Geology News And Research - February 2009 Archives

Prehistoric global cooling caused by CO2, research finds (2/28/2009)

A paper published this week in the journal Science, a team of researchers found evidence of widespread cooling that triggered glaciers to form at the South Pole. Additional computer modeling suggests the cooling was caused by a reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. ...> Full Article

2008 was Earth's coolest year since 2000 (2/26/2009)

Climatologists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City have found that 2008 was the coolest year since 2000. The GISS analysis also showed that 2008 is the ninth warmest year since continuous instrumental records were started in 1880. ...> Full Article

Marine scientists to investigate role of equatorial Pacific ocean in global climate system (2/25/2009)

First expeditions of newly refurbished ocean drilling vessel, JOIDES Resolution, to set sail ...> Full Article

A sprightly explanation for UFO sightings? (2/24/2009)

In legend, sprites are trolls, elves and other spirits that dance high above our ozone layer. But scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered that some very real "sprites" are zipping across the atmosphere as well, providing a possible explanation for those other legendary denizens of the skies, UFOs. ...> Full Article

Billions of years ago, microbes were key in developing modern nitrogen cycle (2/23/2009)

New research shows that the large-scale evolution of microbes was mostly complete 2.5 billion years ago, and that included the beginning of the modern aerobic nitrogen cycle. ...> Full Article

Scientists find black gold amidst overlooked data (2/22/2009)

About half of the oil in the ocean bubbles up naturally from the seafloor, with Earth giving it up freely like it was of no value. Likewise, NASA satellites collect thousands of images and 1.5 terabytes of data every year, but some of it gets passed over because no one thinks there is a use for it. ...> Full Article

Erosion rates double along portion of Alaska's coast (2/21/2009)

Skyrocketing coastal erosion occurred in Alaska between 2002 and 2007 along a 40-mile stretch of the Beaufort Sea, a new study finds. The surge of erosion in recent years, averaging more than double historical rates, is threatening coastal towns and destroying Alaskan cultural relics. ...> Full Article

Global effort to extract more oil and gas (2/20/2009)

A University of Adelaide petroleum geologist is spearheading an international project to extract more oil and gas from the ground, potentially saving companies billions of dollars. ...> Full Article

Cardiac fibrillation of the climate (2/19/2009)

Rapid decadal climate change before the start of the Holocene ...> Full Article

Locations of strain, slip identified in major earthquake fault (2/18/2009)

Deep-sea drilling into one of the most active earthquake zones on the planet is providing the first direct look at the geophysical fault properties underlying some of the world's largest earthquakes and tsunamis. ...> Full Article

Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet melting, rate unknown (2/17/2009)

The Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets are melting, but the amounts that will melt and the time it will take are still unknown, according to Richard Alley, Evan Pugh professor of geosciences, Penn State. ...> Full Article

New monitoring stations detect 'silent earthquakes' in Costa Rica (2/16/2009)

After installing an extensive network of monitoring stations in Costa Rica, researchers have detected slow slip events (also known as "silent earthquakes") along a major fault zone beneath the Nicoya Peninsula. These findings are helping scientists understand the full spectrum of motions occurring on the fault and may yield new insights into the events that lead to major earthquakes. ...> Full Article

Next generation digital maps are laser sharp (2/15/2009)

New airborne laser elevation, or lidar, surveys of the earth provide a 10-fold improvement in the precision of digital topographical maps, Boston College Geologist Noah P. Snyder reports. This revolution in mapping will soon benefit anyone who relies on map data for work or recreation. ...> Full Article

Aerosols and their part in our rainfall (2/14/2009)

Aerosols may have a greater impact on patterns of Australian rainfall and future climate change than previously thought, according to leading atmospheric scientist, CSIRO's Dr. Leon Rotstayn. ...> Full Article

Beneath the surface (2/13/2009)

New research helps us understand the incredible forces, oil and gas reserves hidden beneath Earth's surface ...> Full Article

Sea level rise could be worse than anticipated (2/12/2009)

If global warming some day causes the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to collapse, as many experts believe it could, the resulting sea level rise in much of the United States and other parts of the world would be significantly higher than is currently projected, a new study concludes. ...> Full Article

Scientists uncover a dramatic rise in sea level and its broad ramifications (2/11/2009)

Scientists have found proof in Bermuda that the planet's sea level was once more than 70 feet higher about 400,000 years ago than it is now. This had grave ramifications for the biodiversity on the planets coastlines and small islands. ...> Full Article

Sea-level rise around North America upon collapse of Antarctic ice sheet to be higher than expected (2/7/2009)

University of Toronto geophysicists have shown that should the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse and melt in a warming world -- as many scientists are concerned it will -- it is the coastlines of North America and of nations in the southern Indian Ocean that will face the greatest threats from rising sea levels. ...> Full Article

Ancient geologic escape hatches mistaken for tube worms (2/6/2009)

New study finds Colorado fossils previously identified as tube worms are actually ancient methane venting structures. The findings could lead to new concerns for underground carbon dioxide storage plans. ...> Full Article

China monsoon rainfall prediction and Pacific surface-subsurface sea temperature anomalies (2/5/2009)

Since this century, biennial oscillations have been observed from the southern China rainfall (SCR), the central China rainfall (CCR), and the equatorial sea surface (subsurface) temperature anomaly (SSTA) near the dateline. The above-normal summer CCR in 2003, 2005 and 2007 followed the prior winter-spring positive SSTA. Regarding this relationship, a successful forecast for the exceptional 2008-summer SCR was made in the early 2008. ...> Full Article

Global glacier melt continues (2/2/2009)

Glaciers around the globe continue to melt at high rates. Tentative figures for the year 2007, of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, indicate a further loss of average ice thickness of roughly 0.67 meter water equivalent (m w.e.). Some glaciers in the European Alps lost up to 2.5 m w.e. ...> Full Article

Early warning systems underestimate magnitude of large earthquakes (2/1/2009)

Scientists seek to create reliable early warning systems that accurately estimate the magnitude of an earthquake within the first seconds of rupture. In this paper published by the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, authors S. Murphy of University College Dublin, Ireland, and S. Nielsen of the Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy, look at the idea that an earthquake's final size can be determined during its initiation, rather than something that only becomes apparent at the end of the rupture. ...> Full Article

MIT: Improving oil extraction with new mapping technology (2/1/2009)

Picture this: an accurate map of a large underground oil reservoir that can guide engineers' efforts to coax the oil from the vast rocky subsurface into wells where it can be pumped out for storage or transport. Researchers at MIT have developed technology that can generate such a map, which has the potential to significantly increase the amount of oil extracted from reservoirs. ...> Full Article

Research links seismic slip and tremor, with implications for subduction zone (2/1/2009)

New evidence suggests that tectonic plate slippage and nonvolcanic tremor near the Cascadia subduction zone both are signs of processes taking place 25 miles deep at the interface of the Juan de Fuca and North American plates. ...> Full Article