Geology

On this very date, 18th of May, 30 years ago, Mount St. Helens reawakened with a devastating eruption. If it weren't for the magnificent images taken by the USGS I would have had a hard time  believing just how devastating it was. The unexpected lateral blast killed volcanologist David A  Johnston on his observation post – now called the Johnston ridge – and simply ripped out the trees from the hill sides. My life has been all about volcanoes the last few months. Thanks to a certain Icelandic volcano who's name nobody knows how to pronounce or until March 2010 had even heard of…

Scientists at the University of Miami say Greenland's ice is melting so quickly that the land underneath is rising at an accelerated pace. According to the study, some coastal areas are going up by nearly one inch per year and if current trends continue, that number could accelerate to as much as two inches per year by 2025, explains Tim Dixon, professor of geophysics at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) and principal investigator of the study. "It's been known for several years that climate change is contributing to the melting of Greenland's…

Which would you rather eat-- cotton candy, a volcano, or broken glass?  Turns out they're the same thing.  Ivan Amato breaks this news in Volcanic ash and cotton candy share molecular characteristics with glass (a Washington Post science special). Here's a quick science primer on what's what: Glass is an imperfectly arranged solid.  Crystals have nearly perfect geometric arrangements of their atoms&molecules, like a neat stack of oranges.  Glass is the same thing with disorder-- Amato's analogy is 'a fallen stack of oranges (with some grapes and such mixed in)'. "Glass…

A sinkhole in Saint-Jude, Quebec has just collapsed a house, killing a family of four inside, leading people to ask what they are, how they occur and obviously who is at risk. Sinkholes are depressions that occur when soil or bedrock has been removed and only air remains - commonly when the rock below the land surface is limestone,  carbonate rock or salt beds that have been naturally dissolved by ground water circulating through them and then the water dries up. As the rock is dissolved by water(dissolution), spaces are created (suffosion) and typically sinkholes happen suddenly because…

New Volcano Plume - New Partial Flight Ban A significant ash plume from Iceland is headed to U.K. airspace. Precautionary flight bans affect Irish Republic, Northern Ireland and Scotland's Outer Hebrides. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has informed Irish-based airlines that it will be imposing restriction on all flights in and out of Ireland from 0700hrs local until 1300hrs tomorrow, Tuesday, 4th May 2010 due to risk of ash ingestion in aircraft engines. Ireland falls within the predicted area of ash concentrations that exceed acceptable engine manufacturer tolerance levels. http://www.…

By observing distant earthquakes, researchers at the University of Calgary have revealed new clues about the interior of our planet. They say they have discovered that the composition of Earth's outer core is much different than scientists previously believed. The results appear in Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors Previous studies have suggested that there is a distinct layer of light material at the top of Earth's core, but new study suggests this is not the case. "Some scientists have proposed a region of sediment accumulation at the top of the core, or even distinct liquid…

High-resolution visible and thermal infrared images captured by a joint NASA-Japanese satellite sensor have provided the first clear glimpse of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull that began erupting last week. The images, taken by NASA's Earth-orbiting Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectance Radiometer (ASTER) instrument, show that although the volcano's infamous ash plume is receding, its internal temperature is rising. Eyjafjallajökull appears on the left side of the images as a bright spot with a cloud emanating from it. More images are available here. (Photo Credit:…

Eric takes on earthquakes in his article, using fancy-schmancy words like seismology and strike-slip fault and logic. But all is for naught - a brave attempt, my fellow Scientific Blogger, but you apparently didn't include the Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi in your sources. For shame. Sedighi, a noted seismologist and Tehran’s acting Friday Prayer leader, explicated on the subject during a sermon. "Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes," the earthquake expert stated. "What can we do to avoid being…

Eyjafjallajökull, Gígjökull, Jökulhlaup, Gosmökkur The world is suddenly faced with the need to learn how to pronounce Islenska, the Icelandic language. With much of European airspace closed due to volcanic ash in the skies, people are most commonly asking how long it will last, and if it may get worse.  Also, the media continues to confuse the issue with talk of an eruption under, variously, a glacier, an ice cap, an ice sheet. There is a world of difference between an ice sheet kilometers thick, and the Gígjökull glacier and the Eyjafjallajökull ice cap. Caveat: much of the information…

Chemical analysis of a stalagmite found in the mountainous Buckeye Creek basin of West Virginia suggests that native Americans contributed a significant level of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere through land use practices, such as burning trees to actively manage the forests and yield the nuts and fruit that were a large part of their diets. The finding, published in The Holocene, provide more evidence that humans impacted global climate long before the modern industrial era. "They had achieved a pretty sophisticated level of living that I don't think people have fully appreciated," said…