Hello Everyone,
This week's edition is now available at:
https://sites.google.com/site/emergencymanagersweeklyreport/home
Steve Detwiler
EM Weekly Report Editor
__._,_.___
Over the past decade, the number of virtual field trips created to simulate in-person field excursions has grown, but one aspect of physical fieldwork is not commonly replicated: Virtual explorers do not often return to their desks with collections of virtual rocks. Three-dimensional virtual samples can enhance just about any geoscience activity, from online college courses to remote research collaboration.
Three-dimensional digital models of geological objects are relatively easy to create and geolocate on virtual globes such as Google Earth and Cesium. Emerging technologies allow the design of realistic virtual rocks with free or inexpensive software, relatively inexpensive 3D scanners and printers, and smartphone cameras linked to point-cloud computing services.
With interactive 3D digital models of rocks, minerals, fossils, drill core, geo-archaeological objects, and outcrops, designers and users can
Virtual rocks can also be gradually altered to illustrate geological processes, such as weathering, deformation, and metamorphic mineral growth.
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Geological Society of America. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Deep down below us is a tug of war moving at less than the speed of growing fingernails. Keeping your balance is not a concern, but how the movement happens has been debated among geologists.
New findings from under the Pacific Northwest Coast by University of Oregon and University of Washington scientists now suggest a solution to a mystery that surfaced when the theory of plate tectonics arose: Do the plates move the mantle, or does the mantle move the plates.
The separation of tectonic plates, the researchers proposed in a paper online ahead of print in the journal Nature Geoscience, is not simply dictating the flow of the gooey, lubricating molten material of the mantle. The mantle, they argue, is actually fighting back, flowing in a manner that drives a reorientation of the direction of the plates.
The new idea is based on seismic imaging of the Endeavor segment of the Juan de Fuca Plate in the Pacific Ocean off Washington and on data from previous research on similar ridges in the mid-Pacific and mid-Atlantic oceans.
"Comparing seismic measurements of the present mantle flow direction to the recent movements of tectonic plates, we find that the mantle is flowing in a direction that is ahead of recent changes in plate motion," said UO doctoral student Brandon P. VanderBeek, the paper's lead author. "This contradicts the traditional view that plates move the mantle."
While the new conclusion is based on a fraction of such sites under the world's oceans, a consistent pattern was present, VanderBeek said. At the three sites, the mantle's flow is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise rather than in the directions of the separating plates. The mantle's flow, the researchers concluded, may be responsible for past and possibly current changes in plate motion.
The research -- funded through National Science Foundation grants to the two institutions -- also explored how the supply of magma varies under mid-ocean ridge volcanoes. The researchers conducted a seismic experiment to see how seismic waves moved through the shallow mantle below the Endeavor segment.
They found that the middle of the volcanic segment, where the seafloor is shallowest and the inferred volcanic activity greatest, the underlying mantle magma reservoir is relatively small. The ends, however, are much deeper with larger volumes of mantle magma pooling below them because there are no easy routes for it to travel through the material above it.
Traditional thinking had said there would be less magma under the deep ends of such segments, known as discontinuities.
"We found the opposite," VanderBeek said. "The biggest volumes of magma that we believe we have found are located beneath the deepest portions of the ridges, at the segment ends. Under the shallow centers, there is much less melt, about half as much, at this particular ridge that we investigated.
"Our idea is that the ultimate control on where you have magma beneath these mountain ranges is where you can and cannot take it out," he said. "At the ends, we think, the plate rips apart much more diffusely, so you are not creating pathways for magma to move, build mountains and allow for an eruption."
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oregon. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
"It's really very simple to predict earthquakes, and anyone could do it," Jim Berkland liked to say. "The hard part is being right."
Berkland, a retired geologist and avid writer who grew up and lived much of his later life in Glen Ellen, died last Friday after a lifetime of predicting quakes and making headlines. He was a few days shy of his 86th birthday.
He was a widely-recognized figure in Glen Ellen, where he attended Dunbar School when he was a child and used to catch crawdads in Sonoma Creek, and to where he returned when he retired in 1997. He once described himself as "a country boy who grew up in the Valley of the Moon, in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco." He was recently named Honorary Poet Laureate of the Valley of the Moon by the Glen Ellen Historical Society.
"Raconteur and sage, he generously shares his extensive scientific knowledge along with his poetry with anyone who asks," wrote Index-Tribune columnist Sylvia Crawford recently, before his passing.
"He wrote a poem for any and every occasion," remembered Crawford this week. "It was always sweetly sentimental, it was always from his heart." (See video on this page.)
He was the gregarious Grand Marshall of the 2009 Glen Ellen Village Fair parade, and carried a walking cane carved and painted to look like a snake, which he said he got in Egypt. Moses comparisons were inevitable.
"His personality was extravagant, and generous," said Jim Shere of the Glen Ellen Historical Society. "That's the way he lived."
Berkland came to national fame in 1989, when on Oct. 17 – four days after he publicly predicted what he called a "World Series Earthquake" in the pages of the Gilroy Dispatch – a magnitude 6.9 quake struck the Peninsula, disrupting the third game of the World Series at Candlestick Park between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's. Though it came to be known in geological circles as the Loma Prieta earthquake, its popular name remains to this day the one he gave it, the World Series Quake.
In fact while he claimed an accuracy of 70-75%, his methodology and results were regarded with skepticism in the professional community, which generally looks askance at prediction anyway. He earned an undergraduate degree in geology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1958, and worked with the US Geological Survey after college. Following graduate work at San Jose State, he worked with the Bureau of Reclamation in Alaska.
He was working as a geologist with Santa Clara County at the time of the Loma Prieta Quake, and claimed they put him on leave for at least six weeks after his 1989 "prediction" gained widespread publicity, asking him not to make any more predictions out of fear of "mass panic."
His predictive methods – which drew not only on tidal cycles but spikes in missing pets culled from newspaper want ads and irregularities in geyser eruptions – were idiosyncratic, but well-documented in his personally published newsletter "Syzygy."
Critics said his predictive window was broad enough to net most earthquakes anyway, regardless of the effects of "syzygy" (a lineal alignment of three celestial bodies). Charles Richter, the CalTech geologist who created of the magnitude scale that bears his name, drolly noted "Every earthquake takes place within 3 months of an equinox."
Berkland was largely unmoved by the controversies, maintaining that the topic of predicting earthquakes was "too important to be left to the experts."
In Glen Ellen, however, his fame had nothing to do with his prognostications. His friend and colleague in the Glen Ellen Historical Society described him as "a man who's been living life well, right here in the Valley of the Moon, for many, many years – out loud and with great style."
"He was such an eloquent, talkative guy and had so much to say," said Crawford. "He could regale you with the history of Glen Ellen, his own history, all about his unique style of earthquake prediction which was not always loved by the true-blue geologists."
In the 20 years since he returned to the Valley of the Moon, he became active in the volunteer fire department, the Lions Club, the Jack London Foundation, and the Glen Ellen Historical Society. He was also a docent at Bouverie Preserve, where his enthusiasm and broad knowledge of natural history made him a popular figure.
Earlier this year, Shere wrote a tribute to Berkland in his Kenwood Press column. "His eager curiosity, combined with a generous and agile mind, led to discoveries that redefined the geologic prehistory of our region," he wrote. Berkland took note of fossil shellfish high in the Mayacamas range, Ponderosa pines (usually endemic to the Sierra) in Nunn's Canyon near Beltane Ranch, and fused tektites from a meteorite at Morton's Warm Springs.
"He happily struck up conversations with strangers," said his son Jay, who lives in Los Angeles. "He readily shared laughter or gentle tears when he told stories about his experiences of life and the world that so fascinated him."
In recent years he had become more involved with the Glen Ellen Community Church, where he was baptized a few years ago, according to Pastor Jim Hill. "Of late, we could see Jim's faith in his Savior, Jesus Christ come alive as he studied the Scriptures in our weekly Bible studies. We will miss Jim greatly as he was always a joy to be around."
He is also survived by a daughter, Krista, and her family, who live in Maryland, and his wife Jan. They are planning a private family observance this fall.
--
I'm not 100% certain, Kim. If it's the drop I think it is (and I am
judging primarily on the altitude, the sounds and the visceral
experience), then it was on Saturday the 23rd.
However... there were VLAT drops made on both Saturday and Sunday, and
I'm having some difficulty matching up where I think the drop I heard
went, the houses in the video and Google maps - so this could be a
different drop.
I am reasonably certain that this is taken from somewhere along Sand
Canyon and not from Fair Oaks Ranch...
Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com [californiadisasters] wrote:
>
>
> Thanks, Brent, and that drop was made on Sunday, July 24th?
.
Attachment(s) from Lin Kerns | View attachments on the web
1 of 1 File(s)
I'm not 100% certain, Kim. If it's the drop I think it is (and I am
judging primarily on the altitude, the sounds and the visceral
experience), then it was on Saturday the 23rd.
However... there were VLAT drops made on both Saturday and Sunday, and
I'm having some difficulty matching up where I think the drop I heard
went, the houses in the video and Google maps - so this could be a
different drop.
I am reasonably certain that this is taken from somewhere along Sand
Canyon and not from Fair Oaks Ranch...
Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com [californiadisasters] wrote:
>
>
> Thanks, Brent, and that drop was made on Sunday, July 24th?
>
> On Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 1:56 PM, Brent Corbin bcorbin@ucla.edu
> <mailto:bcorbin@ucla.edu> [californiadisasters]
> <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>> wrote:
>
> __
>
>
> I'm in Fair Oaks Ranch - Saturday wasn't fun, but we weren't really in
> harm's way until Sunday.
>
> I was inside when the drop hit, but I believe it laid a North/South line
> just to the East of us - so the appropriate tag is probably Sand Canyon.
>
> Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com <mailto:kimnoyes@gmail.com>
> [californiadisasters] wrote:
> >
> >
> > Wow, you were there! For purposes of better description than "Santa
> > Clarita Valley" where was that? Which community, development, etc.?
> > Perhaps street?
> >
> > On Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 12:09 PM, Brent Corbin bcorbin@ucla.edu <mailto:bcorbin@ucla.edu>
> > <mailto:bcorbin@ucla.edu <mailto:bcorbin@ucla.edu>>
> [californiadisasters]
> > <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>
> > <mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>>> wrote:
> >
> > __
> >
> >
> > I was in the house putting the final items in my go-box when that
> > dropped. The sound of the lead followed by the VLAT and drop was
> > incredible, unmistakable and unforgettable - I'm really glad someone got
> > that on the record 8*) Thanks for sharing!!
> >
> >
> >
> > Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com <mailto:kimnoyes@gmail.com>
> <mailto:kimnoyes@gmail.com <mailto:kimnoyes@gmail.com>>
> > [californiadisasters] wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Illest & trillest, chillest & baddest tanker drop video clip ever!
> > >
> > > Eclectic Arcania thanks Lin Kerns for helping get this formatted
> > into a
> > > form useful to this blog:
> > >
> > >
> > http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/2016/07/most-awesome-tanker-drop-ever.html
> > >
> > > --
> > > Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
> > > My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
> > > Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
> > > Follow me on Twitter @CalDisasters
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
> > Read my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
> > My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
> > Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
> > Follow me on Twitter @CalDisasters
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> --
> Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
> Read my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
> My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
> Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
> Follow me on Twitter @CalDisasters
>
>
>
I'm in Fair Oaks Ranch - Saturday wasn't fun, but we weren't really in
harm's way until Sunday.
I was inside when the drop hit, but I believe it laid a North/South line
just to the East of us - so the appropriate tag is probably Sand Canyon.
Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com [californiadisasters] wrote:
>
>
> Wow, you were there! For purposes of better description than "Santa
> Clarita Valley" where was that? Which community, development, etc.?
> Perhaps street?
>
> On Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 12:09 PM, Brent Corbin bcorbin@ucla.edu
> <mailto:bcorbin@ucla.edu> [californiadisasters]
> <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>> wrote:
>
> __
>
>
> I was in the house putting the final items in my go-box when that
> dropped. The sound of the lead followed by the VLAT and drop was
> incredible, unmistakable and unforgettable - I'm really glad someone got
> that on the record 8*) Thanks for sharing!!
>
>
>
> Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com <mailto:kimnoyes@gmail.com>
> [californiadisasters] wrote:
> >
> >
> > Illest & trillest, chillest & baddest tanker drop video clip ever!
> >
> > Eclectic Arcania thanks Lin Kerns for helping get this formatted
> into a
> > form useful to this blog:
> >
> >
> http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/2016/07/most-awesome-tanker-drop-ever.html
> >
> > --
> > Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
> > My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
> > Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
> > Follow me on Twitter @CalDisasters
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> --
> Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
> Read my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
> My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
> Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
> Follow me on Twitter @CalDisasters
>
>
>
--Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
Follow me on Twitter @CalDisasters