AGU meeting highlights

I’m at AGU this week, enjoying the multitude of interesting talks, posters, exhibits, and chances to visit with earth scientists from all over the world. I thought I’d share some of the presentations I am most looking forward to hearing this week. My poster is this morning in the session …

Hydrogeology class in the field

In our small but enthusiastic hydrogeology class, we’ve installed piezometers, measured groundwater levels and calculated flow directions, and conducted slug tests in a monitoring well hidden away in a wooded area on campus. We also had a field trip to the Langtree Peninsula Research Station, where hydrogeologists Andrew Pitner and …

Cascades hydrogeology on front page of the Oregonian

The front page feature of today’s Oregonian (Portland’s major newspaper) features research on groundwater in the Cascades: The secret’s out: Tons of water in Oregon’s Cascades. Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University have in recent years quietly realized that the high Cascades in Oregon and far …

AGU Abstract Submitted: Secular Streamflow Trends in Watersheds Receiving Mixed Rain and Snow, Pacific Coast and Cascades Ranges

The following abstract was submitted for the Fall AGU meeting: Secular Streamflow Trends in Watersheds Receiving Mixed Rain and Snow, Pacific Coast and Cascades Ranges A. Jefferson, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Much existing research has focused on detecting climate change effects on snowmelt-dominated watersheds, but in the Pacific …

Fay's rainfall distribution

The USGS has released an interpolated precipitation map from the rain/flooding event brought on by Tropical Depression Fay last week. The worst flooding and damage occurred in northeastern Mecklenburg County in the region around UNCC and Cabarrus County in the towns of Concord and Harrisburg. No surprise that those areas …

Why hydrogeology is so cool

Cross-posted at Highly Allochthonous. Any further discussion will be found there. Close your eyes. (OK, maybe keep them open so you can read the rest of this post.) Imagine a geosciences specialty where there are lots of jobs right now. Now imagine a specialty where there are lots of jobs …

Why you can get '500 year floods' two years in a row

Cross-posted at Highly Allochthonous. Any further discussion will be found there. For the past week, the flooding in the Upper Midwest has been all over the news, as rivers have reached record levels and thousands of people have been evacuated across several states. A couple of science bloggers have been …

Flood risks in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake

As the casualty count continues to climb in China’s Sichuan province following the May 12th M 7.9 earthquake, authorities are struggling to provide shelter and prevent disease amongst the 5 million people displaced by the quake. Seismologists are warning that there is still the potential for large aftershocks, and many …