Friday, November 30, 2012

[Geology2] Can Chapman Scientists Forecast Quakes?



Attempts to forecast earthquakes sometimes get a chilly reception among scientists. Many such efforts have proved fruitless and, seismologists and geophysicists worry, could lead to exaggerated public expectations.

By PAT BRENNAN / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Sept. 10, 2012 Updated: Oct. 5, 2012 2:35 p.m.

Attempts to forecast earthquakes sometimes get a chilly reception among scientists. Many such efforts have proved fruitless and, seismologists and geophysicists worry, could lead to exaggerated public expectations.

And the scientists at Chapman University are careful not to claim they are forecasting quakes.

Still, in research they consider to be in the "validation" phase, Chapman scientists say their monitoring of two types of signals – radon emissions and heat signatures – have shown increased activity hours, days or weeks before several recent quakes.

The data are not unambiguous. Neither the timing nor the location of potential quakes can be nailed down precisely. False positives also have occurred on several occasions, when the signs of impending quakes were not followed by actual tremors.

But recent hits from Chapman's analysis method have come close enough, in some cases, to trigger internal alerts among the Chapman researchers, said Menas Kafatos, director of Chapman's Center of Excellence of Earth Systems Modeling and Observations.

His research group, which tracks trends and patterns in a variety of natural systems, including wind, weather and waves, uses both ground and satellite measurements to look for signs of coming quakes.

A sensor in a campus basement can pick up spikes in radon, a naturally occurring radioactive element that is released from the Earth's outer crust. The sensor was installed by another member of Kafatos' team, Dimitar Ouzounov.

And a campus antenna is used to gather data from satellites, including increased heat from points on the surface tracked by infrared emissions.

The radon data, Kafatos said, can provide a rough idea of how far away a coming quake might be, but cannot pinpoint where it will happen.

Radon readings also yield a rough idea of when a quake might occur, say within a matter of days.

The heat signatures, meanwhile, do a better job of localizing where a potential quake might happen. They can be seen days to weeks before a quake.

Not all quakes yield data from both sources, and interference can disrupt their forecasting potential.

With those cautions in mind, here is what the scientists can say about recent readings:

On Aug. 7, the radon sensor showed a "local anomaly" about 10 p.m. About an hour and a half later, a magnitude 4.5 quake occurred northeast of Yorba Linda. This reading was noted by the scientists after the quake, although instruments had picked it up before.

On Aug. 8, Kafatos said, the radon sensor picked up "continuous activity" indicating an active earthquake region.

On Aug. 9, a magnitude 4.4 quake occurred off Northern California. And a thermal signature had been seen in satellite data for the same region on Aug. 1.

On Aug. 10, readings from the radon sensor led to estimates of a magnitude 3.5 to 4 about 30 miles away. On August 11, the Channel Islands experienced a 3.4 quake.

Signs of the Aug. 11 event also triggered an internal alert among Chapman scientists.

Kafatos said he is not claiming to have forecast any of the quakes.

"The challenge is that we don't have a reliable system yet to do continuous monitoring; we cannot do forecasts. That would require a lot more manpower and resources," he said. "And we do have interference with nearby sources. We need more statistics."

Even with the uncertainties, however, advance indications of a large quake would present the scientists with a dilemma.

Should they alert public agencies, risking public distress and ridicule if they're wrong?

"If it's going to be a whopping signal, a 7.0 coming, then I would probably be talking to the authorities," he said.

Seismologist Lisa Grant Ludwig at UC Irvine, who previously worked at Chapman and has conducted research on numerical modeling of earthquakes that could be used in forecasting, said she is unfamiliar with the work being done at Chapman.

But she and Kafatos said scientists can react skeptically to any talk of earthquake prediction.

That became especially true, she said, after a flurry of interest in the 1970s and early 1980s.

"There was a period of time when the seismic community was very excited about earthquake prediction," she said. "A lot of people worked on it, and found it to be much more challenging than they expected. Then the 'prediction' word became kind of the 'P' word that we don't like to use."

Source: http://www.ocregister.com/news/scientists-370907-chapman-quakes.html

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[californiadisasters] Super Soaker KOs Bay Area Power



2,700 without power, more rain on way

Updated 9:16 p.m., Friday, November 30, 2012

The river of rain forecast to drench the Bay Area this week has taken its second swipe at the region, generating heavy downpours from the North Bay to the Santa Cruz Mountains, slowing commute traffic and downing electrical lines that supply thousands of households.

More than 2,700 Bay Area power customers were without electricity Friday evening, down from a high of 15,000 earlier in the day, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials. The majority of outages were in the North Bay.

Rainfall totals ranged from impressive - more than an inch in San Francisco and 2-plus inches in Oakland - to gully-washing, such as the 7 1/2 inches that came down in the Sonoma County town of Venado.

At the height of the storm, the morning commute was predictably slow.

"Anytime a storm like this hits anywhere in California, CHP is extremely busy," Officer Michael Ferguson of the California Highway Patrol said as he patrolled San Francisco highways. "There are times when we're going from call to call, crash to crash, and it just doesn't stop."

Starting about 7:30 a.m., Ferguson's patrol car radio made a constant crackle reporting disabled vehicles, potholes that need filling, flooding and minor accidents.

The priority for officers during a rainy rush hour is to keep the roads clear as best as possible.

That includes pushing disabled vehicles out of the roadway and onto a shoulder, as Ferguson had to do for a Ford Econoline van that stalled on westbound Interstate 80 near the Seventh Street on-ramp.

Another officer did the same for a red Nissan sedan that hit the center divide and spun out on Interstate 280 northbound just south of the Avalon Drive exit.

The CHP expects more of the same as heavy rains are predicted to continue off and on throughout the weekend.

As the deluge picks up Saturday night, San Francisco residents can expect about an inch of rainfall, with totals in the wettest parts of the Bay Area reaching up to 7 inches, according to Austin Cross, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

Cross said the agency is monitoring potential flooding in the Russian River area and in the coastal mountains.

In preparation, the San Francisco Department of Public Works has distributed 400 sandbags and has 2,000 more ready for pickup at its yard at 2323 Cesar Chavez St.


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Re: [Geology2] Fwd: [CrisisAlert] Evacuations La



For Pete's sake... are they really that careless and stupid or is someone trying to sabotage the camp? Allison

From: Victor G Healey <vic.nospam@gmail.com>
To: Geology2 Mailing List <geology2@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 1:01 PM
Subject: [Geology2] Fwd: [CrisisAlert] Evacuations La
 
If you didn't follow this story over the last month, there was some thought that a meteor set off the first explosion at Camp Minden. Someone here advanced the theory that the gas trapped in an aquifer may have caused that explosion.

I live 500 miles away and based on initial reports late at night I figured that the first explosion that rained debris down on a nearby business district had to be from Camp Minden by looking at the area with Apple's new mapping program. I could even count the bunkers on  that map.  Locals assured me the military said everything was ok and that could not be the source.

After day break the next morning when the sheriff  had a helicopter up searching the area the SO's chopper noticed that a bunker had blown up at Minden just a few hundred feet off I-20.

Not only was the military slack that night but it looks like they have been dreadfully careless since.

There are a number of bases filled with dangerous bunkers in Alabama. LA has Miden and possibly others I have never heard of. The chemical ones near Aniston AL worry me the most.

A bad accident there could wipe out life all the way to Atlanta.


Now check out this updated news.
Begin forwarded message:
Webster Parish...Camp Minden and city of Doyline.Lat Monday,Louisiana State Police found 1 million lbs of explosivesstored outside in cardboard boxes.  on Camp Minden after investigatingseveral explosions on the base.At this time for safety measures,CampMinden and the town of Doyline are being evaced for safety whileagencies try to safely remove the boxes.Jerry


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[californiadisasters] Storm Wreaks Havoc On Shasta County; Flooding, Downed Trees, Power Outages



UPDATED (with video): Storm wreaks havoc on Shasta County; flooding, downed trees, power outages reported

The third day in a near week-long stretch of storms hitting the north state is causing flash flooding, downed power and utility lines and possibly contributing to power outages in Shasta County.

Firefighters this morning reported a flash flood on Wonderland Boulevard in Mountain Gate.

Dispatchers reported the flooding just before 7 a.m. and responding crews confirmed the flooding and advised the need for sandbags. The neighborhood that flooded is on the 15000 block of Wonderland Boulevard, less than a mile south of the Lehigh Cement Co. plant.

Firefighters just a few minutes later reported the road was also flooding. They requested county public works crews.

Heavy rain caused Stillwater Creek to overflow and flood the neighborhood. The water nearly entered a home rented by Daniel Cissney, 53, and his girlfriend, 50-year-old Jody Villarreal.

"I'm sick to my stomach," said Cissney, who spent part of the morning watching the water slowly rise to his door step. He said he and Villarreal have been up all night watching Stillwater Creek, which sits just east of their home, slowly rise.

Cissney said he's lived in the home since April and only heard of a single incident of flooding.

"I heard it (his home) almost flooded last year," he said.

But Kyle Landis, 26, a neighbor and friend who said he's lived in Mountain Gate for many years, said the flooding was much worse today.

"I've never seen it like this," he said.

The flood subsided by about 8:30 a.m., and Cissney said he heard the initial flooding had been caused by a shed that had apparently been blown by strong winds into the creek and helping to clog it up. That shed, he said, was later removed from the creek bed, allowing the water to drop.

But firefighter Devin Owen said the flooding was simply caused by extensive rain, noting that a shed did fall into the creek Thursday night and was washed away by the deluge, but it was not a factor in the flooding.

"It was definitely a flash flood," he said, adding firefighters have been busy this morning helping sandbag residences and business that were in jeopardy.

He said shortly before 10 a.m. that firefighters had a good handle on the situation and that the flooding threat had eased.

Meanwhile, a tree that crashed into a building Thursday at Shasta and Oregon streets in downtown Redding also knocked down a cable line in the area, emergency crews reported.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials today reported an early morning power outage left some 1,187 customers in the dark for nearly seven hours.

Two outages in Shingletown were reported at about 2:20 a.m.

Black Butte School is closed for the day.

Power was restored to all but two customers by 8:25 a.m., PG&E reported.

PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said a tree crashing into power lines caused the outage.

"Crews made those repairs in the wee hours of the morning and the power is back on," Moreno said.

There's also an outage northeast of Cottonwood affecting some 105 customers, including the Coleman Fish Hatchery and residents along Hatchery Road, he said. Another outage has left some 41 customers without power along Draper Road and Wayne Lane on the Tehama County side in Anderson.

"Power should be back on late this afternoon," Moreno said.

Meanwhile, an outage in Anderson and Happy Valley affecting more than 1,700 customers was repaired overnight. Officials said the outage in Happy Valley was caused by trees knocking down a power line and it was repaired just after midnight.

The California Highway Patrol reported rock slides at Highway 36 and South Fork Mountain Road in Trinity County. Another rock slide in Helena left basketball-sized rocks in a lane of the road, according to the CHP.

Check back here for updates.

Source: http://www.redding.com/news/2012/nov/30/flooding-reported-wonderland-boulevard/


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[californiadisasters] North Ops News & Notes Update (11/30/12-8AM)



Date
Time
News and Notes
11/30/2012
0800
The recent series of winter storms are producing significant precipitation amounts at many area RAWS stations. Some two day totals are Cooskie Mountain 6.82 inches, Booneville 5.46 inches, Big Rock 2.75 inches, La Honda 4.35 inches, Ash Creek 4.45 inches, Camp Six 7.12 inches, Sims 8.29 inches, Cohasset 4.30 inches, Stonyford 3.55 inches, Indian Wells 2.38 inches, Carpenter Ridge 6.91 inches, Hell Hole 4.46 inches, Jarbo Gap 4.47 inches, Quincy 4.51 inches and White Cloud 6.59 inches.
Source: http://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/predictive/intelligence/news_notes/index.htm

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[californiadisasters] On This Date In CA Weather History (November 30)



2007: Heavy rain from cutoff low with a tropical connection produced up to 6" of rain at Palomar Mountain and Forest Falls on this day and on 12.1.
A debris flow (including large trees) over the Poomacha Burn area buried a house in mud, and caused serious damage to several vehicles and highway 76.
The flow was estimated at 15 feet high and 150 to 200 feet wide.

1997: A waterspout was reported six miles south of Newport Beach.

1982: 26" inches of snow fell at Tahoe City, with 22" inches of snow reported at Truckee.

1982: A big storm that started on this day and ended on 12.1 brought widespread record rains and strong winds that knocked out power to 1.6 million homes.
1.96" of rain fell in LA on this day, a daily record.
On this day the LAX airport recorded a wind gust of 60 mph.

1972: Fresno had a high temperature of only 44°, lowest on record for the month of November.

1970: A series of storms struck the region from 11.25 to this day following large destructive wildfires in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains earlier in the fall.
9.17" of precipitation fell in Lake Arrowhead, 7.22" in Lytle Creek, 5.11" in Big Bear Lake, 5.02" in Palomar Mountain, 3.56" in San Bernardino, 2.63" in Redlands, 2.51" in Santa Ana, and 2.05" in San Diego.
Flooding inundated streets and highways in the Rancho Cucamonga area.
At least 60 homes were damaged by floods and debris flows.
On this day a waterspout and three small funnel clouds were reported six miles west of San Diego.

1952: Heavy rain dropped almost one inch in Upland.
Street flooding was reported in Upland and homes were flooded in Ontario.

1932: Fresno received 0.30" of rain.
This is the latest occurrence of the first measurable rain of the water season on record.

Source: NWS Hanford, San Diego, & Reno

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[Volcano_Vista_HS] VVHS Announcements--Friday, November 30, 2012



Converge Bible study will be meeting on Tuesday, December 4 at lunch in Room F211. Remember to bring a friend!

Best Buds will meet during lunch in e102. We will be talking about the end of the semester activities.

Art Club Members...Remember to bring Gingerbread house ingredients by Monday.

We will be having sign-ups for Volleyball this week. Today is the last day to sign up. All sign-ups must be completed by lunch.

Operation Smile will be selling YUMMY, DEEELICIOUS nachos after school today in front of the gym!  Help change the life of a child AND get wonderful nachos too
 
ATTENTION SENIORS: A determination has been made that all sources, no matter if they are only web-based, MUST have a summary or annotation in your Project Proposal. Add a short summary and application after each citation of a source and you will satisfy this requirement.

SENIORS: The following labs will be open for printing of Project Proposals today:

  • 6:45 am to 7:20 am in E213, H208, F216, E202
  • Lunch in H208 and F216

The Library is NOT available for printing, and neither is the Workroom. If you need to print, visit one of these labs.

Seniors: Please purchase your cap & gown and announcements by December 7th at Campus Specialities. The price increases after the 7th.

Academic Decathlon: Update-our first competition will be Monday, December 3 after school.  Please let Mrs. Taylor know if you will be participating.  Check the blog for all the details..

Seniors if you have taken a course at Southwest Secondary Learning Center and are an athlete planning on Participating at the College level could you please see your Academy Counselor immediately for some important NCAA Clearinghouse information.

If you are a student needing to retake classes, eCademy registration will begin Monday December 4th, 2012.  You need to bring $15, cash  or money order only, to your academy counselor.  Schedule an appointment with your counselor to review you transcript and sign up for these online options.

ATHLETICS:
 
The State Semifinal Football game will take place Friday, November 30th at 7 PM at Milne Stadium vs. Sandia High School. We are the home team.

The swim team will have their first meet this weekend at West Mesa Pool at 8:30 AM.

Our cheerleaders will be competing in the UNM Spirit Competition on Saturday at the UNM Pitt at 10:30 AM.
 
Today is a Black Out Day!

And remember

As always…

It's great to be a Hawk!



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[Volcano_Vista_HS] VVHS vs. Sandia State Football Game TONIGHT!



Your Volcano Vista Hawks Football Team has made it to the SEMI-FINALS! This is the furthest they have made it into the state play-offs in our school's history.

The Hawks have a score to settle after an early season loss to the Sandia Matadors.

We need LOTS of fan support tonight as we go for the win to make it into the state championship game! Please try to attend!

Volcano Vista vs. Sandia

Friday, November 30, 2012

7:00 PM

Milne Stadium
(we are the home team)

 

For those who live out of state or who can't make it, the game will be broadcast online at www.proviewnetworks.com.



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[Geology2] Fwd: [CrisisAlert] Evacuations La



If you didn't follow this story over the last month, there was some thought that a meteor set off the first explosion at Camp Minden. Someone here advanced the theory that the gas trapped in an aquifer may have caused that explosion.

I live 500 miles away and based on initial reports late at night I figured that the first explosion that rained debris down on a nearby business district had to be from Camp Minden by looking at the area with Apple's new mapping program. I could even count the bunkers on  that map.  Locals assured me the military said everything was ok and that could not be the source.

After day break the next morning when the sheriff  had a helicopter up searching the area the SO's chopper noticed that a bunker had blown up at Minden just a few hundred feet off I-20.

Not only was the military slack that night but it looks like they have been dreadfully careless since.

There are a number of bases filled with dangerous bunkers in Alabama. LA has Miden and possibly others I have never heard of. The chemical ones near Aniston AL worry me the most.

A bad accident there could wipe out life all the way to Atlanta.


Now check out this updated news.


Begin forwarded message:

Webster Parish...Camp Minden and city of Doyline.
Lat Monday,Louisiana State Police found 1 million lbs of explosives
stored outside in cardboard boxes.  on Camp Minden after investigating
several explosions on the base.At this time for safety measures,Camp
Minden and the town of Doyline are being evaced for safety while
agencies try to safely remove the boxes.
Jerry



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[Geology2] Oceanic Crust Breakthrough: Solving a Magma Mystery





Basalt. (Credit: Courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)

Oceanic Crust Breakthrough: Solving a Magma Mystery

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) — Oceanic crust covers two-thirds of Earth's solid surface, but scientists still don't entirely understand the process by which it is made. Analysis of more than 600 samples of oceanic crust by a team including Carnegie's Frances Jenner reveals a systemic pattern that alters long-held beliefs about how this process works, explaining a crucial step in understanding Earth's geological deep processes.


Their work is published in Nature on November 29.

Magmas generated by melting of Earth's mantle rise up below the oceanic crust and erupt on Earth's surface at mid-ocean ridge systems, the longest mountain ranges in the world. When the magma cools it forms basalt, the planet's most-common rock and the basis for oceanic crust.

It has long been assumed that the composition of magmas erupting out of mid-ocean ridges is altered when minerals that form during cooling sink out of the remaining liquid, a process called fractional crystallization. In theory, trace elements that are not included in the crystallizing minerals should be little affected by this process, and their ratios should be the same in the erupting magma as they were in the original magma before cooling. If this is true, trace element ratios in magmas erupting at mid-ocean ridges should represent those of the original parental magma that formed deep in Earth's mantle. However, this process doesn't account for the high abundance of trace elements found in samples of basalt from mid-ocean ridges around the world, so the reality of the situation is obviously more complicated than previous theories indicated.

Using the extensive array of samples and advanced modeling, Jenner and her research partner Hugh O'Neill of the Australian National University demonstrated that the concentration of trace elements is due to the process by which the magma is cycled through the oceanic crust prior to being erupted on the sea floor at the mid-ocean ridges.

Magma collects under Earth's surface in a pool of liquid rock called a magma chamber. Each chamber is frequently flushed with new magma, which mixes with the old magma that was already there, and then this blended magma erupts out onto the ocean floor. Following the influx of new magma and eruption, the remaining magma undergoes fractional crystallization. This means that minerals are separated out from the magma as it cools. However, these minerals contain only minor amounts of the trace elements. As a result, trace elements build up in the magma over time, as the magma chamber is continually replenished by new magma coming in to the system. "It's a simple idea, but it fits remarkably well," Jenner said. "These new findings will permit us to explore the conditions of mantle melting and production of the Earth's most-common rock.".



Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Carnegie Institution.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Hugh St C. O'Neill, Frances E. Jenner. The global pattern of trace-element distributions in ocean floor basalts. Nature, 2012; 491 (7426): 698 DOI: 10.1038/nature11678

Carnegie Institution (2012, November 29). Oceanic crust breakthrough: Solving a magma mystery. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2012/11/121129130634.htm
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[Geology2] Grand Canyon as Old as the Dinosaurs: Dates for Carving of Western Grand Canyon Pushed Back 60 Million Years





A new study led by CU-Boulder indicates the Grand Canyon was largely carved by about 70 million years ago. (Credit: Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org)

Grand Canyon as Old as the Dinosaurs: Dates for Carving of Western Grand Canyon Pushed Back 60 Million Years

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) — An analysis of mineral grains from the bottom of the western Grand Canyon indicates it was largely carved out by about 70 million years ago -- a time when dinosaurs were around and may have even peeked over the rim, says a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

The new research pushes back the conventionally accepted date for the formation of the Grand Canyon in Arizona by more than 60 million years, said CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Rebecca Flowers. The team used a dating method that exploits the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium atoms to helium atoms in a phosphate mineral known as apatite, said Flowers, a faculty member in CU-Boulder's geological sciences department.

The helium atoms were locked in the mineral grains as they cooled and moved closer to the surface during the carving of the Grand Canyon, she said. Temperature variations at shallow levels beneath Earth's surface are influenced by topography, and the thermal history recorded by the apatite grains allowed the team to infer how much time had passed since there was significant natural excavation of the Grand Canyon, Flowers said.

"Our research implies that the Grand Canyon was directly carved to within a few hundred meters of its modern depth by about 70 million years ago," said Flowers. A paper on the subject by Flowers and Professor Kenneth Farley of the California Institute of Technology was published online Nov. 29 in Science magazine.

Flowers said there is significant controversy among scientists over the age and evolution of the Grand Canyon. A variety of data suggest that the Grand Canyon had a complicated history, and the entire modern canyon may not have been carved all at the same time. Different canyon segments may have evolved separately before coalescing into what visitors see today.

In a 2008 study, Flowers and colleagues showed that parts of the eastern section of the Grand Canyon likely developed some 55 million years ago, although the bottom of that ancient canyon was above the height of the current canyon rim at that time before it subsequently eroded to its current depth.

Over a mile deep in places, Arizona's steeply sided Grand Canyon is about 280 miles long and up to 18 miles wide in places. Visited by more than 5 million people annually, the iconic canyon was likely carved in large part by an ancestral waterway of the Colorado River that was flowing in the opposite direction millions of years ago, said Flowers.

"An ancient Grand Canyon has important implications for understanding the evolution of landscapes, topography, hydrology and tectonics in the western U.S. and in mountain belts more generally," said Flowers. The study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

Whether helium is retained or lost from the individual apatite crystals is a function of temperatures in the rocks of Earth's crust, she said. When temperatures of the apatite grains are greater than 158 degrees Fahrenheit, no helium is retained in the apatite, while at temperatures below 86 degrees F, all of the helium is retained.

"The main thing this technique allows us to do is detect variations in the thermal structure at shallow levels of the Earth's crust," she said. "Since these variations are in part induced by the topography of the region, we obtained dates that allowed us to constrain the timeframe when the Grand Canyon was incised."

Flowers and Farley took their uranium/thorium/helium dating technique to a more sophisticated level by analyzing the spatial distribution of helium atoms near the margin of individual apatite crystals. "Knowing not just how much helium is present in the grains but also how it is distributed gives us additional information about whether the rocks had a rapid cooling or slow cooling history," said Flowers.

There have been a number of studies in recent years reporting various ages for the Grand Canyon, said Flowers. The most popular theory places the age of the Grand Canyon at 5 million to 6 million years based on the age of gravel washed downstream by the ancestral Colorado River. In contrast, a 2008 study published in Science estimated the age of the Grand Canyon to be some 17 million years old after researchers dated mineral deposits inside of caves carved in the canyon walls.

Paleontologists believe dinosaurs were wiped out when a giant asteroid collided with Earth 65 million years ago, resulting in huge clouds of dust that blocked the sun's rays from reaching Earth's surface, cooling the planet and killing most plants and animals.

Because of the wide numbers of theories, dates and debates regarding the age of the Grand Canyon, geologists have redoubled their efforts, said Flowers. "There has been a resurgence of work on this problem over the past few years because we now have some new techniques that allow us to date rocks that we couldn't date before," she said.

While the dating research for the new study was done at Caltech, Flowers recently set up her own lab at CU-Boulder with the ability to conduct uranium/thorium/helium dating.

"If it were simple, I think we would have solved the problem a long time ago," said Flowers. "But the variety of conflicting information has caused scientists to argue about the age of the Grand Canyon for more than 150 years. I expect that our interpretation that the Grand Canyon formed some 70 million years ago is going to generate a fair amount of controversy, and I hope it will motivate more research to help solve this problem."



Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Colorado at Boulder.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. R. M. Flowers and K. A. Farley. Apatite 4He/3He and (U-Th)/He Evidence for an Ancient Grand Canyon. Science, 29 November 2012 DOI: 10.1126/science.1229390

University of Colorado at Boulder (2012, November 29). Grand Canyon as old as the dinosaurs: Dates for carving of western Grand Canyon pushed back 60 million years. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2012/11/121129143301.htm


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Thursday, November 29, 2012

[Geology2] Underground Chain Reaction Triggered Iceland Eruption




Underground Chain Reaction Triggered Iceland Eruption

Charles Q. Choi, OurAmazingPlanet Contributor - Nov 29, 2012
eyjafjallajokull-iceland-volcano-fissure-101117-02
From the initial eruptive activity at Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010, that was a lava producing eruption 20 March - 12 April, preceding the explosive eruption. View of the eruptive fissure on March 25, 2010.
CREDIT: Thorsteinn Jonsson, University of Iceland

The eruptions of Iceland's volcano Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 were apparently triggered by a chain reaction of expanding magma chambers that descended into the Earth, a group of researchers now says.

After nearly two centuries of dormancy, Eyjafjallajökull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) erupted many times over the course of 10 weeks. These outbursts spewed a huge plume of ash that generated extraordinary lightning displays, colored sunsets a fiery redacross much of Europe and forced widespread flight cancellations for days.

The eruptions began in 2010 when a fissure opened on the flank of Eyjafjallajökull in March, revealing that it was inflating with magma. An explosion then burst from the volcano's summit in April, and three more major explosions from Eyjafjallajökull rocked Iceland in May. Analysis of material spewed from the explosions suggests each one involved separate chambers loaded with magma of distinct ages and compositions.

To learn more about what caused this spate of eruptions, the researchers analyzed swarms of microearthquakes during the outbursts. The data suggests the first explosion was rooted in a magma chamber about 3 miles (5 kilometers) below the surface, while the three later major explosions stemmed from magma chambers at depths of about 7 miles (11.5 km), 12 miles (19 km) and 15 miles (24 km). [Image Gallery: Iceland Volcano's Fiery Sunsets]

"Our Icelandic colleagues were quick to add more seismometers to the network close to the volcano when it became obvious from satellite imaging that the volcano was inflating, so the data were much better because of that," said researcher Jon Tarasewicz, a geophysicist at the University of Cambridge in England.

Intriguingly, the researchers found that microearthquakes apparently occurred at greater depths with each outburst. Now researchers suggest this series of eruptions was due to a "decompression wave" that essentially rippled downward, upsetting the volcano's plumbing.

Cascading eruptions

The initial explosion spewed a massive amount of magma and melted about 650 feet (200 meters) of ice. The researchers suggest this relieved a great deal of pressure exerted from Eyjafjallajökull's summit on its innards. This drop in pressure from above caused a magma chamber slightly lower down to begin inflating. When this led to an explosion, this liberated magma in another chamber slightly lower down, and created a cascade through successively lower chambers.

"We often think about eruptions as being controlled entirely from below by the supply of fresh magma from below — that is, the pressure caused by new magma rising buoyantly is what determines whether it erupts or not," Tarasewicz told OurAmazingPlanet. "We don't often consider how that driving force might be affected by changes from above."

"It's novel to have been able to match the deep seismic observations to big changes in the eruption rate at the surface," Tarasewicz continued. "In this case, it seems the volcanic plumbing system at depth responded to changes near the surface, rather than vice versa."

Better understanding, but no predictions

Tarasewicz and his colleagues are now analyzing data from other Icelandic volcanoes such as Krafla and Askja to better understand their plumbing systems as well.

"There are several examples around the world of volcanoes that are thought to have more than one magma chamber, stacked at different depths beneath the volcano," Tarasewicz said. "Understanding the pressure linkage and feedback between different magma storage reservoirs may help us to understand why some volcanoes like Eyjafjallajökull have prolonged eruptions with episodic surges in eruption rate."

Although this research could yield insights on the magma underlying a volcano and how it might behave, Tarasewicz cautioned, "we are still not in a position to be able to predict accurately in advance when, or if, a volcano is going to erupt."

The scientists detailed their findings online Oct. 13 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3827-iceland-volcano-eruption-trigger.html
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Re: [californiadisasters] Blizzard of Awesome: The San Francisco Snowfall of 1976



I was there for that snowfall and remember it well! I'm dating myself, but my friends and I ditched our high classes in San Jose that day (they kept the schools open and actually expected kids to attend :p ) and hiked all the way to Vasona Lake in the snow. We slide down hills there on cardboard sleds (until them became too soggy to use and fell apart), then hiked home.
 
The school had threatened students with detention if we skipped school...but only 1/3 of the kids showed up to school and they couldn't put us all in detention (safety in numbers lol). We all got off with a "stern warning" not to do that again.
 
As it was not likely to snow again anytime soon, we agreed.
 
Good memories :)
Redhart in Tehachapi

Blizzard of awesome: The San Francisco snowfall of 1976

Posted By: Peter Hartlaub ( Email , Twitter ) | Nov 29 at 4:18 am


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[californiadisasters] CALFIRE Carbon Monoxide Warning Video



Short educational video on Carbon Monoxide poisoning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Fj2-77bJM&feature=share&list=PL56BF4E9C9FF00A79

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