Wednesday, June 30, 2010

[californiadisasters] Holiday Great White Shark Warning



Holiday Great White Shark Warning

By JACK NOYES
Updated 6:35 PM PDT, Wed, Jun 30, 2010
The U.S. National Park Service issued a great white shark warning Wednesday for divers, kayakers, and swimmers others using the waters off Santa Barbara Island for recreation.

There have been three confirmed great white shark attacks on sea lions in the past few months, according to U.S. Park Services spokeswoman Yvonne Menard. 

Santa Barbara Island is one the Channel Islands off the coast of Ventura County, California.

The Park Service warned the "public to enter waters at their own risk...effective until further notice," Menard said.

The island is popular with kayakers, campers and others involved in water sports.

There was no word on the size of the great white shark.

Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Holiday-Great-White-Shark-Warning-97534709.html?__source=Newsletter-Daily


--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster



__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

Re: [californiadisasters] 1925 (Santa Barbara) Earthquake - Day 2



Jim,

I'm glad you enjoy them as much as I do....I'm grateful Sandi Harrington posted a link to the first one over on C.E.F. so I'd become aware of them.

I didn't include the wealth of photos that accompany each article so for those of you who are interested and able to see them you need to click on each article's link and view the photos from their source.

Kimmer


On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 6:23 PM, Jim Rawls <jazzpiano@verizon.net> wrote:
 

 
Kim, I'm reading through these articles, and they are just wonderful. Jim


--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
Visit my Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/kimusinteruptus
We have an Ebay store at http://stores.ebay.com/K-K-Earthwerks


__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

Re: [californiadisasters] 1925 (Santa Barbara) Earthquake - Day 2



 
Kim, I'm reading through these articles, and they are just wonderful. Jim

From: Kim Noyes
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 4:47 PM
Subject: [californiadisasters] 1925 (Santa Barbara) Earthquake - Day 2

Tuesday, June 30, 1925 - Day Two
updated: Jun 29, 2010, 10:00 AM

by Neal Graffy XNGH

(cut from my forthcoming publication " The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake - The Disaster that Built a City")

Tuesday, June 30, 1925 - Day 2

Santa Barbara had long been called "that sleepy little town," but in the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 30th, it was anything but sleepy. Nearly 150 men were at work digging through the wreckage of the San Marcos Building and Arlington Hotel. Men patrolled the downtown streets in three hour shifts, the Red Cross Canteens throughout the city were in constant motion preparing sandwiches, rolls and coffee. If the noise from the heavy machinery at work at the San Marcos hadn't kept the rest of the city up, strong aftershocks at 1:20 AM (lasting nearly 20 seconds), 4:45 and 5:55 got hearts pumping and the populace on their toes.

Then there were the late night "visitors."

Though Santa Barbara mayor, Charles M. Andrea had stated in his radio broadcast on Monday afternoon "No call is sent out for help…" it apparently fell on deaf ears. Everyone it seemed was headed to Santa Barbara to help.

They came by land…around 9:30 Monday evening 123 Los Angeles uniformed policemen plus a few plainclothesmen arrived. At 2:30 Tuesday morning fire trucks from Los Angeles pulled in.

They came by train…and were sent back. "Chief Surgeon E. G. Goodrich of the Los Angeles Receiving Hospital and chief of the medical staff of the Southern Pacific arrived on the first relief train with intentions of establishing medical quarters. However, Santa Barbarans had already taken care of their emergency." (The Illustrated Daily News).

And they came by sea…President Calvin Coolidge was in Vermont at the bedside of his dying father when word of the Santa Barbara disaster reached him from the news wires. He sent an immediate telegram to acting Secretary of War Dwight Davis: "You and Secretary of the Navy [Curtis D. Wilbur] give all possible aid to Santa Barbara." And they did.

The battleship U.S.S. Arkansas (above) arrived at 3:45 AM, followed 15 minutes later by the Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa. They would later be joined by the destroyer McCawley, an "Eagle" boat (sort of like a WWII PT boat), several "fleet tugs," and the Coast Guard cutter Vaughn.

In reality, help was needed. Santa Barbara had been running on pure adrenalin for nearly 24 hours. The Arkansas sent one hundred and eighty sailors ashore for patrol duty and in addition, twenty-four medical men from the ship's hospital were taken to Cottage Hospital to assist there and to relieve the nurses that had been on duty since the quake struck.

Most importantly, the Arkansas landed a radio and receiving set. The radio was taken "under guard from the local naval reserve unit" to de la Guerra Plaza and reservist Archie E. Banks (Bank's Stationary) was put in command of the new communications station. (I do love the "under guard" bit, who the heck would be stealing a radio at 4 o'clock in the morning as it is being carried up the street?)

Above, a scene from Tuesday morning as a sailor from the Arkansas stands guard with two local loafers in front of the First National Bank at 901 State (State and Canon Perdido). The tower above the sailor's head is the Upper Clock Building at State and Carrillo. Built in 1875 by Mortimer Cook (coincidentally he started the first bank in SB which became the First National), the landmark building was torn down due to quake damage. Just to its right is the E. F. Rogers building which was renovated and stands today as the Apple Store (formerly Pier One).

Noting that Santa Barbara was now well-patrolled and anticipating the arrival of other naval vessels, the Arkansas recalled most of its sailors and left at 9:00 AM.

At the Arlington Hotel all of the guests and staff had been accounted for except for two guests who had been in the collapsed tower suites. Though it hardly seemed likely anyone could have survived, hopes were bolstered by the news of Mrs. Vilamore's safe recovery at the San Marcos Building. However, there would be no rejoicing at the Arlington. Bertram Hancock's body was found at 2:20 that morning and Mrs. Edith Perkins was found equally deceased two hours later. The death toll now stood at 9.

A few hours later a policeman walking past the Brown Mug Café (430 State) saw a boot sticking out of the rubble and pulled on it, thinking it was some of the clothing scattered from one of the rooms of the (formerly) Grand Hotel above the café. The removal of the boot disclosed a foot which was found to be connected to a leg which in turn led to the body of Ralph Litchfield, victim number 10.

Meanwhile it was almost beginning to be a normal business day. The Daily News building was declared safe and it was back in operation printing a full edition. The competing Morning Press at 813 State had been hit pretty hard, but they rushed their copy to Ventura where the Tuesday paper was printed by the Ventura Free Press.

Banks were open, but not where you'd expect. Within 24 hours the banking community had pretty much abandoned State Street and a new financial district had been created in de la Guerra Plaza operating out of canvas tents rather than marble temples.

Above, a group of sailors marches past the Pacific-Southwest Bank which defying the compass direction of their name was located at the southeast corner of State and Canon Perdido streets. It doesn't look like there is any damage, but the bank had moved out. Barely visible is a sign at the corner advising customers they are open for "Business as usual at the Plaza."

Their new bank. The sign on the table at directs patrons to the "Savings Department." The sign at right, framed by the policeman's arm, reads "Paying Teller."

Location, location, location. The plaza!? Why would you want to go to the noisy, chaotic and crowed plaza? We've now moved to the upscale front lawn of the Lobero Theater (right down the street).

"Doing Business as usual" at the Lobero. You have to admire the fact that they've built a wood-framed, canvas-lined bank and then put an iron grating across the teller's window. Presentation is everything.

The County Jail was located behind the courthouse. There were twenty prisoners inside when the rear wall collapsed and the second-story floor dropped at an angle to the ground floor supposedly dropping out the prisoners as if they were on a slide. Various reports have claimed that the inmates took advantage of nature's jailbreak and fled. However, all inmates were accounted for and dealt with. Four were taken to the jail at City Hall. Two federal prisoners along with one man charged with a felony were transferred to the Ventura county jail. The remaining thirteen were released and told to put themselves to good use and return later. They did.

Wheels were turning fast at City Hall. City Manager Herbert Nunn had assembled an Emergency Engineering Committee to be composed of two groups. One had ten members from Santa Barbara County and the second had seven members which were sent by the mayor of Los Angeles. They would begin the inspection of every building in the business district and also review homes as needed.

To keep out the curious, roadblocks had been set up outside of Ventura and below San Luis Obispo. Only residents, officials and the press were let through. When business leader Charley Pressley found out there were several hundred cars with some 1,000 people at the Ventura line trying to get up to view the town he appealed to the authorities to "open State St to traffic and allow visitors in to stimulate the economy." Among those who had not been held back were California Governor Friend W. Richardson and his wife who arrived around noon and took in the sights first hand.

The American Window Cleaning Co. truck in front of 917 State Street. Max Friedman had just pulled up and was getting ready to wash the windows at The Paris Store. A few seconds later, no windows and no truck. But Max looked at the bright side. He wasn't in the truck or on the sidewalk.

It had been one hell of a day, but Santa Barbarans were pulling together and the attitude was positive. As the mayor had said, "We will rebuild bigger and better than before."

Tomorrow - The events of Day 3, July 1st, 1925. The Marines land, diamonds are discovered, and a new look is found for Santa Barbara.

Neal Graffy is a Santa Barbara historian, his book "Street Names of Santa Barbara" is available at Chaucers, Vices and Spices, Santa Barbara Arts and Tecolote Books as well as online at www.elbarbareno.com.

Source: http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=34217

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster



__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[Geology2] Two More pics of Eyjafjallajokull--nice!



Light fantastic: Stunning pictures show Northern Lights over erupting Icelandic volcano

--
Got Penguins?
http://penguinnewstoday.blogspot.com/
http://penguinology.blogspot.com/

>^,,^<  


__._,_.___


Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[californiadisasters] 1925 (Santa Barbara) Earthquake - Day 3



The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake: Day 3
updated: Jun 30, 2010, 2:23 PM

By Neal Graffy XNGH

(cut from my forthcoming publication " The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake - The Disaster that Built a City")

The front page of the Daily Press announced "Spanish Architecture to Rise from Ruins." Community leaders and organizations had met on Tuesday to devise a strategy for rebuilding the city and their decision was unanimous, the "Santa Barbara style" would prevail. For their inspiration, they pointed to the buildings of that design which had survived the earthquake with little or no damage - the Southern Pacific Depot (1906), Lobero Theater and Santa Barbara High School (both 1924); and surrounding de la Guerra Plaza, the Daily News Building (1922), City Hall (1923) and El Paseo.

El Paseo was the brainchild of Bernhard Hoffman, a successful engineer who had brought his family to Santa Barbara in 1919 for treatment of his daughter Margaret's diabetes. The following year they bought the historic de la Guerra adobe. As fate would have it, their next door neighbor was architect James Osborne Craig who had renovated the two Orena adobes to the east of Casa de la Guerra. Hoffman's vision of what Santa Barbara could become, or rather should become, was expressed through the talents of architect Craig (and his wife Mary, also an architect) in El Paseo. Created alongside and to the rear of the de la Guerra adobe, the quaint Spanish village of shops, offices and restaurants was his blueprint for future Santa Barbara. Another of Hoffman's innovative ideas was to rid the horizon of ugly wiring and poles by putting them underground.

On the day following the earthquake, a Board of Public Safety and Reconstruction was created and within two weeks, an Architectural Advisory Committee and an Architectural Board of Review would be established (with Bernhard Hoffman a member of both). The earthquake had truly been a blessing in disguise. "Now when everyone is absorbed in the story of our misfortune, let us surprise the balance of California and the world by turning our misfortune into a source of rejoicing."

The first block of West Ortega. The Fithian Building (aka "The Lower Clock Building), built in 1895 still stands at the corner of State and Ortega but without its third story and famed clock tower and chimes which were removed after the quake. The other building, the Van Ness Hotel was rebuilt without it's second floor and still rocks today with the Wildcat Lounge as one its tenants.

Santa Barbarans were relieved to hear that more than 300 Marines were being sent from San Diego to take over the task of patrolling and securing the city. City police, the American Legion, the Naval Reserve and many volunteers had been at the job for over 48 hours. Though aided by the Los Angeles police and the sailors and marines that had come in on the 30th, they were tired and overworked. Plus, they had a much bigger job ahead of them - the clean-up and rebuilding of the city.

Though there had only been two real acts of looting (one by a well-known local drunk) several shopkeepers reported various items had gone astray and for some reason the LA police were taking the heat. The Arlington Hotel barber was missing a few of his "better razors" and claimed they hadn't been missing until the LA police arrived.

The Marines left San Diego around noon and pulled into the Santa Barbara station at 8:30 that night. A fleet of trucks carried the rations and tents to the new Peabody Stadium (above) at Santa Barbara High School where "Marines in charge of the commissary department set up the officer's quarters and commissary tents in the dark and then sent word to the station." To the delight of the public who had gathered to watch the proceedings, the marines "marched" and "double-timed" it up State Street to the stadium where the rest of the men had to set up their own pup tents. Within three hours of their arrival they were out patrolling the streets.

Carl Sylvestor (above) found himself a media star as this photo appeared in newspapers across the country. The Santa Barbara Meat Packing Co. employee had parked in front of the Bon Ton Market at 914 State Street to make a normal morning delivery. As he climbed back into the cab he noticed the latch was still open on the tailgate. Deciding to be safe rather than sorry, he jumped out and went to the back of the truck to secure the latch. A second or two later…

Another indication of the fortunate timing of the earthquake can be seen in the remains of the Junior High School at de la Vina and Anapamu. It had opened in 1902 as the high school, but became the junior high when the new high school was completed in 1924. There was an unfortunate side of this photo though. A number of students who now thought they had the summer free found out that "Summer school is to resume this afternoon [July 1] at the three Jr. High bungalows."

Much progress was being made in getting services restored. Street lights were back on by nightfall, gas and electricity had been restored to Montecito, phone lines were getting repaired and some subscribers had long distance service available. For those still without phones, thousands of messages were being sent and received by the Western Union Telegraph Co. Now, with more messages than messenger boys, the job description changed sex and the deliveries were made by the local Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts had also abandoned their summer camp plans and cheerfully donated their hard collected dollars to the Earthquake Relief Fund.

It would be another two weeks before the electric street cars would be running but in the meantime, the company borrowed a number of busses from Los Angeles and limited but dependable transportation would begin the next day.

From the ruins of the Arlington Hotel came the report that a very honest worker had uncovered the late Mrs. Perkins diamonds "worth $350,000."

State Street was now closed off except to those who held passes signed by the Chief of Police and City Manager. The fire department was put in charge of removing loose and dangerous walls and roof-edge decorative stonework. Above, "a bulging wall" at the Morning Press Building (813 State Street) is pulled down. All businesses on State were closed so the engineering teams could inspect and report on each building.

Although civilization was quickly returning to the stricken city, most residents continued to "camp out" in their backyards, city parks and vacant lots. As aftershocks were still rolling through, cooking indoors was a great hazard. Above, at 616 West Carrillo, Mrs. Ida Rohrback prepares a meal for her family (sons Victor and Edward).

Tomorrow - Landmarks lost, humor found and we call it a week.

Neal Graffy is a Santa Barbara historian, his book "Street Names of Santa Barbara" is available at Chaucers, Vices and Spices, Santa Barbara Arts and Tecolote Books as well as online at www.elbarbareno.com.

Source: http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=34357

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster



__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[californiadisasters] 1925 (Santa Barbara) Earthquake - Day 2



Tuesday, June 30, 1925 - Day Two
updated: Jun 29, 2010, 10:00 AM

by Neal Graffy XNGH

(cut from my forthcoming publication " The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake - The Disaster that Built a City")

Tuesday, June 30, 1925 - Day 2

Santa Barbara had long been called "that sleepy little town," but in the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 30th, it was anything but sleepy. Nearly 150 men were at work digging through the wreckage of the San Marcos Building and Arlington Hotel. Men patrolled the downtown streets in three hour shifts, the Red Cross Canteens throughout the city were in constant motion preparing sandwiches, rolls and coffee. If the noise from the heavy machinery at work at the San Marcos hadn't kept the rest of the city up, strong aftershocks at 1:20 AM (lasting nearly 20 seconds), 4:45 and 5:55 got hearts pumping and the populace on their toes.

Then there were the late night "visitors."

Though Santa Barbara mayor, Charles M. Andrea had stated in his radio broadcast on Monday afternoon "No call is sent out for help…" it apparently fell on deaf ears. Everyone it seemed was headed to Santa Barbara to help.

They came by land…around 9:30 Monday evening 123 Los Angeles uniformed policemen plus a few plainclothesmen arrived. At 2:30 Tuesday morning fire trucks from Los Angeles pulled in.

They came by train…and were sent back. "Chief Surgeon E. G. Goodrich of the Los Angeles Receiving Hospital and chief of the medical staff of the Southern Pacific arrived on the first relief train with intentions of establishing medical quarters. However, Santa Barbarans had already taken care of their emergency." (The Illustrated Daily News).

And they came by sea…President Calvin Coolidge was in Vermont at the bedside of his dying father when word of the Santa Barbara disaster reached him from the news wires. He sent an immediate telegram to acting Secretary of War Dwight Davis: "You and Secretary of the Navy [Curtis D. Wilbur] give all possible aid to Santa Barbara." And they did.

The battleship U.S.S. Arkansas (above) arrived at 3:45 AM, followed 15 minutes later by the Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa. They would later be joined by the destroyer McCawley, an "Eagle" boat (sort of like a WWII PT boat), several "fleet tugs," and the Coast Guard cutter Vaughn.

In reality, help was needed. Santa Barbara had been running on pure adrenalin for nearly 24 hours. The Arkansas sent one hundred and eighty sailors ashore for patrol duty and in addition, twenty-four medical men from the ship's hospital were taken to Cottage Hospital to assist there and to relieve the nurses that had been on duty since the quake struck.

Most importantly, the Arkansas landed a radio and receiving set. The radio was taken "under guard from the local naval reserve unit" to de la Guerra Plaza and reservist Archie E. Banks (Bank's Stationary) was put in command of the new communications station. (I do love the "under guard" bit, who the heck would be stealing a radio at 4 o'clock in the morning as it is being carried up the street?)

Above, a scene from Tuesday morning as a sailor from the Arkansas stands guard with two local loafers in front of the First National Bank at 901 State (State and Canon Perdido). The tower above the sailor's head is the Upper Clock Building at State and Carrillo. Built in 1875 by Mortimer Cook (coincidentally he started the first bank in SB which became the First National), the landmark building was torn down due to quake damage. Just to its right is the E. F. Rogers building which was renovated and stands today as the Apple Store (formerly Pier One).

Noting that Santa Barbara was now well-patrolled and anticipating the arrival of other naval vessels, the Arkansas recalled most of its sailors and left at 9:00 AM.

At the Arlington Hotel all of the guests and staff had been accounted for except for two guests who had been in the collapsed tower suites. Though it hardly seemed likely anyone could have survived, hopes were bolstered by the news of Mrs. Vilamore's safe recovery at the San Marcos Building. However, there would be no rejoicing at the Arlington. Bertram Hancock's body was found at 2:20 that morning and Mrs. Edith Perkins was found equally deceased two hours later. The death toll now stood at 9.

A few hours later a policeman walking past the Brown Mug Café (430 State) saw a boot sticking out of the rubble and pulled on it, thinking it was some of the clothing scattered from one of the rooms of the (formerly) Grand Hotel above the café. The removal of the boot disclosed a foot which was found to be connected to a leg which in turn led to the body of Ralph Litchfield, victim number 10.

Meanwhile it was almost beginning to be a normal business day. The Daily News building was declared safe and it was back in operation printing a full edition. The competing Morning Press at 813 State had been hit pretty hard, but they rushed their copy to Ventura where the Tuesday paper was printed by the Ventura Free Press.

Banks were open, but not where you'd expect. Within 24 hours the banking community had pretty much abandoned State Street and a new financial district had been created in de la Guerra Plaza operating out of canvas tents rather than marble temples.

Above, a group of sailors marches past the Pacific-Southwest Bank which defying the compass direction of their name was located at the southeast corner of State and Canon Perdido streets. It doesn't look like there is any damage, but the bank had moved out. Barely visible is a sign at the corner advising customers they are open for "Business as usual at the Plaza."

Their new bank. The sign on the table at directs patrons to the "Savings Department." The sign at right, framed by the policeman's arm, reads "Paying Teller."

Location, location, location. The plaza!? Why would you want to go to the noisy, chaotic and crowed plaza? We've now moved to the upscale front lawn of the Lobero Theater (right down the street).

"Doing Business as usual" at the Lobero. You have to admire the fact that they've built a wood-framed, canvas-lined bank and then put an iron grating across the teller's window. Presentation is everything.

The County Jail was located behind the courthouse. There were twenty prisoners inside when the rear wall collapsed and the second-story floor dropped at an angle to the ground floor supposedly dropping out the prisoners as if they were on a slide. Various reports have claimed that the inmates took advantage of nature's jailbreak and fled. However, all inmates were accounted for and dealt with. Four were taken to the jail at City Hall. Two federal prisoners along with one man charged with a felony were transferred to the Ventura county jail. The remaining thirteen were released and told to put themselves to good use and return later. They did.

Wheels were turning fast at City Hall. City Manager Herbert Nunn had assembled an Emergency Engineering Committee to be composed of two groups. One had ten members from Santa Barbara County and the second had seven members which were sent by the mayor of Los Angeles. They would begin the inspection of every building in the business district and also review homes as needed.

To keep out the curious, roadblocks had been set up outside of Ventura and below San Luis Obispo. Only residents, officials and the press were let through. When business leader Charley Pressley found out there were several hundred cars with some 1,000 people at the Ventura line trying to get up to view the town he appealed to the authorities to "open State St to traffic and allow visitors in to stimulate the economy." Among those who had not been held back were California Governor Friend W. Richardson and his wife who arrived around noon and took in the sights first hand.

The American Window Cleaning Co. truck in front of 917 State Street. Max Friedman had just pulled up and was getting ready to wash the windows at The Paris Store. A few seconds later, no windows and no truck. But Max looked at the bright side. He wasn't in the truck or on the sidewalk.

It had been one hell of a day, but Santa Barbarans were pulling together and the attitude was positive. As the mayor had said, "We will rebuild bigger and better than before."

Tomorrow - The events of Day 3, July 1st, 1925. The Marines land, diamonds are discovered, and a new look is found for Santa Barbara.

Neal Graffy is a Santa Barbara historian, his book "Street Names of Santa Barbara" is available at Chaucers, Vices and Spices, Santa Barbara Arts and Tecolote Books as well as online at www.elbarbareno.com.

Source: http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=34217

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster



__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[californiadisasters] 1925 (Santa Barbara) Earthquake - Day 1, Part 2



Monday, June 29, 1925 - Day 1, Part 2
updated: Jun 28, 2010, 4:00 PM

By Neal Graffy XNGH

(cut from my forthcoming publication " The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake - The Disaster that Built a City")

Part Two of the events of June 29, 1925...

Though Santa Barbara had not been aware if the earthquake was isolated or part of a bigger California wallop, the rest of the state had a pretty good idea what had happened.

The southbound Pickwick stage bus left the depot at 514 State and was just turning left onto Haley when the earthquake hit. Behind them on the opposite corner, the walls of the Central Hotel blew out and dropped on a man standing next to it. A quick-thinking passenger grabbed his camera and shot the stonework of the Lomas Drug Store tumbling down to the street below. When the bus pulled into Ventura nearly an hour later, the excited passengers quickly spread the news. Upon reaching Los Angeles the media gobbled up their stories and the passenger's photos were scooped up by one of the newspapers.

Other motorists passed the news to the outlying communities all of whom had felt the shake. From Oceano to Porterville, Bakersfied to Anaheim, Long Beach to Ventura, dishes, windows and nerves had been rattled. Sunday morning's headlines had reported "Large Earthquake Rocks 4 States". That quake, centered in southwestern Montana, had struck Saturday evening and was felt over 500,000 square miles. Wild speculation was the Montana event had "loosened things up" and triggered the faults in California.

Telephone and telegraph stations were immediately aware of downed lines "somewhere" and were quickly able to pinpoint Santa Barbara as the troubled area.

Around 10 AM the first airplanes started buzzing over the city. The Los Angeles Times Herald and other newspapers had reporters and cameramen aboard to record the scene. The Los Angeles Elks sent a plane with $5,000 to be "distributed as needed," and Los Angeles mayor George E. Cryer commissioned a pilot to personally deliver a message to Herbert Nunn, the city manager, offering "every aid and assistance within our power."

The reply back was "Due to the light number of deaths and injuries, medical personnel are not needed. If you can, send bread and milk in the morning. It will be appreciated, Also, cooked foods. The reason for our desire for cooked foods is that all gas has been turned off and no fires will be lighted at present. We have no electricity."

Just before noon, two Army Air Corps planes left Rockwood Field in San Diego. They flew low over Santa Barbara and took a number of photos…

Across from the pictured streetcar, the entire second floor of the Grand Hotel did a near-perfect face dive onto the sidewalk and unfortunately, Ralph Litchfield. An employee of Shell Oil, the twenty-six year old Watsonville man was in town to prepare for the opening of their third Santa Barbara gas station.

The building just above the lower left corner of the photo is the Central Hotel (now the site of the Santa Barbara Brewing Co., 501 State St.). It had opened in 1871 as the Shaw House and was Santa Barbara's oldest hotel. As the building shook to its death, it rained its skin onto forty-three year old Merced Leon who died instantly. Across the street, the three-story Lomas Drug Store with the front of its first and third floors gone would also be torn down. This is now the location of Something's Fishy or as many of us recall, the old Salvation Army Thrift Store. The Faulding Hotel at 15 E. Haley stands intact behind the Lomas building.

The big victim here is the 4-story San Marcos Building. As the earthquake literally rolled through ("the ground undulated like waves on the ocean") the State Street and Anapamu corner sections tore into each other like two hip-slamming roller derby queens and then collapsed. Taking the ride down from the third floor was orthodontist Dr. James Angle. In the basement was Sigismundo Mosteiro, the building's maintenance engineer. They did not survive. Miraculously, as this photo is taken, there is still one life hidden in the rubble.

At center bottom is Santa Barbara's only "skyscraper" the Granada Building which suffered minor damage. Across the street, the Post Office, now the Art Museum, had little damage, although a World War I cannon, at the corner (ironically enough where the noontime war protesters assemble these days) had spun completely around. The lawn to the left of the Post Office shows the tent and table constituting the Red Cross' "Canteen #2." The debris showing in the street across from the library and Post Office is from the San Marcos Building. With no time or place to take the removed rubble, it was simply towed, pushed or prodded out of the way along Anapamu Street. The white car just above the edge of the Granada Building roof is the ambulance/hearse of the McDermott Mortuary waiting to perform whichever task would be needed.

At top, just below and left of center is the Carrillo Hotel. It was widely reported by the out-of-town press that the Carrillo had "split in half" but it actually just had a few fractures and bruises and following repairs was back in business again. Many years later it was torn down and replaced by a giant hole in the ground which later became the Hotel Andalusia and is currently the Canary.

The Arlington Hotel (above) spanned the entire block bounded by Victoria (foreground), State (at right), Sola and Chapala streets. It opened in 1911 and boasted of being "entirely fireproof" as its predecessor, the first Arlington Hotel, had burned down in 1909. Unfortunately they forgot about the earthquake potential. The big hole in the right side of the main building was the former location of a beautiful mission tower filled with deluxe suites and topped by a 50,000 gallon water tank. The earth shook, the water sloshed, the two corner edges attempted to rotate the tower between them and down it went taking with it twenty-two year old Bertram Hancock (son of Capt. Allan Hancock of Hancock College fame) and Edith Forbes Perkins an eighty-three year old seasonal visitor at the hotel. They were the only fatalities among the 120 guests.

The section of the hotel at lower left dated to 1888 and had survived the original fire. The former Safeway/Vons grocery store was located there until recently. Though the hotel didn't appear to be badly hurt, save for that one tower, it was demolished and replaced by the Arlington Theater in 1931.

The architect for the Mission-style hotel was Arthur Benton who has two well-known surviving structures in Santa Barbara. Just above the middle left edge can be seen the Edgerly Hotel at the corner of Chapala and Sola which he did in 1913. The All Saints by the Sea church in Montecito (1900) was also his design.

On the subject of churches, the Unitarian Church at the corner of Arlington Avenue and State (just below center, right edge) didn't make it. On the next corner (Sola) is the Congregational Church which stood until the mid1930s when it was replaced by a nice gas station. At top right is the steeple of the Trinity Episcopal Church. Despite some serious damage it was rebuilt and still stands beautifully today.

However seemingly peaceful it looked from the air, on the ground it was a different matter.

It was known that at least two people had been in the San Marcos Building. Bit by bit men and machines tore into the collapsed corner hoping to find life. Just after 1PM as the machines were turned off, one of the workers, Owen Rigdon, thought he heard a voice.

All work came to a standstill. No one dared move. Faintly, a woman's voice was heard. Life! Cautiously the men dug and found Mrs. Santiago (Macaria) Vilamore. A janitress, she had been working on the fourth floor when the floor gave way and dropped her two stories. Beams and concrete fell just right and she lay in a clear place, though a beam was pinning her leg. Six and a half-hours after her entombment, she was finally freed and rushed to Cottage Hospital. Depending on the newspaper, her injuries ranged from cuts, scratches and bruises, to a broken ankle, or, a fractured thigh and pelvis.

Hopes were now high that others could have survived, but the grim reality revealed otherwise when Dr. Angle's body was found at 5 PM. Seventy-five men would work through the night searching for Mr. Mosteiro and it would continue for two more days until his crushed body was found in the basement. Note the ambulance waiting patiently at the corner.

Santa Barbara Daily Press publisher, Thomas M Storke wasn't taking any chances. Though his three-year old building appeared to have no damage, until engineers could review it, no one was going in. But the news must go through and Storke was able to produce three editions in a variety of shapes and sizes. The first edition hit the streets between 10:00 and 11:00. It was printed on one side of a 12 x 18 sheet with a hand press out in the plaza. A second edition repeated the first edition page, with additional earthquake information on the second side. Complementing the second edition's earth shattering local news was the inclusion of three articles of important world news including this item from Detroit - "Night plowing can be done easily with a new type of tractor which is equipped with a powerful headlight".

Most importantly, rumors were quashed, known deaths and injuries were reported and important instructions - stay home, don't build fires, stay out of the business district unless necessary and keep phone and telegraph lines free for emergencies.

Though the telephone exchange (above) was a total wreck, a few phone lines were in service around noon. By 8 PM some electricity had been restored and lights were working in various parts of the city. Happily the sewage system was up and running that evening too although not many dared to venture indoors with the aftershocks.

In spite of it all, Santa Barbara had been fortunate. The earthquake struck when most folks were at home. Deaths, though tragic were light compared to what would have happened two hours later. Exhausted, Santa Barbarans tried to go to sleep in their yards that night but it wasn't easy. More shocks, and the engines of the machinery working on the San Marcos Building and Arlington Hotel could be heard along with the pulling, and crunching of concrete, brick and tile.

What would tomorrow bring?

Coming tomorrow - The events of Day 2, June 30th, 1925

Neal Graffy is a Santa Barbara historian, his book "Street Names of Santa Barbara" is available at Chaucers, Vices and Spices, Santa Barbara Arts and Tecolote Books as well as online at www.elbarbareno.com.

Photos courtesy Neal Graffy collection.

Note: City TV (Channel 18) will be showing "The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake" tonight at 9 PM. This is my slide show that City TV filmed on June 8, 2005 at the Victoria Street Theater.

Source: http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=34140

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster



__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[californiadisasters] 1925 (Santa Barbara) Earthquake - Day 1, Part 1



1925 Earthquake - Day 1, Part 1
updated: Jun 27, 2010, 6:20 PM

By Neal Graffy XNGH

Dear Edhat readers:

Tomorrow marks the 85th anniversary of the 1925 earthquake. Though it is best known for bringing about the architecture and planning awareness that made Santa Barbara famous I find it to be an amazing story of a community coming together in time of great disaster and taking care of it's own with little outside assistance.

For more years than I care to count I've been searching newspapers, magazines, books, diaries and conducting personal interviews to get the real story of what happened not only that day, but the days that followed.

I thought it might be fun to present pieces of the earthquake saga as it happened over the first four days. All of this is cut from my forthcoming publication "The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake - The Disaster that Built a City."

Part One | Part Two |

Monday, June 29, 1925 "E-Day"

At 3:27 AM.a slight earthquake rolled through the town. Though not strong enough to wake the citizenry, its presence was noted by the jarring of the needle used to record the temperature at the Southern Counties Gas Co. and on pressure gauge monitors at the city water works.

The sun rose at 4:49 and began the chore of slowly burning off the summer morning fog. The first to arise were farmers, some of whom said later they noticed their "animals were acting strange". By 6:42 most of Santa Barbara was up and getting ready for a normal Monday. The great excitement that loomed ahead was the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. In sixty seconds, all of that would change.

At 6:43 the city, rocked, rolled, groaned and crashed for 19 seconds ("It sounded like a million dogs crunching bones." - Ole Hanson). Over the next twenty minutes, four strong aftershocks followed each about 10 to 12 seconds long.


The temperature recording from the Southern Counties Gas Co. Note the little shake at 3:27, the big hit at 6:43 and the aftershocks throughout the day.

The earthquake that struck Santa Barbara was estimated at 6.3 on the Richter scale, "estimated" being the key word as the appearance of Dr. Charles Richter's "Magnitude Scale" was still a decade away. It is believed the quake was centered in the channel along a portion of the Mesa Fault. It triggered a second temblor when it met the More Ranch Fault under the present site of La Cumbre Plaza.

In our modern world, where even the simplest task seems to require meetings, studies, arguing and lawsuits (and this is when everyone agrees) it is unbelievable how quickly and how well organized the community response was. It was almost as if a symphony recruited itself, and with no auditions, rehearsals, or conductor just showed up and started playing.

Damage to most houses was slight and once family safety was assured, everyone headed downtown.

By 8:00 the Red Cross had their first station set up and ready at de la Guerra Plaza. A second station was on the lawn of the library along Anapamu street and a third at Vera Cruz Park. Coffee, donuts, and water were distributed. Nestled between City Hall and the Daily News building, de la Guerra Plaza became the command center. Other tents housed City Manager Herbert Nunn, the chief of police, the American Legion and the Chamber of Commerce (pointed tent at right) and eventually banks, military personnel and even the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Though the two-year old city hall building seemed safe, a temporary tent city of public services opened on the front lawn. By 9:00 all city department heads had reported for duty.

Police Chief Lester Desgrandchamp could count on an active force of 25 men and 20 reserve officers consisting of commissioned citizens (including a number of doctors all now occupied with other matters). He need not have been worried about his small band, the symphony was already tuning up.

Henry L. Ewald, a lino-type operator for the Daily News, was the Commander of the Santa Barbara Post of the American Legion. As he made his way downtown, he began encountering other legionnaires. Assembling a quick Committee of Three - Robert Blachford, E. L. Spencer, and Jess Culbert - as his aides, in a relatively short time the American Legion had nearly 100 men along State Street and the downtown, patrolling, and clearing debris searching for victims. Veterans of WW I responded in uniform (and armed!) to guard buildings. The Santa Barbara Naval Reserves provided another eighty uniformed men and officers under the command of Lt. Commander Harvey Kiler and Lt. Commander Sampson. Meanwhile Chief Degrandschamp commissioned 150 volunteer citizens. Within hours Santa Barbara had a home guard of close to 400.

The Boy Scouts acted as messengers between the front lines and plaza headquarters and also brought refreshments from the Red Cross Canteens to the hundreds of volunteers searching through the rubble and patrolling the streets. The scout's neckerchief was the silent pass that allowed them through any checkpoints.

Sheffield Dam had collapsed sending 45,000,000 gallons of water down Sycamore Canyon and through the lower East Side. Fatalities from the wall of water were bovine in nature as several cows unsuccessfully took the white water ride out of the canyon.

However, water was flowing without problem from Gibraltar Dam to the city through the Mission Tunnel. Pipes had broken in the city so the main water valve was temporarily shut off to prevent flooding. By 9:30 all breaks had been found and by-passed and water pressure stood at 125 lbs.

Unlike San Francisco (1906) and Yokohama, Japan (1923) where fire did more damage than the quake, Santa Barbara was saved from that fate by the quick thinking and bravery of two men. At the Southern California Edison powerhouse on Castillo (in what is now Pershing Park) William Engle, the night operator, dashed through the collapsing building (shown above) to get to the switches to cut off all power to the city. A similar scene was played out at the south-west corner of Montecito and Quarantina streets, home of the Southern Counties Gas Co. Henry Ketz, the night engineer, somehow managed to find his way through the plant to turn off the main emergency valve. Both were proclaimed heroes and given recognition and rewards.

Actually there was a third hero who was over-looked in all the excitement. William Pfleging, was an engineer at the gas plant who coincidentally lived a few doors below Ketz at 512 Brinkerhoff. He was in the process of making gas when the quake hit. He quickly vented the gas, filled the pipes with cold air, shut off the pilot and left the building. Outside in the yard, the water tanks were swaying so violently they were throwing water 100 feet. Pfleging reached the valves that shut off the gas to the city and closed them.

An earthquake without a fire was a blessing not only to the town, but to engineers and seismologists. For the first time they were able to study the full effect of a strong earthquake on the many types of building materials, styles and construction.

There was no communication with the outside world. Telegraph and phone wires were down, electricity was off, radios inoperable. Rumors were flying as to how far and how severe the damage was - Ventura in flames, Los Angeles destroyed, San Francisco gone.

In what probably constitutes the first and heretofore unacknowledged act of looting, two amateur ham radio operators, nineteen-year old Brandy Wentworth (above) and his friend Graham George spied a brand new RCA Victor Super-Heterodyne Radio, complete with batteries, in the window of a nearby store, Bolton & Jones (819-821 State St.) They removed the radio and set up shop in the middle of the street. For an antenna, they ran copper wire to a nearby pole (no easy task considering the number of aftershocks) and soon were listening to a few Los Angeles stations with news and music as normal. But they did hear two ships in the channel, one saying it had "felt a tidal wave and seen the cliffs crumbling along the Santa Barbara shore".

Quickly raiding the home of another ham friend they set up a primitive broadcasting set and sent out an SOS which was picked up by a passing oil tanker. The tanker passed the message along and it was picked up by a salvage tug, the Peacock. The tug replied it would head to Santa Barbara and tie up at Stearns Wharf to provide better radio communication. It was now 7:30, only forty-seven minutes since the quake had struck.

The Peacock arrived early in the afternoon and at 2:12 p.m. broadcast the following message from Mayor C.M. Andrea "for all ships and station."

"Santa Barbara suffered from severe earthquake shock that started at 6:40 a.m. and lasted intermittently for about two hours. The principle damage is State Street, the main business street, where almost every business block is damaged.

"There is probably some loss of life, but small. One or more people were reported killed by buildings falling on State Street and it is reported that one or two are in the ruins of the San Marcos Building.

"The main water supply at Gibraltar Dam is believed intact, though the Sheffield reservoir in the city went out. The city is well policed by the local force, the Naval Reserves and the American Legion. The Red Cross is in active charge and has established headquarters at several points and is ready to care and feed for the needy. No call is sent out for help, as it is believed the city is able to care for itself.

"The property loss is very large, but the city will rebuild bigger and better than before.

"C. M. Andrea, Mayor."

Coming tomorrow - Part II of June 29, 1925

Neal Graffy is a Santa Barbara historian, his book "Street Names of Santa Barbara" is available at Chaucers, Vices and Spices, Santa Barbara Arts and Tecolote Books as well as online at www.elbarbareno.com.

Note: City TV (Channel 18) will be showing "The Great Santa Barbara Earthquake" on Tuesday at 9 PM. This is my slide show that City TV filmed on June 8, 2005 at the Victoria Street Theater.

For that presentation, in honor of the 80th anniversary of the earthquake, we offered free admission to anyone who had experienced the 1925 quake. We had about 20 claim their free tickets for the afternoon show, and for the sold out evening performance we had another 18 veterans of the earthquake.

Source: http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=34112

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster



__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[Volcano_Vista_HS] Volcano Vista Cheer Camp



 

Hawks Cheer Camp

Kindergarten - 8th Grade

Camp Dates:

July 19-23, 2010

 

Times:

      9:00 a.m.-Noon

 

Cost:

       $75

       $65 additional

               siblings

       $90 (after July 16)

 

Location:

Volcano Vista High School - Cheer And Dance Room

 

Applications available on line at http://www.volcanovistahawks.com/cgi/facwebview.cgi?49|2|

Click on Camp Brochure

The 2010 Hawks Summer Cheer camp is for students from Kindergarten through 8th grade who want to work on basic tumbling skills & basic stunting skills, cheer motions, and have fun learning a spirit dance and a few cheers along the way.  Coach Debbi Nord (21 years experience as a cheer coach) and Volcano Vista High School's assistant cheer coaches will be leading this camp with help from the 2010-2011 Varsity Cheerleaders.  We have an excellent program with great equipment and facilities (full competition mat and a brand new air-tumble trak) that the students will have access to during the camp sessions.



__._,_.___


For more information, go to our web site: http://www.volcanovistahawks.com



Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[californiadisasters] On This Date In CA Weather History (June 30)



On This Date In California Weather History...

2007: The rainfall season ended on this day as the driest on record for many locations of Orange County, the Inland Empire, and the San Bernardino Mountains.
In Santa Ana only 2.22 inches fell, in Riverside 1.71 inches, and in Big Bear Lake 4.09 inches.
In Thermal only 0.17 inch fell, the lowest season on record (since 1950).

1994: China Lake NAS reached a sweltering 118 degrees for a high temperature, highest ever in June.

1985: A heat wave started on this day and continued until 7.3.
It was 100° or higher in parts of the city of San Diego.
A fire broke out in Normal Heights.

1982: Numerous reports if funnel clouds over Clovis.
One touched down near Fresno State University damaging some sprinklers.
Thunderstorms also caused street flooding in Farmersville and also flooded some homes in other parts of the Valley. 1.62" of rain reported at Dinuba.

1980: 80 fell in '80! 0.80 inch of rain fell in Palm Springs, the greatest daily rainfall amount on record for June.

1972: It was 99° in Palomar Mountain, the highest temperature on record for June.
This also occurred the previous day on 6.29.

1891: Fresno set an all-time record high for June, 112 degrees (tied on June 25, 1925).

Source: NWS Hanford & San Diego

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster



__._,_.___


Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[Geology2] Outliving the Ice Age: Tale of a Rhinoceros




Life-like image of the Hundsheim rhino reconstructed on the basis of bone remains. (Credit: Oil painting by C. C. Flerov, Sammlungen Senckenberg Weimar)

Outliving the Ice Age: Tale of a Rhinoceros

ScienceDaily (June 29, 2010) — Species extinction is a fundamental part of evolution: the best adapted species survive, while others die out. A new study examines why certain species can suddenly disappear, despite hundreds of thousands of years of successful survival.

Ice Age expert Prof. Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke from the Senckenberg Research Institute, Research Station of Quaternary Palaeontology Weimar, and paleoecologist Dr. Thomas M. Kaiser from the University of Hamburg, Biocentre Grindel now present a study in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews that shows why, after 800,000 years of successful survival, a species of rhinoceros known as the Hundsheim rhino (Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis) suddenly disappeared.

Like roe deer and red deer, rhinos were amongst the characteristic animals to inhabit Eurasia during the Ice Age. They were found across wide areas. Over the past 2.6 million years Europe has been inhabited by no less than six different types of highly varied species of rhinos with vastly differing ecological requirements. There were animals that were at home on the cold steppes of the northern and mid latitudes, whilst there were also species that preferred moderate and even warm climatic conditions. Occasionally multiple species of rhinoceros appeared at the same time. Did this coexistence have consequences for any of the species?

The research was based on 740 fossilized dental and bone remains, which originate from roughly 700,000-year-old clay in Voigtstedt and gravel deposits from Süssenborn in Thuringia, which are a few millennia younger. Both dig sites reveal evidence of the Hundsheim rhinoceros, which takes its name from an Austrian fossil site. With around 4000 preparations of Ice Age rhino remains, the Senckenberg research station in Weimar possesses the most comprehensive inventory of the extinct pachyderms in Europe.

On the basis of detailed examinations of the dental wear by means of mesowear analysis, it was possible to reconstruct the diet of the two rhino groups. The favored foods left traces on the teeth: The tooth relief changes itself in a characteristic manner, thus enabling conclusions to be drawn on what the animal ate. Whilst the Voigtstedt rhinoceros predominantly fed on soft foliage from vast forests, the tooth reliefs from the animals from Süssenborn revealed evidence of a harsh steppes diet almost entirely comprising grasses. Such greatly differing diet demonstrates an extremely broad ecological tolerance on the part of the Hundsheim rhino. Indeed, to date it has not been possible to identify any other extinct or living animal species with a similarly broad ranging diet of vegetation. These Ice Age rhinos were in fact true survivors, who dominated the environs of the steppes as well as those of the forests for almost one million years.

Their end came as new species of rhino developed -- most likely in Asia -- with an entirely different survival strategy. Around 600,000 to 500,000 years ago -- during extended cold and hot periods, respectively -- two highly specialized types came into being that were far more capable of processing the steppe and forest food than the previously unrivalled Hundsheim rhino. Now competition had moved into all areas of its living space; the steppes and the forests. Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis, also known as the Merck's rhinoceros, began to displace the Hundsheim rhino in forest habitats. Its anatomical characteristics show that this species was better adapted to forest habitats than the established species. At the same time, another competitor threatened the realms of the Hundsheim rhino on the open plains: Stephanorhinus hemitoechus, the steppe rhino. Remains of this species show that the animal was well-adapted to surviving on the food found on the steppes.

The flexible lifestyle of the Hundsheim rhino allowed thousands of generations of this animal to survive. Within just a few thousand years -- a brief period in the world's history -- the species had become entirely extinct. Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis died out without any effective changes in the environment and entirely without the influence of early man. It was superseded by better evolved species of rhinoceros. This process can be verified by paleontological finds.

"The fact that species die out is something entirely natural," states Professor Kahlke, "although this does not give carte blanche with respect to the environmental sins of modern industry, which have caused and continue to cause the mass extinction of species such as we have never seen before."

Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, via AlphaGalileo.

Journal Reference:

  1. Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke, Thomas M. Kaiser. Generalism as a subsistence strategy: advantages and limitations of the highly flexible feeding traits of Pleistocene Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis (Rhinocerotidae, Mammalia). Quaternary Science Reviews, 2010; DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.12.012

Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. "Outliving the Ice Age: Tale of a Rhinoceros." ScienceDaily 29 June 2010. 30 June 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/06/100615151707.htm>.

--
Got Penguins?
http://penguinnewstoday.blogspot.com/
http://penguinology.blogspot.com/

>^,,^<  


__._,_.___


Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[Geology2] When Two Parts of the Earth's Crust Break Apart, This Does Not Always Cause Massive Volcanic Eruptions



When Two Parts of the Earth's Crust Break Apart, This Does Not Always Cause Massive Volcanic Eruptions

ScienceDaily (June 30, 2010) — New research reveals that when two parts of the Earth's crust break apart, this does not always cause massive volcanic eruptions. The study, published June 16 in the journal Nature, explains why some parts of the world saw massive volcanic eruptions millions of years ago and others did not.

The Earth's crust is broken into plates that are in constant motion over timescales of millions of years. Plates occasionally collide and fuse, or they can break apart to form new ones. When the latter plates break apart, a plume of hot rock can rise from deep within the Earth's interior, which can cause massive volcanic activity on the surface.

When the present-day continent of North America broke apart from what is now Europe, 54 million years ago, this caused massive volcanic activity along the rift between the two. Prior to today's study, scientists had thought that such activity always occurred along the rifts that form when continents break apart.

However, today's research shows that comparatively little volcanic activity occurred when the present-day sub-continent of India broke away from what is now the Seychelles, 63 million years ago.

Researchers had previously believed that the temperature of the mantle beneath a plate was the key to determining the level of volcanic activity where a rift occurred. The new study reveals that in addition, the prior history of a rift also strongly influences whether or not volcanic activity will occur along it.

In the case of the break-up of America from Europe, massive volcanic activity occurred along the rift because a previous geological event had thinned the plate, according to today's study. This provided a focal point where the mantle underneath the plate could rapidly melt, forming magma that erupted easily through the thinned plate and onto the surface, in massive outbursts of volcanic activity.

In comparison, when India broke away from the Seychelles very little volcanic activity occurred along the North Indian Ocean floor, because the region had experienced volcanic activity in a neighbouring area called the Gop Rift 6 million years earlier. This exhausted the supply of magma and cooled the mantle, so that when a rift occurred, very little magma was left to erupt.

Dr Jenny Collier, co-author from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says: "Mass extinctions, the formation of new continents and global climate change are some of the effects that can happen when plates break apart and cause super volcanic eruptions. Excitingly, our study is helping us to see more clearly some of the factors that cause the events that have helped to shape the Earth over millions of years."

The team reached their conclusions after carrying out deep sea surveys of the North Indian Ocean to determine the type of rock below the ocean floor. They discovered only small amounts of basalt rock, which is an indicator of earlier volcanic activity .The team also used new computer models that they had developed to simulate what had happened along the ocean floor in the lead up to India and the Seychelles splitting apart.

Dr John Armitage, lead author of the paper from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, adds: "Our study is helping us to see that the history of the rift is really important for determining the level of volcanic activity when plates break apart. We now know that this rift history is just as important as mantle temperature in controlling the level of volcanic activity on the Earth's surface."

In the future, the team hope to further explore the ocean floor off the coast of South America where that continent split from Africa millions of years ago to determine the level of ancient volcanic activity in the region.

This work was partly funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council.

Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Imperial College London, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

  1. Armitage et al. The importance of rift history for volcanic margin formation. Nature, 2010; 465 (7300): 913 DOI: 10.1038/nature09063

Imperial College London. "When Two Parts of the Earth's Crust Break Apart, This Does Not Always Cause Massive Volcanic Eruptions." ScienceDaily 30 June 2010. 30 June 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/06/100616133321.htm>.


--
Got Penguins?
http://penguinnewstoday.blogspot.com/
http://penguinology.blogspot.com/

>^,,^<  


__._,_.___


Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___