a Geophysical Research Letters editor, AGU's interdisciplinary rapid‐publication journal. Fraser's scientific interest is magnetospheric physics and waves in space plasmas.In his role as regional editor, Fraser, now a personal chair at the University of New‐castle, hopes to encourage publication of new and important South Pacific contributions, primarily from universities and government research laboratories in Australia and New Zealand.
Planned reductions threaten EOS data studies
Authors: Steffen Konrad , Emery William , Welch Ron , Emmitt David 
Published: October 2006

The Earth Observatory System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) will provide a structure for data management and derived products from EOS satellite instruments slated for launch over the next 2 decades. Within the EOSDIS framework, the EOSDIS Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) are responsible for providing data, information services, and support to the global change research community. Although much of the development has been in anticipation of the future launch of the EOS instruments, each of the DAACs now has significant geophysical data holdings, which will soon be available through the prototype Version 0 Information Management System.The EOS budget is facing a 9% reduction in total budget from $8 billion to $7.25 billion through FY2000. Instruments and flight operations have been cut previously, but now EOSDIS—currently at $2.5 billion—must bear a portion of the cuts of the order of $375 million. Among possible candidates for cost savings, serious consideration is being given to closure of up to three DAACs, including those at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The $30–40 million savings that this produces is considerably reduced, however, by the need to consolidate their functions elsewhere, and perhaps with more complex management, higher labor, and other costs.
No easy answers for global climate change research
Authors: Wakefield J. 
Published: October 2006

First the word was that not only car emissions but cow burps may play a significant role in global warming. Then, the story turned to rice paddies and cockroaches as likely sources of greenhouse gases. Sound confusing? It should.Now even experts readily admit global warming research is chock‐full of uncertainties. And these issues offer only a freeze‐frame of the broader climate change motion picture. Everything from whether sea levels will rise to whether hurricanes will be come more frequent to whether solar forcing plays a role in all of this is now in question. This means that making and implementing effective international climate change policies remains a tenuous process—even at a time when the overall funding for global change research is at an all‐time high in the United States.
An appreciation of Paul A. Siple
Authors: Benson Robert F. 
Published: October 2006

A major inspiration for writing this long overdue appreciation of Paul A. Siple was a wind chill temperature in Washington D.C. of −39°F.Other inspirations have come over the years from colleagues who either know about Paul Siple or Siple Station but not both. In 19571 had the unique fortune to spend a year with Paul Siple as a scientific member of the first wintering‐over party at the U.S. Amundsen‐Scott South Pole Station at 90°S. He was the leader of the station during the first winter of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) 1956–1957.
The “precision” parameter in paleomagnetism
Authors: Tarling Don 
Published: October 2006

Stephen Gillett [Eos, December 7,1993] proposes that the term “precision” is inappropriate for K, the estimate of this, k, and its derivative, α95, and that these Fisherian parameters [Fisher, 1953] should be renamed as measures of “concentration.” Stephen is certainly correct in saying that these terms are commonly confused and need clarification.Certainly, one of the most common errors in the structural interpretation of paleomagnetic analyses is failure to distinguish between α95 and the standard deviation Θ63. Assuming a Fisherian distribution for paleomagnetic data, which we know is not strictly valid but adequate for either directions or poles, then k and α95 are measures of how close the mean direction obtained from the examples is to the true mean direction within the formation sampled. It thus reflects how reliably the mean direction actually obtained reflects the true mean direction.
U.N. climate convention goals may be out of reach
Authors: Wakefield J. 
Published: October 2006

The chief goal of the 1992 Rio climate convention may be unobtainable, recent reports indicate, as nations are gearing up for the first conference on the U.N. framework in Geneva, August 22—September 2. And even if the convention goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000 is reached, some experts say, little would actually be accomplished to stabilize global climate change.For starters, reports earlier this month revealed that Japan and Australia, to name a couple, may be off the target. On a national level, Japan is projected to come in about 3% above the mark. Australia may even withdraw from the convention for economic reasons, according to Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.
Ph.D.: Asset or liability?
Authors: Snow Jonathan E. 
Published: October 2006

I am a young scientist on the verge of leaving science due to lack of opportunity, and I know many others in my situation. Times are rapidly getting harder for us. A degree from a “name” university, publications, and energy are not enough to get and hold a place in the academic world.The great myth of the “Ph.D. shortage” inflicted on us by former NSF Director Erich Bloch has now been exploded, I hope. Another myth that needs exploding is that a Ph.D. is a good preparation for work outside of academia. Unless it is in an applied field (for example, hydrogeology), the Ph.D. is more of a liability than an asset in a job search.
Blizzard's effects on Appalachian stream chemistry assessed
Authors: Dow Charles L. , DeWalle David R. , Lynch James A. , Sharpe William E. 
Published: October 2006

From March 12–14, 1993, up to 1 m of snow fell on the northeast United States, with central Pennsylvania receiving some of the largest accumulations. The rain‐on‐snow events that followed provided a unique opportunity to monitor episodic acidification and fluctuations in dissolved aluminum concentrations during extreme flows in three forested Appalachian Plateau basins in north‐central Pennsylvania. These events produced peak flows 2–5 times greater than previously monitored flows in the basins we studied, and in the Susquehanna River Basin, March discharge was the highest sustained flow on record.High flows during the event were accompanied by greater streamflow dilution by rain and meltwater and shifts to surface and near‐surface hydrologic flow paths, which reduced contact of water with the soil matrix. In the three basins we monitored, these extreme flows caused little water quality degradation relative to earlier events of lesser magnitude. High flows resulted in stream acidification due to base cation dilution rather than increased acid anion concentrations as found in previously monitored events. Total dissolved aluminum concentrations peaked and then remained nearly constant as flow increased during the event; however, aluminum concentrations were elevated above levels toxic to native trout populations in these streams for an extended period of time.
Broad‐based Geoscience Programs make the grade
Authors: Wakefield J. 
Published: October 2006

Trends in geophysical science toward a “holistic” approach seem to be driving the evolution of interdisciplinary science departments at colleges and universities in the United States. Some say it's a boon for research and for graduate students alike. Yet others remain skeptical.At any rate, the grades are not all in as to how individual disciplines are faring in this transition era.
Paleomagneticists discover rock trait that may offer clues to seafloor evolution
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Paleomagneticists at Columbia University have discovered a magnetic trait of seafloor rocks that may provide a new “clock” to map changes to the ocean floors on a timescale of several thousand years—which is a much more refined scale than that offered by prevailing methods. Such a tool may elucidate the evolution of mid‐ocean ridges and perhaps even the dynamics of the Earth's field intensity when combined with state‐of‐the‐art uranium calibration techniques.For decades, scientists have relied on reversals in the magnetic direction of rock found along the Earth's mid‐ocean ridges to reconstruct the history of the creation and movement of the Earth's crustal plates, whose boundaries lie along these ridges.
Explorer Program downscaled to keep pace with high flight rate theme
Authors: Wakefield J. 
Published: October 2006

The days of the $200 million‐plus or Delta‐class missions of the Explorer program are coming to an end, NASA decided earlier this month. The news may be music to the ears of some space physicists and astrophysicists, who have been calling for more frequent flight opportunities.Associate Administrator for Space Science Wesley Huntress Jr. announced more than a week ago that NASA is canceling the $250 million Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) mission which was slated to start in fiscal year 1995 and be launched in the year 2000. NASA will go ahead, however, with the planned launch in 1997 of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), which will become the last Delta‐class mission to fly.
In response
Authors: Miller Timothy L. , Smith Steven A. , Owens Jerry K. 
Published: October 2006

We wish to clarify the remarks concerning measurements of OH in the atmosphere during ATLAS‐1 by being more specific about what was measured. The instrument ISO (Imaging Spectrometric Observatory) on ATLAS‐1 made the first space‐based measurements of OH density profiles in the mesosphere by observing resonance fluorescence of the OH radical in the dayglow. This also marked the first such measurement of OH in the mesosphere since Anderson's [1971] sounding rocket measurements.We also wish to acknowledge the long history of excellent work by the Phillips Laboratory group in observations of the pure rotation and vibration‐rotation emissions of the ground electronic state OH in the mesopause region.