For the past twenty years the ground has been rising at a rate of about 1/2 inch per year at Bolivia’s Uturuncu Volcano. Uturuncu has the potential of producing enormous eruptions but experts do not believe that the current inflation is a warning signal.
In northern China, researchers have found a fossilcoal swamp that was quickly buried and preserved by a fall of volcanic ash approximately 300 million years ago.
“A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth’s forests. The map will help scientists better understand the role forests play in climate change and how their heights influence wildlife habitats within them, while also helping them quantify the carbon stored in Earth’s vegetation.” Quoted from the NASA press release.
A study of ruptures in the Martian surface and associated “displaced” boulder suggest that earthquakes as powerful as M7.0 could have occurred in the past few million years.
William Fritz and Robert Thomas have completed a second edition of the popular Roadside Geology of Yellowstone Country. This 6″x9″ paperback has 311 pages that are packed with detailed information about Yellowstone Geology.
“New images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft show the moon’s crust is being stretched, forming minute valleys in a few small areas on the lunar surface. Scientists propose this geologic activity occurred less than 50 million years ago, which is considered recent compared to the moon’s age of more than 4.5 billion years.” Quoted from the NASA press release.
“Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination [...] many problems ascribed to hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs.” Quoted from the University of Texas at Austin press release.
The Department of the Interior plans to raise royalty rates on oil and gas produced from federal land from 12.5% to 18.75%. Since oil and natural gas investments flow to where the most money can be made, the increased royalty could reduce domestic production.
This time of year in Yosemite National Park sometimes produces a unique phenomenon of illumination. The rays of the sun catch the water of Horsetail Fall at the perfect angle to make it glow like flowing lava.
“Following apparent explosive activity and a resultant small ash cloud Saturday, February 18, AVO elevated the Aviation Color Code to YELLOW and the Volcano Alert Level to ADVISORY. Volcanic tremor had been detected on the local seismic network at Kanaga early that morning, followed by numerous small events for about an hour. ”
Kanaga Volcano issuing a steam plume. Also visible is what appears to be two dark stripes extending down the flank (ash and/or flowage deposits?) Image by Majorie Tillion, USGS
Russian scientists have grown a flowering plant from a 30,000-year-old seed found deep in the permafrost of Siberia. This is the oldest seed known to produce a viable plant.
In the 1970′s a rock brought back from the Moon was broken into 370 pieces and shared with 135 different countries and each of the fifty states. Now nobody knows what happened to some of these rocks.
A shallow deposit of high-grade potash near Holbrook, Arizona is attracting attention the attention of mining companies. The deposits in the Holbrook Basin are the shallowest deposits in the United States and could hold more than two billion tons.
“It remains possible for intermittent, sudden explosions of blocks and ash to occur at any time, and ash clouds exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level may develop. Such explosions and their associated ash clouds may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours. If a large, explosive, ash-producing event occurs, seismic, infrasound, or volcanic lightning may be detected by local and regional monitoring networks. There is no real-time seismic monitoring network on Mount Cleveland.” Quoted from the AlaskaVolcano Observatory.
Increasing popularity, increasing disposable income and an increasing interest in gemstone investments are working together to make China a major importer of gem-quality diamonds.
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