Post List

Geosciences posts

(Modify Search »)

  • May 18, 2013
  • 07:08 AM
  • 107 views

Ocean heat puts pressure on poorest fisheries

by Andy Extance in Simple Climate

The first evidence that climate change has affected fishing catches, revealed by William Cheung from the University of British Columbia and his team, shows tropical countries are set to be hardest hit.... Read more »

  • May 17, 2013
  • 09:48 PM
  • 13 views

In large earthquakes, the Earth moves for almost everyone

by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous

The Global Positioning System has completely revolutionised how geologists study the deformation of the Earth. If you leave a GPS receiver in a fixed location for days, months and years, it is precise enough to measure motions on the millimetre … Continue reading →... Read more »

Corne ́ Kreemer, Geoffrey Blewitt, William C. Hammond, & Hans-Peter Plag. (2006) Global deformation from the great 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake observed by GPS: Implications for rupture process and global reference fram. Earth, Planets, Space, 58(2), 141-148. info:other/

Tregoning, P., Burgette, R., McClusky, S., Lejeune, S., Watson, C., & McQueen, H. (2013) A decade of horizontal deformation from great earthquakes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. DOI: 10.1002/jgrb.50154  

  • May 17, 2013
  • 02:09 PM
  • 18 views

Land-Fast Ice Cover off North Greenland: Will NASA bite?

by Andreas Muenchow in Icy Seas

When a large outlet glacier of North Greenland (Petermann Gletscher) discharged an ice island four times the size of Manhattan in August of 2010, the United States’ Congress held formal inquiries on its cause within days of the event. Congressmen, … Continue reading →... Read more »

Johnson, H., Münchow, A., Falkner, K., & Melling, H. (2011) Ocean circulation and properties in Petermann Fjord, Greenland. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116(C1). DOI: 10.1029/2010JC006519  

Reeh, N., H. H. Thomsen, A. K. Higgins, and A. Weidick. (2001) Sea ice and the stability of north and northeast Greenland floating glaciers. Annals of Glaciology, 474-480. info:/

  • May 16, 2013
  • 06:37 PM
  • 26 views

Water’s secrets

by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge

A team of Canadian and UK researchers has discovered what may be some of the oldest pockets of water on the planet – and they may contain life.... Read more »

Kim Luke, University of Toronto, Office of Public Relations, McMaster University, Aeron Haworth, The University of Manchester, & Lancaster University, News. (2013) Water's secrets. Tracing Knowledge. info:/

  • May 16, 2013
  • 12:00 PM
  • 29 views

Global Warming Consensus: We can haz it!

by Greg Laden in Greg Laden's Blog

An important study has just been published1 examining the level of consensus among scientists about climate change. The issue at hand is this: What is the level of agreement in the scientific community about the reality of climate change and about the human role in climate change? The new paper, Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic…... Read more »

Cook, J., Nuccitelli, D., Green, S., Richardson, M., Winkler, B., Painting, R., Way, R., Jacobs, P., & Skuce, A. (2013) Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature. Environmental Research Letters, 8(2), 24024. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024024  

  • May 13, 2013
  • 04:03 PM
  • 35 views

Geologists study mystery of ‘eternal flames’

by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge

“Eternal flames” fueled by hydrocarbon gas could shine a light on the presence of natural gas in underground rock layers and conditions that let it seep to the surface, according to research by geologists at the Department of Geological Sciences and the Indiana Geological Survey at Indiana University Bloomington.... Read more »

Steve Hinnefeld. (2013) Geologists study mystery of 'eternal flames'. Indiana University News Release. info:/

  • May 13, 2013
  • 02:06 PM
  • 34 views

Earth's central part is rotating differently than the rest of the planet

by Usman Paracha in SayPeople

Main Point:

Scientists have found that the inner-core of the Earth rotates at a different and variable rate than the mantle - the central part of the Earth or another planet that is present between the core and the crust.

Published in:

Nature Geoscience

Study Further:

Scientists observed earthquake doublets - pairs of nearly identical earthquakes that can occur a couple of weeks to 30 or 40 years apart - over the last 5 decades to find the speed of the inner-core of the Earth.

........ Read more »

  • May 9, 2013
  • 01:01 PM
  • 36 views

A harder look at the geology of diamonds

by Metageologist in Metageologist

My recent post about diamonds was a rapid romp through some of the most marvellous things earth scientists have discovered about them. In the interests of keeping the casual reader engaged I left out many things. If this left you with … Continue reading →... Read more »

  • May 9, 2013
  • 10:00 AM
  • 36 views

Arctic mission recovers record of surprising warmth

by Andy Extance in Simple Climate

The longest continuous Arctic land sediment core shows that the last time CO2 levels reached current levels, over 2.6 million years ago, North-East Russia was taken was 8°C warmer. ... Read more »

Melles, M., Brigham-Grette, J., Minyuk, P., Nowaczyk, N., Wennrich, V., DeConto, R., Anderson, P., Andreev, A., Coletti, A., Cook, T.... (2012) 2.8 Million Years of Arctic Climate Change from Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia. Science, 337(6092), 315-320. DOI: 10.1126/science.1222135  

Julie Brigham-Grette, Martin Melles, Pavel Minyuk, Andrei Andreev, Pavel Tarasov, Robert DeConto, Sebastian Koenig, Norbert Nowaczyk, Volker Wennrich, Peter Rosén, Eeva Haltia, Tim Cook, Catalina Gebhardt, Carsten Meyer-Jacob, Jeff Snyder, Ulrike Herzsch. (2013) Pliocene Warmth, Polar Amplification, and Stepped Pleistocene Cooling Recorded in NE Arctic Russia. Science. info:/10.1126/science.1233137

  • May 8, 2013
  • 07:56 AM
  • 32 views

The Turbulence of Van Gogh and the Labrador Shelf Current

by Andreas Muenchow in Icy Seas

Vincent Van Gogh painted his most turbulent images when insane. The Labrador Current resembles Van Gogh’s paintings when it becomes unstable. There is no reason that mental and geophysical instability relate to each other. And yet they do. Russian physicist … Continue reading →... Read more »

Aragón, J., Naumis, G., Bai, M., Torres, M., & Maini, P. (2008) Turbulent Luminance in Impassioned van Gogh Paintings. Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision, 30(3), 275-283. DOI: 10.1007/s10851-007-0055-0  

Wu, Y., Tang, C., & Hannah, C. (2012) The circulation of eastern Canadian seas. Progress in Oceanography, 28-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.pocean.2012.06.005  

  • May 8, 2013
  • 06:13 AM
  • 36 views

New Robotic Instruments to Provide Real-Time Data on Gulf of Maine Red Tide

by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge

A new robotic sensor deployed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Gulf of Maine coastal waters may transform the way red tides or harmful algal blooms (HABs) are monitored and managed in New England. The instrument was launched at the end of last month, and a second such system will be deployed later this spring.... Read more »

WHOI Media Relations Office. (2013) New Robotic Instruments to Provide Real-Time Data on Gulf of Maine Red Tide. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution . info:/

  • May 8, 2013
  • 04:31 AM
  • 33 views

The Black Sea is a Goldmine of Ancient Genetic Data

by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge

When Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marine paleoecologist Marco Coolen was mining through vast amounts of genetic data from the Black Sea sediment record, he was amazed about the variety of past plankton species that left behind their genetic makeup (i.e., the plankton paleome).... Read more »

WHOI Media Relations Office. (2013) The Black Sea is a Goldmine of Ancient Genetic Data. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. info:/

  • May 7, 2013
  • 10:28 PM
  • 36 views

Is Blogging Really the Future of Public Anthropology?

by Kristina Killgrove in Powered By Osteons

In a new short article out in the British Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Martijn de Koning asks what challenges anthropologists face in using blogs as a method of anthropological outreach.  He begins by highlighting some of the motivations for anthropologists to blog: "[M]any anthropologists have suggested that for them the primary reasons for blogging are self-realization, creativity and networking, sharing research experiences and outcomes, and commenting on current ........ Read more »

M. de Koning. (2013) Hello World! Challenges for blogging as anthropological outreach. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 19(2), 394-397. info:/10.1111/1467-9655.12040

J. Montgomery, J. Evans, S. Chenery, V. Pashley, K. Killgrove. (2010) 'Gleaming, white, and deadly': using lead to track human exposure and geographic origins in the Roman period in Britain. Journal of Roman Archaeology. info:/

  • May 7, 2013
  • 02:45 PM
  • 38 views

New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars

by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge

A roughly 3.5-mile high Martian mound that scientists suspect preserves evidence of a massive lake might actually have formed as a result of the Red Planet’s famously dusty atmosphere, an analysis of the mound’s features suggests. If correct, the research could dilute expectations that the mound holds evidence of a large body of water, which would have important implications for understanding Mars’ past habitability.... Read more »

Morgan Kelly. (2013) New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars. Princeton University Office of Communications. info:/

  • May 7, 2013
  • 12:32 AM
  • 39 views

Make Chardonhay while the sun shines

by Michael Angus in Anthroblogenic Warning

I'll start this blog with a confession; it might just be an excuse to make terrible wine based puns like the one in the title, so I'd be grapeful if you would go easy on me. Eh? Eh? No, looks like nobody's going with it. Not going to fly this one. They're sauvignone of it. Alright, I'll stop. It is nice to have a topic which isn't all doom and gloom for once though, it's not easy trying to write a climate blog that doesn't descend into weeping sobs at the state of humanity somewhere in the concl........ Read more »

Hannah L, Roehrdanz PR, Ikegami M, Shepard AV, Shaw MR, Tabor G, Zhi L, Marquet PA, & Hijmans RJ. (2013) Climate change, wine, and conservation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(17), 6907-12. PMID: 23569231  

  • May 4, 2013
  • 03:39 AM
  • 61 views

Google search basis undermines sunspot-winter coldness link

by Andy Extance in Simple Climate

A recent study linking cold winters in Europe to sunspots has updated bad science reaching back to the 19th century for the internet age, reveal Geert Jan van Oldenborgh from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and his colleagues, helped by an unholy alliance between Roger Pielke Sr and Stefan Rahmstorf.... Read more »

Sirocko, F., Brunck, H., & Pfahl, S. (2012) Solar influence on winter severity in central Europe. Geophysical Research Letters, 39(16). DOI: 10.1029/2012GL052412  

Pittock, A. B. (1983) Solar variability, weather and climate: An update. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 109(459), 23-55. DOI: 10.1002/qj.49710945903  

  • May 2, 2013
  • 11:11 AM
  • 46 views

Petermann Photos, Places, and People

by Andreas Muenchow in Icy Seas

Petermann Gletscher sent off Manhattan-sized islands of ice in 2010 and 2012 that now litter the eastern seaboard of Canada from its farthest northern Ellesmere Island to its farthest eastern Newfoundland. The ice is streaming south along thousands of miles … Continue reading →... Read more »

Higgins, A.K. (1990) Northern Greenland glacier velocities and calf ice production. Polarforschung, 1-23. info:other/0032-2490

  • May 1, 2013
  • 08:10 AM
  • 51 views

Imperial research explains what is cracking up Africa

by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge

A powerful earthquake in China’s rural south-west, which measured 6.6 in magnitude, highlighted the importance of research to understand what is happening inside the Earth’s rocky and often violent interior.

Dr James Hammond, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial, has published research in the journal Geology about what is happening to a region below the Earth’s crust called the mantle. He is studying the mantle in a part of East Africa called the ........ Read more »

Colin Smith. (2013) Imperial research explains what is cracking up Africa. Imperial College of London. info:/

  • April 30, 2013
  • 12:30 PM
  • 52 views

The Climatic Origins of the Malaysian Nipah Virus Outbreak

by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS

One of the hardest questions to answer in an infectious disease outbreak investigation is "Why?"

Why then? Why there? These questions can be almost impossible to answer - not only because of their heady metaphysical nature but also because of the difficulty of assessing the minute interactions between microbe, environment and human host. Public health officials are often left shrugging their shoulders, half-heartedly admitting to an unsatisfied public that they just don't know ........ Read more »

  • April 29, 2013
  • 03:39 PM
  • 60 views

Who lifeguards the lifeguards?

by Michael Angus in Anthroblogenic Warning

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who watches the watchmen? Who guards the guards themselves? Who...keeps the beekeepers. You would need quite a large hive for that I suppose. Alright, maybe that last one doesn't work, but one that certainly does work is: who attacks the attack blogs? Or, in the nomenclature of the internet, who trolls the trolls? In the climate change world there is an answer to that question, and like anything in this viper's nest of a debate, it's a controversial one. Please all........ Read more »

join us!

Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.

If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.

Register Now

Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.

To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.