The Earth Story

This is a core of rock pulled from the ground containing lake sediments at a repository in Minnesota. It is being exposesd to gamma rays to measure the abundance of certain elements in the rock that naturally decay and give off gamma rays - those elements can be used to interpret the abundance of various minerals that contain them. 

edward.byrd.davis

The auto core logger in operation at @laccore_csdco while we get a #labtour for the #neotoma workshop.

3-D imaging of a fossil echinoderm

In the eye These incredible frames were taken on Tuesday by CDR Kibbey on board a flight of what is known as the “Hurricane Hunters”. These flights, run by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, literally take planes and fly them into hurricanes. As they go, they collect data on air pressure, rain, and wind speed – coupled with satellite measurements data from these planes gives us our key constraints on the strength of major Atlantic Cyclones. Apparently this view from inside the eye, with the clouds of the eyewall towering around all sides, is nicknamed the Stadium View. This plane was literaly in the middle of the eye of Hurricane Irma when these were taken. -JBB Image source: http://bit.ly/2eEdnUs

Drone view captured while digitally mapping the crater edge alongside the Masaya Volcano Lava Lake, Nicaragua

World Vegetation Map

This map was created from the Suomi NPP satellite using a year’s worth of data on world vegetation cover. The Visible-Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instruments on the satellite detect changes in the reflection of light, which is used to map the difference between green and arid areas on the Earth. The data can be used to detect vegetation changes over time and will be incorporated into drought monitors, weather prediction models, and environmental monitoring. For more images and close-up views, check out the link below.

-Amy

Reference: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/news/vegetation.html

Image credit NASA

The Oceans Dance

Today is #WorldOceansDay, a day officially recognized by the United Nations as a day to recognize the importance of the planet’s oceans and how they are changing due to human activities.

If you’re not flying over the oceans right now, you probably don’t notice the waters of the oceans churning up and down, left and right, but the oceans are constantly in motion. Heat arrives in the oceans from the sun, changing water temperature and density, and causing evaporation. As that heat tries to move around the planet, it creates whatever weather pattern you’re experiencing today and creates winds that drive ocean waters around the planet.

Ocean waters circulate in patterns that are both chaotic and predictable. They are generally driven by major winds – ocean water at the equator is driven to the west by the wind and then deflected north or south once it runs into a continent. These straight line currents suddenly get more complex when they run into an obstacle like an island or topography on the seafloor – they spin off into circular eddies that circle around a single center. Other currents are driven by different wind patterns, such as the current that surrounds Antarctica.

This video was produced as an output of a Global Circulation Model created by JPL and MIT, with satellite and surface measurements of ocean patterns put into it. It is an effort to visualize both the large-scale currents and fine-scale eddies that mix our oceans, and it was made available a few years ago by NASA Goddard. Look through it, find your favorite current (maybe the one dominating your weather today), and watch as the waters dance around the globe. 

-JBB

Video Credit: NASA GSFC

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003800/a003827/index.html

http://www.worldoceansday.org

Icy Discoveries

Antarctica, being the large piece of frozen desert that it is, makes exploring rather difficult. Scientists have recently noticed long, linear features buried beneath the ice to which they concluded could be evidence of an unknown canyon system. Winding through the widely unexplored Princess Elizabeth Land in eastern Antarctica, this canyon is estimated to be more than 630 miles long and exceeding 3,000 feet deep in some places! That’s more than twice as long as the Grand Canyon, which stretches 277 miles. Researchers analyzed satellite data of the icy surface and now an aerial survey will proceed with radar measurements of the subglacial landscape to confirm what scientists believe.

“To observe a massive canyon system is, of course, not what we were expecting, and it has taken some time to interpret the data, and indeed plan the field mission now taking place,” stated Dr. Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London.

“By understanding the landscape that is at the base of the ice sheet, we will be able to better understand how and why the ice flows the way it does, and therefore how the ice sheet might respond to changes in climate,” he said. “For example, the canyons could be conduits through which water at the base of the ice sheet can move. Water influences how ice flows, and therefore if the canyons are diverting water from one area to another, the canyons themselves may be influencing the behavior of the ice sheet.”

In 2013, scientists discovered Lake Vostok, a subglacial lake of fresh water covering 150 miles long and 37 miles wide, sealed beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Isolated for up to 25 million years, glacial archaeologists reported finding more than 3,500 different DNA sequences, including bacteria, eukaryotes and archaea that didn’t match anything in the known gene files.

Scientists now believe they have found another such lake, almost as vast as Lake Vostok. Discovered in April, this ribbon-shaped expanse of water is thought to be approximately 62 miles long and 6 miles wide and it appears to connect to the massive canyon system. Satellite imagery reveals topical grooves similar to those found on top of other subglacial lakes found in Antarctica.

All the signs of life found at Lake Vostok add to the curiosity of what kinds of creatures may be lurking within these icy waters. One group of researchers reportedly found 130,000 cells in each milliliter of subglacial lake water from an ice core expelled from Lake Whillans, which is generally the same range found in the darkest depths of the oceans. Getting the chance to peek at such unique ecosystems trapped for millions of years under these vast sheets of ice is thrilling, even if they fail to find “alien” lifeforms.

--Mi

Image Credit: http://1.usa.gov/1Tdmby5 Sources: http://huff.to/24SyyYR http://bit.ly/24SAjVS http://bit.ly/1qgjSzM