A selection of the interesting things that I’ve found and shared on Twitter since I got back from my holidays.
Earthquakes
Analysis of samples from San Andreas Fault borehole suggest creeping sections lubricated by clays.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-06/uom-tcc062410.php
(via @RonsGeoPicks)
Rather impressive for a 5.0: 50 ft-wide chasm opened by quake-triggered landslide in Quebec
http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100625/OTT_farmer_earthquake_100625/20100625/?hub=OttawaHome
Italy puts seismology in the dock. [Wow. Who knew it was a crime to fail to predict the unpredictable?]
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100622/full/465992a.html
(from @NatureNews)
Environmental
Finally, a discussion of [Gulf of Mexico] oil spill in relation to inevitable risks associated with deep sea drilling
http://culturingscience.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/inevitability-and-oil-pt-1/
Depressing statistic from David Archer: our CO2 ems = 5k #oilspills/day, every day
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/06/five-thousand-gulf-oil-spills/
(via @morphosaurus, @KHayhoe)
BBC interview with rig worker claiming faulty BOP control pod was shut off, not fixed in weeks before explosion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10362139.stm
Richard Heinberg on #oilspill’s Worst Case Scenario. [subsurface damage could stymy relief well? Scary.]
http://www.postcarbon.org/blog-post/109323-deepwater-horizon-the-worst-case-scenario
(from @postcarbon)
Not convinced solution to iron fertilisation not working is to order a bigger experiment.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/sea-green-project-may-not-be-iron-clad/story-e6frg6so-1225882433921
(via geoengpolicy)
Bacteria could boost CO2 sequestration? [Ironically, end quote about need for massive scaling up relevant to all CCS]
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19063-green-machine-bacteria-will-keep-co2-safely-buried.html
(Paleo)Climate
Nice review in Science of mechanisms driving last deglaciation. Large, unstable N Hemisphere ice sheets key threshold
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/328/5986/1652
Ouch. Spherules cited as evidence for Younger Dryas impact ‘fossilized balls of fungus, charcoal, fecal pellets’
http://www.physorg.com/news195979458.html
[I have previously blogged about this debate here and here]
New weather and climate podcast – the Barometer
http://thebarometer.podbean.com/
(via @dr_andy_russell, @TheBarometerPod)
Conveyor model for ocean circulation a bit too simplistic to be useful?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100618102646.htm
[Although I would skip the appallingly opaque press release and read a far superior discussion by @olelog]
http://my.opera.com/nielsol/blog/deconstructing-the-ocean-conveyor-belt
Nice post on history of Hockey Stick by @dr_andy_russell proves crank-magnetism of anything w/ Hockey Stick in title.
http://andyrussell.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/the-hockey-stick-evolution/
Planets
Was Venus once habitable? [Seems there was once lots of water, but lost to space q early]
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQ9OLZLAG_index_0.html
(via @earthmagazine)
New Clues Suggest Wet Era on Early Mars Was Global [Hydrated clay minerals now seen in N & S hemispheres]
http://www.physorg.com/news196619386.html
(via @physorg_com)
General Geology
New way to detect mantle plumes: diffraction effects instead of travel times. Doubt it will convince ‘no plumes’ gang.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/328/5986/1622-a
Great blog post by @clasticdetritus)t: Rapid canyon formation and uniformitarianism.
http://clasticdetritus.com/2010/06/23/rapid-canyon-formation-and-uniformitarianism/
At the edge of the intrusion [Awesome field photo of intrusive contact]
http://mountainbeltway.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/edge-of-intrusion/
Infrastructure and Mineral Wealth [Good point: finding & extracting are two entirely different things]
http://outsidetheinterzone.blogspot.com/2010/06/infrastructure-and-mineral-wealth.html
(via @Geoblogfeed)
A way to think about channel patterns.
http://geofroth.posterous.com/a-way-to-think-about-channel-patterns
(via @drjerque)
Interesting Miscellaney
Facebook & twitter mobile updates have contributed to decline of traffic to Blogger & WordPress blogs
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=16432794&subjectID=348963&fsrc=nwl
(via @suehutton)
[Seems more like a maturation to me; makes sense that people who just want to post links, photos, status updates are moving to tools better suited to these tasks.]
The psychological trauma caused by the devastation in Haiti:
http://m.pbpost.com/pbpost/db_/contentdetail.htm;jsessionid=981D94243653ACAC7FD23043AADC8BFB?contentguid=zzv0LNRI&full=true#display
(via @geographile)
Economist has v. interesting special report marking 10 years since the human genome sequenced.
http://www.economist.com/node/16349358?story_id=16349358
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