geology

Geology News
Lakes Current Events


Delta Growth in Lake Turkana
May 1, 2012 | NASA Images of Change

“The Omo Delta, at the north end of Lake Turkana, a lake now located mainly in Kenya. Left: February 1, 1973. Right: January 24, 2005 to February 12, 2006. In 1973, the delta was contained entirely within the boundaries of Ethiopia. By 2005-2006, the southernmost point of the delta had moved roughly 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the south, and had crossed the Ethiopia-Kenya border.” Quoted from the NASA image release.

Dead Sea Salt Works
April 20, 2012 | NASA

“The expansion of massive salt evaporation projects on the Dead Sea are clearly visible in this time series of images taken by Landsat satellites operated by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.” Quoted from the NASA image release.

Landslide Danger: Relocating 100,000 People?
April 18, 2012 | Post-Gazette.com

Landslide hazards may cause the Chinese government to relocate 100,000 people near the Three Gorges Dam. Landslides on the banks of the reservoir have increased dramatically since it was filled to its operating capacity in 2010.

Image by Charles Lyell
Fossils on the Lake Erie Shoreline
March 28, 2012 | Magma Cum Laude

Jessica Ball has some photos of a recent fossil collecting trip along the shoreline of Lake Erie. They found some nice corals, trilobites and brachiopods.

Exploding Lakes in Cameroon
February 16, 2012 | USGS

“In 1986 Lake Nyos, in the volcanic region of Cameroon, suddenly released a cloud of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, killing 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in nearby towns and villages. [...] But since then, to prevent Lake Nyos from exploding again, an international team of scientists and engineers has developed and implemented a program to artificially remove gas from the lake through piping.” Quoted from the USGS press release.

Drilling to Lake Vostok Completed
February 9, 2012 | CNN

Russian scientists have successfully drilled through two miles of Antarctic ice to reach Lake Vostok, a freshwater lake that has been isolated from the atmosphere for possibly 30 million years.

Drilling for Lake Ellsworth in Antarctica
January 15, 2012 | MSNBC

A British team will be drilling with a hot water drill through two miles of Antarctic ice to reach Lake Ellsworth.

Lake Mead Induced Seismicity?
January 6, 2012 | Arizona Geology

Water levels at Lake Mead have risen rapidly from record lows about one year ago. This change may have triggered an increase in seismic activity beneath the lake.

Selenga River – Largest River into Lake Baikal
December 21, 2011 | Geology.com

The Selenga is the primary contributor of water to Lake Baikal and its tributaries drain approximately 80 percent of the lake’s watershed.

FWS photo.
Video: Breaching a Dam with Explosives
November 3, 2011 | National Geographic

This time-lapse video shows the draining of the Condit Dam in southeastern Washington. The dam is 125-feet high and has thick sediment deposits behind it. The water erupting from the hole in the dam appears black in color from suspended sediments. Time-lapse views behind the dam show sediments slumping and flowing as the water level declines.

Spectacular Fossils of the Green River Formation
October 17, 2011 | Geology.com

Some of the most spectacular Eocene fossils are found in the Green River Formation of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming where fish, insects, plants and animals were preserved in intermountain lakes while the Rocky Mountains were still growing.

Satellite Image: Sediment and Algae in the Great Lakes
October 13, 2011 | Earth Observatory

“The brilliant streaks of blue and green that color the Great Lakes in this image are a contradiction.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.

Sampling Lake Ellsworth, Two Miles Under the Antarctic Ice
October 12, 2011 | BBC

A team of researchers funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council will use a hot-water drill to melt through the ice to obtain samples of water and sediments from Lake Ellsworth.

Lake Agassiz Disappearance and Future Climate Clues
October 11, 2011 | University of Cincinnati

“Although Lake Agassiz is gone, questions about its origin and disappearance remain. Answers to those questions may provide clues to our future climate.” Quoted from the University of Cincinnati news release.

Cyclone Over Lake Michigan
September 29, 2011 | NASA Earth Observatory

“At 3:05 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 26, 2011, NASA’s Aqua satellite observed a mid-latitude cyclone over the midwestern United States. The center of the storm appeared immediately west of Lake Michigan.” Quoted from the NASA Earth Observatory image release.

Girl Catches a Piranha in Texas
September 27, 2011 | MSNBC

A five-year old girl fishing in Texas catches a real piranha. Parks and Wildlife agents believe that it was a pet illegally released into the wild.

Fog Fills the Lake Baikal Basin
September 27, 2011 | Earth Observatory

“When cold air flows over warm water, some surface water evaporates into the cold air and saturates it, raising its relative humidity to 100 percent. The phenomenon is alternately known as evaporation fog, steam fog, even sea smoke, explains Michael Pidwirny of the University of British Columbia.

On September 22, 2011, fog formed over Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia. [...] The fog almost perfectly mimics the lake’s area, only thinning at the southwestern end, and leaving a few parts of the water surface fog-free.” Quoted from the NASA image release.

USGS Science at Lake Tahoe
August 18, 2011 | USGS

“A documentary film highlighting recent and past USGS research in the Lake Tahoe Basin. It features USGS science activities conducted by hydrologists, geologists, geographers, computer modelers, and biologists, among others. The story is told through the use of narration, expert interviews, graphics, animations, incredible video imagery and time-lapse video. USGS science detailed in the story includes water quality monitoring, streamgaging, Lake Tahoe bathymetry, aerial LiDAR, historic use of aerial photography, and the Tahoe Land Use Simulation Model.” Quote from the USGS media release.

Wisconsin May Lose Native Fish Due to Climate Change
August 17, 2011 | University of Wisconsin-Madison

“The cisco, a key forage fish found in Wisconsin’s deepest and coldest bodies of water, could become a climate change casualty and disappear from most of the Wisconsin lakes it now inhabits by the year 2100.” Quoted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison news release.

Texas Drought Unveils Space Shuttle Columbia Debris
August 3, 2011 | BBC

Water level declines in Lake Nacogdoches, Texas have revealed a piece of Space Shuttle Columbia that did not burn up upon re-entry in 2003.

The National Map and the National Geospatial Program
August 2, 2011 | USGS

The National Map is a suite of products and services that provide access to base geospatial information to describe the landscape of the United States and
its territories.

These include a collection of data products that define the Nation’s topography, natural landscape, and manmade environment which can be used in geographic information systems and other geospatial programs. Most of these are easily available for free public use.

Meltwater Flood from the Mendenhall Glacier
July 27, 2011 | The Republic

A melt water lake contained by ice of Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier broke free last week causing a flash flood that swept down the Mendenhall River. Fortunately it caused very little damage and will serve as a warning.

Mammoth
Snowmass Mammoth Fossils
July 21, 2011 | Denver Post

A site near Snowmass Village, Colorado is one of the most prolific mastodon sites in the world. Between 45,000 and 150,000 years ago the site was a lake where large animals might have been trapped as they waded into deep mud.

USGS Mapping Lakes with EcoMapper Underwater Vehicle
July 15, 2011 | White Bear Press

USGS is using their EcoMapper underwater vehicles to map White Bear Lake in Illinois. The small submarine is guided on traverses of the lake by GPS to collect temperature and depth data. It can also collect water samples.

Learn more about the EcoMapper in this USGS document (large .pdf).

Mammoth
A Race for Pleistocene Fossil Treasures
July 8, 2011 | New York Times

Scientists had 70 days to search an old lake bed in Colorado for mammoths, mastodons and other fossils before the lake bed was filled with water and turned into a reservoir for Snowmass, Colorado.

Every day you can find links to several earth science news topics right here. Bookmark this page and visit often. You can also receive our news for free by RSS feed or in a daily email message.

Earn a Master of Education in Earth Science


marcellus shale gasMarcellus Shale: The most overlooked resource in the eastern United States!
Diamond formationDiamonds from Coal? Diamonds form under a variety of conditions that rarely involve coal as a source of carbon.
Mineral RightsMineral Rights / Oil & Gas: Who owns the minerals under your land? Have they been sold? Can someone mine without permission?
uses of gold The Many Uses of Gold: Learn how the unique properties of gold make it extremely suited for a large number of industrial uses.
download google earth Download Google Earth Free! High resolution 3D satellite views of Earth. Download it Free.
meteorites Meteorites: Learn about meteorites from meteorite hunter, Geoffrey Notkin. What are meteorites? irons, stones, stony-irons.

News content contributed by
© 2005-2011 Geology.com. All Rights Reserved.
Images, code and content of this website are property of Geology.com. Use without permission is prohibited. Pages on this site are protected by Copyscape.