Tuesday, March 31, 2015

[Geology2] USGS Seeks Proposals for Earthquake Science






USGS Seeks Proposals for Earthquake Science

Link to USGS Newsroom

USGS Seeks Proposals for Earthquake Science

Posted: 30 Mar 2015 10:17 AM PDT

Summary: The U.S. Geological Survey expects to award up to $7 million in grants for earthquake hazards research in 2016

Applications due May 19, 2015

Contact Information:

Elizabeth Lemersal ( Phone: 703-648-6716 ); Jessica Robertson ( Phone: 703-648-6624 );




The U.S. Geological Survey expects to award up to $7 million in grants for earthquake hazards research in 2016.

"The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program annually provides grants to support research targeted toward improving our understanding of earthquake processes, hazards and risks," said Bill Leith, USGS Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards. "We seek cutting-edge proposals that will further our efforts to reduce losses from earthquakes, provide more accurate and timely earthquake information and forecasts and better inform the public about earthquake safety."

Interested researchers can apply online at GRANTS.GOV under funding opportunity number G15AS00037. Applications are due May 19, 2015.

Every year the USGS awards earthquake research grants to universities, state geological surveys and private institutions. Past projects included:

  • trench investigations to better understand the size and age of large earthquakes between Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah;
  • the application of innovative techniques to map seismic hazards near the nation's capital;
  • exploring the use of rapid and precise GPS recordings to improve earthquake early warning;
  • analysis of the potential for large earthquakes in the Gorgonio Pass, an area of complex faulting east of San Bernardino, California;
  • investigation of recent earthquake activity along major fault lines crossing southeast Alaska; and
  • studies to characterize and understand the causes of potentially induced earthquakes in California, Kansas, Wyoming, Texas, and Ohio.

complete list of funded projects and reports can be found on the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program external research support website.






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Posted by: Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com>



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[californiadisasters] Evacuations Ordered in Apple Valley Fire



Evacuations Ordered in Apple Valley Fire

By Kelly Goff | KNBC-TV Los Angeles

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Apple Valley as a brush fire continues to spread Tuesday afternoon.

The brush fire had spread to more than 70 acres by 4 p.m., and animals and residents on Riverside Drive between Riverside Way and Nokomis Road, according San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesman Dean Dickover.

Residents can evacuate to Sitting Bull Middle School.

Seven structures have been threatened and one out building has been damaged.

Ground and air crews are attacking the fire. Two hundred firefighters are battling the brush fire at a dry river bottom between Victorville and Apple Valley.

The fire started just before noon.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Evacuations-Ordered-Apple-Valley-Brush-Fire-River-Bottom-298211221.html


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Posted by: Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com>


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[californiadisasters] High Wind Advisory - Apple Valley Area (03/31/15-PM)



...GUSTY WEST WINDS IN THE DESERTS THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...    .A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING INLAND TO THE NORTH WILL BRING  STRONG...GUSTY WEST WINDS IN THE DESERTS THROUGH LATE TONIGHT.    CAZ060>062-065-010500-  /O.CON.KSGX.WI.Y.0010.150331T2300Z-150401T1000Z/  APPLE AND LUCERNE VALLEYS-COACHELLA VALLEY-  SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS-SAN GORGONIO PASS NEAR BANNING-  137 PM PDT TUE MAR 31 2015    ...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 AM PDT WEDNESDAY...    * WINDS...AREAS OF WEST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH.    ISOLATED GUSTS TO 55 MPH IN THE NORTHERN COACHELLA VALLEY.    * LOCATION...STRONGEST WINDS NEAR THE DESERT SLOPES OF THE    MOUNTAINS...AND IN THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE    COACHELLA VALLEY.    * VISIBILITY...LOCALLY REDUCED IN BLOWING SAND AND BLOWING DUST.    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...    A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS OF 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS  THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH  PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.    &&    $$    MOEDE


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Posted by: Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com>


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[californiadisasters] Sundowner Wind Warning (03/31/15-PM)



SANTA BARBARA COUNTY MOUNTAINS-  INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SAN MARCOS PASS...  SAN RAFAEL WILDERNESS AREA...DICK SMITH WILDERNESS AREA  415 PM PDT TUE MAR 31 2015    ...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PDT WEDNESDAY...    * WINDS...NORTHWEST 20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH. STRONGEST    IN THE SANTA YNEZ RANGE.    * TIMING...WINDS WILL INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY TODAY AND PEAK    BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 7 AM WEDNESDAY.    * IMPACTS...GUSTY WINDS WILL MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY    FOR DRIVERS OF HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. MAJOR ROADWAYS THAT    COULD BE AFFECTED INCLUDE HIGHWAYS 101...154...AND 192...    ESPECIALLY NEAR GAVIOTA...SAN MARCOS PASS...AND BELOW THE    HILLS OF MONTECITO. WINDS THIS STRONG MAY DOWN TREES AND POWER    LINES...AND CAUSE PROPERTY DAMAGE.    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...    A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS THAT DAMAGING HIGH WINDS OF 58 MPH OR  GREATER ARE LIKELY OR IMMINENT. SECURE ALL LOOSE OUTDOOR  FURNITURE IN ADVANCE OF THE ONSET OF STRONG WINDS. MONITOR THE  LATEST FORECASTS ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA  SOURCE.


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Posted by: Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com>


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[californiadisasters] On This Date In California Weather History (March 31)



2013: This was the second day of stormy weather for the Easter weekend (that started on March 30th). 
A strong upper-level low pressure system moved over the region and brought numerous showers and thunderstorms to the region, including the central San Joaquin Valley and southern Sierra Nevada, as well as the adjacent foothills. 
Almost 2,000 lightning strikes were reported during the late afternoon and evening hours throughout the Hanford warning and forecast area. 
Pea-sized (about one quarter inch in diameter) hail was reported in Los Banos, although it covered much of the ground about one or two inches deep. 
Some hail as much as one inch in diameter (or quarter-sized), was reported along Highway 99, about 10 miles southeast of Madera; this storm briefly snarled traffic. 
A storm spotter photographed an impressive looking thunderstorm with supercell
characteristics, including a wall cloud and flanking clouds associated with its updraft, moved over Millerton Lake around 8:30 to 9:00 PM local time. 
However, no damage was reported with this storm.

1999: Snowburst in 8 hours dropped 11" of snow at Tuolumne Meadows, 6" at Mariposa and 4" at Oakhurst.

1998: During a period starting on this day and ending on 4.1, numerous funnel clouds were reported near the coast of Orange and San Diego Counties, two of which became waterspouts off Orange County.
One waterspout briefly hit the coast as a tornado south of the Huntington Beach Pier.

1997: A strong cold front moving through the Kern County mountains caused gusts to 81 mph at Mojave.

1989: It was 101° F in Borrego Springs, the highest temperature on record for March.
This also occurred on 3.27.1988.

1982: 29" of snow fell at Glenbrook, NV (east shore Lake Tahoe).

1966: It was 82° F in Palomar Mountain and 104° F in Palm Springs, each the highest temperature on record for March.

1966: Pinnacles reported a high of 93° F. 

1936: 14" of snow fell at Cedarville.

1916: Yosemite Valley reached 90° F, warmest high on temperature on record so early in the season.

Source: NWS San Francisco/Monterey, Hanford, Reno, & San Diego

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Posted by: Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com>


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Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.





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[californiadisasters] A Year Round Fire Season?



A Year Round Fire Season?


March 31, 2015 | ScienceBlog.com



There was a time when fire season for Western states meant only certain months out of the year. Not so long ago the U.S. Forest Service considered it primarily a summer problem with a few regions breaking the trend in early spring and late fall.

But climate change, according to most wildland fire experts, has turned fire season into a year-round issue.

What used to slow down fire season was winter—a long and cold time of year with lots of snow that killed off many invasive or destructive pests and filled rivers and reservoirs with ample water to supply the needs of millions living in the West.

Now winter is shorter and has far less snow accumulation in many areas. Case in point is California with near tinderbox conditions of dry wood from a decade long drought that is being recognized as one of the worst in the state's history—if not the worse. The snow pack this year was so sparse in the Golden State that some scientists from NASA are concerned that the state has literally only one year of water left.


16978290302_a89b4e59c3

If this dire prediction proves true, California could witness a natural resource disaster no state since the dust bowl years of the Great Depression has ever had to face. However, many other Western states in the coming years may face similar crises of water resource depletion.

To help mitigate the effects of climate change on our forests, the Forest Service is asking that visitors follow all rules to avoid starting uncontrolled fires in our national forests and grasslands. Information about what you can do to help is available at www.smokeybear.com.

The agency is also reducing hazardous fuels across two to three million acres per year to help make wildfires easier to control. Additional information is available at http://forestsandrangelands.gov/resources/reports/index.shtml.

It will take years to slow and hopefully reverse the effects of climate change on our wildlands, but it's not impossible — we just all have to pitch in.


 http://scienceblog.com/77571/a-year-round-fire-season/#cRVFr7HVemJTG0DO.99

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Posted by: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>


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Re: [californiadisasters] Fwd: Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line



I was thinking a old Superman movie. 

Mark


On Mar 31, 2015, at 8:36 AM, Philip Leavitt pcleavitt@leavittcom.com [californiadisasters] <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I think he's been watching an old James Bond movie which had a similar plot.

 

From: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 7:09 AM
To: California Earthquake Forum; CaliforniaDisasters
Subject: [californiadisasters] Fwd: Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line

 

 



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Posted by: Mark Williams <mwilli5542@sbcglobal.net>


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RE: [californiadisasters] Fwd: Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line



I think he's been watching an old James Bond movie which had a similar plot.

 

From: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 7:09 AM
To: California Earthquake Forum; CaliforniaDisasters
Subject: [californiadisasters] Fwd: Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line

 

 



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Posted by: Philip Leavitt <pcleavitt@leavittcom.com>


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Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.





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[californiadisasters] Fwd: Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line





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Posted by: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>


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Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.





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[Geology2] Russian analyst urges nuclear attack on Yellowstone National Park and San Andreas fault line





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Posted by: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>



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[Geology2] Volcanic eruptions found to durably impact climate



Volcanic eruptions found to durably impact climate through alterations to North Atlantic Ocean circulation

Date:
March 30, 2015
Source:
CNRS
Summary:
Particles emitted during major volcanic eruptions cool the atmosphere due to a 'parasol' effect that reflects sunlight. The direct impact of these particles in the atmosphere is fairly short, lasting two to three years. However, they alter for more than 20 years the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, which connects surface and deep currents and influences the climate in Europe.












Particles emitted during major volcanic eruptions cool the atmosphere due to a 'parasol' effect that reflects sunlight. The direct impact of these particles in the atmosphere is fairly short, lasting two to three years. However, they alter for more than 20 years the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, which connects surface and deep currents and influences the climate in Europe. This is the conclusion of a study by researchers from the CNRS, IRD, CEA and Météo‐France* who combined, for the first time, climate simulations, recent oceanographic data, and information from natural climate records. Their findings** are published in Nature Communications on March 30th.

The Atlantic Ocean is home to variations in surface temperatures that last for several decades, affecting Europe's climate. This slow variability is caused by changes in the ocean circulation, which connects surface to deep currents and transports heat from the tropics to the Norway and Greenland seas. However, the reason for this variability is still poorly understood.

In order to elucidate its mechanisms, the researchers first used information from the natural climate record covering the last millennium. By studying the chemical composition of water from ice cores in Greenland, they were able to estimate past temperature changes. The data highlights the close connection between the surface temperature of the Atlantic Ocean and air temperatures over Greenland, showing that climate variability in the region is a periodic phenomenon some of whose cycles, or oscillations, last around twenty years.

By using numerical simulations from more than twenty different climate models, the researchers also showed that major volcanic eruptions, like that of Mount Agung, Indonesia, in 1963, or Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991, could significantly alter ocean circulation in the North Atlantic. This is because the large quantities of particles emitted by these eruptions into the upper atmosphere reflect part of the solar radiation, rather like a parasol, causing the climate at Earth's surface to cool. The cooling, which only lasts two or three years, then triggers a rearrangement of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean. Around fifteen years after the beginning of the eruption, the circulation speeds up. It then slows down after twenty-five years, before accelerating again thirty-five years after the phenomenon. Volcanic eruptions thus appear to act on the ocean circulation in the North Atlantic rather like a pacemaker, causing variability over a twenty-year period.

The scientists confirmed these results by comparing them with observations of ocean salinity, a key factor for the sinking of water and therefore for ocean circulation. In numerical simulations and modern oceanographic data they detected similar variations in the early 1970s and 1990s connected to the eruption of the Agung volcano. Using data from Greenland ice cores and observations carried out on bivalve molluscs collected to the north of Iceland and dating back more than 500 years, as well as a simulation of the climate over the last thousand years, the researchers systematically identified acceleration of ocean circulation fifteen years after five volcanic eruptions that took place several hundred years ago.

Lastly, the researchers revealed the interference produced by the latest three main eruptions, Agung in 1963, El Chichón in Mexico in 1982, and Pinatubo in 1991, explaining for the first time the recent variability of currents in the North Atlantic ocean. They conclude that a major eruption in the near future could have an impact on the currents in the North Atlantic Ocean -- and hence on our ability to predict the variability of the climate in Europe -- over several decades. They now hope to consolidate these findings by collecting data from additional sources, especially in paleoclimatology.

* From the Laboratoire Environnements et Paléo-environnements Océaniques et Continentaux (CNRS/Université de Bordeaux), Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques -- Groupe d'Etude de l'Atmosphère Météorologique (CNRS/Météo France), and Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (CNRS/UPMC/MNHN/IRD) and Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (CNRS/CEA/UVSQ), both part of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace.

**The project was funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche via the 'Groenland Vert' project in the 'Changements Environnementaux Planétaires et Société' program (2011-2015).


Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by CNRS. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Didier Swingedouw, Pablo Ortega, Juliette Mignot, Eric Guilyardi, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Paul G. Butler, Myriam Khodri, Roland Séférian. Bidecadal North Atlantic ocean circulation variability controlled by timing of volcanic eruptions. Nature Communications, 2015; 6: 6545 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7545


CNRS. "Volcanic eruptions found to durably impact climate through alterations to North Atlantic Ocean circulation." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 March 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150330082744.htm>.

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Posted by: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>



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[Geology2] Travels in Geology: Skiing into the heart of an Andean Volcano




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Posted by: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>



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[Geology2] Seabed samples rewrite earthquake history near Istanbul



Seabed samples rewrite earthquake history near Istanbul

Mar 30, Earth/Earth Sciences


Located in the Marmara Sea, major earthquakes along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) system have repeatedly struck what is current-day Istanbul and the surrounding region, but determining the recurrence rate has proven difficult since the faults are offshore. Cores of marine sediment reveal an earthquake history of the Cinarcik Segment, a main branch of NAF, and suggest a seismic gap where the next earthquake is likely to rupture, as detailed in a new study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA).

The area has experienced several large earthquakes (>M6), and the scientific community has debated the exact location of the ruptures along the North Anatolian Fault, which extends nearly 750 miles across Northern Turkey and in the Aegean Sea. Most of the deformation on the is localized on the northern branch of the NAF, which crosses the Marmara Sea.

"The important part of this study is that it assigns past earthquakes to specific segments of the fault," said lead author Laureen Drab, a seismologist at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France. "Knowing which segment ruptured when has a big impact on the recurrence rate of earthquakes on the main fault segment that affects Istanbul."

Drab and her colleagues examined two cores of sediment deposits removed from the seabed to identify and date widespread quake-induced disturbances. Large earthquakes on submarine faults can cause underwater landslides, shaking up sediments that result in rapidly deposited layers, or turbidites, of silt and sand of jumbled grain sizes, minerals and specific geochemical properties. Radiocarbon dating and other tests of two identified the age and timing of deposits.

Combining the historical catalogue and the new data from the core samples, Drab reconstructed the timing of earthquakes along NAF's main segment. The turbidites reveal six large -related events, from 136 to 1896 AD, along the Cinarcik Fault and reassigned the 1766 AD rupture previously thought to have occurred on the Cinarcik Fault to another segment.

"The combined records show three entire rupture sequences on the NAF, with the current sequence incomplete along the Cinarcik Fault," said Drab. "Based on this new data, we see that there is a on the Cinarcik Segment, which, from my point of view, is where the next earthquake is likely to occur."

Provided by Seismological Society of America

http://m.phys.org/news/2015-03-seabed-samples-rewrite-earthquake-history.html
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Posted by: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>



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