Geology News
Wildlife Current Events

Why Natural Gas Cars are Selling Slowly

What is Sunstone?

Natural Gas Could Kill Fuel Diversity

Large Hurricane on Saturn

Who Becomes Dominant After a Mass Extinction?

Diamond Dust over Saskatoon

The Bone Worm

Researchers have discovered evidence of life 500 meters below the seafloor of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. “They found genetic evidence of Methanosarcinales, anaerobic archaea known to metabolize methane. Further experiments showed that microbes have affected the chemical signature of sulfur in the host basalt, suggesting they could harness energy from the breakdown of sulfates.” Quoted from the Deep Carbon Observatory press release.

The Los Angeles Times has an article about how some invasive organisms get to the United States by hitching a ride on container ships.

Honeybee populations have been falling rapidly as colony collapse disorder reduces the number of hives that commercial beekeepers have for pollinating essential food crops.

Thousands of octopus eggs are hatching at the Alaska SeaLife Center. The staff hopes that at least one of them will produce an adult octopus.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography has an article about bone worms – tiny organisms that live on whale carcasses that have fallen to the seafloor. They are mouthless and gutless and drill into the bones of their host.

An invasive species, the giant African land snail is multiplying rapidly and causing problems for people who live in South Florida.

Bacteria are thriving at a depth of 36,000 feet at the bottom of the Mariana Trench where the pressure is more than 1000 times the atmospheric pressure at sea level.

A 35-foot-long whale skeleton on the Antarctic sea floor – nearly one mile below the surface – was supporting a diversity of life including nine previously unknown deep-sea species.

“Although they live in similarly extreme ecosystems at opposite ends of the world, Antarctic insects appear to employ entirely different methods at the genetic level to cope with extremely dry conditions than their counterparts that live north of the Arctic Circle.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release.

Nearly 200 manatees have been killed by a red tide off the coast of southwest Florida.

A National Science Foundation article titled: “How to Thrive in Battery Acid and Among Toxic Metals”, features an extremophile red alga that can survive in the hot, toxic waters of an Icelandic hot spring.

As coral colonies in many parts of the world are suffering from warm water, pollution and human activity a few conservationists are working to reestablish by “planting” fast-growing species.

“The robustness of food webs of Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems has been compared for the first time, revealing that global warming can affect the biodiversity of these ecosystems in different ways despite the similarities between them.” Quoted from the University of Western Australia press release.

Elkhorn coral and 65 other species of reef-building corals were recently proposed for “endangered species” designation. Researchers are working to understand why these corals are disappearing from the Florida Keys and other locations.

This video shows one reason why canoes used in Hawaii are often designed with an outrigger.

Giant Squid in the North Pacific

Every Field Geologist Should Know This…

Why Lava Has a Red Glow

Falling Water Levels in the Great Lakes

Eruption at Copahue

How Deep Does Magma Form?

M6.1 Earthquake on the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge

2012: Hottest and Second Most Extreme

CNN has an interview with Richard Ellis, author of “Search for the Giant Squid”, who explains the significance of a new video of a giant squid, filmed alive, 3,000 feet below the surface of the North Pacific ocean.

Troglobites are small creatures that have adapted to a permanent life in a cave. They are so well adapted to life in a cave that they would be unable to survive in the surface environment. To survive in the darkness troglobites have highly-developed senses of hearing, touch and smell.

Some oil refineries have hired falconer’s to help reduce their bird problems. Predatory birds are more effective at controlling nuisance birds than sonar devises and other commonly used methods. (The Fish and Wildlife Service issues commercial falconry licenses.)

“This picture of a deep-sea chimaera was captured as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Explorer program.” Quoted from the USA.gov Blog.

Three teams of scientists from Russia, Britain and the United States are drilling through Antarctic ice to penetrate subglacial “lakes” of liquid water trapped in the ice. They might find interesting forms of life that can live in the extreme conditions of these lakes – without sunlight.

“Plant and animal species are shifting their geographic ranges and the timing of their life events – such as flowering, laying eggs or migrating – at faster rates than researchers documented just a few years ago…” Quoted from the USGS press release.

The National Science Foundation has published: “Solving the Puzzle: Researching the Impacts of Climate Change Around the World“. It documents research in the categories of: Sky, Sea, Ice, Land, Life and People.

USGS Report on Giant Constrictors

“Non-native boa constrictors, which can exceed 10 feet and 75 pounds, have established a breeding population in Puerto Rico, one that appears to be spreading. [...] The new population appears to be spreading from its likely point of origin in the western part of the island around the city of Mayagüez. In the last year alone, more than 150 boas have been found in the wild on the island.” Quoted from the USGS Newsroom.

“Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) describe in a new publication a viable community of bacteria that ekes out a living in a dark, salty and subfreezing environment beneath nearly 20 meters of ice in one of Antarctica’s most isolated lakes.”

As waters of the Southern Ocean become more acidic, the shells of some sea snails living there are showing signs of dissolving, making them more vulnerable to predators and disease.

Inaccurate News Reports about Newberry Caldera and Salton Buttes

Life Beneath the Seafloor

Not Caused by Fracking

Rare Earth Elements in Arizona?

Stolen Petroglyphs

Dispute: Natural Gas Under Natural Gas Storage Fields

Volcano Movies

“Watch where you jump in for a swim or where your bath water comes from, especially if you live in Africa, Asia or South America. Snails that live in tropical freshwater in these locations are intermediaries between disease-causing parasitic worms and humans.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release.

USGS has a new fact sheet titled: “Stream Ecosystems Change With Urban Development”. It provides basic information on how hydrology, habitat and chemistry influence biological communities.