Category
‘Tis the Season for Fieldwork
Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 @ 6:11 am by Dave Schumaker
Wow, June starts up and many of us are thrust right outdoors. It’s definitely the season for field work! I know I’ve been pretty busy the past month, which has left little time to do anything else.
We’ve also been trying to prep for a server change. Our hosting contract is up at the beginning of this summer, and I’m planning on switching Geology News to a new provider. Bare with us while we try to get things under control! We’ll be back soon enough. :)
Bad Luck with the Blog
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 @ 9:10 pm by Dave Schumaker
My apologies for apparently spamming the geoblogosphere RSS feed this weekend. I’ve been having some issues with the blog. The first issue deals with some weird sort of remote injection flaw in Wordpress. Basically, some bot came by and inserted hundreds of hidden spam links into the footer of my page. I noticed this after wondering why my page was taking so long to load. I believe I’ve fixed the problem and it shouldn’t happen again.
However, as a result of this, Google temporarily de-indexed my website from their search engine! My top-5 ranking for the term “Geology News” disappeared. And so did much of my traffic. It was impressive (and horrifying) to see the drop off. Fortunately, I’ve been re-indexed, but my Google ranking took a huge hit. Ouch.
Secondly, a plugin I was using decided to misbehave, posting about 20 USGS related articles, which ended up making it into the RSS feed that we all use. Yikes! I think I’ve fixed that problem as well.
My apologies once again! Happy blogging!
Earthquakes Can Cause Remote Events Worldwide
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 @ 12:31 pm by Dave Schumaker
Kris Pankow, a seismologist at the University of Utah, analyzed 15 major M7.0 or greater earthquakes that have occurred since 1992 and found that in many cases, the quakes were directly responsible for causing smaller earthquakes hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Source: Aaron Velasco, University of Texas at El Paso
“Previously it was thought seismically active regions or geothermal areas were most vulnerable to large earthquake triggers,” says Kris Pankow, a seismologist at the University of Utah Seismograph Stations and a co-author of the new study.
But Pankow and colleagues analyzed 15 major earthquakes stronger than magnitude-7.0 since 1992, and found that at least 12 of them triggered small quakes hundreds and even thousands of miles away, according to the findings published online Sunday, May 25, 2008 in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“We conclude that dynamic triggering is a ubiquitous phenomenon,” they wrote.
Pankow conducted the study with seismologist Aaron Velasco and undergraduate student Stephen Hernandez, both at the University of Texas at El Paso; and seismologist Tom Parsons, of U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif.
They analyzed data from more than 500 seismic recording stations five hours before and five hours after earthquakes that registered more than 7.0 on the “moment magnitude” scale, which scientists say is the most accurate scale for large earthquakes. (The frequently cited Richter scale measures only relatively small, nearby quakes).
The data – obtained from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, a consortium of universities – included 15 major earthquakes from 1992 through 2006, including the 1992 Landers quake in California 800 miles southwest of Yellowstone, the magnitude-7.9 Denali fault quake in Alaska in 2002, and the magnitude-9.2 Sumatra-Andaman Islands quake near Indonesia in 2004 that generated a catastrophic tsunami blamed for most of the quake’s 227,898 deaths in South Asia and East Africa.
Scientists previously noted that those three major quakes triggered not only nearby aftershocks, but small quakes at great distances. The new study is the first to systematically analyze all the world’s big quakes during 1992-2006 and find that most of them triggered distant, smaller tremors. These are different than aftershocks, which occur fairly close to the main quake. After the devastating 2004 Sumatra earthquake, triggered quakes even occurred in Ecuador, on the opposite side of the Earth.
[Via Eurekalert]
PodClast - Episode 4: Sichuan Earthquake and Mars Phoenix Lander
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 @ 10:37 am by Dave Schumaker
The fourth episode of the Goodschist PodClast is out today. This episode features Chris Town and myself. Due to technical difficulties, Chris and I decided to each record a separate segment of the PodClast, dealing with topics we were planning on discussing.
Show notes for Episode 4 are available on Chris’ webpage and relevant links will posted on the PodClast del.icio.us account.
Discussions this week feature a brief discussion on the Sichuan earthquake in China and the pending landing of the Mars Phoenix Lander.
Chris is always looking for new voices from the geoblogosphere to join in on the PodClast. If you’d like to participate next time, check out his information on joining the PodClast.
[Via GoodSchist]
Real-Time Water Quality Information Available Across the Nation
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 @ 1:17 am by USGS Newsroom
Real time water-quality data are now easily accessible online through the USGS WaterQualityWatch website (http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/wqwatch/).
Continuous real-time information on water quality is a vital asset that helps safeguard lives and property and ensures adequate water resources for a healthy economy.
Real-time water quality measurements are available at more than 1,300 sites across the United States in streams with watersheds as small as a few square miles to more than a million square miles in the Mississippi River. Measurements include streamflow, water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity.
“Real-time water information is breaking new ground in science and technology and is proving to be very useful, helping local water managers make important daily decisions, such as regarding drinking water, water treatment, recreation, and public safety on beaches throughout the U.S.” said Matthew Larsen, USGS Acting Associate Director for Water.
The public also uses the on-line data to decide whether conditions, such as water temperature or turbidity, are favorable for recreational activities such as fishing, boating or swimming.
As the science advances, real-time measurements for relatively simple parameters such as temperature, conductance, and turbidity can be used to help predict more health-related conditions, such as if E. coli levels will exceed safety standards at beaches. For example, predictions of E. coli are part of a system used by the City of Wichita to ensure public safety during the Annual Riverfest in May of each year. For more information visit the Kansas Real-Time Water Quality website.
Access additional USGS real-time water information sites by visiting WaterWatch for surface water information (http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/) and Ground-Water Watch (http://groundwaterwatch.usgs.gov/).
[Via USGS]