Geology News And Research - December 2008 Archives

Climate change could dramatically affect water supplies (12/31/2008)

It's no simple matter to figure out how regional changes in precipitation, expected to result from global climate change, may affect water supplies. Now, a new analysis led by MIT researchers has found that the changes in groundwater may actually be much greater than the precipitation changes themselves. ...> Full Article

Some climate impacts happening faster than anticipated (12/30/2008)

A report released today at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union provides new insights on the potential for abrupt climate change and the effects it could have on the United States, identifying key concerns that include faster-than-expected loss of sea ice, rising sea levels and a possibly permanent state of drought in the American West. ...> Full Article

Lifecycles of tropical cyclones predicted in global computer model (12/29/2008)

The initial results of the first computer model that simulates the global atmosphere with a detailed representation of individual clouds have been analyzed by a team of scientists at the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Japan-Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and the University of Tokyo.The model, called the Nonhydrostatic ICosahedral Atmospheric Model, was developed for the supercomputer Earth Simulator at JAMSTEC. ...> Full Article

To improve forecasting earthquakes, mathematician studies grains (12/26/2008)

A new and better way to predict earthquakes and avalanches may soon be available to forecasters thanks to mathematical research underway at New Jersey Institute of Technology. ...> Full Article

New 'seawater' -- the way ahead for ocean science (12/25/2008)

A proposed new definition of 'seawater' is drawing the attention of the world's oceanographic community in a change that will advance the accuracy of climate science projections. ...> Full Article

Abrupt climate change: United States report findings (12/24/2008)

Will it happen this century? ...> Full Article

CAT scan reveals inner workings of volcano island (12/23/2008)

On the ground and in the water, an international team of researchers has been collecting imaging data on the Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat to understand the internal structure of the volcano and how and when it erupts. ...> Full Article

No quick or easy technological fix for climate change, researchers say (12/23/2008)

UCLA scientist sees many geoengineering plans as 'preposterous' ...> Full Article

Abrupt climate shifts may move faster than thought (12/22/2008)

Rising seas, severe drought, could come in decades, says US report ...> Full Article

Professor 'follows the elements' to understand evolution in ancient oceans (12/22/2008)

In the search for life beyond Earth, scientists "follow the water" to find places that might be hospitable. However, every home gardener knows that plants need more than water, or even sunshine. They also need fertilizer: a mixture of chemical elements that are the building blocks of the molecules of life. Scientists at Arizona State University are studying how the distribution of these elements on Earth -- or beyond -- shapes the distribution of life, the state of the environment and the course of evolution. ...> Full Article

The year of the Alaska volcano: Eruptions keep observatory busy (12/21/2008)

Three Alaska volcanoes erupted in midsummer 2008. Cleveland, Okmok and Kasatochi volcanoes, all located in Alaska's Aleutian Chain, made for a hectic 20th anniversary for the Alaska Volcano Observatory. ...> Full Article

Researchers use satellites to measure inland floods (12/20/2008)

Satellites that were designed to measure sea level over the world's oceans can serve a valuable purpose over land, a new study has found. Researchers used NASA's TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and the European Space Agency's ENVISAT satellite to measure the height and extent of flooding in North America, South America, and Asia. ...> Full Article

Study: Did early climate impact divert a new glacial age? (12/20/2008)

The common wisdom is that the invention of the steam engine and the advent of the coal-fueled industrial age marked the beginning of human influence on global climate. ...> Full Article

New World post-pandemic reforestation helped start Little Ice Age (12/19/2008)

The power of viruses is well documented in human history. Swarms of little viral Davids have repeatedly laid low the great Goliaths of human civilization, most famously in the devastating pandemics that swept the New World during European conquest and settlement.In recent years, there has been growing evidence to suggest that the effect of the pandemics in the Americas wasn't confined to killing indigenous peoples. Global climate appears to have been altered as well. ...> Full Article

Strange travels (12/19/2008)

A special section of Vadose Zone Journal follows the unusual journey of transport phenomena in fractured materials, with an eye on the potential movements of hazardous wastes ...> Full Article

Ancient magma 'superpiles' may have shaped the continents (12/18/2008)

Two giant plumes of hot rock deep within the earth are linked to the plate motions that shape the continents, researchers have found. The two superplumes, one beneath Hawaii and the other beneath Africa, have likely existed for at least 200 million years, explained Wendy Panero, assistant professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University. ...> Full Article

As ice melts, Antarctic bedrock is on the move (12/17/2008)

As ice melts away from Antarctica, parts of the continental bedrock are rising in response -- and other parts are sinking, scientists have discovered. The finding will give much needed perspective to satellite instruments that measure ice loss on the continent, and help improve estimates of future sea level rise. ...> Full Article

Greenland's glaciers losing ice faster this year than last year, which was record-setting itself (12/16/2008)

Researchers watching the loss of ice flowing out from the giant island of Greenland say that the amount of ice lost this summer is nearly three times what was lost one year ago. The loss of floating ice in 2008 pouring from Greenland's glaciers would cover an area twice the size of Manhattan Island in the US, they said. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify new region of the magnetosphere (12/15/2008)

A detailed analysis of the measurements of five different satellites has revealed the existence of the warm plasma cloak, a new region of the magnetosphere, which is the invisible shield of magnetic fields and electrically charged particles that surround and protect Earth from the onslaught of the solar wind. ...> Full Article

Climate change alters ocean chemistry (12/14/2008)

Scientists have discovered that the ocean's chemical makeup is less stable and more greatly affected by climate change than previously believed. The researchers report in Science that during a time of climate change 13 million years ago, the chemical makeup of the oceans changed dramatically. The researchers warn that the chemistry of the ocean today could be similarly affected by climate changes now underway, with potentially far-reaching consequences for marine ecosystems. ...> Full Article

'Webcam' from Space: Envisat observing Wilkins Ice Shelf (12/13/2008)

In light of recent developments that threaten to lead to the break-up of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, ESA is making daily satellite images of the ice shelf available to the public via the "Webcam" from Space web page in order to monitor the developments as they occur. ...> Full Article

Team first to record key event that breaks continents apart (12/12/2008)

Researchers have captured for the first time a geological event considered key in shaping the Earth's landscape. The first "dyking event" ever recorded within the planet's continental crust. ...> Full Article

Great Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004 set off tremors in San Andreas fault (12/11/2008)

New research shows that the great Indian Ocean earthquake that struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on the day after Christmas in 2004 set off tremors nearly 9,000 miles away in the San Andreas fault at Parkfield, Calif. ...> Full Article

Southern Ocean resistant to changing winds (12/9/2008)

Intensifying winds in the Southern Ocean have had little influence on the strength of the Southern Ocean circulation and therefore its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience. ...> Full Article

Cave's climate clues show ancient empires declined during dry spell (12/6/2008)

The decline of the Roman and Byzantine Empires in the Eastern Mediterranean more than 1,400 years ago may have been driven by unfavorable climate changes. ...> Full Article

Modern day scourge helped ancient Earth escape a deathly deep freeze (12/5/2008)

The planet's present day greenhouse scourge, carbon dioxide, may have played a vital role in helping ancient Earth to escape from complete glaciation, say scientists in a paper published online today ...> Full Article

Potential for large earthquake off coast of Sumatra remains large (12/4/2008)

Recent seismic activity not enough to release strain in the area's subduction zone, the researchers report in the journal Nature ...> Full Article

Foretelling a major meltdown (12/4/2008)

Rare mineral might portend return to hothouse climate of old ...> Full Article

Team sets records in simulating seismic wave propagation across the Earth (12/2/2008)

Research team shatters two-second barrier, named finalists for Gordon Bell Prize at SC08 ...> Full Article

Meteorite hits on Earth: There may be a recount (12/1/2008)

A new tool to reveal undiscovered meteroite craters ...> Full Article