Geobulletin alpha

Thermal Rhythm of the Martian Atmosphere 

“Researchers using NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have found that temperatures in the Martian atmosphere regularly rise and fall not just once each day, but twice.” Quoted from the NASA press

Climate in the Peruvian Andes: From Early Humans to Modern Challenges 

Twice humans have witnessed the wasting of snow and ice from Peru’s tallest volcano, Nevado Coropuna—In the waning of the last ice age, some 12,000 years ago, and today, as industrial carbon dioxide in the air raises temperatures again. As in the past, Coropuna’s retreating glaciers figure prominently in the lives of people below. In an ongoing project, scientists at Columba University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and partner institutions are reconstructing the ebb and flow of ice [...]

A Himalayan Tsunami? 

As rising temperatures melt the ice and snow in the Himalayas the threat of glacial lake outbursts

Summer In My Neighborhood 

Its been a blazing week with temperatures over 100 deg F. Pune this past few days has been as hot as I can ever recall. Time for ice tea and cool stewed mango drinks. Evenings are very warm too. We are giving our rugby kids water breaks every 10 minutes. But walking through the small lanes near my house are sights like this one: Summer can be glorious too. And the alphonso mangoes and

Global cooling: Why are we seeing such long, cold winters? 

courtesy of Miroslav Petrasko (blog.hdrshooter.net) I think it’s safe to say that most of us have been experiencing some pretty intense winters. Here in Utah’s Wasatch Front, the valleys received several feet of snow during January and February, and temperatures rarely got above 30 degrees during the day. There was one day in late January

The field trip scout 

WOOSTER, OHIO–One of the early spring pleasures of a geologist in the Upper Midwest is finally getting outside and scouting the field trips for the semester. Today we had bright sun and temperatures in the 50s (I know — I’m settling) so I went out to plan the late April field trip for my sedimentology

Mining Jobs at Cold Fly-in, Fly-out Camps 

Just returned from a trip to a fly-in, fly-out mine where the temperatures were down to minus forty and fifty.  The only consolation for the extreme cold was the company.  Here are a few word pictures of some of the people I chatted to.  I set them down here as a way to represent the extremes of

Changing Temperatures, Extremes and Hydroclimate – Wednesday, March 13 at 4:00 pm 

The Earth Institute is pleased to present the fourth of the 2012-2013 Sustainable Development Seminar Series titled “Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Recent trends in temperatures, extremes and hydroclimate” tomorrow (Wednesday, March 13) from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Columbia University’s Low Library, Faculty Room. Please RSVP online to attend. Distinguished speakers will include: Gavin Schmidt, Deputy Chief,

Snow day II 

There’s something so awesome about a heavy snowfall, so transformative – it really inspires me. I went out skiing this morning, and I’ve never seen our house looking more beautiful. The snow is about 11 inches deep so far: It’s a wet, heavy snow. Temperatures are hovering right around 32°F (0°C), so it’s sticking to everything. Our lower driveway: Our road: While I was skiing across the floodplain down by

UMD: petrologic constraints on rates of orogenic processes 

There will be a University of Maryland Geology departmental colloquium this week on Friday at 3:00pm in room PLS 1140 (Plant Science building). The speaker will be Dr. Mark Caddick from Virginia Tech. He will present: Depths, temperatures & durations: … Continue reading

A Day Trip to the Taj Mahal 

Today's journey involved leaving Cambodia, flying over Thailand and Burma, crossing the Bay of Bengal, then touching down in Agra, India for a day trip to the Taj Mahal. The weather proved interesting! Getting ready to leave Siem Reap Cambodia There's Captain Peter Whittick just having fun and welcoming us back to our private jet The big news is: Rain across much of the Indian subcontinent and especially at the Taj Mahal. Drenching rain too.It is the approach to the Taj that is [...]

Interlude: What Vehicles Say About Temperatures Within a Volcanic Blast 

In our previous installment regarding the effects of the May 18th, 1980 Mount St. Helens directed blast on vehicles, we learned a valuable lesson. I will call upon commenter Angusum from Boing Boing to sum up: “The main thing we learn from studying vehicles trapped in the path of a volcanic eruption is that you [...]

Tucson mineral show off and running 

Dealers are still unpacking and unwrapping their specimens, but a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid-70s is bringing out big crowds.     I caught this shot at left of crates outside one of the show tents and a herd of dinosaur reproductions still wrapped in protective

Enigma 9 resolved : Olivine … what will happen to you ? 

The weekly question focused on the difference between the black smokers and white smokers. All these hydrothermal fields are encountered during oceanographic explorations. 1. Black smokers: they are in the form of chimneys. Emission of sulphurous water at temperatures above 300 º C. High levels of transition metals. Sulphide deposits in chimneys. read

Unprecedented glacier melting in the Andes blamed on climate change 

Glaciers in the tropical Andes have been retreating at increasing rate since the 1970s, scientists write in the most comprehensive review to date of Andean glacier observations. The researchers blame the melting on rising temperatures as the region has warmed about 0.7°C over the past 50 years (1950-1994). This unprecedented retreat could affect water supply to Andean populations in

Notes from the North: Birch and Spruce Falling on Snow 

About two days after our first hike while we were up in the northlands, a Chinook wind came up, blowing from the southeast across the Kenai and Chugach Mountains toward town. Temperatures rapidly went from the mid-teens to about 35 to 45°F. The main roads became icy, then slushy, then dry, with back streets turning into solid glare ice for several days. I prefer temperatures to be at 20°F

Colder than Absolute Zero? 

Physicists at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have been able to produce temperatures below absolute zero – something that was thought to be

End of the season close-out 

I'm back at McMurdo Station (which we refer to as being back in "Mactown"). I'm preparing myself to head back to the U.S. after a very short field season!One thing I have to do is prepare all of my soil samples for transport back to Arizona State University. All of the samples that were scooped in the field were sent back to McMurdo Station where they were kept in a freezer. Yesterday, I carefully packaged all of those samples for shipment. They were double-bagged for extra protection and [...]

Earth Has Recovered From Earlier Global Warmings 

“When faced with high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and rising temperatures 56 million years ago, the Earth increased its ability to pull carbon from the air. This led to a recovery that was quicker than anticipated by many models of the carbon cycle.” Quoted from the Purdue University news

Further Examination of the PETM 

The Earth may be able to recover from rising carbon dioxide emissions faster than previously thought, according to evidence from a prehistoric event analyzed by a Purdue University-led team.When faced with high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and rising temperatures 56 million years ago, the Earth increased its ability to pull carbon from the air. This led to a recovery that was quicker