A 7.5-acre site in Prince George’s County will become Maryland’s first dinosaur park. County archaeologist, Donald Creveling calls it “one of the most prolific sites for dinosaur and plant fossils east of the Mississippi River.”
A proposed wind farm will follow the crest of Backbone Mountain near the town of Oakland in Western Maryland. Local residents have safety and environmental concerns.
A New York Times article reports on discussions that states in the eastern US are having about offshore wind farms. If they do not build wind farms of their own they might be forced to purchase wind-generated power transmitted in from the midwest.
Here’s how much damage a water main break can cause. In addition to eroding pavement it can also flood an entire neighborhood if the topography is right. This break occurred near Baltimore, Maryland.
Geologists and other outdoor workers should know how to recognize ticks, avoid tick bites and recognize the early signs of Lyme disease. Early treatment with antibiotics can produce a rapid and complete recovery. If you miss the early symptoms Lyme disease can cause chronic neurological problems and joint pain that can persist for years.
Stormwater runoff and sewage contaminate many US beaches. A study done by the Natural Resources Defense Council sampled, tested and rated 200 of the most popular beaches in the United States – both ocean and freshwater beaches were included in the study. Some of them had consistently high water quality and some had consistently low. You can view the report and a listing of the beaches on their website.
You can see what might be the world’s first photograph of a meteor taken through a telescope at Mike’s Astro Photos. Instead of being a single streak there are multiple streaks of different size.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program released a report that explains how climate change might impact Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusettes and Rhode Island. Flooding of coastal property, diminished fisheries, damaged winter tourism, impact on crops and livestock, heat waves and heavy precipitation are a few of the featured problems.
The-Vug.com has a comprehensive listing of mineral and lapidary clubs from across the United States. It could be the most complete and up-to-date listing on the web. Included are hundreds of clubs and organizations located in all 50 states.
Brian Romans has a brief posting about Chesapeake Bay bathymetry and how you can view it in Google Earth. He also points to NOAA’s Estuarine Bathymetry website where you can get lots of data about estuaries of the United States.
Much has been written on the topic of how geology influenced Civil War battles. If you want a brief introduction an article at Smithsonian.com is a good place to start.
Did you know that many of the oysters sold today are harvested from controlled areas? This article explains how oysters have been overharvested from Chesapeake Bay in the past and how they are being protected there today.
This .pdf document contains one of the most detailed presentations of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale that you will find. It was written by staff members of ALL Consulting.
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission has an information document titled “Gas Well Drilling and Development – Marcellus Shale” on their website. It explains basic information about the Marcellus Shale and presents Commission regulations on consumptive water use and surface water withdrawal. More news about the Marcellus Shale.
Earth Observatory has a satellite image of the snow that blanketed most of the east coast of the United States early this week. “The early March storm caused some 500 car crashes in New Jersey, led to a 15-mile traffic jam in North Carolina, and sent 50 cars into a Maryland ditch. Heavy, wet snow in Virginia broke tree branches and downed power lines. Airlines grounded flights and home improvement stores sold out their stocks of show shovels and bags of salt.” Quoted from Earth Observatory.
This article explores some of the problems encountered with Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts. Over the past 25 years governments have spent 25 billion to clean up the Bay but goals are not being met.
A 66 inch water main blew out through a hillside along a cold and busy commuter route in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. The result was a four-foot high wall of water that trapped numerous commuters in their cars.
Martin O’Malley, Governor of Maryland, has a vision for expanding the role of GIS in state government data management and decision-making. This article includes a brief interview with O’Malley.
Several stream gauges on the Potomac and Savage Rivers in Maryland might be closed as USGS looks to cut costs. This article cites a few good reasons to keep the gauges.
Funding levels at USGS might result in the closure of 30 stream gaging stations in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and West Virginia. Some of these are within the Susquehanna River Basin, a flood prone basin that supplies water to Chesapeake Bay.
A group of natural gas companies have joined to form the “Appalachian Shale Water Conservation and Management Committee. Their goal is to develop and share best practicies and technical solutions related to the water resources used in drilling natural gas wells into the Marcellus Shale. Participants include: Anadarko Petroleum, Cabot Oil & Gas, Chesapeake Energy, Chief Oil & Gas, EOG Resources, Equitable Resources, J-W Operating, Marathon Oil Corporation and Range Resources.
The Maryland Geological Survey has an information page on their website for the Marcellus Shale. Portions of Garrett and Allegany Counties in western Maryland are underlain by the Marcellus Shale and there has been some leasing and drilling activity there since mid-2006.
After dinosaur bones were discovered in a worked-out clay pit in Prince George’s County, the developer of an industrial park has donated 7.5 acres for a public dinosaur park.
David K. Brezinski of the Maryland Geological Survey, received the John C. Frye Environmental Geology Award last month for a study that recognizes the relationships between certain types of bedrock and the development of cover-collapse sinkholes.
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Hobart King
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