Geology News - Earth Science Current Events

Qiang Ji of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing has reported the discovery of a beaver-like swimming mammal with fur in the Jurassic rocks of the Inner Mongolia region of China.

Jurassic mammals have long been thought of as very small land-dwelling creatures. This discovery pushes back the earliest type of mammal that was adapted for aquatic activity and suggests a much greater diversification of Jurassic mammals than previously believed.

Read more at azcentral.com

Labels: Fossils

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Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada is the world's largest mining company. They currently have a proposal to go after 17 million ounces of gold located beneath glacial ice in Chile. The original idea was to break up the glaciers and then mine the gold but that may be moved to mining methods which do not disturb the ice.

Read more at MSN.com

Labels: Glaciers, Gold

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USGS has published a new area on their site which they have named "Schoolyard Geology". Available so far are teaching resources and lessons related to mapping, rocks, dinosaurs, fossils, glaciers, sinkholes and other topics. The emphasis is taking a field trip without leaving the school property.


Image by USGS

Visit the SchoolYard Geology site for earth science lessons and ideas.

Labels: Teaching-Science

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Preliminary news reports about the catastrophic landslides in the Philippines were very conservative in regards to the amount of damage done and lives lost. Up to 1800 are now feared dead.
Read more about the landsides at the Washington Post website.

Labels: Landslides

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Large landslides in the Philippines, triggered by heavy rain, have caused extensive damage with large residental areas being completely inundated with mud. Injuries and many deaths have already been confirmed. The most severe damages have been in the communities of San Francisco, Liloan and Maasin in southern Leyte, and the Agusan and Surigao areas of Mindanao.
Read early reports about these landslides at BBC Website and Reuters UK.

Labels: Landslides

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Congress has directed the Corps of Engineers to identify, describe and propose a full range of flood control, coastal restoration and hurricane protection measures for coastal Louisiana. Information about this protection plan can be found at the Corps of Engineers website. A preliminary technical report for Category 5 protection is due within six months and a final technical report is due in 24 months.


Image by Army Corps of Engineers

Visit the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration plan website.

Labels: Hurricanes

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The 1982 Coastal Barrier Resources Act is based upon the idea that the federal government should not encourage or subsidize the development of vulnerable coastal areas. Although the act does not prohibit development of costal areas it cuts off federal funding for flood insurance, transportation, utilities, erosion control and post-storm reconstruction in declared vulnerable areas. Robert S. Young, an associate professor of geology at Western Carolina University recently testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Resources on the reauthorization of the CBRA. You can read some of his logic in an essay titled "The High Cost of Subsidized Coastal Development" at the Geotimes website.

Labels: Coastal-Geology

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USGS now has a website that gives public access to eruption photos and data for Augustine Volcano. Available are hourly observation reports, maps, two webcams, earthquake data and graphs, seismograms, geophysical station maps and much more. Here are a few examples of what you can see at their site.


Augustine Volcano Photo from the USGS Webcam

Earthquake data from USGS

Visit the Augustine Volcano Information page on the USGS website.

Labels: Volcanoes

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The Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory at Portland State University has a webpage that provides guidance in identifying a suspected meteorite. In summary they explain that meteorites are: 1) heavy, 2) frequently magnetic, 3) irregular in shape, 4) covered by a fusion coating, 5) solid and compact, and 6) different from other rocks in the area.

Screenshot from CMLVisit the CML website to learn more about Meteorite Identification.

Labels: Meteor-Meteorite

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USGS has a nice collection of websites, each giving an online field trip of a National Park. I've done a few of these tours and there are some very high quality images in them plus some nice descriptions written with the geologist in mind.

Screenshot of USGS field trip
Parks included:

• Arches National Park
• Badlands National Park
• Big Bend National Park
• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Canyon de Chelley National Monument
• Canyonlands National Park
• Capitol Reef National Park
• Capulin Volcano National Park
• Carrizo Plain National Monument
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park
• Chaco Culture National Historic Park
• City of Rocks National Reserve
• Colorado National Monument
• Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
• Crater Lake National Park
• Death Valley National Park
• Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
• Dinosaur National Monument
• Fire Island National Seashore
• Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
• Gateway National Recreation Area
• Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Grand Staircase-Escalante Nat'l Monument
• Great Basin National Park
• Guadalupe Mountains National Park
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
• Hovenweep National Monument
• John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
• Joshua Tree National Park
• Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park
• Lake Mead National Recreation Area
• Lava Beds National Monument
• Mammoth Cave National Park
• Mesa Verde National Park
• Mojave National Preserve
• Mount Rainier National Park
• Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
• Natural Bridges National Monument
• North Cascades National Park
• Olympic National Park
• Petrified Forest National Park
• Pinnacles National Monument
• Point Reyes National Seashore
• Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park
• Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site
• Saguaro National Park
• Sunset Crater National Monument
• Walnut Canyon National Monument
• Wupatki National Monument
• Yellowstone National Park
• Yosemite National Park
• Zion National Park

Go on an Online Field Trip with USGS.

Labels: Teaching-Science

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Here is an interesting website that describes how meteorites can be found in the Sahara Desert. Lots of good photos and interesting stories.

website screenshotRead more about Sahara Desert Meteorite Prospecting.

Labels: Meteor-Meteorite

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The American Museum of Natural History continues its award-winning online professional development courses. Available this spring are: The Ocean System - an integrated science course; Space, Time and Motion - a physical science course; Earth: Inside and Out - a dynamic Earth systems course; and Genetics, Genomics, Genethics a molecular biology course. These are six-week courses taught by Museum scientists and educators that earn graduate credit or meet local professional development requirements. Courses begin March 20 through April 30, and registration closes March 6, 2006.

AMNH website screenshotEnroll in an AMNH Online Course today.

Labels: Teaching-Science

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You don't have to travel to Yellowstone to see the Old Faithful geyser erupt. Instead, go to the National Park Service's WebCam for Old Faithful. There you can see an image of the Old Faithful geyser captured every 30 seconds plus a prediction of when the next eruption will occur. Most of the time there isn't any action but then a crowd gathers and the geyser erupts.

Geyser Image from NPS WebCamCheck out the Old Faithful Geyser WebCam.

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A very good summary of the Global Warming Tipping Point can be read at TheDailyJournal.com. This concept is causing concern for many scientists. They agree that human activity is contributing to global warming and that if nothing is done to curb the contribution of people to the warming process soon then it will have progressed beyond the point of reversing the trend.

Read more about the Global Warming Tipping Point at TheDailyJournal.com.

Labels: Global-Warming

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USGS has released "Earthquake Science Explained: A series of ten short articles for students, teachers and families". This general interest publication was produced in response to the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco 1906 Earthquake. Most of the articles are general but some focus on San Franciso and the Bay Area. Article titles:

• The Earthquake Machine: What 1906 taught us about how earthquakes work
• Seismograms: Earthquake Fingerprints
• Find the Fault: Recognizing Active Faults
• Looking into the Past With Earthquake Trenches
• When Will the Next Big One Hit? How Do We Know?
• Liquefaction - When the Ground Flows
• Bay Area Tsunamis: Are We at Risk?
• An Earthquake Scientist in Action: Jessica Murray
• How Do We Make Buildings and Roads Safer?
• Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country

Image by USGSThis Earthquake Articles booklet is a free download at the USGS website.

Labels: Earthquakes

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