USGS has recently published: “Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas”. Data is available by state in MS Excel files.
The-Vug.com has an impressive listing of mineral clubs organized by state. You might be surprised at how many clubs are listed and there is probably one that meets within a short drive of your home.
The folks at MyTopo.com are now printing supersized topo maps – large enough make a huge 5′ x 8′ (or 8′ x 5′) map that will look fantastic on the wall of your office, conference room, lobby, cabin or den. These maps are custom-centered on any location that you pick using their online map-making tool. Lots of smaller sizes are also available.
We are affiliates of MyTopo.com and receive a commission on sales.
Raven Maps are beautiful examples of shaded-relief wall maps that display the elevation of a state in vibrant colors. These large maps look great in a classroom, den or office. Use one to mark the locations of your work or company.
The Energy Information Administration has an interactive map that displays energy infrastructure features in the Gulf of Mexico region. It includes power plants, transmission lines, LNG terminals, natural gas hubs, pipelines, oil ports, refineries, active platforms and more.
The Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research has prepared: Taxation of Natural Gas: A Comparative Analysis. This publication reviews the many methods of taxing natural gas 19 different states. You might be surprised at how many ways natural gas is being taxed.
First noticed in 2002, crazy ants are an invasive species of ants that have been causing increasing problems in the southern United States. They are called “crazy” because they move rapidly when they swarm. They also seem to be attracted to electrical equipment over which they can swarm and shut down.
Hear a podcast from the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Archaeologists working with cleanup workers after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill discovered dozens of new archaeological sites. Public Radio International has a podcast interview with Chip McGimsey, Louisiana State Archaeologist.
Tropical Storm Lee has been dumping heavy rain on the Gulf Coast and while many areas are experiencing heavy floods, New Orleans, so far (Sunday evening), has not had severe problems. Some of the most up-to-date information is on the NOLA.com website (the site is very busy because so many people are using it and can be unresponsive).
Tropical Storm Lee is moving very slowly over southern Louisiana. That slow rate of movement will allow it to drop very large amounts of rain on New Orleans and surrounding areas.
“TROPICAL STORM LEE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES OVER SOUTHERN LOUISIANA…SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI…AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT…WITH POSSIBLE ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES. THESE RAINS ARE EXPECTED TO CAUSE EXTENSIVE FLOODING.” Quote from the National Hurricane Center.
Over 20 years ago construction was halted on the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant due to declining power demand estimates. The Tennessee Valley Authority has now approved a $4.9 billion plan to continue with the construction.
“Nearly 12 percent of the contiguous United States fell into the “exceptional” classification during the month, peaking at 11.96 percent on July 12. That level of exceptional drought had never before been seen in the monitor’s 12-year history, said Brian Fuchs, UNL assistant geoscientist and climatologist at the NDMC.” Quoted from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln news release.
“It was one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. Now scientists are organizing a research program to better understand the tornadoes that blew through Alabama and other southeastern states on April 27, 2011.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release.
The U.S. Geological Survey [...] has taken a number of actions to prepare for monitoring floods arising from hurricanes and other tropical storms. Activities include hardening of streamgages along the Gulf Coast; implementing rapidly deployable, mobile streamgages; installing an emergency satellite-communications and data-distribution system; and developing storm-surge monitoring capabilities. Quoted from the USGS Fact Sheet.
The SCINEWS teacher resource site has a new lesson titled: “Tornado Outbreaks in the Southern and Eastern US”. It includes a printable event overview, student worksheet, links to videos and links to additional information.
The New York Times has a United States map with tornado tracks and fatality locations for the recent tornadoes that occured in the eastern and central United States. Also a time line of deadly tornadoes from 1950 to present.
Nearly 300 people were killed by strong storms and tornadoes in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Arkansas. This has been the worst series of storms to hit the southeastern United States in about forty years.
Land loss and seafloor change around the Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands are of great concern to the public and to local, state, and federal agencies. USGS has published: “Historical Bathymetry and Bathymetric Change in the Mississippi-Alabama Coastal Region, 1847–2009″.
“The U.S. Geological Survey estimated 147.4 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas, 2.4 billion barrels of undiscovered oil, and 2.96 billion barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in Jurassic and Cretaceous strata in onshore lands and State waters of the Gulf Coast.” Enormous amounts of gas are reported for unconventional rock units such as the Haynesville Shale and Eagle Ford Shale. Quote from the USGS press release.
National Geographic has a zoomable “during and after” map of the Gulf coast that shows the relative amount of oil that was observed on beaches during and after the Deepwater Horizon spill. Many of the beaches that had heavy to moderate oil now have only a trace if any oil observed. Data used to make the map was obtained from NOAA.
Leaders at the U.S. Department of Education and Homeland Security are urging schools to participate in the Great Central U.S. Shakeout – an event targeting schools in states surrounding the New Madrid Fault Zone.
Dozens of people were killed this weekend as deadly tornadoes tore through parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
A few companies are building tornado-resistant homes that look like typical homes but have a structural steel frame. They cost just 5% more than a typical home.
This video explains how USGS scientists rushed to collect samples in advance of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill landfall. Their goal was to obtain background data for comparison.
NASA’s Earth Observatory has published an interesting satellite view of a rare snowfall on the ground in the southern United States. Parts of Alabama and Mississippi from the image are shown below.
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