March 2008

I wasn’t aware of this, but the USGS has a podcast! Called CoreCast, they publish new episodes at least once every few weeks (and sometimes more often). The latest episode (#35), is titled Dramatic Developments at Kilauea Volcano and was posted this morning. This podcast coincides with a recent press release about increased activity on the volcano. Check it out!

I’ve linked to a copy of the latest podcast below.

I’ve actually thought of trying to put together a geology podcast featuring a panel of various folks throughout the geoblogosphere and talking about recent developments in the earth sciences (similar to This Week in Tech podcasts). It could be interesting, though I’m not sure how much demand there would be for it.

Interestingly enough, there is a podcast named “The Geologic Podcast,” though as far as I can tell, it has very little to do with geology, or even science for that matter.

An international team of researchers lead by the University of California, Riverside have released a study on the chemistry of early Earth’s oceans, and how that chemistry may have inhibited the evolution of animal life by up to 2 billion years. The team tracked levels of molybdenum in black shales from this time period and found the amounts to be lower than expected. While life first evolved around 2.4 billion years ago, the first complex animal life didn’t arise until about 600 million years ago.

The researchers found significant, firsthand evidence for a molybdenum-depleted ocean relative to the high levels measured in modern, oxygen-rich seawater.

“These molybdenum depletions may have retarded the development of complex life such as animals for almost two billion years of Earth history,” Lyons said. “The amount of molybdenum in the ocean probably played a major role in the development of early life. As in the case of iron today, molybdenum can be thought of as a life-affirming micronutrient that regulates the biological cycling of nitrogen in the ocean.

“At the same time, molybdenum’s low abundance in the early ocean tracks the global extent of oxygen-poor seawater and implies that the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere was still low.

While reading some recent posts at Geotripper, I noticed the most recent post talking about supernovas. The post contained a link to an AP article published yesterday about NASA cutting back funding to the incredible Mars Exploration Rover program.

Image Credit: NASA

Spirit is parked on a sunny slope for the Martian winter and was going to gather atmospheric measurements before the budget cut. Instead, it will now stay in sleep mode for most of the winter and stop all science gathering.

[...]

Besides resting Spirit, scientists also likely will have to reduce exploration by Opportunity, which is probing a large crater near the equator. Instead of sending up commands to Opportunity every day to drive or explore a rock, its activities may be limited to every other day, said John Callas, the Mars Exploration Rover project manager at JPL.

For the record, NASA Adminitrator Michael Griffin is against any budget cuts that would affect the rovers. Here’s to hoping they find a way to continue funding the program.

I’m out of town for the next 3 days on a backpacking trip, so I will leave you with this photo from Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

Image Credit: Johnny Blood on flickr.

The first explosion in Kilauea’s main crater in 84 years happened yesterday as gravel sized rock rained down over an area of 75 acres. Scientists believe the blast was caused by gas buildup, as no lava actually erupted from the blast.

Note: Photo is from a previous eruption on Kilauea’s south flank

No lava erupted as part of the 3 a.m. explosion. That suggests it was caused by hydrothermal or gas buildup, Kauahikaua said.

Scientists monitoring the summit say that there’s a “remote possibility” of an eruption inside the half-mile-wide crater, but that it’s unlikely because other indicators of an eruption aren’t present.

“The recent explosive event represents a significant addition and change to Kilauea Volcano’s ongoing activity, and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is using every means available to study its causes and consequences,” Kauahikaua said in a statement.

More information from the Geoblogosphere
Andrew Alden’s Geology Blog at About.com
Geotripper
Ron Schott’s Geology Home Companion Blog
The Volcanism Blog

More information from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is available here.