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News and commentary from the wide world of Earth Science
Chris Rowan
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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
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Possibly, but this paper will not convince you. Continue reading →... Read more »
Pétrélis, F., Besse, J., & Valet, J. (2011) Plate tectonics may control geomagnetic reversal frequency. Geophysical Research Letters, 38(19). DOI: 10.1029/2011GL048784
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
When a magnitude 6.3 earthquake scored an almost direct hit on Christchurch in February, I discussed the possibility that rather than being a simple aftershock of... Read more »
Stramondo, S., Kyriakopoulos, C., Bignami, C., Chini, M., Melini, D., Moro, M., Picchiani, M., Saroli, M., & Boschi, E. (2011) Did the September 2010 (Darfield) earthquake trigger the February 2011 (Christchurch) event?. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/srep00098
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
As the aftershocks of the Darfield quake continue, where do the future seismic dangers lie? Continue reading →... Read more »
Parsons, T., & Dreger, D. (2000) Static‐stress impact of the 1992 Landers earthquake sequence on nucleation and slip at the site of the 1999 M. Geophysical Research Letters, 27(13), 1949. DOI: 10.1029/1999GL011272
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Allochthonous may have some obscure usage related to rocks, but in ecology, allochthonous material is a major concept that underpins thinking about nutrient cycling and food web dynamics. In its most general definition, allochthonous material is something imported into an … Continue reading →... Read more »
Vannote, R., Minshall, G., Cummins, K., Sedell, J., & Cushing, C. (1980) The River Continuum Concept. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 37(1), 130-137. DOI: 10.1139/f80-017
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Even though we all think of the freezing point of water as 0 °C, very pure water remains a liquid until about -40 °C. Water crystallizes to ice in the presence of tiny nucleation particles in the atmosphere. These particles … Continue reading →... Read more »
Christner, B., Morris, C., Foreman, C., Cai, R., & Sands, D. (2008) Ubiquity of Biological Ice Nucleators in Snowfall. Science, 319(5867), 1214-1214. DOI: 10.1126/science.1149757
Pöschl U, Martin ST, Sinha B, Chen Q, Gunthe SS, Huffman JA, Borrmann S, Farmer DK, Garland RM, Helas G.... (2010) Rainforest aerosols as biogenic nuclei of clouds and precipitation in the Amazon. Science (New York, N.Y.), 329(5998), 1513-6. PMID: 20847268
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Levees have their uses in protecting communities from flooding - but they also create the illusion of safety that promotes further settlement and development of floodplain lands. Continue reading →... Read more »
Olsen, J., Stedinger, J., Matalas, N., & Stakhiv, E. (1999) CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND FLOOD FREQUENCY ESTIMATION FOR THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI AND LOWER MISSOURI RIVERS. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 35(6), 1509-1523. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1999.tb04234.x
Pinter, N. (2005) ENVIRONMENT: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back on U.S. Floodplains. Science, 308(5719), 207-208. DOI: 10.1126/science.1108411
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Can large earthquakes beget more large earthquakes? It’s an easy question to ask, but much more difficult to answer. Depending on the distance from, and time since, the initial earthquake, the processes that may result in ‘seismic triggering’ are very … Continue reading →... Read more »
McCloskey, J., Nalbant, S., & Steacy, S. (2005) Indonesian earthquake: Earthquake risk from co-seismic stress. Nature, 434(7031), 291-291. DOI: 10.1038/434291a
Velasco, A., Hernandez, S., Parsons, T., & Pankow, K. (2008) Global ubiquity of dynamic earthquake triggering. Nature Geoscience, 1(6), 375-379. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo204
Parsons, T., & Velasco, A. (2011) Absence of remotely triggered large earthquakes beyond the mainshock region. Nature Geoscience. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1110
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Last week, the journal Nature published two research papers on the effects of human-caused global warming on extreme precipitation events. I’m working on a post on the papers, and they’ve already received quite a bit of attention in the media. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Allan RP. (2011) Climate change: Human influence on rainfall. Nature, 470(7334), 344-5. PMID: 21331034
Schiermeier Q. (2011) Increased flood risk linked to global warming. Nature, 470(7334), 316. PMID: 21331014
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that shook Chile in February 2010 occurred within a seismic gap - but new research suggests that it did not fill it. Continue reading →... Read more »
Lorito, S., Romano, F., Atzori, S., Tong, X., Avallone, A., McCloskey, J., Cocco, M., Boschi, E., & Piatanesi, A. (2011) Limited overlap between the seismic gap and coseismic slip of the great 2010 Chile earthquake. Nature Geoscience. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1073
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Unusually heavy monsoon rains in July and August 2010 left large swaths of Pakistan underwater. At least 18 million people were affected by the flood, and it is estimated that, more than six months later, several hundred thousand remain without … Continue reading →... Read more »
Webster, P. J., Toma, V.E., & Kim, H.-M. (2011) Were the 2010 Pakistan floods predictable?. Geophysical Research Letters. info:/10.1029/2010GL046346
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
The first maps of the global distribution of the ease of subsurface water flow have been produced, and they are based on maps of rock type. Continue reading →... Read more »
Gleeson, T., Smith, L., Moosdorf, N., Hartmann, J., Dürr, H., Manning, A., van Beek, L., & Jellinek, A. (2011) Mapping permeability over the surface of the Earth. Geophysical Research Letters, 38(2). DOI: 10.1029/2010GL045565
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
A recent study presents some promising data regarding the abundance of rocky planets around other stars. Continue reading →... Read more »
Howard, A., Marcy, G., Johnson, J., Fischer, D., Wright, J., Isaacson, H., Valenti, J., Anderson, J., Lin, D., & Ida, S. (2010) The Occurrence and Mass Distribution of Close-in Super-Earths, Neptunes, and Jupiters. Science, 330(6004), 653-655. DOI: 10.1126/science.1194854
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
The Alpine fault has not ruptured since European settlement in the 1840s. Paleoseismology tells us that this is the longest it has gone in a millenium without generating a magnitude 8+ earthquake. Continue reading →... Read more »
Wells, A., & Goff, J. (2007) Coastal dunes in Westland, New Zealand, provide a record of paleoseismic activity on the Alpine fault. Geology, 35(8), 731. DOI: 10.1130/G23554A.1
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
When water infiltrates past the ground surface and begins to percolate through the soil’s unsaturated zone, it doesn’t move downward like an even sheet. Instead, fast fingers of water move downward along pores, roots and other places where flow is … Continue reading →... Read more »
Williams, M., Erickson, T., & Petrzelka, J. (2010) Visualizing meltwater flow through snow at the centimetre-to-metre scale using a snow guillotine. Hydrological Processes, 24`(15), 2098-2110. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.7630
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
In the September issue of GSA Today, you can find our article on The Internet as a resource and support network for diverse geoscientists. Where do we go from here? Continue reading →... Read more »
Jefferson, A.J., Hannula, K.A., Campbell, P.B., & Franks, S.E. (2010) The Internet as a resource and support network for diverse geoscientists. GSA Today, 20(9), 59-61. info:/10.1130/GSATG91GW.1
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
The best evidence yet that the Yellowstone hotspot is the result of a mantle plume - one that had to burn through a subducting slab to get to the surface. Continue reading →... Read more »
Obrebski, M., Allen, R., Xue, M., & Hung, S. (2010) Slab-plume interaction beneath the Pacific Northwest. Geophysical Research Letters, 37(14). DOI: 10.1029/2010GL043489
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
How what we thought was one great earthquake turned out to be two, or possibly even three, at the same time. Continue reading →... Read more »
Lay, T., Ammon, C., Kanamori, H., Rivera, L., Koper, K., & Hutko, A. (2010) The 2009 Samoa–Tonga great earthquake triggered doublet. Nature, 466(7309), 964-968. DOI: 10.1038/nature09214
Beavan, J., Wang, X., Holden, C., Wilson, K., Power, W., Prasetya, G., Bevis, M., & Kautoke, R. (2010) Near-simultaneous great earthquakes at Tongan megathrust and outer rise in September 2009. Nature, 466(7309), 959-963. DOI: 10.1038/nature09292
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
Evidence from numerous sources seems to be converging to suggest that sponges - the first animals - emerged much earlier than the beginning of the Cambrian, and apparently sailed through severe climatic events in the Cryogenian without much trouble at all. Continue reading →... Read more »
Maloof, A., Rose, C., Beach, R., Samuels, B., Calmet, C., Erwin, D., Poirier, G., Yao, N., & Simons, F. (2010) Possible animal-body fossils in pre-Marinoan limestones from South Australia. Nature Geoscience. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo934
by Chris Rowan in Highly Allochthonous
These four papers all attempt to understand what controls the sediments that make up the streambed and floodplain and that get preserved in the geologic record. White et al. look at how riffle positions are governed by valley width variations, while Jerolmack and Brzinski find striking similarities in grain size transitions observed in rivers and dune fields. Hart et al. examine the relationship between glacial advances and downstream sediment deposition, while Sambrook Smith et al. investigate ........ Read more »
White, J., Pasternack, G., & Moir, H. (2010) Valley width variation influences riffle–pool location and persistence on a rapidly incising gravel-bed river. Geomorphology, 121(3-4), 206-221. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.04.012
Jerolmack, D., & Brzinski, T. (2010) Equivalence of abrupt grain-size transitions in alluvial rivers and eolian sand seas: A hypothesis. Geology, 38(8), 719-722. DOI: 10.1130/G30922.1
Hart, S., Clague, J., & Smith, D. (2010) Dendrogeomorphic reconstruction of Little Ice Age paraglacial activity in the vicinity of the Homathko Icefield, British Columbia Coast Mountains, Canada. Geomorphology, 121(3-4), 197-205. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.04.011
Sambrook Smith, G., Best, J., Ashworth, P., Lane, S., Parker, N., Lunt, I., Thomas, R., & Simpson, C. (2010) Can we distinguish flood frequency and magnitude in the sedimentological record of rivers?. Geology, 38(7), 579-582. DOI: 10.1130/G30861.1
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