Geology News And Research - December 2007 Archives
A new study of past sea levels shows that they rose by an average of 1.6 metres every one hundred years the last time the Earth was as warm as it is predicted to be later this century, with levels reaching up to six metres above those seen today. The findings suggest that current predictions of sea-level rises may be too low.
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Scientists have long searched for what triggers earthquakes, even suggesting that tides or weather play a role. Recent research spearheaded by Jean-Philippe Avouac, professor of geology and director of the Tectonics Observatory at the California Institute of Technology, shows that in the Himalayan mountains, at least, there is indeed an earthquake season. It's winter.
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 | Researchers are investigating whether it is possible to find signs of life in rocks that are 3.5 billion years old. If they succeed, it may become easier to search for life on Mars. ...> Full Article |
 | For the past two decades, radar images from satellites have dominated the field of geophysical monitoring for natural hazards like earthquakes, volcanoes, or landslides. These images reveal small perturbations precisely, but large changes from events like big earthquake ruptures or fast-moving glaciers remained difficult to assess from afar, until now. ...> Full Article |
 | Geologists Say 'Wall of Africa' Allowed Humanity to Emerge ...> Full Article |
As the giant North American ice sheets melted an enormous pool of freshwater, many times larger than all of the Great Lakes, formed behind them. About 8400 years ago this pool of freshwater burst free and flooded the North Atlantic. About the same time, a sharp century long cold spell is observed around the North Atlantic and other areas. Researchers have often speculated that the cooling was the result of changes in ocean circulation triggered by this freshwater flood. The sudden addition of so much freshwater would have curtailed (suppressed) the sinking of deep water in the North Atlantic and as a consequence less warm water would be pulled north in the Gulf stream.
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Findings could help resolve mystery of monster ocean waves
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 | While Brisbane is flush with underground water stores, more needs to be known about refill times to aquifers and the environmental effects of large-scale freshwater extraction to ensure their sustainable use. ...> Full Article |
 | The 2007 melt extent on the Greenland ice sheet broke the 2005 summer melt record by 10 percent, making it the largest ever recorded there since satellite measurements began in 1979, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder climate scientist. ...> Full Article |
 | For hundreds of years, peat has been used in Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Belarus and Russia as a fuel source for thermal generating stations. Now Peat Resources Ltd. is looking at replacing the coal that fuels the province's Atikokan Generating Station in northwestern Ontario with peat and wood. ...> Full Article |
 | Geologists have long thought muds will only settle when waters are quiet, but new research shows muds will accumulate even when currents move swiftly. ...> Full Article |
Like geological ninjas, earthquakes can strike without warning. But there may be a way to detect the footfalls of large earthquakes before they strike, alerting their potential victims a week or more in advance. A Stanford professor thinks a method to provide just such warnings may have been buried in the scientific literature for over 40 years.
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 | Heavy oil discovery could revolutionize oil sands production ...> Full Article |
 | The first effort to drill into an undersea zone where massive earthquakes and tsunamis are generated has yielded new data on the stresses that build up there, according to Casey Moore, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. ...> Full Article |
 | University of Ottawa geography professor Luke Copland is among researchers from 17 countries studying 19 Arctic tidewater glaciers to better understand how they react to climate change. ...> Full Article |
 | Ice cores drilled last year from the summit of a Himalayan ice field lack the distinctive radioactive signals that mark virtually every other ice core retrieved worldwide. ...> Full Article |
 | Researchers have taken cores from the sediments of a Canadian Arctic lake and found an interglacial record indicating two ice-free periods that could pre-date the Holocene Epoch. ...> Full Article |
 | A California earthquake early warning system now being tested accurately predicted the ground shaking in San Francisco a few seconds before the city felt the Oct. 30, 2007, magnitude 5.4 quake near San Jose, according to a statewide team of seismologists. ...> Full Article |
Observations about the early formation of Earth may answer an age-old question about why the planet's mantle is missing some of the matter that should be present, according to UBC geophysicist John Hernlund.
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A second season in Antarctica for the Antarctic Geological Drilling (ANDRILL) Program has exceeded all expectations, according to the co-chief scientists of the program's Southern McMurdo Sound Project.
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Predictions, Already Daunting, Fail to Account for Extreme Weather, Disease and Other Complications, Say New Reports
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Lab experiments that mimic the way the ground moves during destructive earthquakes require some sophisticated equipment, and they yield valuable insights. Caltech scientists studying how sliding motion spreads along a fault interface conducted a series of experiments involving ultrafast digital cameras and high-speed laser velocimeters to replicate a range of realistic fault conditions.
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It can crush ice sideways and stay precisely on station to an accuracy of a metre. It can drill a hole 1,000 metres deep into the seabed while floating above 5,000 metres of ocean and it can generate 55 megawatts of power. So far, Aurora Borealis is the most unusual ship that has never been built, and it represents a floating laboratory for European science, a breakthrough for polar research and a very big headache for international lawyers.
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A 3D computer model being developed by Queensland University of Technology has the potential to map all the subsurface water supplies within South East Queensland.
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Researchers from UQ's Earth Systems Science Computational Centre (ESSCC) who were able to predict a series of three large Sumatran earthquakes that occurred in September, will present their ground-breaking research at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), held from December 10 to 14.
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 | The approach of winter in the northern hemisphere means that summer is coming to Antarctica - still bitterly cold, but just warm enough to let scientists make progress on ongoing studies. ...> Full Article |
Storing carbon dioxide deep below the earth's surface could be a safe, long-term solution to one of the planet's major contributors to climate change.
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Newly published research that includes satellite data from three separate sources shows that the seasonal melt on Greenland's ice sheet during the summer of 2007 was a stunning 60 percent more than the previous high, set in 1998.
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Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone
Ancient DNA from rare fossil reveals that polar bears evolved recently and adapted quickly
'Anaconda' meets 'Jurassic Park': Study shows ancient snakes ate dinosaur babies
Mars Express heading for closest flyby of Phobos
Artificial bee silk a big step closer to reality
Predicting the fate of stem cells
Artificial foot recycles energy for easier walking
New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing
What drives our genes? Researchers map the first complete human epigenome
Juggling enhances connections in the brain
Tracking down the human 'odorprint'
Fill 'er up - with algae
Scientists discover quantum fingerprints of chaos
Researchers help identify cows that gain more while eating less
World crude oil production may peak a decade earlier than some predict
Researchers show how far South American cities moved in quake
New evidence hints at global glaciation 716.5 million years ago
Earthquake in Chile - a complicated fracture
Methane releases from Arctic shelf may be much larger and faster than anticipated
Oldest measurement of Earth's magnetic field reveals battle between sun and Earth for our atmosphere
Experts reaffirm asteroid impact caused mass extinction
Rapid response science missions assess potential for another major Haiti earthquake
Research team breaks the ice with new estimate of glacier melt
Scientists locate apparent hydrothermal vents off Antarctica
Were short warm periods typical for transitions between interglacial and glacial epochs?
Chile quake occurred in zone of 'increased stress'