Geobulletin alpha

Aerial Views of Two Northwest Volcanoes 

My first view of Mt. Rainier out the window on New Year's Day was quite colorful, but the high-order rainbow effect of alternating pinks and greens was due to refraction, from shooting sideways through the Bombadier Q400's window toward the front of the plane. I waited until Rainier moved fully into view for the next shot: Photo looking almost due east. The high peak on the left is

The True Size of Countries 

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe true size of countries changes our perception of the world. Maps have so many uses in modern society. Google Maps and the navigation included, where the main reason I got my first smart phone. But maps have one significant flaw. Every map is a projection of a 3D object onto a 2D plane. That […]The post The True Size of Countries appeared first on The Way of the

Progressing ash plume of Eyjafjallajökull 

Reading Time: 1 minutesIn May 2010 air transportation in Europe came to a halt, when Eyjafjallajökull on Iceland erupted. Now, two years after that eruption scientist have gathered and evaluated all kinds of data how the ash plume moved through Europe. This data taken from satellites, plane and the earth can help evaluate particle dispersion better and limit […]The post Progressing ash plume of Eyjafjallajökull appeared first on The Way of the

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A very large Upper Jurassic ammonite from southern England 

The shard above doesn’t look like much. It comes from a specimen far too large for us to excavate, let alone pack onto a plane for the trip home. Here’s a view of one of the full specimens still in bedrock. And here we see a liberated specimen with Katherine Nicholson Marenco (’03) for scale

Driving Across the Most Dangerous Plate Boundary in the World: These Rocks are All Wrong! 

The view from Muir Beach Overlook, midway between San Francisco and Point Reyes National Seashore Point Reyes National Seashore: Is it land's end, or ocean's end? From a human point of view, it is the former. This is the far west of North America, and you can't go any farther without a boat or plane. But if we consider the oceanic crust that was being subducted beneath the continent

Unmasking Everyday Superheroes with HMNS Outreach! 

Editor’s Note: This post was written by HMNS Outreach Presenter Sahil Patel. Up in the sky, look! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Wait, no, it actually is a bird, flying faster than most cars. Superpowers, such as the Flash-like super … Continue reading

Getting There (November 28/29, 2014): On the plane from Washington to Tokyo 

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Seal Watch 

We STILL can't get to our field sites. Mars Oasis is too cloudy for the plane to  land. Maybe tomorrow!Instead, today I helped the marine biologists. There are many marine biologists at Rothera Station that study the invertebrates living on the bottom of the ocean. To do their research, they have to scuba dive in the bay that borders the research station. The cold water is their first danger, so they wear protective suits. There are a couple other dangers they must avoid, which are leopard [...]

Weather Delay 

Well, our flight was delayed due to bad weather at the field site. Because the plane has to land on a glacier, rather than a proper runway, the weather needs to be perfect. Since we're hanging out around Rothera Station for yet another day, I have more time to tell you about where we're going.Over the two years of the project, we will be sampling along a "latitudinal gradient". That means that we'll be taking soil samples at sites at regular distances along the length of the entire Antarctic [...]

Arrival in Arusha Tanzania! 

Street scene in Arusha Tanzania with a woman carrying bananas to marketHelen and I are now 10 time zones away from Arizona, so nearly halfway around the world. It took us about 27 hours total flying time to get here. I was lucky to get probably one hour of sleep on the plane so no wonder I slept-in until 11 AM today. But I got to watch three great movies on the way - The Grand Budapest Hotel, Nebraska (twice), and Time Again. The movie scene on international flights just keeps getting better [...]

Going Home (WOE? 2) 

WOE? 2-1Two weeks ago I posted a geo-challenge with photos from my flight to California -- Where on Earth?  I didn’t recognize any of those locations from the plane, so I scanned Google Earth to figure out where they were.  On the way home it was different.  We flew further north, and I saw many familiar places.  Do you? (click on images for better views; answers at end of post)WOE? 2-2WOE? 2-3WOE? 2-4WOE? 2-5WOE? 2-6WOE? 2-7  Hint -- last mountain [...]

Flurry of OK earthquakes 

The largest was an M3.7.  I was away in Montreal, and we got up at 4:30 AM to try and sneak into Toronto before the storm shut things down.  Just made it!  I'm looking outside, and thinking I'd rather have a snow storm, than an earthquake storm!  Then after that drive, I really abused my eyes trying to look at those satellite photos for the plane.  Who could do that all day? Other than

Largest Aircraft 

The world’s largest aircraft is a hybrid between a helium airship, a helicopter and a plane. It can transport tons of freight and stay airborne for up to three weeks! It is expected to see duty in some of the most challenging

The great OK fault model - thrust 

Here we have a few from above.  Don't forget that the main lines are trending NE towards Toronto.  All the stress is down this trend, so you can't have a good earthquake without a break.  Although the last movement of the megathrust was downwards, the plane of the megathrust just acts as a weakness. The weakness that gives us a New Madrid is a transform, or adjustment fault.  The old

AVO Upgrades Cleveland Alert To Orange 

Alaska's notorious Cleveland Volcano has been upgraded from yellow alert status to orange amid recent explosions from the summit crater. The volcano has been in a state of unrest for several years and has had periods of summit crater dome growth, followed by explosions that destroy the dome, only to restart the process. Typically (during this particular unrest period), Cleveland will have a brief explosion that 'unplugs' the summit, ejecting hot ash and blocky lava, and then change to a period [...]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Flying over flysch 

In this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays, Ian Watkinson transports us to the Sulaiman Mountain Range and shows why it’s always worth bringing a camera in your hand luggage…   This image is the view from the window of a plane crossing the Pakistan-Afghanistan border close to Zhob. I took it just before the weather closed in

US Army Still Not Interested in V-22 Osprey, Plans Alternative Development 

On a rainy day in Paris earlier this year, the Marine Corps officer who oversees the V-22 Osprey program talked about the aircraft’s rising international demand. More than a few countries are lining up to buy the tilt-rotor aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like a plane, Col. Greg Masiello said during a June 17 press conference with reporters at the Paris

Antifragile Cover Systems for Cold Regions, Hot Climates, and Wet & Dry Places 

On the plane to the site I dipped into Nasim Taleb’s latest book, Antifragile.  I read a few chapters and have stowed the book for the return fight.  But I picked up enough to know that an antifragile system is one that thrives on change, shock, time, and other perturbing factors.  An antifragile system is

Enormous Ice Sheets Scoured the Arctic Ocean Floor 

“We knew of such scour marks from places like the Antarctic and Greenland. They arise when large ice sheets become grounded on the ocean floor and then scrape over the ground like a plane with dozens of blades as they flow. The remarkable feature of our new map is that it indicates very accurately right

Kids! On! A! Plane!