Antarctica and climate change – representatives of 32 nations decide on research focus programmes for the exploration of Antarctica
Exploration of Antarctica is of great significance in the context of discussions about global climate change. For this reason, the international Antarctic research community has just re-defined and coordinated its scientific programmes within a recent meeting of the international committee responsible for Antarctic research coordination SCAR (Scient
Scientists have made a rare discovery from over 500 million years ago that provides new information on how a record of the past was perfectly preserved by nature.
Geologists at the University of Leicester have found that pyrite – or fool’s gold – replaced soft tissues, thereby preserving animals to their smallest details for posterity.
Dr Sarah Gabbott and colleagues, of the University of Leicester Department of Geology, found creatures with the very hairs on their
Chemical signatures provide picture of internal changes leading to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens
New tools for monitoring volcanoes may be developed with help from a study on Mount St. Helens published this week (Oct. 14) in Science Express by an international team of geoscientists, including University of Oregon volcanologist Katharine Cashman.
The study on geochemical precursors to volcanic activity leading to the cataclysmic eruption of the southwestern Washingt
Research reported in Science today (14 October 2004) shows that rocks erupted from the Mount St Helens volcano in 1980 preserve a remarkable record of the goings-on beneath the volcano in the period prior to its eruption.
Using this information, Professor Jon Blundy and his PhD student Kim Berlo from the Earth Sciences Department at Bristol University, UK, demonstrate that monitoring the isotopic content of gases being emitted from the volcano right now will help predict whether
Parisa Ariya’s accidental discovery of the power of bioaerosols to generate rapid and dramatic chemical reactions may change – at the very least alter – the course of climate science.
Ariya, a professor at McGill University’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, in Montreal (Canada), first made her observation in August 2001, after one of her postdoctoral fellows forgot to close the valve sealing the reaction chamber where an organic compound (containing carbon
NASA-funded researchers have found that despite their sub-zero temperatures, a warming north may add more carbon to the atmosphere from soil, accelerating climate warming further.
“The 3 to 7 degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature predicted by global climate computer models could cause the breakdown of the arctic tundra’s vast store of soil carbon,” said Michelle Mack, an ecologist at the University of Florida, Gainsville, Fla., and one of the lead researchers on a study published
At the surface of Earth, life on a geologic scale is calm and peaceful save the occasional earthquake caused by the rub and slip of Earth’s tectonic plates. But below Earth’s surface, scientists are beginning to find a far more dynamic and tumultuous region than previously thought.
Deep inside Earth, where the mantle meets the molten iron core, researchers are finding telltale signs of what could be a highly active area filled with exotic forms and substances. “This layer is far
Historical study shows elevated aridity in periods of warming
Severe drought in western states in recent years may be linked to climate warming trends, according to new research led by scientists from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University to be posted October 7 on Science magazine’s website, www.sciencemag.org. This research was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Epsom-like salts believed to be common on Mars may be a major source of water there, say geologists at Indiana University Bloomington and Los Alamos National Laboratory. In their report in this week’s Nature, the scientists also speculate that the salts will provide a chemical record of water on the Red Planet.
“The Mars Odyssey orbiter recently showed that there may be as much as 10 percent water hidden in the Martian near-surface,” said David Bish, Haydn Murray Chair of Appli
While Antarctica has mostly cooled over the last 30 years, the trend is likely to rapidly reverse, according to a computer model study by NASA researchers. The study indicates the South Polar Region is expected to warm during the next 50 years.
Findings from the study, conducted by researchers Drew Shindell and Gavin Schmidt of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS), New York, appeared in the Geophysical Research Letters. Shindell and Schmidt found depleted ozone leve
Due for launch next spring, ESA’s ice mission CryoSat marked an important milestone last week when the innovative SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL) instrument was delivered to the prime contractor Astruim GmbH for integration into the satellite.
Developed by Alcatel Space, the SIRAL radar altimeter is the key instrument to be carried on the CryoSat mission. Its design is based on heritage from existing radar altimeters but with a number of sophisticated enhancements
Why is it that all the volcanic activity in the United States is targeted in the Northwest? Could such activity that we are now witnessing with Mount St. Helens in Washington happen on the East Coast?
That isn’t likely to happen anytime soon–even by geological standards–since the geological conditions on the East Coast lack key conditions necessary for volcanic activity, says R.J. Tracy, professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech.
According to Tracy, the following c
A new set of measurements has allowed a Florida State University geochemist to confirm what other scientists have only suspected about what lies deep below the Earth’s surface.
Professor Munir Humayun has found that there is a higher iron content in the Earth’s mantle beneath Hawaii compared to other regions of the mantle. Hotspot islands, such as Hawaii, arise from hot plumes of solid rock from deep within the mantle or the core-mantle boundary that ascend at rates of a
On October 3rd, the German research vessel “Polarstern” of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research will return to Bremerhaven from its 20th arctic expedition. During the last leg of the voyage, 44 scientists from Germany, Russia and South Korea, supported by crew members, helicopter pilots and technical staff, investigated the region north and west of Spitsbergen. Emphasis was placed on geophysical and geological studies of Fram Strait and Yermak Plateau. Of primary importance wer
The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) met this week to agree important elements of a groundbreaking 10-year Plan that will pave the way toward building a global Earth Observation System. Over the next decade, this system will revolutionize our understanding of the Earth and how it works. With benefits as broad as the planet itself, this initiative promises to make peoples and economies around the globe healthier, safer and better equipped to manage basic daily needs. The aim is
A set of newly documented small-scale circulations embedded in thunderstorm squall lines not only spew destructive straight-line winds, but may spawn up to 20% of all U.S. tornadoes. And the remnant circulations from large thunderstorm clusters can survive for days, triggering new storm cells. Over warm oceans, similar remnant circulations provide seed for hurricane development. Scientists expect these and other findings to help improve forecasts of damaging winds and heavy rain.
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