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Geology News
Australia and Pacific Current Events

New Zealand’s Mount Ruapehu is exhibiting increasing signs of unrest, and scientists believe it could possibly erupt, without warning, at any time. The volcano last erupted in September of 2007.

Geodynamics, a company operating near the town of Innaminca, South Australia is working on a hot rocks geothermal power project. To prove that their system will work, they plan to provide free power to the town.

Two articles, one recent and one from about a year ago, describe the capture and explain the autopsy plan for the world’s largest squid. It weighs nearly 1/2 ton and was over 30 feet long. It died shortly after capture but has been stored in near-frozen salt water for the past year in New Zealand.

Newmont Mining may have to lay off up to 750 mine workers because of permitting delays. Indonesia and many other countries have revised permit requirements in an effort to protect the environment from the impact of mining.

In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities, offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production that makes its way to western North America. (NASA Image)

Do you remember that mud volcano in Indonesia that has been erupting mud for the past couple of years and flooding about 1500 of acres? It is now spouting methane and local people are worried about the flammable gas. The Google satellite view at right shows how a dike has been build around the inundated area.

NASA satellites collect images and data to monitor worldwide volcanoes. In addition to satellite images, they have sensors to detect heat, sulfur dioxide and small changes in the shape of earth’s surface. Here’s a collection of images that show different types of volcano monitoring.

The tuatara, a reptile native to New Zealand, has DNA that evolves more rapidly than many other warm-blooded animals. But surprisingly, these slow-moving creatures look about the same as they did millions of years ago.

NASA’s Earth Observatory website has a new image of several fires that are currently burning along the southern coast of Victoria, Australia.

A collection of recent photos of the Kilauea eruption that is dumping red hot lava into the Pacific Ocean. Photos of lava flows, lava delta, ash falls, steam eruptions, pyroclastics, ocean entries, skylight in a lava tube, `a`a flow, and pahoehoe. The photos are by the United States Geological Survey - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

“Vog” is a shortened version of “volcanic smog”, a mix of ash and steam from an erupting volcano. Earth Observatory has a satellite image of vog extending from the eruption of Kilauea on the island of Hawaii.

Geologist, Arthur Hickman, was researching iron ore deposits in Australia using Google Earth and noticed a circular structure. He suspected that it might be a previously unrecognized impact structure. He notified a colleague, who visited the site and confirmed that it was indeed an impact site.

South Australia has a significant uranium resource. One proposal is to mine it, convert it into yellow cake, produce fuel rods, then lease the fuel rods, taking them back after use for processing and disposal.

USGS shake maps show instrumental intensities of VI on the island of Malakula. About 200,000 people live in the Vanuatu archipelago located about 300 miles (500 kilometers) east of northern Australia. There are no news reports at this time.

Anatahan Volcano, located in the central Mariana Islands, released plumes of ash and steam in February 2008. In March 2008, the volcano’s activity continued.

Drilling in New Zealand’s Panmure Basin of the Aukland Volcanic Field brought up geologically recent scoria from below the surface sediment cover. The current interpretation is that there is a scoria cone inside of the maar crater that forms the Panmure Basin.

Newly discovered bird fossils, dating to the Cretaceous Period about 65 million years ago have been found on the Chatham Islands. Large numbers of fossils have been exposed there by beach erosion.

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurred about 195 miles SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. Early reports say that three people have been killed. USGS has no information that an tsunami has been generated.

Newly found fossils of 106 million-year-old crayfish and their trace fossils might fill important gaps in the evolutionary history of these crustaceans.

Jewel Cave in Western Australia has been open to the public for almost 50 years has it’s reflective beauty threatened by a declining water table. Other caves in the area have experienced similar water table declines.

Scientists in Queensland, Australia are using Landsat images to map the geographic distribution of lantana, one of Australia’s most damaging weeds.

Brian Romans describes sedimentation at Fraser Island, Australia and it subaqueous extension called the Breaksea Spit. Information in his post is based upon a recent article from Geology by Ron Boyd of the University of Newcastle, and others.

The mud volcano in Indonesia that has been causing problems since the summer of 2006 continues to cause damage and inconvenience. It continues to erupt enormous amounts of mud and recently chased over 100 people from their homes.

Days of heavy rain triggered flooding and many landslides in the Karanganyar district of Indonesia. You can see photos and a short video at the MSN website.

USGS Image

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake shook the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand on Thursday. Fortunately little damage was done, no serious injuries were reported and a tsunami was not generated.

Merapi Volcano, one of the most dangerous on this planet, might be threatening but some people remain only a few miles away, waiting for the rituals of a fellow villager to appease the volcano. If he fails they will die.

“Research by a team of United States and Japanese geoscientists may help explain why part of the seafloor near the southwest coast of Japan is particularly good at generating devastating tsunamis, such as the 1944 Tonankai event, which killed at least 1,200 people.”

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake occured in the southwestern Pacific Ocean near the Fiji Islands. This is an area of historic seismic activity at the boundary between the Australian and Pacific Plates. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not expect a destructive tsunami.

Pictographs are a form of “rock art” in which people paint an image on the rock. Explore a worldwide collection of ancient pictograph images from Arizona, Aruba, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Namibia, Nevada and Utah.

Studies are underway for a geothermal plant in the Northern Marianas Islands. There, nine volcanoes have the potential for producing geothermal energy at a cost that might be less than what is spent on the diesel-powered generators.

NOAA Image

Here’s the place to go if you want to check for a tsunami warning anywhere in the world. PTWC provides warnings for Pacific basin teletsunamis (tsunamis that can cause damage far away from their source) to almost every country around the Pacific rim and to most of the Pacific island states.

The government of Tasmania has awarded two exploration permits for geothermal power. Both of the companies receiving permits plan to explore for hot dry rocks.

“Global Warning: The World’s Endangered Destinations” is a photo presentation of sixteen locations where global warming is expected to have a significant impact. These include: The Everglades; Kenai Fjords National Park; Great Barrier Reef; The Netherlands; Mt. Kilimanjaro; Tuvalu; South Georgia Island; Dalian, China; Venice; Tokyo, Japan; Wengen, Switzerland; Manhattan, New York City; Halong Bay, Vietnam; New Orleans; London, England; and Northwest Territories, Canada.

Australia

Geothermal energy could supply up to 10% of Australia’s electricity needs by 2030. However, there are many challenges that must be solved. Drilling rigs are hard to get because the recent boom in mineral exploration has consumed most of Australia’s drilling capacity. Geothermal fields are not well placed on the existing power grid and other technical problems require careful development and production. The Australian Labor Party has pledged A$50 million to geothermal development.