tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34769313484876182232024-03-17T00:33:28.734-07:00The GeoMessengerA blog to pool knowledge on, and interest in, our planet.The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-29918683044718144522012-01-27T21:12:00.000-08:002012-01-27T21:12:44.457-08:00How to Write a Rock Description for Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks (Geology)<div style="text-align: justify;">
Many of us, through our time at sixth form or university, have to go through the tedious process of writing a rock description. It is, let's be honest, not the most exciting thing to do yet not something you can often escape. Might as well get it over and done with!</div>
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I have split igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rock descriptions into separate posts to make it simpler to read. I will add links to the others as I write them:</div>
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Igneous: <i>[this post]</i></div>
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Sedimentary:</div>
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Metamorphic:</div>
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At the bottom there is some more information on types of properties like crystal habit, hardness and lustre.</div>
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If requested enough, I will add each mineral's properties to the blog post too!</div>
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<b><u>IGNEOUS</u></b></div>
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The general process for writing rock descriptions is to start off with <b>a general description</b> (general colour, grain size, texture..) , followed by <b>identification of the minerals</b> within the rock (the mineral assemblage), the <b>name of the rock</b> (deduced from the assemblage) and then finally your best guess on <b>how and where it was formed</b>.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQMn19dfmuMS2kePfLpiSNQkBNF87AwaetMcmMWRPXCxkNsoKCQD21_s_tqw6CKSi7KKsnlqvLIsGjWSywekBP4CQqwjaNBOF1D1qTy00YIGeBcbz_g24IywZnpFUGvvavZj65vEoWHU/s1600/igneous_canterbury.ac.nz_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQMn19dfmuMS2kePfLpiSNQkBNF87AwaetMcmMWRPXCxkNsoKCQD21_s_tqw6CKSi7KKsnlqvLIsGjWSywekBP4CQqwjaNBOF1D1qTy00YIGeBcbz_g24IywZnpFUGvvavZj65vEoWHU/s400/igneous_canterbury.ac.nz_sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Source - http://movingtoward.com/images/igneous_canterbury.ac.nz_sm.jpg)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>All this is based on igneous rocks where the mineral grains are visible</b>. If none are (it is way too fine grained) then it is a volcanic glass, formed in a very violent eruption resulting in fast cooling magma that didn't have time to crystallise. If it is a compact glass it is an obsidian and if it is a 'frothy' glass then it is a pumice. Obsidian is much denser than pumice.</div>
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There are two different types of rock description, which either may be done together or separately. The first is <b>a hand specimen rock description</b> which is where you only have a rock, a hand lens and your eyes with which to try to deduce the type of rock. The second is a <b>thin section rock description</b> where you have a slice of the rock which is on a glass slide making it possible to view the rock under a microscope.</div>
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Hand specimen descriptions focus on physical properties of the rocks whereas the thin section descriptions looks at optical properties instead.</div>
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Then, once you have completed the description (either or both of the types of description) you use the information you have to make a decision on what type of rock it is and how it was formed.</div>
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<u>Hand Specimen</u></div>
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The first thing to do is to simply look at the rock and describe what you see. In specimen, you are looking at <b>physical properties</b> of the rocks.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmY-yc_vEypSK76U_1CBaJnILp223l6N1Nrefsro4DjL83_Ck_DOzWwxxwAhlFzlMGfSOsEQ9QpndI_juakuBjrBi7DqR0_1G-1YGVFJCFaLTvFKYTvjXpyuw4Upnm48J9ABcAWGQ6L08/s1600/Granite.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmY-yc_vEypSK76U_1CBaJnILp223l6N1Nrefsro4DjL83_Ck_DOzWwxxwAhlFzlMGfSOsEQ9QpndI_juakuBjrBi7DqR0_1G-1YGVFJCFaLTvFKYTvjXpyuw4Upnm48J9ABcAWGQ6L08/s400/Granite.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Source: http://minerva.union.edu/hollochk/c_physicalgeology/images/Granite.jpeg)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This is a good checklist to follow:<a name='more'></a></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">General colour</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Grain size</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Variation in grain size - is it porphyritic?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Mention any groundmass</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Identify minerals - one at a time, starting with the darkest minerals first</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Colour</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Cleavage planes</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Lustre</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Hardness (according to Mohs' scale)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Crystal habit</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Name of the mineral</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Relative abundance of minerals (mention if one is particularly common etc)</li>
</ul>
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<i>[More information on types of each property are given at the bottom]</i></div>
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For example:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
This is a large grained (1-21mm), light coloured rock with the largest phenocrysts being of a colourless mineral. It is a porphyritic rock. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
The black mineral is smallest in grain size (1-5mm) and has a vitreous lustre. It seems to have one perfect cleavage plane and when scratched it comes off in flakes. It is therefore biotite mica. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
One of the colourless minerals is of medium grain size (3-12mm), it is vitreous and has obvious cleavage in one plane but I think I can see a second plane of cleavage too. It has a massive crystal habit (no distinct shape). This is plagioclase feldspar. There is quite a large amount of this mineral in the sample. </blockquote>
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The phenocrysts of the specimen are another colourless mineral of 6-21mm in diameter. It seems to have a massive crystal habit as it shows no clear formations or crystal shape and does not show any cleavage planes. This is clearly quartz. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
When looking back at the black minerals I spotted that a minority seem to have two cleavage planes, when looking through the hand lens I noticed that they were not at 90 degrees to one another suggesting amphibole. The mineral was vitreous in lustre and was flaky when scratched. It being amphibole would fit with the other minerals present as they all appear in a felsic rock. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>This rock is felsic and is coarse grained with phenocrysts, meaning it is a quartz-mica porphyritic granite. It was intrusively cooled within a pluton, sill or dyke where the slow cooling allowed the large mineral grains to form.</i></blockquote>
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<u>Thin Section</u></div>
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Thin sections require more skill to describe as there are more optical properties and not all properties are always visible. If a hand specimen rock description has already been done then the thin section description is to back up previous decisions with more evidence. Firstly, hold the thin section up to the light and look at it to find a good area to concentrate on under the microscope. This area should be representative of the rock as a whole.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAh-fZDH_HitxZul3ZPmZKmBdySOwVxvtmQ4uA2O9tIs7CwEk49Q2kw6Pj1HWxzBNLASizd7xAhMmtzU7tNIxwXQK4t4svdRLDaetfXuZao-YCrG1AYRJgMCut0euzW6oOgcQjytPocM/s1600/thin+section+ppl+and+xpl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAh-fZDH_HitxZul3ZPmZKmBdySOwVxvtmQ4uA2O9tIs7CwEk49Q2kw6Pj1HWxzBNLASizd7xAhMmtzU7tNIxwXQK4t4svdRLDaetfXuZao-YCrG1AYRJgMCut0euzW6oOgcQjytPocM/s400/thin+section+ppl+and+xpl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Source - http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/33/10/761/F2.large.jpg)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Often a thin section description will be <b>done in the format of a diagram</b> where you draw the thin section as seen under the microscope. The left half is drawn as seen in PPL (plane polarised light - without the analyser) and the right half is drawn in XPL (cross-polarised - with the analyser). This is <b>annotated with all the different optical properties</b>, once for each mineral present on each side of the diagram. Make sure to add a scale so the size of grains can be deduced.</div>
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When writing a description or annotating a diagram, make sure you include the following:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Cleavage planes</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">PPL (plane-polarised) colour</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Relief</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Interference colours (or isotropic?)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Twinning</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Pleochroism</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Extinction angle</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Mineral shape</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Mention any inclusions present</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Mention any opaque minerals (permanently black minerals)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Mineral name</li>
</ul>
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For example:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHj65MaaTgvyXYlSmVwjGm4cT6Y2uTnzIen9FP7KO67rwe1aRVmx4rYFFjY0zdUmYj4SSvDruhpqMbS211Cx_mqMfCzx89ZpLta7fpyqn49Xg61F9dotUosdE71mKIbm2BjZusqiAPN4M/s1600/thin+section+description+adjusted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHj65MaaTgvyXYlSmVwjGm4cT6Y2uTnzIen9FP7KO67rwe1aRVmx4rYFFjY0zdUmYj4SSvDruhpqMbS211Cx_mqMfCzx89ZpLta7fpyqn49Xg61F9dotUosdE71mKIbm2BjZusqiAPN4M/s400/thin+section+description+adjusted.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A reasonable attempt at a thin section drawing and annotations.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u>Type of Rock</u></div>
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Now it is time to make a decision on what the rock type is and how it was formed.</div>
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The mineral assemblage will give whether it is a felsic, intermediate, mafic or (in rare cases) ultramafic rock:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBfvcW9B4BbCSD-TDl_Db1AA6SppzVhxpSkQcWaN4LKlnDtg7fg7p-Scuh7lrRgY0P9rRxeXx8Zty9arlv5tH5cjPeAj3e4FstGvX6BoyjX7do27bTYlAmOiq6TLqgJozgusi8iYS254/s1600/ign_rock_chart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBfvcW9B4BbCSD-TDl_Db1AA6SppzVhxpSkQcWaN4LKlnDtg7fg7p-Scuh7lrRgY0P9rRxeXx8Zty9arlv5tH5cjPeAj3e4FstGvX6BoyjX7do27bTYlAmOiq6TLqgJozgusi8iYS254/s400/ign_rock_chart.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Source - http://www.laniainakai.com/Images/gg103/ign_rock_chart.png)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Then, depending on the grain size, you choose what type of rock it is within the compositional group.</div>
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<b>Felsic</b> (also known as silicic or acidic):</div>
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<ul>
<li>Coarse grained = Granite</li>
<li>Medium grained = Microgranite</li>
<li>Fine grained = Rhyolite</li>
</ul>
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<b>Intermediate</b>:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Coarse grained = Diorite</li>
<li>Medium grained = Microdiorite</li>
<li>Fine grained = Andesite</li>
</ul>
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<b>Mafic</b> (also known as basic):</div>
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<ul>
<li>Coarse grained = Gabbro</li>
<li>Medium grained = Dolerite</li>
<li>Fine grained = Basalt</li>
</ul>
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<b>Ultramafic</b>:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Coarse grained = Peridotite</li>
<li>Fine grained = Komatitie (rare)</li>
</ul>
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Then you <b>add to this name with descriptive words relevant to the rock</b> in question. This is usually 'porphyritic' if the rock has large phenocrysts and then (occasionally) the dominant mineral type (or two). Some minerals have a descriptive term to use instead - the main one is for feldspar, 'felsparic'. It is really just a way to describe the rock more accurately, in a way that flows off the tongue. If it is easier to say 'amphibole-rich diorite' instead of 'amphibole diorite' then write that!</div>
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For example:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Quartz-mica porphyritic granite</li>
<li>Felsparic gabbro</li>
<li>Porphyritic diorite</li>
<li>Amphibole-rich andesite</li>
</ul>
</div>
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<u>*Extra Information to add on*</u></div>
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If all the mineral grains are fragments then it is likely the rock was formed in a pyroclastic eruption, this then gives another name to any of the above:</div>
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Fragments less than 2mm = Tuff</div>
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Fragments greater than 2mm = Volcanic brecca</div>
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These link onto the end of the rock name after it has been adjusted to be an adjective:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Granite --> Granitic</li>
<li>Rhyolite --> Rhyolitic</li>
<li>Diorite --> Dioritic</li>
<li>Andesite --> Andesitic</li>
<li>Gabbro --> Gabbroic</li>
<li>Basalt --> Basaltic</li>
</ul>
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For example:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Felsparic gabbroic tuff</li>
<li>Quartz-mica granitic (volcanic) brecca</li>
</ul>
</div>
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<u>*Other*</u></div>
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Descriptions of cleavage planes:</div>
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<ul style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">Basal = one cleavage plane</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Prismatic = two cleavage planes</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Rhombohedral = 3 cleavage planes</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Cubic = 3 cleavage planes (all at 90 degrees to eachother)</li>
</ul>
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<div>
Most common lustres:</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">Metallic</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Waxy</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Vitreous</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Sub-vitreous</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Resinous</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Silky</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Pearly</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Earthy</li>
</ul>
<div>
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</div>
<div>
Most common of crystal habits:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Acicular = needle like</li>
<li>Banded = narrow bands of different colours</li>
<li>Bladed = flattened needle like shape</li>
<li>Drusy = thin 'sheen' over a mineral surface</li>
<li>Equant = short and stubby</li>
<li>Foliated = easily separated into plates</li>
<li>Massive = no distinct shape</li>
<li>Tabular = flat and rectangular shaped</li>
<li>Fibrous = fine thread-like strands</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
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Mohs' Scale of Hardness:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li>1 = Talc</li>
<li>2 = Gypsum</li>
<li><i>2.5 = Fingernail</i></li>
<li>3 = Calcite</li>
<li><i>3.5 = Copper coin</i></li>
<li>4 = Fluorite</li>
<li>5 = Apatite</li>
<li><i>5.5 = Penknife blade</i></li>
<li>6 = Orthoclase</li>
<li><i>6.5 = streak plate</i></li>
<li>7 = Quartz</li>
<li>8 = Topaz</li>
<li>9 = Corundum / ruby / sapphire</li>
<li>10 = Diamond</li>
</ul>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The GeoMessenger</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>As always, please do not copy my work without referencing back to me!</i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Comment if you found it useful and any additions that would be useful!</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-28687939342011676082011-06-06T13:16:00.000-07:002011-06-06T14:22:12.386-07:00The Japan Earthquake - Videos of the Cracks Moving! Liquefaction in action!Hey guys, sorry about not posting any posts up in the last few weeks! By the end of the month there should be a few new posts on the blog.<br />
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To appease your appetite for geography, I'm putting up this post to highlight two videos that I find incredible. They show small fissures (cracks) in the road surfaces and parks in Japan during the earthquake widening and narrowing as the earthquake shook the area. <b>It is reportedly the first ever time that this has been caught on video.</b><br />
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The earthquake also caused liquefaction on a wide scale (seen in the videos below). This caused the majority of the earthquake's damage. The image below, although not of this earthquake, does show the damage that liquefaction regularly does.<br />
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<b>An example of buildings sinking into the ground due to Liquefaction:</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi89ejmE0Myh4YlTtXFL4zyo9E1BmDIZ4YUPnLN2WDDkeRQg9W7dAmUfZZs3JywsDFrqOJyXL-8aFIWXjjOCbIkzyrfEp_2FzjPg6FFen0tXcuqXnn0pT2O2ZwpWU2-4FWHHCkFyj9hz5E/s1600/soil+liquefaction+collapsed+building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi89ejmE0Myh4YlTtXFL4zyo9E1BmDIZ4YUPnLN2WDDkeRQg9W7dAmUfZZs3JywsDFrqOJyXL-8aFIWXjjOCbIkzyrfEp_2FzjPg6FFen0tXcuqXnn0pT2O2ZwpWU2-4FWHHCkFyj9hz5E/s320/soil+liquefaction+collapsed+building.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SbvJBUpSDiw/TaPA8ddvZjI/AAAAAAAAAAM/_X8NS94ObZI/s1600/soil%2Bliquefaction%2Bcollapsed%2Bbuilding.jpg">http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SbvJB...collapsed%2Bbuilding.jpg</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Here is some more information on the Japan earthquake (11th March 2011):<br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This earthquake released a surface energy of 1.9<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">±0.5 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">×10<sup style="line-height: 1em;">17 </sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">joules. This is the energy that was released to cause the shaking of the ground and lift the sea floor to cause the tsunami. That is <b>nearly double that of the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami in 2004 </b>(230,000 dead).</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The earthquake lasted a STAGGERING 6 minutes. Which gave time for people to run and grab their camcorders to record the fissure movement!</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">As of 06/06/2011, there were 15365 deaths recorded, 5363 injured and 8206 missing. Those still missing are likely to be dead - bringing the death toll to 23571.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The total cost is expected to pass $300billion, making it<b> the most expensive natural disaster ever recorded</b>.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The Fukushima Nuclear Plant that is STILL in danger, with radioactive liquid leaking into the environment, nearly 3 months on.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Highest wave heights reached more than 9.3 metres. That is taller than a 3 storey building.</span></span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Here are the two videos:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div><br />
<object height="314" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dvPiaj8od-s?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dvPiaj8od-s?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="314" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
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<br />
<object height="314" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/d6jLHjcRwDU?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/d6jLHjcRwDU?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="314" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
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For more information on this tragic earthquake and tsunami, labelled as Japan's worst disaster since the second world war, I have another post detailing the incident.<br />
<br />
Here is the original, very well received blog post on the earthquake:<br />
<a href="http://thegeomessenger.blogspot.com/2011/03/case-study-japan-earthquake-and-tsunami.html">http://thegeomessenger.blogspot.com/2011/03/case-study-japan-earthquake-and-tsunami.html</a><br />
<div><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i>The Geomessenger</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div></div>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-17655594368966586052011-04-28T04:51:00.000-07:002011-05-10T08:17:02.955-07:00Amazing Cloud Formation Facts and Pictures<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the famous phrase goes "a picture is worth a thousand words", meaning a gallery must be invaluable. Here are some phenomenal pictures I came across, while the information is from an article in 'The Telegraph' which is linked to in the 'further reading'.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLFRg0kBZeCudcCZo8OhlHBUuOOhNBuXChLuuPMLb3emOlvYQToc7pocjIgbIasdas0T9AP96flu-ne-bIcho7GOF9saG-nvnLEV2qyDOJ66lQbIaELFXtD7OooC6J0zlRmWQFVv9YfU/s1600/SALADcloud2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLFRg0kBZeCudcCZo8OhlHBUuOOhNBuXChLuuPMLb3emOlvYQToc7pocjIgbIasdas0T9AP96flu-ne-bIcho7GOF9saG-nvnLEV2qyDOJ66lQbIaELFXtD7OooC6J0zlRmWQFVv9YfU/s320/SALADcloud2.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://listsalad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/SALADcloud2.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://listsalad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/SALADcloud2.jpg</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="thirdPar" style="font-size: 10px;"><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Naming clouds</span></strong></div></div></div><div class="fourthPar" style="font-size: 10px;"><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Clouds are classified according to their height and appearance. The 10 basic categories were first agreed by the Cloud Committee of the International Meteorological Conference in 1896 and published as the <i>International Cloud Atlas</i>. Their classifications were based on the pioneering work of Luke Howard (1772-1864), an English Quaker and pharmacist, who published his <i>Essay on the Modification of Clouds</i> in 1802. In it he gives Latin names to the four main cloud types: cirrus, "curl"; stratus, "layer"; cumulus, "heap"; and nimbus, "rain cloud". The early theorist of evolution, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) had suggested an earlier system in French but it didn't catch on – his names included "hazy clouds" (<i>en forme de voile</i>), "massed clouds" (<i>attroupes</i>), "broom-like clouds" (<i>en balayeurs</i>). Before Howard and Lamarck, clouds were simply named after their appearance: white, black, mare's tail or mackerel.</span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyD1yo8kTHWMnOsPULiCgHtHc9UMRpddmhRRudu1G5Ckky6IdmF7D6XnBGOIkMidob71NuOtSnpptIxYSmNHFYyNwE2RUF9F9bvPZ_9eWHFZsFfO_GEQR3reSg715nsuTVHF0s6uZ23nc/s1600/20061025104223_kevin_helmholtz_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyD1yo8kTHWMnOsPULiCgHtHc9UMRpddmhRRudu1G5Ckky6IdmF7D6XnBGOIkMidob71NuOtSnpptIxYSmNHFYyNwE2RUF9F9bvPZ_9eWHFZsFfO_GEQR3reSg715nsuTVHF0s6uZ23nc/s320/20061025104223_kevin_helmholtz_web.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/gallery/index.php?showimage=2040"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/gallery/index.php?showimage=2040</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLH04pLUeLsyOytsGgIx0tgsO8UpMc5X2xMb_coMrFswZcMDiD9AWoy-7qGD9pF82fhOpR9x59yulZc9FFgU55aNtpfem_vkklhZXLG-NsdmrLMW19rPCmcgmT3Zgkxf_d8docKiaYzU/s1600/Amazing+Clouds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLH04pLUeLsyOytsGgIx0tgsO8UpMc5X2xMb_coMrFswZcMDiD9AWoy-7qGD9pF82fhOpR9x59yulZc9FFgU55aNtpfem_vkklhZXLG-NsdmrLMW19rPCmcgmT3Zgkxf_d8docKiaYzU/s320/Amazing+Clouds.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4VzWMM2bXfSpYO6JNx_vXZtuRknTZniHOr9rgXKVemKCutx9dJChPnXOXmHdkYhwwrDIzWDGaurjCUIdzSqrlNjIWw5WeCNZrozd-5Cy6236yVrP4Y4Gl5JR8jo1vEQ6Wjl7vqNWP7A/s1600-h/Amazing+Clouds"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://1.bp.blogspot.com/.../Amazing+Clouds</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="fifthPar" style="font-size: 10px;"><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Inside clouds</span></strong></div></div></div><div class="body" style="font-size: 10px;"><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">In 1959 Lieutenant-Colonel William Rankin, a pilot in the US Air Force, became the only man to have survived a fall though a cumulonimbus, the anvil-shaped thunder cloud that can reach as high as 50,000 feet. Rankin was flying</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">across the top of a cumulonimbus when his plane caught fire and he was forced to eject. He spent a good half an hour trapped inside the cloud being thrown about and pelted with hail. Miraculously he survived, albeit with frostbite, blood pouring from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears due to decompression and welts caused by the hail. Pilots do all they can to avoid cumulonimbus clouds. Hail is capable of puncturing the exterior skin of an aircraft, lightning can destroy the on-board electrics, supercooled water will coat a plane's wings with ice, altering its aerodynamic profile and the air currents inside the cloud can flip even large planes over.</span></div></div><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1OSiJrRl7l_wUBVe5P1vT7jhttL8RuY_YponNDFzrcJ49RTc1IteNFrPtgIIrDT-galVkNquxx7282M4CdaGJcWka9AmcyOv9GJKpnh7hjH30m8TSg0wkEsDmZzge3DnFCrFD6sb6Gw/s1600/amazing_clouds_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1OSiJrRl7l_wUBVe5P1vT7jhttL8RuY_YponNDFzrcJ49RTc1IteNFrPtgIIrDT-galVkNquxx7282M4CdaGJcWka9AmcyOv9GJKpnh7hjH30m8TSg0wkEsDmZzge3DnFCrFD6sb6Gw/s320/amazing_clouds_02.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_02.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_02.jpg</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCxd_MZdnfdOHkm8Cm_vsP0CUjuZ7oANV_EMz02Fnv8MU_cHWWL-RrF5aBmZdnkG_LmRXeQFHvfc-641G7KYjAS79wwkBnAT_vyN5-MpMq4kTqpuFm0AuZbsy6nmXg9lpasx3SMi2u9Q/s1600/amazing_clouds_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCxd_MZdnfdOHkm8Cm_vsP0CUjuZ7oANV_EMz02Fnv8MU_cHWWL-RrF5aBmZdnkG_LmRXeQFHvfc-641G7KYjAS79wwkBnAT_vyN5-MpMq4kTqpuFm0AuZbsy6nmXg9lpasx3SMi2u9Q/s320/amazing_clouds_05.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_05.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_05.jpg</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Night clouds</span></strong></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Cirrus clouds are higher than cumulonimbus but they are not the highest clouds. Seven times higher are noctilucent ("night shining") clouds, silvery blue streaks that form so high up in the atmosphere they reflect the sun's light, even at night.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Meteorologists refer to them as NLCs or "polar mesospheric clouds". This is because they form right on the boundary of the mesosphere (between the stratosphere and space). The mesosphere is dry and cold (about -123°C), unlike the warm, moist troposphere below, where all the other clouds form. These noctilucent clouds are composed of tiny ice crystals – a fiftieth of the width of a strand of human hair. Noctilucent clouds are on the increase – there are twice as many as there were 35 years ago and they're moving south: a visible result of global warming.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wwIsANL6FNOWng-AAbLwjk79_LDAnVESOk513hR5ySnB8xObsvsn3b7aPdB3rEJq6x0BU9q_8zpUDNHjdfJE1KznC1DA_Ib4PdZoGDetQ_i-8P-L6TkE3PeSHjNLyUGRpRwwyDVM6Nw/s1600/amazing_clouds_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wwIsANL6FNOWng-AAbLwjk79_LDAnVESOk513hR5ySnB8xObsvsn3b7aPdB3rEJq6x0BU9q_8zpUDNHjdfJE1KznC1DA_Ib4PdZoGDetQ_i-8P-L6TkE3PeSHjNLyUGRpRwwyDVM6Nw/s320/amazing_clouds_10.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_10.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_10.jpg</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsGM7DfsvDsNk-Vh9oeXHOFROmkskaYvgWJYmQKAS_JVWsV83W8ZkRw9qlvPu2jrB0Of06J6w_i3hQkMsl9CFJeWGr7czq0r2TZNwgSStz8K1QbzgFJPJXNdqyUwd8xm53MkLF0BhiX8/s1600/amazing_clouds_25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsGM7DfsvDsNk-Vh9oeXHOFROmkskaYvgWJYmQKAS_JVWsV83W8ZkRw9qlvPu2jrB0Of06J6w_i3hQkMsl9CFJeWGr7czq0r2TZNwgSStz8K1QbzgFJPJXNdqyUwd8xm53MkLF0BhiX8/s320/amazing_clouds_25.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_25.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_25.jpg</span></a></td></tr>
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</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Classic clouds</span></strong></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Cumulus are the white fluffy clouds in children's drawings. They are also the ones used on BBC weather forecasts: their shape was chosen by 22-year-old graphic designer Mark Allen when he created the icons in 1975. Hindus and Buddhists believe cumulus clouds are the spiritual cousins of elephants. Megha, meaning "cloud" in classical Hindi, is also the name used to address elephants in prayer.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmcutVAIz0V7f-VgI70ALLlWII1TSS5DpXgCP6cXHBElWEhCpF8YCBXizmL3BEehtYazwK75621nCSXnrTOrBn-U0lC85hOheEOPCzV3M6duyQLd3n1-_vF9D3vyHX4gt2ZYDKyoJAB4/s1600/Amazing_Clouds_Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmcutVAIz0V7f-VgI70ALLlWII1TSS5DpXgCP6cXHBElWEhCpF8YCBXizmL3BEehtYazwK75621nCSXnrTOrBn-U0lC85hOheEOPCzV3M6duyQLd3n1-_vF9D3vyHX4gt2ZYDKyoJAB4/s320/Amazing_Clouds_Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Amazing_Clouds_Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Amazing_Clouds_Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyCr8zOKfyaoKxmkfPiKGEJrQ09H-3lisp2xFEwV_rq1mCIgy9wONQyRoR5cyeKHZ_FA20OjAMMne7WxE7e3TVCA3IrMLfN4UK9od12ucXDxOu4lGLgiOOwJdToGbyxHDv3fMJ1jSB9Q/s1600/Amazing-Clouds-30+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyCr8zOKfyaoKxmkfPiKGEJrQ09H-3lisp2xFEwV_rq1mCIgy9wONQyRoR5cyeKHZ_FA20OjAMMne7WxE7e3TVCA3IrMLfN4UK9od12ucXDxOu4lGLgiOOwJdToGbyxHDv3fMJ1jSB9Q/s320/Amazing-Clouds-30+%25281%2529.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pics-site.com/wp-content/uploads/Amazing-Clouds-30.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.pics-site.com/wp-content/uploads/Amazing-Clouds-30.jpg</span></a></td></tr>
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</div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Good clouds</span></strong></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In Iran clouds are good omens. To indicate someone is blessed they say:<i>dayem semakum ghaim,</i> which translates as "your sky is always filled with clouds".</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERuzxkRi0qz0P3-BiM5A1fkgasNwq7mKPy_UHFtEf67wuYVI6lpDSu_4-tddl6CJDECkDBJQBrCBbpbkvjQnC0tt2WFrMuM2Gnc8VkUsqfXo6Nf_OeqC-oFJyNcv5k6kMaiAw_0T5UJw/s1600/cloudhands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERuzxkRi0qz0P3-BiM5A1fkgasNwq7mKPy_UHFtEf67wuYVI6lpDSu_4-tddl6CJDECkDBJQBrCBbpbkvjQnC0tt2WFrMuM2Gnc8VkUsqfXo6Nf_OeqC-oFJyNcv5k6kMaiAw_0T5UJw/s320/cloudhands.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.funnies.com/handclouds.htm">http://www.funnies.com/handclouds.htm</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODGhZtha2TwRR3p2F5cIWTqRu0OG6U8q-AYA3PphT31RspVpvoKsZ4DkUVdAe1zDpEJ8A4jsFNobxxZ6N1yIv1i63hbI0cwpK1QUH3Ul5KqlNhcmvg6aL7pomAwcBprcvw6UVeeJQZV0/s1600/Roll-Clouds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODGhZtha2TwRR3p2F5cIWTqRu0OG6U8q-AYA3PphT31RspVpvoKsZ4DkUVdAe1zDpEJ8A4jsFNobxxZ6N1yIv1i63hbI0cwpK1QUH3Ul5KqlNhcmvg6aL7pomAwcBprcvw6UVeeJQZV0/s320/Roll-Clouds.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.moolf.com/images/stories/Amazing/Amazing-Clouds/Roll-Clouds.jpg">http://www.moolf.com/images/stories/Amazing/Amazing-Clouds/Roll-Clouds.jpg</a></td></tr>
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</div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Making clouds</span></strong></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.48em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"Cloud seeding" was developed in the Forties at the General Electric Company in New York State. In 1943 they dropped three pounds of dry ice into a stratus cloud. Doing this made it snow and left a hole in the cloud. To prove this was not a fluke they did it again using dry ice to cut the General Electric logo into the cloud.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIkj-6lzsUzh-RNMIJkuJRZFHbrZ9SKVolWm6kNIdqIidd3S_ehOL-aLDG86WcqGHWkGvQKmXfkysO8kGOfmQMIRhw5_uIYvRPVtxdl0K7xHC1C2JsbVA_YcHbOQJ6UT7Ip32KggBDZA/s1600/amazing_clouds_292929292.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIkj-6lzsUzh-RNMIJkuJRZFHbrZ9SKVolWm6kNIdqIidd3S_ehOL-aLDG86WcqGHWkGvQKmXfkysO8kGOfmQMIRhw5_uIYvRPVtxdl0K7xHC1C2JsbVA_YcHbOQJ6UT7Ip32KggBDZA/s320/amazing_clouds_292929292.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_29.jpg">http://xaxor.com/images/6596323/amazing_clouds_29.jpg</a></td></tr>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Further Reading:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/">http://cloudappreciationsociety.org</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/qi/5171726/QI-Quite-Interesting-facts-about-clouds.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/qi/5171726/QI-Quite-Interesting-facts-about-clouds.html</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>A quote to have a think about:</b></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="body">A cloud is made of billows upon billows upon billows that look like clouds. As you come closer to a cloud you don't get something smooth, but irregularities at a smaller scale.</span></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bodybold"><i>(Benoit Mandelbrot)</i></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i>The GeoMessenger</i></span></div>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-26081987216173032872011-03-28T15:51:00.000-07:002011-06-18T01:58:47.363-07:00Case Study: Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (11th March 2011)<div style="text-align: justify;">The Japan earthquake occurred on the 11th March 2011.<b> It was the largest earthquake that they have had since records began</b>. It was originally measured as a 8.9 magnitude earthquake but this was later increased to a magnitude 9.0 as more detailed readings came in from seismographs and other equipment. This is an enormous earthquake and it is estimated that it released 10,000 times more energy than the magnitude 6.3 one in Christchurch, New Zealand, 17 days earlier - however energy released is different to magnitude. <b>At least 124 aftershocks were bigger than a magnitude 5.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earthquakes are measured using the Richter scale, which is a base-10 logarithmic scale. This means that a magnitude 9.0 earthquake is...</div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Twice as big as a magnitude 8.9</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">10 times bigger than a magnitude 8.0</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">1,000 times bigger than a magnitude 6.0</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">1,000,000 times bigger than a magnitude 3.0</li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Similarly, if an earthquake is .3 bigger than another then that means that it was 3 times bigger.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<a href="http://thegeomessenger.blogspot.com/2011/06/japan-earthquake-watch-cracks-move.html" target="_blank">Click here for videos of the cracks actually moving! Pretty incredible.</a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">^That is reportedly the first time EVER that it has been caught on camera! <i>(Opens in new window)</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Japan earthquake was absolutely devastating. The earthquake itself, although much bigger than usually seen in Japan, was prepared for extensively as they receive many earthquakes every year. What was not adequately prepared for was a tsunami of such scale. Many of the tsunami walls protecting coastline villages were around 7 metres high, no where near big enough to stop the <b>10 metre high wall of water</b> (the height of a three storey building) that hit the coasts around 30 minutes after the earthquake. This caused many thousands of Japan earthquake victims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Tsunami approaching Japan:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtRyYQa-o9UfptbruCa7Wf5FZmD08cL5TVNUYII9ll4_9SrJtPcToJUf1pU4EBRGJFYiLHjgT0hiEgdOP5ru5p-9ZsLNabd6Iraol5kpqBj5PKqbjwij6-Na7vznJKDgIoW99vL8y13k/s1600/Picture-of-Tsunami-Approaching-Japan-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtRyYQa-o9UfptbruCa7Wf5FZmD08cL5TVNUYII9ll4_9SrJtPcToJUf1pU4EBRGJFYiLHjgT0hiEgdOP5ru5p-9ZsLNabd6Iraol5kpqBj5PKqbjwij6-Na7vznJKDgIoW99vL8y13k/s400/Picture-of-Tsunami-Approaching-Japan-2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://static.onemansblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Picture-of-Tsunami-Approaching-Japan-2011.jpg">http://static.onemansblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Picture-of-Tsunami-Approaching-Japan-2011.jpg</a>)</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">They are well prepared within 10 minutes after the earthquake it had been calculated that a tsunami had been formed and warnings were sent out using the Japan earthquake warning system. Text messages were sent to phones, alerts appeared on all TV channels, sirens went off and police alerted residents to the danger. However, people had became desensitised by so many false alarms and assumed tsunami walls could handle it, which meant that many did not evacuate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The facts barely depict the chaos</b> so I have interspersed them with images to show the tragedy for such a prosperous country that had been proud of their preparedness for such a disaster:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">There have been over 11,000 Japan earthquake victims so far (as of 30/03/11), with over 17,000 still missing - many of which will also be dead. The predicted death toll is 18,000 however this is likely to increase. </li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgO3BapMqaGKk54LuppvmfLCqPsxKMGZkp5ZVpCdcd5pIoN3Kgh_D2PJyXWbK8mcWb3dSxUkdIIvZa-sEMotwNdW90YLIJMy9DwfG7pgtOTjo5UDglBvped8CIjE-cg_MbVHKj5XqWh8/s1600/Japan-searching-dead-bodies-fire-fighters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgO3BapMqaGKk54LuppvmfLCqPsxKMGZkp5ZVpCdcd5pIoN3Kgh_D2PJyXWbK8mcWb3dSxUkdIIvZa-sEMotwNdW90YLIJMy9DwfG7pgtOTjo5UDglBvped8CIjE-cg_MbVHKj5XqWh8/s400/Japan-searching-dead-bodies-fire-fighters.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://spot2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Japan-searching-dead-bodies-fire-fighters.jpg">http://spot2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Japan-searching-dead-bodies-fire-fighters.jpg</a>)</i></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><a name='more'></a><i><br />
</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0QDRn5YsB0DljHJayZV4kcgoFbe3U76E2EzSYQIpIGJLYxkATFv7JByHk5PpRCqcUD9JdElJX3bCg2YtXPXfRTyTCWabrm7xkPE0Pl7WeLwuTR_nzj4lWEv3QbRsnvxsnr9uhtEHL5c/s1600/japanaftermath3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0QDRn5YsB0DljHJayZV4kcgoFbe3U76E2EzSYQIpIGJLYxkATFv7JByHk5PpRCqcUD9JdElJX3bCg2YtXPXfRTyTCWabrm7xkPE0Pl7WeLwuTR_nzj4lWEv3QbRsnvxsnr9uhtEHL5c/s400/japanaftermath3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-</i><a href="http://youtube.org.ag/japans-earthquake-and-tsunami-disaster-the-aftermath">http://youtube.org.ag/japans-earthquake-and-tsunami-disaster-the-aftermath</a>)</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">There are currently 244,000 refugees who are seeking shelter in the Japanese earthquake relief camps. With many children still unable to find their parents it is worried that the majority may be 'Japan earthquake orphans'. The question therefore lies in what to do with them, foreigners looking to adopt have been turned down as Japan wants to keep them in their home country and culture. (Contrasting the Haiti orphan crisis) </li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnwh4K1FCFPTxiMUQXSFcuU425a-yHLsNt1ZhnJ3sYHEVaxJd3SrHe_egxGlWZ4g0ZW4DObK7W77DCwRRsUs8K1OtWHqkqKldPrHmFb1AeEdu8HhAYdMJgwTUnEo25y-AlVpuFUj7k5o/s1600/Japan-Quake-3-13-nine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnwh4K1FCFPTxiMUQXSFcuU425a-yHLsNt1ZhnJ3sYHEVaxJd3SrHe_egxGlWZ4g0ZW4DObK7W77DCwRRsUs8K1OtWHqkqKldPrHmFb1AeEdu8HhAYdMJgwTUnEo25y-AlVpuFUj7k5o/s400/Japan-Quake-3-13-nine.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://youtube.org.ag/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Japan-Quake-3-13-nine.jpg">http://youtube.org.ag/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Japan-Quake-3-13-nine.jpg</a>)</i></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The tsunami caused a near catastrophic meltdown of a nuclear power plant which exploded multiple times and released radioactive material into the air causing dangerous levels in foodstuffs grown within tens of kilometres.</li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zyqgT3uPYb8Ztc0ZmyS-FBZdI8MBH0ySs8ZaUXEoRVY5_WXUyozq8BuNRpHJ63tJjXKrqrwpoqpb44tNsvFWe8JNMI8Iq5gUPFhqkf2X8_vS8-6a211qEfQxTtBxLC2rQevrJZEfrhg/s1600/japan-nuclear-plant-second-explosion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zyqgT3uPYb8Ztc0ZmyS-FBZdI8MBH0ySs8ZaUXEoRVY5_WXUyozq8BuNRpHJ63tJjXKrqrwpoqpb44tNsvFWe8JNMI8Iq5gUPFhqkf2X8_vS8-6a211qEfQxTtBxLC2rQevrJZEfrhg/s400/japan-nuclear-plant-second-explosion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://www.grandforksherald.com/media/full/jpg/2011/03/14/japan-nuclear-plant-second-explosion.jpg">http://www.grandforksherald.com/media/full/jpg/2011/03/14/japan-nuclear-plant-second-explosion.jpg</a>)</i></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The water supply in many areas is unsafe to drink due to radioactivity and some of the plant workers risking their lives to cool the plant's core were exposed to massive overdoses and are now in hospital. Japan earthquake relief organisations have been handing out water bottles to survivors.</li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GFzoF3Buk_rLqcH7K_y7D5ym3Qp_sp-1I3G4N2IfG2on3fhoL2CMssdIXQwmU_tS33klIrDCfdny0PdtsG3C2gqsm7LLz60IgF1FnhRDCaFuYV7FL0ep-ypwlZeSp2_5zsVI8L_mfTQ/s1600/water+given+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GFzoF3Buk_rLqcH7K_y7D5ym3Qp_sp-1I3G4N2IfG2on3fhoL2CMssdIXQwmU_tS33klIrDCfdny0PdtsG3C2gqsm7LLz60IgF1FnhRDCaFuYV7FL0ep-ypwlZeSp2_5zsVI8L_mfTQ/s400/water+given+out.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://rssbroadcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/25japan_-popup_4d8c1089c7465.jpg">http://rssbroadcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/25japan_-popup_4d8c1089c7465.jpg</a>)</i></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Boats were dragged inland and left deserted, houses were ripped from their foundations and scattered among the remains of others, some even stacked on top of each other.</li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUn4wdUek5EXOdRJAO2mf1D6VyPbDxvsmGILMRnrhQCkORNnH_lRiy_1elE2XI0Pyn2Btk8feZOSGYBx-y_x0G5KdnXQnhJmNEg28pP49-bl_gCMRIlqAAzNCw1KEH8F0e_OwBYkuM8wc/s1600/Japan-Tsunami-waves-ship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUn4wdUek5EXOdRJAO2mf1D6VyPbDxvsmGILMRnrhQCkORNnH_lRiy_1elE2XI0Pyn2Btk8feZOSGYBx-y_x0G5KdnXQnhJmNEg28pP49-bl_gCMRIlqAAzNCw1KEH8F0e_OwBYkuM8wc/s400/Japan-Tsunami-waves-ship.jpg" width="331" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://hdimages.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Japan-Tsunami-waves-ship.jpg">http://hdimages.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Japan-Tsunami-waves-ship.jpg</a>)</i></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisS-oqMC7-Q0SYBJHgrsXunt765SzR_GyY-nGlXlSwCTlItsRYaXtN5Vg8nOBxcUrrdkRCVjRBlVRPZ-JE5LU4TQf8El9DkDpsNdyk7zlZ8d1FejruDjEA-pyKU5BJK6SAbok_VxEpRPQ/s1600/boat_on_building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisS-oqMC7-Q0SYBJHgrsXunt765SzR_GyY-nGlXlSwCTlItsRYaXtN5Vg8nOBxcUrrdkRCVjRBlVRPZ-JE5LU4TQf8El9DkDpsNdyk7zlZ8d1FejruDjEA-pyKU5BJK6SAbok_VxEpRPQ/s400/boat_on_building.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://www.piersblog.com/6-non-gruesome-photos-that-sum-up-the-japan-t">http://www.piersblog.com/6-non-gruesome-photos-that-sum-up-the-japan-t</a>)</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEMm_xONDuoGzgMRXrxyf6V7VQ_KJPYE1aI6-wfj3DyZpgXdv17W-4BaOv6HRNbxB5CFVYlRD6Jp6lJQdpj3kpRZCPBCjuHWZtcvThYYG2EAZZp1tv5YZt4bQsTmY-MWghlfYMgmvjlM/s1600/boat+on+building+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEMm_xONDuoGzgMRXrxyf6V7VQ_KJPYE1aI6-wfj3DyZpgXdv17W-4BaOv6HRNbxB5CFVYlRD6Jp6lJQdpj3kpRZCPBCjuHWZtcvThYYG2EAZZp1tv5YZt4bQsTmY-MWghlfYMgmvjlM/s400/boat+on+building+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://www.thenational.ae/deployedfiles//Assets/Richmedia/Image/SaxoPress/AD20110325491595-A%20boat%20sits%20ato.jpg">http://www.thenational.ae/deployedfiles//Assets/Richmedia/Image/SaxoPress/AD20110325491595-A%20boat%20sits%20ato.jpg</a>)</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Devastation.</li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEd3nykAG4icHzXXXoLgyguKuSu-5QqwUE6vZ58YsO7bmrv7MELrl9B_VA7YtnTXhkvR2CujvxJK_MRLegkypsWw_grUrljG2fht4BObeYsYv4ytPD0LpI8TmJk0rxr_YZaB5jlOFmS-I/s1600/devestation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEd3nykAG4icHzXXXoLgyguKuSu-5QqwUE6vZ58YsO7bmrv7MELrl9B_VA7YtnTXhkvR2CujvxJK_MRLegkypsWw_grUrljG2fht4BObeYsYv4ytPD0LpI8TmJk0rxr_YZaB5jlOFmS-I/s400/devestation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://www.piersblog.com/6-non-gruesome-photos-that-sum-up-the-japan-t">http://www.piersblog.com/6-non-gruesome-photos-that-sum-up-the-japan-t</a>)</i></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The tsunami was caused by an uplift of the sea floor which meant that a lot of water was displaced, it then rushed inland trying to flatten its surface. This wall of water was huge and so powerful that it dragged buildings out of their foundations and destroyed almost everything in it's path. This was not a local incident, vast regions were affected tragically and whole coastal cities have been wiped off the map. Other countries felt this too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tsunami wave height map</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKnISSb-t8PznhQ-Ks9XwT7hbkasjXWTaNMJSOBXXBDfsXW03S9wnwq87MF9aBNAnVMN7tZPwtNGdiqJWwzGbK5VVjsvdj4mzUbSjGqeML4-0uFZ7kma_j5Ex2hBxFooPgYL2I5NKt54/s1600/JAPAN-TSUNAMI-20111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKnISSb-t8PznhQ-Ks9XwT7hbkasjXWTaNMJSOBXXBDfsXW03S9wnwq87MF9aBNAnVMN7tZPwtNGdiqJWwzGbK5VVjsvdj4mzUbSjGqeML4-0uFZ7kma_j5Ex2hBxFooPgYL2I5NKt54/s400/JAPAN-TSUNAMI-20111.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qo7R4TBj9Fw/TXpxrqEuPXI/AAAAAAAAA8o/dc36JF3oiWI/s1600/JAPAN-TSUNAMI-20111.jpg">http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qo7R4TBj9Fw/TXpxrqEuPXI/AAAAAAAAA8o/dc36JF3oiWI/s1600/JAPAN-TSUNAMI-20111.jpg</a>)</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The tsunami when it hits a city:</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><object height="395" width="487"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRDpTEjumdo?fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRDpTEjumdo?fs=1&hl=en_GB&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="487" height="395"></embed></object></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This case study shows the true power of nature. No matter how much we prepare, we will always be caught out on occasion and, when we do, it'll be an absolute disaster - like it was in Japan. I believe this was a tragedy and that it has brought seismology back to the front of peoples minds and will give a new push to finding ways to predict these events, to try and save some of the many, many lives that have been lost.<br />
<br />
There are many Japan earthquake relief organisations who are over there helping those in trouble and, if you feel you could help with Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief, please donate to one of the many charities out there who are doing everything they can to help. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Further Reading:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.roosevelttorch.com/sections/opinion-editorial/japan-stalls-tsunami-of-relief-aid-1.2523227">http://www.roosevelttorch.com/sections/opinion-editorial/ japan earthquake and tsunami relief withheld-1.2523227</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://geogy.posterous.com/how-much-warning-did-do-you-get-before-a-tsun">http://geogy.posterous.com/ japan earthquake warning system</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://hubpages.com/hub/Causes-and-Explanation-of-Powerful-Earthquakes-Tsumanis-and-Aftershocks-The-Earth-Shakes-Up-Japan-and-the-World">http://hubpages.com/hub/Causes-and-Explanation-of-Powerful-Earthquakes-Tsumanis-and-Aftershocks-The-Earth-Shakes-Up-Japan-and-the-World</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A quote to have a think about:</b></div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">We don't know the number of victims, but I pray that every single person can be saved.</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>(Japan's Emperor Akihito - addressing his nation in a rare television appearance)</i></div><i><br />
</i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The GeoMessenger</span>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com73tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-5786515365767225862010-10-30T12:45:00.000-07:002012-10-30T13:11:21.176-07:00What are Geysers?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Geothermal springs are more commonly known as hot springs. Although there is no set definition, hot springs are often defined as springs where the average water temperature is above body temperature (roughly 37C).</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Temperature within the Earth increases with depth, this is caused by processes like nuclear fission and the flexing of the Earth's crust producing friction (and heat) when force is applied by the convection currents of magma in the mantle. The centre of the Earth is estimated to be around 5360C and all this heat has to go somewhere!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Water Circulation in a Geothermal Reservoir:</b></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxzoDQkXfcKZkz1JU_rlWhCvbvb6z9Ob5_vez3Dx51fBa_eE5lYrVLXqOqCcle8_aa8OwUlPwiUIQQCpJa6V2Qi2_9ctPmMUIhyphenhyphen9NAV1rHtK8KeT-RAh5xuKEKrkfn_bksOIzP3IosIY/s1600/Geothermal_diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxzoDQkXfcKZkz1JU_rlWhCvbvb6z9Ob5_vez3Dx51fBa_eE5lYrVLXqOqCcle8_aa8OwUlPwiUIQQCpJa6V2Qi2_9ctPmMUIhyphenhyphen9NAV1rHtK8KeT-RAh5xuKEKrkfn_bksOIzP3IosIY/s400/Geothermal_diagram.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/files/2010/08/Geothermal_diagram.jpg">http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/files/2010/08/Geothermal_diagram.jpg</a>)</i> </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The heat travels outwards and can heat stores of water that are deep underground. Four main types of geothermal feature exist: </span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Geysers</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hot Springs</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mudpots</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fumaroles</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A geyser is a type of spring that releases water that has been heated by the Earth's thermal energy. This water builds pressure under the surface in chambers which are informally known as "geyser reservoirs" and then, once the pressure exceeds that of the rock plug sealing the chamber, the superheated column of steam and water bursts out. These spouts often reach high into the air.</span></span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Castle Geyser Erupting - Yellowstone National Park:</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJgOg9UR4i9jC3Za8umLsdQaClF2IekuWx-EqaLV5r8BnIf6GM8S7v2PoXCojxjEbWnqPSlRnplM7keM33ogmUV26GX79MMK0SdNkisIUDKAmGwNPzVjiPtMscfNDbNXseIaM6hQv0F8/s1600/geyser+erupts+no+white+edge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJgOg9UR4i9jC3Za8umLsdQaClF2IekuWx-EqaLV5r8BnIf6GM8S7v2PoXCojxjEbWnqPSlRnplM7keM33ogmUV26GX79MMK0SdNkisIUDKAmGwNPzVjiPtMscfNDbNXseIaM6hQv0F8/s400/geyser+erupts+no+white+edge.jpg" width="301" /></span></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Geysers are generally aligned along faults; however over half of the worlds 1000 geysers exist in Yellowstone National Park which is a hotspot and, as mentioned in a previous post, a supervolcano. [<a href="http://thegeomessenger.blogspot.com/2010/07/natural-wonders-supervolcanoes.html"><i>Link</i></a>] The plumbing system along faults is made up of a intricate matrix of fractures, fissures, porous rock and sometimes chambers. For a geyser to form and not a hot pool, there must be constrictions in the system so that pressure can build up to create the periodic eruptions.</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></span></i></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigskykatie/2424233856/in/set-72157604528569009">http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigskykatie/2424233856/in/set-72157604528569009</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></span></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></i></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></i></span></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As the water is under so much pressure as it heats under ground, it can be heated to well beyond normal boiling point. This means that when the water is released into the air (at the much lower atmospheric pressure) it expands, and the lower pressure turns the superheated water into steam firing the superheated water and steam high into the air.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Anatomy of a Geyser:</b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVv0h1fo_Dmw0x9Quum7ZVrOVivBfukYNr5nCP0a0NrJZdIoulCcOPs4pPHLD7SabFiAH4td2DrUhi1qDdZ0AzHktpsyPKb61xnSF-D_xyuWf_1wYEadgw4TulQFW9Rbn3PnLlPNgKfZU/s1600/anatomy+geyser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVv0h1fo_Dmw0x9Quum7ZVrOVivBfukYNr5nCP0a0NrJZdIoulCcOPs4pPHLD7SabFiAH4td2DrUhi1qDdZ0AzHktpsyPKb61xnSF-D_xyuWf_1wYEadgw4TulQFW9Rbn3PnLlPNgKfZU/s400/anatomy+geyser.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>(Source-<a href="http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Geo_img065.jpg">http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Geo_img065.jpg</a>)</i></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Old Faithful, in Yellowstone National Park, is probably the most famous geysers in the world and it erupts roughly every 30 minutes at a height of 60-100 feet. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Geysers often exist alongside other geothermal features like hot springs, mudpots and fumaroles. Hot springs form when there isn't a constriction in the plumbing which means that pressure cannot build up so the water flows at a fairly steady rate. These are very popular tourist destinations although, personally, the geysers are much more enthralling!</span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 26px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Further Reading:</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-Hy/Hot-Springs-and-Geysers.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-Hy/Hot-Springs-and-Geysers.html</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Geo_p040.shtml">http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Geo_p040.shtml</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Geo_p040.shtml"></a><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A quote to have a think about:</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span> </span></div>
<blockquote style="line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Oceans of thermal water heated in a thousand centres to the boiling point; low, half-molten islands, dim through the log, and scarce more fixed than the waves themselves, that heave and tremble under the impulsions of the igneous agencies; roaring geysers, that ever and anon throw up their intermittent jets of boiling fluid, vapour, and thick steam, from these tremulous lands.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Hugh Miller - Sketch book of Popular Geology (1859) pg238-9)</span></span></i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The GeoMessenger</span></b></i></span>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-79046345626606293092010-07-23T02:08:00.000-07:002011-06-17T12:59:32.284-07:00Seeing The Northern Lights - The Aurora Borealis<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Aurorae is a collective term for the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis, or as they or more commonly known, the northern lights and the southern lights. They are natural light shows high in the atmosphere which are absolutely stunning to watch as they dance in slow motion across the night sky. They can vary in colour greatly, spanning the whole spectrum from red right through to blue and purple with yellow and green aurorae being the most common. They are beautiful and many people go on northern lights holidays to go see the northern lights for themselves.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Aurora Borealis:</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzUNde9KjcAoTFubGm_Jc0LZ-gYbn-Iua5mVq-rwOFQP-FS14TTXfMRejTDU9zH-QZkcFrfD9ngYwvZTzBPV07xOa6KuoY8LV2Gj4DHmAUAS3sIh1ZgJOP2yv_CCZdc4WeZ7DBay2IJg/s1600/Northern+Lights+best.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzUNde9KjcAoTFubGm_Jc0LZ-gYbn-Iua5mVq-rwOFQP-FS14TTXfMRejTDU9zH-QZkcFrfD9ngYwvZTzBPV07xOa6KuoY8LV2Gj4DHmAUAS3sIh1ZgJOP2yv_CCZdc4WeZ7DBay2IJg/s400/Northern+Lights+best.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><a href="http://www.freewebs.com/nlbt/Northern%20Lights%20best.jpg"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.freewebs.com/nlbt/Northern%20Lights%20best.jpg</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is commonly visible between latitudes of 65 and 72 north and south - which is just within the Arctic and Antarctic circles - however it is possible to see anywhere in the world at certain times. For example, on the 29th of October 2003 the Aurora Borealis was visible in the United Kingdom in the largest geomagnetic storm of the previous 20 years. Auroras have also been found on other planets and even some moons.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Aurorae on Jupiter:</span></b></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRz9C9OP-ydXkgZhpc8O7GnPfatipu26wN57ozq6XSWJBpcWKERPL5i8PbbzM0J5H8YBrCKM5UdCwodM9T0nbacYJVK2IfrwI_GCTdxG5iwQ8cyjnLzUZUwNWyePW8iH7cGx4ddeDDL5Q/s1600/jupiter+aurorae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRz9C9OP-ydXkgZhpc8O7GnPfatipu26wN57ozq6XSWJBpcWKERPL5i8PbbzM0J5H8YBrCKM5UdCwodM9T0nbacYJVK2IfrwI_GCTdxG5iwQ8cyjnLzUZUwNWyePW8iH7cGx4ddeDDL5Q/s400/jupiter+aurorae.jpg" width="353" /></span></a></div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><a href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/04/"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/04/</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">However this photo is owned by NASA (in public domain)</span></i><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ406_9B91oqloGE2y22P_C18hjNO4g6mtZo4pE_bBNPvTa_u-4p7gq94-RLRnfR-YwvS7mry6uzPL9Q6zDWJJxq0cbktFdyQ3bH6Kyrc3SxJgiKjqLnw-0d1ygpBSd1Yz66PZvaxzPtY/s1600/1000px-Atmosphere_layers.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ406_9B91oqloGE2y22P_C18hjNO4g6mtZo4pE_bBNPvTa_u-4p7gq94-RLRnfR-YwvS7mry6uzPL9Q6zDWJJxq0cbktFdyQ3bH6Kyrc3SxJgiKjqLnw-0d1ygpBSd1Yz66PZvaxzPtY/s640/1000px-Atmosphere_layers.png" width="107" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The aurorae usually appear in the ionosphere and, since 2009, the theory as to how and why they occur has changed. They are caused by electrically charged particles released from the sun in the form of solar winds. These particles were thought to directly interact with the Earth's magnetic field causing the aurorae, however there were some anomalies with the theory. If it was solar winds from the sun that caused aurorae then why were they visible at night when there was no sun shining on that hemisphere?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration based in the USA) sent 5 probes into orbit around the Earth in a 2 year mission called 'THEMIS' to study the incredible and colourful Aurora Borealis. They are trying to work out why they happen and what causes them to occur how they do - in narrow bands made up of vertical streaks - and why they move as they do. This is important to help them predict these events as the substorms (which are aurorae that erupt with little warning and high intensity) disrupt communications to spacecraft and even damage ground-based systems including transformers in power lines and communication systems. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These interruptions and the damage occur because a very high current is induced into the electrical wires which support the whole network. This is thanks to the flexing magnetic field moving over them when the aurorae occur. It was first discovered that aurorae affected the Earth's magnetic field in 1741 by Olof Hiorter. They have such a large effect because the aurorae have currents in excess of 100,000 amperes - a staggering amount when considering an average 100 watt light bulb runs on 0.4 amperes</span><br />
<br />
<div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[Photo above left] (Source-</span></i><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/atmos/layers.htm"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/atmos/layers.htm</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">However this photo is owned by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in public domain)</span></i></div><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Statistics on Aurorae:</span></b><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Have currents in excess of 100,000 amperes - </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One geomagnetic storm alone has been observed to have a total energy of 500 thousand billion joules (5 x 10^14 J) - equal to a scale 5.5 earthquake</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">They travel at speeds double what was previously thought even possible - managing to travel across whole time zones in less than 60 seconds</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is more energy being dissipated in the atmosphere by the aurorae than by every power station on the planet put together</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Voltages in the ionosphere rise from around 40,000 volts to over 200,000 volts during the intense electrical storms of the aurorae</span></li>
</ul><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Time Lapse Video of the Aurora Borealis:</span></b><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><object height="288" width="487"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FcfWsj9OnsI&hl=en_GB&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FcfWsj9OnsI&hl=en_GB&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="487" height="288"></embed></object></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The constellation of 5 micro-satellites brought back information invaluable to the efforts of understanding these amazing phenomena. They have detected 'magnetic ropes' which the charged particles follow on their route from the sun to the Earth and this is what provides the aurorae and geomagnetic storms.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of the problems with the previous theory was that most aurorae appear at night when there is no sun on that side of the earth - so how do the solar wind particles create aurorae where there is no light reaching it so therefore no charged particles?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This was solved when they found that many charged particles are deflected around to the dark side of our planet by the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is formed by the impact of the solar wind on the Earth's magnetic field and diverts particles at around 70,000 kilometres from the Earth. These deflected particles gather into clouds of the charged particles accumulating charge continuously becoming more and more unstable as the charge increases.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Once the charge becomes too great, they burst into an electrical tornado of electrical charge spiralling downwards following the magnetic field lines which guides them towards the poles. The electrical tornadoes spin at more than a million miles an hour as they follow the magnetic field lines and create the current of more than 100,000 amperes. These charged particles reacting with our atmosphere is what creates the awe-inspiring aurorae.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Structure of the Magnetosphere:</b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharbXeIh3w_CANyNjT8aVfKczvHvvg4SW3vcW8lL-dVb3v29EMTc3AuaJ2uy6XwRokXjokhhEmi8Bz3LdcYrRXSKJjeq2EWwC8oPZh9AyYkXuRaZ-Ufn47hJbMDqBjKuxzm9NxRXU9ShM/s1600/Structure_of_the_magnetosphere.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharbXeIh3w_CANyNjT8aVfKczvHvvg4SW3vcW8lL-dVb3v29EMTc3AuaJ2uy6XwRokXjokhhEmi8Bz3LdcYrRXSKJjeq2EWwC8oPZh9AyYkXuRaZ-Ufn47hJbMDqBjKuxzm9NxRXU9ShM/s400/Structure_of_the_magnetosphere.svg.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Structure_of_the_magnetosphere.svg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Structure_of_the_magnetosphere.svg</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">However this photo is owned by NASA (in public domain)</span></i></span></i><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Many different colours can be in an aurorae - almost all of the visible spectrum in fact. The colours of the aurorae are created by the solar wind particles colliding with the gases in the Earth's atmosphere and incoming charged particles tend to collide with different types of gases at different heights. The particles collide with the molecules and atoms of the gas in the ionosphere and give it energy which it then emits back out as light:</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Oxygen causes red and green light. Above 150 kilometres up in the atmosphere, oxygen forms red light which is very rare - these can sometimes (but rarely) be up to 600 kilometres up. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lower in the atmosphere it causes the most common aurorae which is yellow and green. This is at altitudes of 100 to 150 kilometres</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At around 100 kilometres, the charged particles collide with nitrogen molecules and produce another red light. This sometimes forms on the lower edge of yellow and green aurora.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Blue and purple aurorae can be created at very high altitudes by nitrogen but these are often not able to be seen.</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Auroral Light:</b></span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_B6liNzxOupcUEcFZDFN6yaKvJEC-U576jXXGGTD6uk02CcO6GZyVGC35CQTlrBnXfI6XYkhSVWe-kEGhSYvedF-_tgm3_J2i9yWhys1-wz6CHQ13Z4pm8llgaxW81MP0hrNyJHo9n_g/s1600/aurspec20_try.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_B6liNzxOupcUEcFZDFN6yaKvJEC-U576jXXGGTD6uk02CcO6GZyVGC35CQTlrBnXfI6XYkhSVWe-kEGhSYvedF-_tgm3_J2i9yWhys1-wz6CHQ13Z4pm8llgaxW81MP0hrNyJHo9n_g/s400/aurspec20_try.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/auror3.htm"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/auror3.htm</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Even if you don't understand some of the science, aurorae are incredible to watch and if you are lucky enough to even see them, it'll be something you never forget.</span></div><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Further Reading:</span></b><br />
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/main/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/main/index.html</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSFAbATPvk&feature=related"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">NASA | The Mystery of the Aurora</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - YouTube</span><br />
<a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/auror3.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/auror3.htm</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7kqueltv00&feature=related"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Northern Lights - The Sky At Night - BBC Four</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - YouTube</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The GeoMessenger</span></span>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-34647831142407563692010-07-13T06:36:00.000-07:002011-06-14T13:37:41.299-07:00Rivers of Ice that Plough through Mountains<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glaciers are huge masses of ice which moves over land like a very slow river. They are formed where snow accumulates over many years and through it's own weight is compressed into ice. Glaciers are so special because they aren't just packs of ice sitting at the poles, they move as a river does, flowing down towards sea level, carving valleys as they go. These valleys are stunning, and are usually much larger than river valleys.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glacial Valley:</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitzjVqE05lz2sGqLWVUU7BFNQ-yZSULETgjBREjeHOtd8dpKPaBJZEY-S8KkIP4mMdPQQAYKlyjFZ0jDHXMEm5oqn8JOtNXcdV98SZmSRkJ9gk-PgHQUn4_kcord5Pd-71iGO69JUS5I/s1600/glacial+valley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitzjVqE05lz2sGqLWVUU7BFNQ-yZSULETgjBREjeHOtd8dpKPaBJZEY-S8KkIP4mMdPQQAYKlyjFZ0jDHXMEm5oqn8JOtNXcdV98SZmSRkJ9gk-PgHQUn4_kcord5Pd-71iGO69JUS5I/s400/glacial+valley.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2627700"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2627700</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i><br />
<br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glacial valleys, also called glacial troughs, have flatter valley bottoms and are relatively straight compared to river valleys. These valleys have impressive, steep slopes on either side gouged out by the huge erosional forces involved. They are commonly called 'u-shaped valleys'. River valleys are instead called 'v-shaped valleys'.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Despite what you might think, glaciers are found in mountain ranges of </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">every continent on the planet</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, even Africa (e.g. the Futtwangler Glacier in Tanzania) and Australasia (e.g. the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand). They vary greatly in size and some reach over a hundred kilometres long. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The worlds largest glacier is the Lambert Glacier in East Antartica:</span><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">400 kilometres long</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">100 kilometres wide</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2500 metres deep</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At it's fastest point it reaches a speed of 1200 metres per year.</span></li>
</ul><a name='more'></a><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Position of the Lambert Glacier (17/02/09):</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4QUdQAJNW-CCF68__8y_ubjBNBGITFlCPTjnnXvyOH8lL2yYMVahJAaSRCJlv74Bib2x8BqEvKi_W9MMlSwjIZTGdWGLAog0bUp_Z5YeFs0fYRiqXD0dzkeaWboLfPfFEyI3_UILW9DI/s1600/20090217-antarctica-thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4QUdQAJNW-CCF68__8y_ubjBNBGITFlCPTjnnXvyOH8lL2yYMVahJAaSRCJlv74Bib2x8BqEvKi_W9MMlSwjIZTGdWGLAog0bUp_Z5YeFs0fYRiqXD0dzkeaWboLfPfFEyI3_UILW9DI/s400/20090217-antarctica-thumb.jpg" width="400" /></span></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5LSVIWgHEd3C7bq67CqcoVYNp18g6Pob0aXLPGcYaoNBv9WON9BtSKUVam-VzPWVlMKfTZwFihEkLTg0AFiw9cNatkohmynMUHX0OqMR5_0yYKV6YHRcESQqMkaOsuhhlFJthY30Cj0/s1600/where+is+lambert+glacier.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5LSVIWgHEd3C7bq67CqcoVYNp18g6Pob0aXLPGcYaoNBv9WON9BtSKUVam-VzPWVlMKfTZwFihEkLTg0AFiw9cNatkohmynMUHX0OqMR5_0yYKV6YHRcESQqMkaOsuhhlFJthY30Cj0/s400/where+is+lambert+glacier.gif" width="400" /></span></span></a></div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><i><a href="http://www.eosnap.com/?p=3594"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.eosnap.com/?p=3594</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i><br />
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</span> </i></div><div class="wp-caption-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Due to its size, the Lambert glacier is a very important source of information on the effects of climate change on Antarctica. It drains over 8% of the total ice volume of the East Antarctic meaning it is very sensitive to changes to the ice of the East Antarctic. Changes would affect the speed of the glaciers movement, the thickness of the glacier and more cracks may appear due to increased internal pressures. It is monitored very closely, in fact it is </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">one of the most closely watched glaciers in the world.</span></b><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glacial Velocities at the Lambert Glacier:</span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEO5PFlBgnJZfaw1iE4y3lWOnXdrMtpK4z9UbEsdVpJH-76u0JzR4QTrPspfYWdjo6mGbB0ueweCO4qbcg27kbjLvVhcpFUBwxgg7Ll23aZ2zA26vqA8R0q-ljExQHbX6zmU5DjkPFzo4/s1600/Lambert+glacier+velocities+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEO5PFlBgnJZfaw1iE4y3lWOnXdrMtpK4z9UbEsdVpJH-76u0JzR4QTrPspfYWdjo6mGbB0ueweCO4qbcg27kbjLvVhcpFUBwxgg7Ll23aZ2zA26vqA8R0q-ljExQHbX6zmU5DjkPFzo4/s400/Lambert+glacier+velocities+2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i></span><a href="http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=1618"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=1618</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glaciers are a very good indicators of a warming planet as they need the cold temperatures to exist. The majority of glaciers round the world are in retreat and are decreasing in mass which isn't a good sign, as they are the largest reservoir of fresh water on the Earth, and only second to the oceans and seas in terms of the total water stored.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Retreat of Athbasca Glacier, Canada:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First image - 1919; Second Image - 2005</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4OKGFdQh1AwuQRQ8E0kKOFSYrNVH4Y0BHo4qFbJbxXcaoPqYlkh29kj44eN_yvn4WdWMnXs530_eI8llJURtxxnExf-pbay7E3l_22ke-1lxB3ZRu8M1_CMUtIlmxgbENvsDVwjNjDQ/s1600/athbasca+glacier+retreat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4OKGFdQh1AwuQRQ8E0kKOFSYrNVH4Y0BHo4qFbJbxXcaoPqYlkh29kj44eN_yvn4WdWMnXs530_eI8llJURtxxnExf-pbay7E3l_22ke-1lxB3ZRu8M1_CMUtIlmxgbENvsDVwjNjDQ/s400/athbasca+glacier+retreat.jpg" width="307" /></span></a></div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><a href="http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">However copyright is owned by Gary Braasch, National Archives of Canada</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A time-lapse view of glacial movement:</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/njTjfJcAsBg&hl=en_GB&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/njTjfJcAsBg&hl=en_GB&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If Antarctica melted sea levels would rise by around 65 metres - however, luckily for us, much of this region has an average temperature of -37C so melting is unlikely. However, glaciers (which includes ice sheets) in Greenland could rise sea level by around 6 metres and this is much more likely as it is closer to the equator.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Alpine Glacier changes since 1970:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIswXoSgqnByFIuTj5IAtEsKvF13jTKNYWK6wX_Ktkp05Gjc7kWTwgG1ZQQGvntI_e4uFTwrJz1KpoNGyHDK2jT1VHh735O2Ikh7P3BOYsOTq2jS8ox25972TwVrvZ46Puh9uTYbL-74/s1600/alpine+glacier+changes+since+1970+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIswXoSgqnByFIuTj5IAtEsKvF13jTKNYWK6wX_Ktkp05Gjc7kWTwgG1ZQQGvntI_e4uFTwrJz1KpoNGyHDK2jT1VHh735O2Ikh7P3BOYsOTq2jS8ox25972TwVrvZ46Puh9uTYbL-74/s400/alpine+glacier+changes+since+1970+cropped.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span></i><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Glacier_Mass_Balance_Map.png"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Glacier_Mass_Balance_Map.png</span></a></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Lambert Glacier flows into Prydz Bay and the Amery Ice Shelf, and contributes an astounding 35 square kilometres of ice to the bay each year in the form of icebergs. Many of these icebergs are the size of small countries - it is hard to grasp these vast sizes.</span><br />
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<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There are three kinds of glacier. Alpine glaciers (form on mountain slopes), ice sheets (cover the entire landscape beneath them) and tidewater glaciers (glaciers that terminate in the sea creating icebergs).</span></blockquote><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The largest iceberg ever recorded was photographed by a satellite in 2000. It measured 295 kilometres long by 37 kilometres wide, with a surface area of 11,000 square kilometres. The mass was estimated at an astounding </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">three billion tonnes</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Even after a decade, parts still have not melted. The source of these emense floating objects..? Glaciers. Whether they come from ice sheets or alpine glaciers, they are equally astounding.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Iceberg breaking off Lambert Glacier:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGmCAfUGxMJCS2ZXCF2XZx-xM93hOCoUpsTtwDAe8nSJrjR8PLY_-tSpbrLgM77oJ9STWavxmjQinyvNjMsoAUpdlBzU0BQfqp400luhTlYG_8NS3f89pm-W5NTF7dAYAXrSVjh0KZ9I/s1600/Lambert+Glacier+iceberg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGmCAfUGxMJCS2ZXCF2XZx-xM93hOCoUpsTtwDAe8nSJrjR8PLY_-tSpbrLgM77oJ9STWavxmjQinyvNjMsoAUpdlBzU0BQfqp400luhTlYG_8NS3f89pm-W5NTF7dAYAXrSVjh0KZ9I/s400/Lambert+Glacier+iceberg.png" width="300" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Source-</span><a href="http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Icebergs.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Icebergs.html</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The above image doesn't seem very impressive, until you take note of the scale in the bottom left - at which point you realise that that iceberg is around 30 kilometres by 15 kilometres in size and the glacier is of an incomprehensible magnitude. Glaciers are stunning features of nature themselves, and along their path they gouge out equally stunning glacial valley landscapes.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Further Reading:</span></b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html</span></a><br />
<a href="http://nsidc.org/pubs/education_resources/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://nsidc.org/pubs/education_resources/</span></a><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A quote to have a think about:</span></b><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We can say that the glacier was ripping out a huge amount of material and dumping it into the ocean. And rather than taking evidence from a single instant, we can for the first time see an integral of hundreds of thousands of years. So this is a new way to get at the rate at which glaciers do their work.</span></blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Ken Farley - Professor of Geochemistry)</span></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The GeoMessenger</span></b></i></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span><br />
<div><div></div></div></div>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-7427648851105730412010-07-10T08:09:00.000-07:002011-06-17T15:38:13.206-07:00The Supervolcano: The Most Destructive Force on Earth<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Supervolcanoes are different from normal volcanoes. They aren't recognisable by a conical shape that you would imagine a volcano to be. These volcanoes form calderas which are huge craters in the ground after previous eruptions, which are so large that they are often only noticeable from the air above.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">A supervolcano is the most powerful known destructive force on the planet. Only asteroids or other astronomical events are potentially powerful enough to exceed their magnitude. They have became famous due to Yellowstone National Park Volcano in the USA, so much so that there has even been a whole supervolcano dvd covering Yellowstone Park information.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Yellowstone Supervolcano Caldera: </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLO8gF_cKvdDvLQAJ9ODDvIEQdbbEDlYf4g_p6Iru1SivztfgrAh9zzcwor6e5LsSJbglGIGiSMMpWXE08hGScx3Rwz3EB3JMulP2qk-SmYf4eEZfDbbku4tXP7gp7hMU9WLdF-dSZFw/s1600/yellowstone+caldera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLO8gF_cKvdDvLQAJ9ODDvIEQdbbEDlYf4g_p6Iru1SivztfgrAh9zzcwor6e5LsSJbglGIGiSMMpWXE08hGScx3Rwz3EB3JMulP2qk-SmYf4eEZfDbbku4tXP7gp7hMU9WLdF-dSZFw/s400/yellowstone+caldera.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">(Source-<a href="http://earth.imagico.de/view.php?site=yellowstone1">http://earth.imagico.de/view.php?site=yellowstone1</a>)</span></i></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Eruptions are much more powerful than a normal volcanic eruption as the magma concentrates and builds pressure just beneath the surface (as little as 5km) in massive magma chambers where the dimensions are measured in kilometres - which gives an impression of how big these things are! Normal volcanoes form where magma forces its way up through cracks in the crust along destructive plate boundaries (high energy eruptions) and along constructive boundaries (low energy eruptions), and erupt frequently in geological terms. Supervolcanoes form where this magma is stopped from reaching the surface; it melts the surrounding rock and the chamber grows in size and pressure.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">"A supervolcano - a volcano capable of producing a volcanic eruption with ejecta greater than 1000 cubic kilometres. This is thousands of times larger than most historic eruptions."</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Once this pressure exceeds what the thin crust can take, it breaks through in with incredible force chucking out insane volumes of ash and magma into the upper atmosphere. This causes a volcanic winter as the ash creates a screen around the Earth bouncing off sunlight, turning days to night and summers to winter. Ash covers the ground killing plants and in turn, the animals through starvation and suffocation. After the eruption, the ground collapses at the site of the eruption into the de-pressurised magma chamber and forms the huge caldera.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">The last supervolcano event was the Toba super-eruption in Indonesia was between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">It plunged the whole planet into a 6 - 10 year volcanic winter</span></span></span></li>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The human population crashed to below 10,000 on the entire </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Earth, possibly as low as 1000 breeding pairs </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">2800 km3 of magma was ejected, of which 800 km3 fell as ash, although due to recent deep-sea cores, this is views as an underestimate.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Although the eruption was in Indonesia, the ash that was ejected, when it fell, covered the entire surface of South Asia in a layer of ash 15cm thick. Even more ash was deposited over the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian and South China Sea.</span></li>
</span></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">To put 2800 km3 of magma into perspective: If the whole of the United Kingdom was buried with that volcanic material, it would be buried to a depth of 11.53 metres. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Evidence which gave light to the population crash at this period came from many DNA studies which show a drastic drop in genetic biodiversity after this period, known as a 'bottleneck' effect. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><i>Note: The population crash has been linked to the Toba super-eruption but causation can't be proven.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Nowadays, Toba caldera is a large lake 100km long and 30km wide, but underneath the active volcano is hidden while the magma chamber slowly fills back up building up to another super-eruption. Lake Toba is one of the largest calderas on the planet.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Lake Toba caldera:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/05/toba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"></span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbyfvLwRd8NG22serAEabqIR3XKTwWn4YhlR_kQqxMI6eluheMvBleR0NceIx2_8mn4hFvw-DR0KacEqnHNFYYNna0npNOoSlpZEuHtscVDS3iIA5ZUJN4_fcYxAO2HqksaWVTSChOxY/s1600/lake+toba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbyfvLwRd8NG22serAEabqIR3XKTwWn4YhlR_kQqxMI6eluheMvBleR0NceIx2_8mn4hFvw-DR0KacEqnHNFYYNna0npNOoSlpZEuHtscVDS3iIA5ZUJN4_fcYxAO2HqksaWVTSChOxY/s400/lake+toba.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i>(Source-</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><a href="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/05/toba.jpg">www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/05/toba.jpg</a>)</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Worryingly, we are overdue for another supereruption<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">. Yellowstone supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park, USA, is overdue for it's next eruption. Scientists have found, by analysing minerals within surrounding rocks, that it erupts on a regular cycle every 600,000 years - but there hasn't been an eruption in 640,000 years. It has been suggested that the next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States where 57 people died.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">The magma chamber is thought to be around 80 kilometres long and 40 kilometres across, to a depth of 8 kilometres. All this is lying only 8 kilometres below the surface, straining to be released. Volcanologists from the University of Utah, who are measuring and studying the area, have calculated that the ground above the magma chamber has risen by over 70 centimetres in some areas since the year 2000.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">An interferogram showing a map view of ground movements at Yellowstone:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygRzem5SsIEd5v1BBmdb7_jUmf6izKMMfMbWy1U4jU50DVaLm40gzWMfgmWGVoHLk7CnRAmwBaK_LTmNmV93sJ5Hl-Q6U5oL7JTB2Pq4MuOk-u79eeJpb0lBjqanI-jX_qvJul7uEj2E/s1600/yellowstone+uplift.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygRzem5SsIEd5v1BBmdb7_jUmf6izKMMfMbWy1U4jU50DVaLm40gzWMfgmWGVoHLk7CnRAmwBaK_LTmNmV93sJ5Hl-Q6U5oL7JTB2Pq4MuOk-u79eeJpb0lBjqanI-jX_qvJul7uEj2E/s400/yellowstone+uplift.gif" width="400" /></a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">(Source-</span><a href="http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/publications/2007/upsanddowns.php">http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/publications/2007/upsanddowns.php</a>)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The black dotted line shows the area of uplft, each colour represents a contour along which there was equal uplift of the ground. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">This is based on in information gathered between September 2004 and August 2006. As you can see from the scale in the bottom left, this is a huge area this is being forced up, this means the magma chamber is expanding, and there has also been an increasing frequency of earthquakes recently. This may be warnings of an eruption in the near future. There are many contrasting theories on when eruptions will take place and what the warning signs (if any) will be, which isn't very relieving!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Further Reading:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/about/faq/faqsupervolcano.php">http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/about/faq/faqsupervolcano.php</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">A quote to have a think about:</span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Each volcano is an independent machine—nay, each vent and monticule is for the time being engaged in its own peculiar business, cooking as it were its special dish, which in due time is to be separately served. We have instances of vents within hailing distance of each other pouring out totally different kinds of lava, neither sympathizing with the other in any discernible manner nor influencing other in any appreciable degree. </span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">(Clarence Edward Dutton in a 'Report on the Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah' in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">1880)</span></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The GeoMessenger</span></span></i></span></div>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3476931348487618223.post-74158748481163401802010-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:002010-07-10T08:26:36.315-07:00Introduction<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well I'm new to the whole blogging thing...</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> but I've wanted to do this for a while and I've finally got round to it!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm fascinated by our planet and how us humans affect it, extraordinary landforms that have been created, the weird and wonderful and even more. I hope to bring you articles, quotes, and my own views on all these topics and any others that feel relevant.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have set up commenting to allow everyone to comment on what I do. Please, if you enjoy it or are interested, just leave a short note saying so and feel free to suggest improvements or possible topics I could research and cover on here, maybe even become a follower of the blog! It'll be appreciated.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here is a documentary about our planet that really gives a good view as to why I am so interested, and i would like to think that, although it's a bit slow paced, it would inspire many a person to take more of an interest into our planet:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU</span></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here is the first quote to have a think about:</span></div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Now, toying with our atmosphere, we break the rhythms of the sea, nudging the climate, ignorant of whether we can adapt to the new niche we are creating. It may be an arrogant gamble"</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Great Waters, an Atlantic Passage by Deborah Cramer - Pg 133)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hope to have some more posts coming soon, and with that some followers!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Please leave a short comment, thanks.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><i>The GeoMessenger</i></b></span></div>The GeoMessengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638549001206799768noreply@blogger.com3