Geosciences posts
- December 18, 2012
- 05:37 AM
- 274 views
'Tis the season to be Doggy, fa la la la laaaa...
by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?
Hey Julie, I absolutely LOVE Project: Play with your Dog study and how the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab are crowd sourcing using citizen science! I don't think a better way of contributing to scientific understanding can possibly exist! I look forward to hearing updates about how the research goes. I will certainly participate - next time we head to the river to play, we'll take our camera to get some video! So you might have noticed the silly season of festivity has landed upon us... Assumi........ Read more »
Sitler Robert K. (2006) The 2012 Phenomenon New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar. Nova Religio, 9(3), 24-38. DOI: 10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.024
- December 17, 2012
- 12:34 PM
- 50 views
A Global Lithological Map
by Jesper Dramsch in The way of the geophysicist
The uses of a global lithological map.... Read more »
Hartmann, J., & Moosdorf, N. (2012) The new global lithological map database GLiM: A representation of rock properties at the Earth surface. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems. DOI: 10.1029/2012GC004370
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
- December 15, 2012
- 12:14 PM
- 205 views
Light and Noise in the Anthropocene
by csoeder in Topologic Oceans
There is a companion article exploring the issue from the perspective of environmental monitoring over at ArkFab. Human influence on the environment has increased dramatically over the last 10,000 years, to the point that some geologists have argued that human reworking of the earth defines a new geologic age, The Anthropocene. (Zalasiewicz et al, 2008) [...]... Read more »
José Alicea-Pou, Olga Viñas-Curiel, Wanda Cruz-Vizcarrondo, & Osvaldo Alomar. (2005) Monitoring of the Environmental Noise Level in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Environmental Quality Board. info:/
David Dunn, & James P. Crutchfield. (2006) Insects, Trees, and Climate: The Bioacoustic Ecology of Deforestation and Entomogenic Climate Change. Santa Fe Institute Working Paper. arXiv: q-bio/0612019v1
Fuller, R., Warren, P., & Gaston, K. (2007) Daytime noise predicts nocturnal singing in urban robins. Biology Letters, 3(4), 368-370. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0134
Hester, K., Peltzer, E., Kirkwood, W., & Brewer, P. (2008) Unanticipated consequences of ocean acidification: A noisier ocean at lower pH. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(19). DOI: 10.1029/2008GL034913
Longcore, T., & Rich, C. (2004) Ecological Light Pollution. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2(4), 191. DOI: 10.2307/3868314
Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Smith, A., Barry, T., Coe, A., Bown, P., Brenchley, P., Cantrill, D., Gale, A., Gibbard, P.... (2008) Are we now living in the Anthropocene. GSA Today, 18(2), 4. DOI: 10.1130/GSAT01802A.1
- December 15, 2012
- 11:32 AM
- 236 views
(Very) early life on land: Just who is this Dickinsonia character, anyway?
by matt in Geodermatophilia
My first impression upon hearing the hypothesis that Dickinsonia (Fig. 1) may be a lichen was that it does not look like any lichen I’ve ever seen. To be fair, the more normal interpretation that it is a marine animal, a segmented worm, sparks the same response…it does not look like any animal I’ve ever seen or heard of. What it actually resembles is a giant diatom, but that is pretty silly. This uncertainty is exactly what has been nagging paleontologists since the 1940’s….what are th........ Read more »
Retallack, G. (2012) Ediacaran life on land. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature11777
- December 15, 2012
- 06:21 AM
- 209 views
Can we trust climate models?
by Andy Extance in Simple Climate
I’ve asked scientists I’ve spoken to for blog entries and articles published this year why we use models, how we know they’re accurate, and how to understand their projections. ... Read more »
Peduzzi, P., Chatenoux, B., Dao, H., De Bono, A., Herold, C., Kossin, J., Mouton, F., & Nordbeck, O. (2012) Global trends in tropical cyclone risk. Nature Climate Change, 2(4), 289-294. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1410
Wei, T., Yang, S., Moore, J., Shi, P., Cui, X., Duan, Q., Xu, B., Dai, Y., Yuan, W., Wei, X.... (2012) Developed and developing world responsibilities for historical climate change and CO2 mitigation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(32), 12911-12915. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1203282109
Muyin Wang and James E. Overland. (2012) A sea ice free summer Arctic within 30 years: An update from CMIP5 models. Geophys. Res. Lett. DOI: 10.1029/2012GL052868
Rowlands, D., Frame, D., Ackerley, D., Aina, T., Booth, B., Christensen, C., Collins, M., Faull, N., Forest, C., Grandey, B.... (2012) Broad range of 2050 warming from an observationally constrained large climate model ensemble. Nature Geoscience, 5(4), 256-260. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1430
Deser, C., Knutti, R., Solomon, S., & Phillips, A. (2012) Communication of the role of natural variability in future North American climate. Nature Climate Change, 2(11), 775-779. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1562
Higgins, P., & Harte, J. (2012) Carbon Cycle Uncertainty Increases Climate Change Risks and Mitigation Challenges. Journal of Climate, 25(21), 7660-7668. DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00089.1
- December 12, 2012
- 08:20 AM
- 340 views
A Gift Worth Its Weight In Gold
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Gold is not considered a dietary micronutrient, and is the one of the most inert metals. But this is not to say it has no role in living systems; in fact, this metal is a veritable gold mine of biology. Recent studies have shown that at least one bacterium uses gold in the active site of a NADH oxidase enzyme, and several microorganisms can accumulate gold and precipitate out pure flakes of gold. Saprobic fungi are now used to survey the gold in an area and point the way to new gold mines. Most ........ Read more »
Nieminen, R., Korhonen, R., Moilanen, T., Clark, A., & Moilanen, E. (2010) Aurothiomalate inhibits cyclooxygenase 2, matrix metalloproteinase 3, and interleukin-6 expression in chondrocytes by increasing MAPK phosphatase 1 expression and decreasing p38 phosphorylation: MAPK phosphatase 1 as a novel target for antirheumatic drugs. Arthritis , 62(6), 1650-1659. DOI: 10.1002/art.27409
Levchenko, L., Sadkov, A., Lariontseva, N., Koldasheva, E., Shilova, A., & Shilov, A. (2002) Gold helps bacteria to oxidize methane. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 88(3-4), 251-253. DOI: 10.1016/S0162-0134(01)00385-3
- December 11, 2012
- 11:05 AM
- 188 views
Ants and Termites could help to find Gold in the Earth
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Researchers have found that ants and termites could help us to find the hidden treasures such as gold in the Earth.
This research has been conducted by CSIRO and published online in the journals PLoS ONE and Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis.
Researchers have worked on a test site in the West Australian goldfields termite mounds and found high concentrations of gold that could represent larger deposit underneath.
“We’re using insects to help find new gold and ........ Read more »
Stewart, A., Anand, R., & Balkau, J. (2012) Source of anomalous gold concentrations in termite nests, Moolart Well, Western Australia: implications for exploration. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, 12(4), 327-337. DOI: 10.1144/geochem2012-126
- December 11, 2012
- 05:40 AM
- 189 views
Predictions of the past & the future
by Ed Hawkins in Climate Lab Book
What will happen to the climate over the next decade? Two new analyses consider real climate predictions made in the past and of the future decade. In 1990, the IPCC published its first assessment report. The predictions made have now … Continue reading →... Read more »
Frame, D., & Stone, D. (2012) Assessment of the first consensus prediction on climate change. Nature Climate Change. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1763
Smith, D., Scaife, A., Boer, G., Caian, M., Doblas-Reyes, F., Guemas, V., Hawkins, E., Hazeleger, W., Hermanson, L., Ho, C.... (2012) Real-time multi-model decadal climate predictions. Climate Dynamics. DOI: 10.1007/s00382-012-1600-0
Ho, C., Hawkins, E., Shaffrey, L., & Underwood, F. (2012) Statistical decadal predictions for sea surface temperatures: a benchmark for dynamical GCM predictions. Climate Dynamics. DOI: 10.1007/s00382-012-1531-9
- December 10, 2012
- 03:04 PM
- 259 views
Ancient Insect Carried Built-In Trash Basket for Camouflage
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Covering yourself with garbage is a great way to look less delicious to predators. More than a hundred million years ago, one insect species took this strategy to the extreme by growing a kind of giant trash can on its back. Scientists could identify the new species thanks to a remarkable specimen that was preserved—along with an informative topping of trash—in amber.
The insect that kindly died in a blob of tree resin in early-Cretaceous Spain was a young green lacewing. Modern-day gree........ Read more »
Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, Xavier Delclòs, Enrique Peñalver, Mariela Speranza, Jacek Wierzchos, Carmen Ascaso, & Michael S. Engel. (2012) Early evolution and ecology of camouflage in insects. PNAS. info:/10.1073/pnas.1213775110
- December 10, 2012
- 07:57 AM
- 185 views
Are Rocks the Key to Finding Extraterrestrial Life?
by Jason Carr in Wired Cosmos
While scientists like to bandy origin of life theories around, they seldom make the connection to astrobiological research. These theories, however, have a lot to suggest about how life may have developed on other worlds. According to recent studies, low-density vesicular volcanic rock material like pumice might have acted as something like a natural laboratory [...]... Read more »
Martin D. Brasiera, Richard Matthewmana, Sean McMahonb, Matt R. Kilburnc, & David Wacey. (2013) Pumice from the ∼3460 Ma Apex Basalt, Western Australia: A natural laboratory for the early biosphere. Precambrian Research, 1-10. info:/10.1016/j.precamres.2012.09.008
- December 9, 2012
- 06:16 AM
- 177 views
Erosion makes mountains beautiful
by Metageologist in Metageologist
The thing that makes mountains so beautiful and fascinating,is not so much their height as their steepness. Climbers and trekkers flock to the High Himalaya, not to get altitude sickness but for the grandeur of the landscape, the experience of … Continue reading →... Read more »
Larsen, I., & Montgomery, D. (2012) Landslide erosion coupled to tectonics and river incision. Nature Geoscience, 5(7), 468-473. DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1479
Roering, J. (2012) Tectonic geomorphology: Landslides limit mountain relief. Nature Geoscience, 5(7), 446-447. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1511
Spotila, J. (2012) Influence of drainage divide structure on the distribution of mountain peaks. Geology, 40(9), 855-858. DOI: 10.1130/G33338.1
- December 6, 2012
- 09:35 AM
- 161 views
CO2 casts off shackles to power up Atlantic hurricanes
by Andy Extance in Simple Climate
Reductions in particulate pollution and increases in greenhouse gases are going to co-operate to give us more intense hurricanes in the Atlantic, finds NOAA’s Gabriel Vecchi... Read more »
Villarini, G., & Vecchi, G. (2012) Multi-Season Lead Forecast of the North Atlantic Power Dissipation Index (PDI) and Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE). Journal of Climate, 2147483647. DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00448.1
- November 29, 2012
- 05:17 PM
- 209 views
Ice Loss at Poles Is Increasing, Mainly in Greenland
by Greg Laden in Greg Laden's Blog
From NASA: PASADENA, Calif. – An international team of experts supported by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) has combined data from multiple satellites and aircraft to produce the most comprehensive and accurate assessment to date of ice sheet losses in Greenland and Antarctica and their contributions to sea level rise. In a landmark…... Read more »
Shepherd, A., Ivins, E., A, G., Barletta, V., Bentley, M., Bettadpur, S., Briggs, K., Bromwich, D., Forsberg, R., Galin, N.... (2012) A Reconciled Estimate of Ice-Sheet Mass Balance. Science, 338(6111), 1183-1189. DOI: 10.1126/science.1228102
- November 29, 2012
- 02:01 PM
- 263 views
Space agencies pinpoint polar ice sheet damage
by Andy Extance in Simple Climate
Greenland & Antarctica lost over 4 trillion tonnes of ice from 1992-2011 - equivalent to 11 mm of sea level rise, the giant Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-Comparison Exercise (IMBIE) has shown by bringing together over 50 years’ worth of satellite data .... Read more »
Andrew Shepherd, Erik R. Ivins, Geruo A, Valentina R. Barletta, Mike J. Bentley, Srinivas Bettadpur, Kate H. Briggs, David H. Bromwich, René Forsberg, Natalia Galin, Martin Horwath, Stan Jacobs, Ian Joughin, Matt A. King, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Jilu Li, Ant. (2012) A Reconciled Estimate of Ice-Sheet Mass Balance. Science. info:/10.1126/science.1228102
- November 27, 2012
- 10:48 AM
- 160 views
Climate Change Negotiations, 18 years in 83 Seconds
by Andreas Muenchow in Icy Seas
Cartoon alert: Several thousand delegates meet in Doha, Qatar all week to negotiate climate change actions and co-operation for the 18th time since 1995. Summing up 18 years of such negotiations, I just found an 83 second cartoon via Andrew … Continue reading →... Read more »
Schroeder, H., Boykoff, M., & Spiers, L. (2012) Equity and state representations in climate negotiations. Nature Climate Change, 2(12), 834-836. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1742
- November 25, 2012
- 01:22 PM
- 167 views
Shots of Airborne Lasers at Petermann Gletscher, Greenland
by Andreas Muenchow in Icy Seas
If shots of whiskey make you dizzy, shots of laser stun. NASA stunned me this week, when I discovered that they provide millions such shots of Greenland from which to construct detailed images of the landscape. The shots are free, no age-limit. This is better than the usual remote sensing or photography of “just” brightness. The laser gives us height, and not just the perception of it by shadows and fake angles of illumination, but hard and direct measurements of, well, height above sea leve........ 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
Krabill, W., Abdalati, W., Frederick, E., Manizade, S., Martin, C., Sonntag, J., Swift, R., Thomas, R., & Yungel, J. (2002) Aircraft laser altimetry measurement of elevation changes of the greenland ice sheet: technique and accuracy assessment. Journal of Geodynamics, 34(3-4), 357-376. DOI: 10.1016/S0264-3707(02)00040-6
Münchow, A., Falkner, K., Melling, H., Rabe, B., & Johnson, H. (2011) Ocean Warming of Nares Strait Bottom Waters off Northwest Greenland, 2003–2009. Oceanography, 24(3), 114-123. DOI: 10.5670/oceanog.2011.62
Thomas, R., Frederick, E., Krabill, W., Manizade, S., & Martin, C. (2009) Recent changes on Greenland outlet glaciers. Journal of Glaciology, 55(189), 147-162. DOI: 10.3189/002214309788608958
- November 24, 2012
- 05:43 AM
- 176 views
Carbon conundrum could push firmer emission action
by Andy Extance in Simple Climate
Climate models might be wrong in assuming plants and soil will absorb more CO2 as the world warms, meaning that more aggressive action might be needed to keep climate change at ‘safe levels’, finds Paul Higgins from the American Meteorological Society... Read more »
Higgins, P., & Harte, J. (2012) Carbon Cycle Uncertainty Increases Climate Change Risks and Mitigation Challenges. Journal of Climate, 25(21), 7660-7668. DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00089.1
- November 21, 2012
- 05:47 PM
- 403 views
Intelligent Earth
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
What would happen if the Earth’s axis suddenly tilted by 50 degrees or more? It may sound like the plot of a bad science fiction movie, but scientists say it’s not an academic question — geological records show such shifts have happened several times throughout the planet’s history, with dramatic effects on climate and sea level.
Harvard researchers are now answering one of the key questions related to such shifts: Once its axis tilts, how does the Earth “know&rd........ Read more »
Peter Reuell. (2012) Intelligent Earth. Harvard Gazette. info:/
- November 19, 2012
- 01:41 PM
- 317 views
Monitoring from Space Shows Even This Giant Crab Can Navigate Better than You
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
It was crabnapping for a just cause. But the crustaceans that found themselves suddenly plucked from their burrows, stuffed into opaque sacks, and carried off through the forest couldn't know that. When the scientists freed their captives, they waited to see whether the crabs would find their way home or be stranded forever. They'd be watching—from space.
The best way to find out exactly where and how far an animal travels is to tag it with a GPS tracker. But if you're interested in invert........ Read more »
Krieger, J., Grandy, R., Drew, M., Erland, S., Stensmyr, M., Harzsch, S., & Hansson, B. (2012) Giant Robber Crabs Monitored from Space: GPS-Based Telemetric Studies on Christmas Island (Indian Ocean). PLoS ONE, 7(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049809
- November 17, 2012
- 07:20 PM
- 352 views
How Earth's wandering poles return home
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
A number of times over the past one billion years, the Earth's surface has "wandered" relative to its rotational axis – before returning to its original position. Now, a team of geophysicists from the US and Canada says it has developed a theory that explains this curious phenomenon of "oscillatory true polar wander". Understanding the mechanics behind polar wander is crucial, as a shift could tip the Earth over by as far as 50° over a period of 10–100 mi........ Read more »
Tushna Commissariat. (2012) How Earth's wandering poles return home. physicsworld.com. info:/
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