Black Smokers on Land
February 10, 2012 | Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin
Scientists have discovered a new type of hot spring along the banks of a volcanic lake in the Philippines. These “terrestrial smokers” are cousins to submarine black smokers, hydrothermal vents on the seafloor that spew plumes of hot, nutrient-rich water and often support rich communities of life.
“A thick lava flow has been creeping down the eastern slopes of Kizimen Volcano in eastern Russia since its eruption began in December 2010. The flow has advanced about 600 meters (2,000 feet) since September 2011.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
“Earthquakes have been documented in the northeastern Caribbean since the arrival of Columbus to the Americas.” USGS has released: “Accounts of Damage from Historical Earthquakes in the Northeastern Caribbean, to Aid in the Determination of their Location and Intensity Magnitudes”.
“In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations [...]. The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.” Quoted from the NOAA press release.
“This project aims to map the location of a graveyards around the globe and then use marble gravestones in those graveyards to measure the weathering rate of marble at that location.” Quoted from the project website.
IBM researchers have announced that they have a new technology that enables them to store one bit of magnetic information in just twelve atoms of material.
The-Vug.com has a state-by-state listing of rock and mineral museums, tours and other places of interest. Most states have several locations where you can view a nice exhibit and most of them are open year-round.
A 35-storey mixed-use building is being constructed in Montreal, Canada that will be heated and cooled by 19 wells that have been drilled to depths of 400 feet beneath the foundation.
Rock tumblers have been manufactured and sold to hobbyists since the 1950′s. The first machines tumbled rocks in metal cans. Since then rubber barrels have significantly reduce the noise, however rotary machines still require at least one month to convert rough rock into brightly polished stones. However, newer vibratory tumblers can process rock in a little over a week. Christmas is great time to try rock tumbling, revive your interest or introduce another person to to the hobby.
Two elements, synthesized over ten years ago have finally been confirmed for addition to the periodic table. Flerovium (Fl) will be element 114 and Livermorium (Lv) will be element 116. Both are very unstable Transuranium elements
An article in the Topeka Capital-Journal explores earthquake insurance in Kansas. Coverage will cost some homeowners less than $100 – a low price because the probability of a damaging earthquake is very low.
In September, researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research sent physicists into disbelief when they clocked a neutrino at faster than the speed of light. Last week they eliminated a possible source of error from their experiment and their faster-than-light measurement still stands.
The Geology.com store is a great place to go if you need geology tools. We have rock hammers, prospecting equipment, wall maps, waterproof gear, Roadside Geology guidebooks, topographic maps, geology books, rock kits and more.
SCINEWS has a new collection of resources useful for teaching about the world population reaching seven billion people. It includes educator background materials, videos, lesson plan suggestions and more.
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