Although international oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP were not pioneers in the development of United States gas shales they are now working to acquire positions in Europe.
A company building a natural gas pipeline on the floor of the Baltic Sea discovered a dozen sunken ships that are thought to be between 300 and 400 years old.
“Thick ice stranded dozens of ships in the Baltic Sea in late February and early March 2010. By March 5, icebreakers had managed to free the vessels that collectively carried thousands of passengers, the Agence France-Presse reported. Ice—largely broken into pieces of varying sizes—fills most of the gulf. ” Quoted from the image release on Earth Observatory.
The Geological Society of America has announced an exciting July 2010 trip for teachers. Their GeoVentures program will travel to study the geology and plate tectonics of Iceland.
Scientists from three universities have written papers on how the fossilized primate Darwinius masillae (“Ida”) cannot be classified as a haplorhine – the primate category that contains monkeys, apes and humans. Rather, it is more likely a strepsirrhine – of the branch with lorises and lemurs.
A cruise ship off the coast of Spain was hit by three enormous waves about 26 feet high. The impacts caused extensive damage on the ship, injured many passengers and killed two.
Polar bear fossils are not a common find, so information about the bears’ evolution is relatively scarce. Researchers have sequenced the DNA of a Norwegian polar bear fossil, and conclude that the species descended from brown bears, and then evolved notably in the late Pleistocene.
A strong winter storm hit France and parts of Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and England with winds gusting over 100 miles per hour. Many people drowned when they were surprised by a storm surge combined with high tide.
An article on the Vancouver Sun website explains how most of the major oil companies are jumping into the shale gas plays of Europe. A big problem is that there are currently very few rigs there.
The discovery of over thirty quartz ax heads and stone tools near Plakias, on the island of Crete, Greece, has some interesting implications. The antiquity of the items suggests that Homo heidelbergensis may have traversed the Mediterranean islands much sooner than previously believed – but more thorough dating of the specimens is still needed.
A new gadget will soon take the guesswork out of saving energy in UK homes. The “Wattbox” will allow people to clearly understand how much energy they are using at any given time. The machine is designed to encourage energy conservation by enabling consumers to see how much they are saving – on energy usage and utility bills – immediately.
Heavy rains on the Portuguese island of Madeira have triggered floods and landslides that have caused significant damage and killed at least 30 people.
Two years ago the English Riviera Geopark became the first urban geopark in a worldwide UNESCO network of 60 plus parks. A purpose of the Park is to ingrain concepts of geology into mainstream consciousness. The video below promotes the park and its geological history.
Glaciers in many areas are melting faster and some of them might have an accelerated melt rate caused by increased water temperatures in their associated Fjords.
An executive of Gazprom, the largest producer of natural gas in the world, says it is “unimaginable” that Europe will allow the development of its shale gas resources because of concerns with water supply contamination.
A story in The Guardian shares the experience of a homeowner who had a subsidence-related problem in 1989 and now faces problems – and high costs – to insure her home.
A woman in southern Germany was watching the sun set over the North Sea with the aid of her computer and a webcam on the St Peter-Ording Nordsee website. She noticed a man far from shore and reported it to police. The guy was lost on the ice and the police rescued him.
In Stockton-on-Tees, England, plans are being discussed for a new power plant. The Teesside station, which would convert discarded palm kernel shells into electricity for over 100,000 homes, has been designed to resemble a volcano.
The most tenacious cold spell since the 1980s has been accompanied by heavy snowfall in the United Kingdom. This article includes two false-color satellite images of the UK covered in snow, and discusses how satellites are useful for studying local weather systems.
What appears to be the skeleton of Princess Eadgyth has been unearthed in Magdeburg, Germany. Eadgyth, later Queen Editha after marrying King Otto the 1st, was an esteemed leader in the 10th century. If the remains are positively identified, they would be the eldest of English royalty discovered to date.
A tombolo is a coastal feature formed when a sand bridge develops between an island and the mainland, joining the two. This astronaut photograph by the ISS Expedition 22 crew shows the Giens Peninsula, which was created from two tombolos in the French Riviera.
Surprising numbers of tiny new aquatic species are being discovered at East Stoke Fen nature reserve in Dorset, England. More than one hundred ciliates and 30 new meiofauna have been distinguished. This article includes photos of Plagiopyla, Chaetonotus, and Nassula.
A new monitoring system has been developed for offshore wind farms: SESS, or Smart Embedded Sensor Systems. The sensors are placed in turbines’ blades, and can detect changes in structural integrity. This allows maintenance needs to be diagnosed remotely, from more convenient locations.
Nine offshore wind farms have been licensed for UK waters. The turbines planned have the potential to generate energy for 25% of the United Kingdom. This article includes a map with locations of the 9 zones: Dogger Bank, Norfolk Bank, Hornsea, Firth of Forth, Irish Sea, Bristol Channel, Isle of Wight, Moray Firth, and Hastings.
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