I share this only because it's so annoying. Why call a film Volcano when it's got nothing to do with volcanos????????????
From IceNews: Iceland to send Volcano to the Oscars
Iceland has already decided which film it is going to put forward as its offering for the Best Foreign Film category at next year’s Oscars: Eldfjall (Volcano).
Members of the Icelandic Film & Television Academy have voted for the Runar Runarsson film, Eldfjall to be the Icelandic entry for the Oscars 2012 in the Best Foreign Film category.
Eldfjall is the story of Hannes, a 67 year-old man who is entering retirement. He is an old-school kind of man; isolated from his family and home and needing to get to grips with his new role in life. Eldfjall is a story of human development about a man who needs to come to peace with the decisions of the past and the difficulties of the present in order to have a shot at happiness in the future.
Eldfjall had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it competed in two categories: the Director’s Fortnight and the Camera D’Or. Visir.is reports that the film has also been screened at other international film festivals, including at Karlovy Vary and, more recently, at Toronto. Eldfjall will go on general release in Icelandic cinemas on 30th September.
Runar Runarsson directed and wrote Eldfjall and the producers are Skuli Malmquist and Thor Snaer Sigurjonsson from Zik-Zak Filmworks.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Indonesian govt to pay $2b compensation for mud volcano victims
From ABC Radio Australia: Indonesian govt to pay $2b compensation for mud volcano victims
The Indonesian government has announced it will use state funding to pay compensation for victims of the country's worst mud flow disaster in East Java.
Since the volcano erupted in May 2006, the mud flow has covered a dozen villages in the Porong district of Sidoarjo, displacing more than 15,000 people and affecting 45,000 households.
Experts predict volcano Lusi will continue to pour out mud for at least 30 years.
Mining company Lapindo has always said an earthquake two days before was to blame for triggering the volcano, but many scientists dispute this claim.
Now, the Indonesian government says it will allocate more than two billion dollars from the state budget for the victims.
The Indonesian government has announced it will use state funding to pay compensation for victims of the country's worst mud flow disaster in East Java.
Since the volcano erupted in May 2006, the mud flow has covered a dozen villages in the Porong district of Sidoarjo, displacing more than 15,000 people and affecting 45,000 households.
Experts predict volcano Lusi will continue to pour out mud for at least 30 years.
Mining company Lapindo has always said an earthquake two days before was to blame for triggering the volcano, but many scientists dispute this claim.
Now, the Indonesian government says it will allocate more than two billion dollars from the state budget for the victims.
Washington: Rainforests & Volcanoes
A webzine from India with tourism info on the US:
From Moneylife: Washington: Rainforests & Volcanoes
From Moneylife: Washington: Rainforests & Volcanoes
Jaideep Mukerji visits an iconic state in the US which offers grand landscapes and endless opportunities to visit historic, cultural and scenic locations
In the far northwest of the continental United States is located the state of Washington. Not to be confused with the American capital, the city of Washington, DC, the state of Washington was carved out of land which had been surrendered by Britain in 1846. The state is named after George Washington, the first president of the US and is the only American state named after a president.
Approximately 60% of Washington’s residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the centre of transportation, business and industry along the Puget Sound region, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of innumerable islands, deep fjords and bays carved out by glaciers during the last Ice Age. The rest of the state comprises dense rainforests in the west, mountain ranges and a semi-arid (almost desert like-centre), given over to agriculture.
The Cascade Range, which dominates Washington state, contains five volcanoes that tower over the other mountains. From the north to the south, these volcanoes are: Mt Baker, Mt Rainier, Glacier Peak, Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. Mt St Helens is currently the only actively erupting volcano in the US, though all of these are considered active volcanoes. The 14,411-ft high Mt Rainier, the prominent snow-covered volcanic cone 80km south of the city of Seattle, is considered the most dangerous volcano in the US due to its nearness to the Seattle metropolitan area. On clear days, it dominates the south-eastern horizon in most of the Seattle metropolitan area to such an extent that locals sometimes refer to it simply as ‘the Mountain’. With 26 major glaciers and 93sq km of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mt Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the US with its summit topped by two large volcanic craters. After Mt Rainier, Mt Baker is the most heavily glaciated of the Cascade Range of volcanoes with its volume of snow and ice more than that of all the other Cascade volcanoes (except Mt Rainier) combined. It is also one of the snowiest places in the world; in 1999, the Mt Baker Ski Area, located 14km from the mountain itself, set a world record for highest snowfall in a single winter season—1,140 inches or about 95ft of snow fell that year!
At the extreme northwest corner of Washington is the unique Olympic National Park. A must-see for any visitor to the state, the Park became an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1981. With no obstruction for thousands of kilometres to the west in the vast Pacific Ocean, impressive waves that form come crashing ashore along the rugged coastline of the Olympic Peninsula in showers of spray and foam.
To the east, are ancient temperate rainforests, including the Hoh Rainforest which receives annual rainfall of about 150 inches (380cm) making this perhaps the wettest area in the US. Because this is a temperate rainforest, unlike a tropical one (like the Amazon Rainforest in South America), it is dominated by dense coniferous trees and mosses that coat the bark of the trees and drip down from their branches in green, moist tendrils.
Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the area’s human population consisted of Native Americans, indigenous people who used the peninsula mainly for fishing and hunting. Most, if not all Pacific Northwest indigenous people, were severely affected by European diseases and their numbers were greatly reduced. A number of indigenous cultural sites have been identified in the Olympic peninsula; important sites and artefacts are now protected and are worth a visit to appreciate the region’s native history.
Located only an hour’s drive north of Seattle, and just south of the Canadian border, is Washington state’s scenic Skagit Valley which comes alive with brilliant colours each spring. Acres and acres of daffodils, tulips, irises and lilies bring visitors to the towns of La Conner and Mount Vernon. The flower-viewing season begins with dainty yellow daffodils in mid- to late-March; a rainbow of tulips takes the stage in April. Irises and lilies follow, providing colour well into the month of May. The fields are also cultivated to produce bulbs of flowers, a major industry in the Skagit Valley. In addition to viewing and photographing the fields of colour, visitors to the Skagit Valley tulip festival (held every April) can explore the different display gardens and garden centres to learn about bulb-gardening.
While driving to the Skagit Valley, do not miss The Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour located in Mukilteo, 40km north of Seattle. The 90-minute public tour of Boeing’s Everett aircraft factory is available seven days a week and you can see the Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner airplanes being built for Boeing’s worldwide customers. During the tour, you will also see the world’s largest building by volume (472 million cubic feet) where some of the aircraft are assembled.
Finally, end the tour with a visit to Seattle’s Space Needle and the waterfront Pike Place Market. The Space Needle Tower is a major landmark of the entire region of the US and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World’s Fair and is 605ft (184m) high. The Space Needle features an observation deck, a gift shop and the rotating SkyCity restaurant that rotates 360 degrees in exactly 47 minutes, all at a height of 500ft. From the top of Space Needle, one can see not only the Seattle city skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mt Rainier, Mt Baker, Elliott Bay and the surrounding islands.
Seattle’s Pike Place Market is a public market built on the edge of a steep hill on the waterfront of Elliott Bay. Pike Place opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continually-operated public farmers’ markets in the US. It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants and remains one of Seattle’s most popular tourist destinations. Local farmers and craftspeople sell year-round in the arcades in accordance with the Market’s mission and founding goal: allowing consumers to ‘Meet the Producer’.
Though often overlooked, this corner of the US offers grand landscapes and endless opportunities for visiting historic, cultural and scenic locations.
Why Go There: Washington and the Pacific northwest of the US is an area bordering the Pacific Ocean consisting of innumerable islands, deep fjords and bays carved out by glaciers. The rest of the state consists of dense rainforests, mountain ranges and an almost desert-like centre, apart from bustling Seattle and its many attractions.
Getting There: There are direct flights to Seattle from several European cities with convenient connections from most of the major metros in India as well as from all major American cities.
Visas: Indian nationals require a US visa.
Where To Stay: It is easy to book Washington state hotels online on any of the popular hotel sites like Expedia, Travelocity or Hotels.com. The official tourism website of the state—www.washingtonbeautiful.com—has a wealth of information on the dozens of attractions.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Pershore podiatrist climbs volcano for charity
Evesham Journal: Pershore podiatrist climbs volcano for charity
A PODIATRIST who lives near Pershore is putting his best foot forward to raise funds for charity.
Jonathan Small sets off today on an ice-climbing trek across one of the highest active volcanos in the world. He’s climbing Cotopaxi in Ecuador to raise money for the Raynaud’s and Scleroderma Association in memory of his mother Pat Small, from Walsall, who died from the disease 16 years ago.
Jonathan was all set for a similar challenge last year but it was beset with problems.
The 45-year-old said: “I volunteered to do a charity trek with a team of husky dogs across Lapland. However, two weeks before the trek, an infected abscess which needed surgery prevented me from going, then the whole trip was cancelled because of the volcanic ash cloud.”
This year an old injury threatened to scupper his plans, but after knee surgery in March, and lots of exercise ever since, Jonathan declared himself fit and well.
The father of one has already raised nearly £4,000 and is keen to increase that total.
To sponsor Jonathan, visit justgiving.com/Footman. [This article is from Sept 15, 2011).
A PODIATRIST who lives near Pershore is putting his best foot forward to raise funds for charity.
Jonathan Small sets off today on an ice-climbing trek across one of the highest active volcanos in the world. He’s climbing Cotopaxi in Ecuador to raise money for the Raynaud’s and Scleroderma Association in memory of his mother Pat Small, from Walsall, who died from the disease 16 years ago.
Jonathan was all set for a similar challenge last year but it was beset with problems.
The 45-year-old said: “I volunteered to do a charity trek with a team of husky dogs across Lapland. However, two weeks before the trek, an infected abscess which needed surgery prevented me from going, then the whole trip was cancelled because of the volcanic ash cloud.”
This year an old injury threatened to scupper his plans, but after knee surgery in March, and lots of exercise ever since, Jonathan declared himself fit and well.
The father of one has already raised nearly £4,000 and is keen to increase that total.
To sponsor Jonathan, visit justgiving.com/Footman. [This article is from Sept 15, 2011).
Friday, September 23, 2011
World sites from Ireland to Brazil aim to get on UN Geoparks list
From the Silicon Republic: World sites from Ireland to Brazil aim to get on UN Geoparks list
From the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher in Ireland to Tuscany's Alpi Apuane mountain range, a glacier-covered volcano in Iceland and a mineral-rich outcrop in Brazil and the Aras in Iran, 16 new world sites are vying to glean a place on the UN-backed Geoparks List.
The 16 sites will be examined today in Norway during the Bureau of the Global Geopark Network three-day event in the Gea Norwegica Geopark.
The Geoparks network, first devised by UNESCO in 2004, has 78 site members from 26 countries.
The 16 candidates for 2011 are:
Carnic Alps (Austria),
Bodoquena-Pantanal (Brazil)
Quadrilatero Ferrifero (Brazil)
Hong Kong park (China)
Tianzhushan (China)
The parks of Bauges (France)
Chablais park (France)
Katla (Iceland)
Batur (Indonesia)
Pacitan (Indonesia)
Aras (Iran)
The Burren and Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
Alpi Apuane (Italy)
Muroto (Japan)
Sierra Norte di Sevilla Geopark (Spain)
Villuercas Ibores Jara (Spain)
To qualify for the Geopark label, sites must present important geological heritage, and benefit from a sound management structure and economic development strategy with particular emphasis on sustainable tourism, according to the UN.
Last year, the Bureau added 11 new sites, ranging from subterranean rivers in China and Ice Age-shaped landscapes in Finland to volcanic Jeju island in the Republic of Korea and mountainous landscapes, cave formations and coastal features in Italy's Apennine Mountains.
From the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher in Ireland to Tuscany's Alpi Apuane mountain range, a glacier-covered volcano in Iceland and a mineral-rich outcrop in Brazil and the Aras in Iran, 16 new world sites are vying to glean a place on the UN-backed Geoparks List.
The 16 sites will be examined today in Norway during the Bureau of the Global Geopark Network three-day event in the Gea Norwegica Geopark.
The Geoparks network, first devised by UNESCO in 2004, has 78 site members from 26 countries.
The 16 candidates for 2011 are:
Carnic Alps (Austria),
Bodoquena-Pantanal (Brazil)
Quadrilatero Ferrifero (Brazil)
Hong Kong park (China)
Tianzhushan (China)
The parks of Bauges (France)
Chablais park (France)
Katla (Iceland)
Batur (Indonesia)
Pacitan (Indonesia)
Aras (Iran)
The Burren and Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
Alpi Apuane (Italy)
Muroto (Japan)
Sierra Norte di Sevilla Geopark (Spain)
Villuercas Ibores Jara (Spain)
To qualify for the Geopark label, sites must present important geological heritage, and benefit from a sound management structure and economic development strategy with particular emphasis on sustainable tourism, according to the UN.
Last year, the Bureau added 11 new sites, ranging from subterranean rivers in China and Ice Age-shaped landscapes in Finland to volcanic Jeju island in the Republic of Korea and mountainous landscapes, cave formations and coastal features in Italy's Apennine Mountains.
'Artificial volcano' to cool down the Earth
From TodayOnline.com: 'Artificial volcano' to cool down the Earth
NORFOLK (England) - A bizarre "artificial volcano" experiment taking place at a disused Norfolk airfield next month could help save the planet from global warming.
Light-scattering particles would be pumped high into the atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays and cool the Earth. The effect would be similar to that of a volcanic eruption spewing out clouds of sulphate droplets which can have an impact on the climate.
Sulphate emissions from the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines in June 1991 reduced world temperature by 0.5°C for two years.
Dr Matt Watson, from the University of Bristol, who is leading the Spice (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering) project, said: "We're going to try to pump tap water to a height of one kilometre through a pipe as a test of the technology."
The test will take place on a disused airfield at Sculthorpe, north Norfolk, using a dirigible "blimp" balloon of the type commonly used to carry adverts or take photos.
Water will be forced up the pipe using an ordinary pressure pump available from hardware stores. After spouting from the top the water will evaporate or fall to the ground as light "rain".
Measurements and recordings made by the scientists will help shape the next stages of the research.
Constructing artificial volcanoes to alter climate is seen as a "last resort" if it proves impossible to bring carbon emissions under control.
Pouring 10 million tonnes of material into the stratosphere each using 10 to 20 giant balloons could achieve a 2°C global drop in temperature, the scientists believe.
Details of the three-year, £1.6-million (S$3.1-million) Spice project were presented on Thursday at the British Science Festival at the University of Bradford.
NORFOLK (England) - A bizarre "artificial volcano" experiment taking place at a disused Norfolk airfield next month could help save the planet from global warming.
Light-scattering particles would be pumped high into the atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays and cool the Earth. The effect would be similar to that of a volcanic eruption spewing out clouds of sulphate droplets which can have an impact on the climate.
Sulphate emissions from the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines in June 1991 reduced world temperature by 0.5°C for two years.
Dr Matt Watson, from the University of Bristol, who is leading the Spice (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering) project, said: "We're going to try to pump tap water to a height of one kilometre through a pipe as a test of the technology."
The test will take place on a disused airfield at Sculthorpe, north Norfolk, using a dirigible "blimp" balloon of the type commonly used to carry adverts or take photos.
Water will be forced up the pipe using an ordinary pressure pump available from hardware stores. After spouting from the top the water will evaporate or fall to the ground as light "rain".
Measurements and recordings made by the scientists will help shape the next stages of the research.
Constructing artificial volcanoes to alter climate is seen as a "last resort" if it proves impossible to bring carbon emissions under control.
Pouring 10 million tonnes of material into the stratosphere each using 10 to 20 giant balloons could achieve a 2°C global drop in temperature, the scientists believe.
Details of the three-year, £1.6-million (S$3.1-million) Spice project were presented on Thursday at the British Science Festival at the University of Bradford.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Skidaway Institute scientist studies hydrothermal vents, undersea volcano
From Savannah Now: Skidaway Institute scientist studies hydrothermal vents, undersea volcano
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography scientist Aron Stubbins joined a research cruise this summer to study hydrothermal vents, but what his fellow scientists found was a recently erupted undersea volcano.
The discovery of the new eruption came on July 28, when Chadwick, Nooner and their colleagues led an expedition aboard the R/V Atlantis, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Using “Jason,” a remotely operated robotic vehicle (ROV), they discovered a new lava flow on the seafloor that was not present a year ago. The expedition was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Stubbins was on the cruise to study the dissolved organic matter being released from the hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor with Pamela Rossel from the Max Planck Institute Marine Geochemistry group in Oldenburg, Germany, and David Butterfield from the NOAA Vents program.
For Stubbins and Rossel, the journey of discovery is just beginning. “Nobody knows how much carbon is pumped into the ocean by these snow blowers or the other vents associated with the eruption,” Stubbins said. The good fortune of sampling right after a major eruption has provided a unique opportunity to find out.
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography scientist Aron Stubbins joined a research cruise this summer to study hydrothermal vents, but what his fellow scientists found was a recently erupted undersea volcano.
The discovery of the new eruption came on July 28, when Chadwick, Nooner and their colleagues led an expedition aboard the R/V Atlantis, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Using “Jason,” a remotely operated robotic vehicle (ROV), they discovered a new lava flow on the seafloor that was not present a year ago. The expedition was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Stubbins was on the cruise to study the dissolved organic matter being released from the hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor with Pamela Rossel from the Max Planck Institute Marine Geochemistry group in Oldenburg, Germany, and David Butterfield from the NOAA Vents program.
For Stubbins and Rossel, the journey of discovery is just beginning. “Nobody knows how much carbon is pumped into the ocean by these snow blowers or the other vents associated with the eruption,” Stubbins said. The good fortune of sampling right after a major eruption has provided a unique opportunity to find out.
Scientists Concerned By Continued Eruptions At Alaskan Volcano
Red Orbit: Scientists Concerned By Continued Eruptions At Alaskan Volcano
The two-month long, low-level eruptions occurring at a volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands have volcanologists worried that there could be a larger eruption forthcoming, Yereth Rosen of Reuters reported on Friday.
The volcano causing concern is Cleveland Volcano (also known as Mount Cleveland), a 5,676-foot peak located less about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.
As previously reported here on RedOrbit, an eruption warning was issued by the Alaska Volcano Observatory in late July.
At that time, the Daily Mail warned that Cleveland Volcano “could be poised for its first big eruption in ten years,” and that experts believed that it could “erupt at any moment, spewing ash clouds up to 20,000 feet above sea level with little further warning.”
Nearly eight weeks later, such an eruption remains a definite possibility.
“The big thing we’re concerned about is an explosive eruption,” Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory, told Rosen.
Such an eruption, the Reuters reporter says, could come with “little warning.” Satellite imagery has reportedly shown a lava dome growing inside the volcano’s crater, and the observatory has reports that Mount Cleveland continues to generate heat. To date, there have been no signs of ash clouds, Rosen said, but those, too, could come with little warning.
McNutt told Reuters that they are concerned that the dome could completely seal off the crater vent, thus causing pressure to build until it is released suddenly and violently. Alternatively, the dome could topple, which would trigger “molten flow down the mountain that releases gas and ash into the atmosphere while lava and rocks tumble,” Rosen said.
Cleveland Volcano rests underneath a flight path between North America and Asia that is said to be utilized by several major airlines, which means that an eruption there could create havoc when it comes to airline travel.
Twenty-one confirmed eruptions have taken place at Cleveland Volcano over the past 230 years, with the only fatality coming in 1944, when a US soldier stationed there during World War II went missing and was presumed dead following a VEI 3 level eruption. The mountain erupted twice in 2010 and three times in 2009.
As of 11:53 a.m. Saturday, the Aviation Color Code at the volcano was Orange, with the following notice posted on the Observatory website: “No activity observed in mostly cloudy satellite images from the past day. No ash emissions have been observed during this current eruptive episode that began in mid-July 2011. No other new reports have been received regarding the volcano.”
“The current episode of dome growth resumed around September 3,” the Observatory status report added. “A growing lava dome in the crater increases the possibility of an explosive eruption, but does not necessarily indicate that one will occur. Short-lived explosions could produce ash clouds that exceed 20,000 ft above sea level. These events can occur without warning and may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours. If lava dome growth continues, it could overflow the crater rim to produce a lava flow and/or collapse to produce pyroclastic flows. Collapse of a lava flow or dome would likely result in the generation of a volcanic ash cloud.”
The two-month long, low-level eruptions occurring at a volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands have volcanologists worried that there could be a larger eruption forthcoming, Yereth Rosen of Reuters reported on Friday.
The volcano causing concern is Cleveland Volcano (also known as Mount Cleveland), a 5,676-foot peak located less about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.
As previously reported here on RedOrbit, an eruption warning was issued by the Alaska Volcano Observatory in late July.
At that time, the Daily Mail warned that Cleveland Volcano “could be poised for its first big eruption in ten years,” and that experts believed that it could “erupt at any moment, spewing ash clouds up to 20,000 feet above sea level with little further warning.”
Nearly eight weeks later, such an eruption remains a definite possibility.
“The big thing we’re concerned about is an explosive eruption,” Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory, told Rosen.
Such an eruption, the Reuters reporter says, could come with “little warning.” Satellite imagery has reportedly shown a lava dome growing inside the volcano’s crater, and the observatory has reports that Mount Cleveland continues to generate heat. To date, there have been no signs of ash clouds, Rosen said, but those, too, could come with little warning.
McNutt told Reuters that they are concerned that the dome could completely seal off the crater vent, thus causing pressure to build until it is released suddenly and violently. Alternatively, the dome could topple, which would trigger “molten flow down the mountain that releases gas and ash into the atmosphere while lava and rocks tumble,” Rosen said.
Cleveland Volcano rests underneath a flight path between North America and Asia that is said to be utilized by several major airlines, which means that an eruption there could create havoc when it comes to airline travel.
Twenty-one confirmed eruptions have taken place at Cleveland Volcano over the past 230 years, with the only fatality coming in 1944, when a US soldier stationed there during World War II went missing and was presumed dead following a VEI 3 level eruption. The mountain erupted twice in 2010 and three times in 2009.
As of 11:53 a.m. Saturday, the Aviation Color Code at the volcano was Orange, with the following notice posted on the Observatory website: “No activity observed in mostly cloudy satellite images from the past day. No ash emissions have been observed during this current eruptive episode that began in mid-July 2011. No other new reports have been received regarding the volcano.”
“The current episode of dome growth resumed around September 3,” the Observatory status report added. “A growing lava dome in the crater increases the possibility of an explosive eruption, but does not necessarily indicate that one will occur. Short-lived explosions could produce ash clouds that exceed 20,000 ft above sea level. These events can occur without warning and may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours. If lava dome growth continues, it could overflow the crater rim to produce a lava flow and/or collapse to produce pyroclastic flows. Collapse of a lava flow or dome would likely result in the generation of a volcanic ash cloud.”
Aleutian volcano's behavior a challenge for scientists
From Bangladesh News: Aleutian volcano's behavior a challenge for scientists
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sep 18 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands has been in an unusual low-level eruption for two months, raising the spectre of an explosive eruption with little warning, officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said on Friday.
Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot peak located 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, continues to expel lava out its crater, a low-level eruption that began in mid-July, scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.
Satellite imagery shows a lava dome growing inside the volcano's crater. Satellite data also shows continued heat generated from the volcano, according to the observatory, a joint federal-state organization.
So far, there have been no signs of ash clouds. But those could come with little warning, scientists said.
"The big thing we're concerned about is an explosive eruption," said Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory.
One worry is that the dome could seal off the crater vent entirely, causing pressure to build until it is released explosively, McNutt said. Or the dome could topple, triggering a molten flow down the mountain that releases gas and ash into the atmosphere while lava and rocks tumble, he said.
While Cleveland is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes -- erupting about once a year over the past decade -- its long-running lava flow and dome buildup is something different from past behavior, scientists said.
Past eruptions have been mostly brief and explosives, with relatively small ash clouds, said Chris Waythomas, acting scientist-in-charge at the observatory.
Interference with air travel is the most immediate risk posed by Alaska's volcanoes because the peaks lie directly in the flight path used by jets traveling between Asia and the US West Coast.
Jet engines can be damaged or shut down abruptly when they suck in gritty volcanic ash.
A KLM airliner abruptly dropped more than 14,000 feet when it flew through ash from erupting Redoubt Volcano in 1989. The badly damaged jet landed in Anchorage.
For scientists at the observatory, Cleveland's remoteness poses special challenges. Scientists have not been able to station seismic instruments on Cleveland, as they have on volcanoes closer to Anchorage, so they have no real-time data.
Instead, they must rely on satellite imagery, which is often disrupted by cloud cover, and on other measurements that can be delayed.
Getting seismic equipment on Cleveland has so far proved too costly a proposition, the scientists said.
"It's been on our list for years," McNutt said, adding that such a project could cost up to $1 million. "It's just a very expensive and very difficult place to work," he said
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sep 18 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands has been in an unusual low-level eruption for two months, raising the spectre of an explosive eruption with little warning, officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said on Friday.
Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot peak located 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, continues to expel lava out its crater, a low-level eruption that began in mid-July, scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.
Satellite imagery shows a lava dome growing inside the volcano's crater. Satellite data also shows continued heat generated from the volcano, according to the observatory, a joint federal-state organization.
So far, there have been no signs of ash clouds. But those could come with little warning, scientists said.
"The big thing we're concerned about is an explosive eruption," said Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory.
One worry is that the dome could seal off the crater vent entirely, causing pressure to build until it is released explosively, McNutt said. Or the dome could topple, triggering a molten flow down the mountain that releases gas and ash into the atmosphere while lava and rocks tumble, he said.
While Cleveland is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes -- erupting about once a year over the past decade -- its long-running lava flow and dome buildup is something different from past behavior, scientists said.
Past eruptions have been mostly brief and explosives, with relatively small ash clouds, said Chris Waythomas, acting scientist-in-charge at the observatory.
Interference with air travel is the most immediate risk posed by Alaska's volcanoes because the peaks lie directly in the flight path used by jets traveling between Asia and the US West Coast.
Jet engines can be damaged or shut down abruptly when they suck in gritty volcanic ash.
A KLM airliner abruptly dropped more than 14,000 feet when it flew through ash from erupting Redoubt Volcano in 1989. The badly damaged jet landed in Anchorage.
For scientists at the observatory, Cleveland's remoteness poses special challenges. Scientists have not been able to station seismic instruments on Cleveland, as they have on volcanoes closer to Anchorage, so they have no real-time data.
Instead, they must rely on satellite imagery, which is often disrupted by cloud cover, and on other measurements that can be delayed.
Getting seismic equipment on Cleveland has so far proved too costly a proposition, the scientists said.
"It's been on our list for years," McNutt said, adding that such a project could cost up to $1 million. "It's just a very expensive and very difficult place to work," he said
Cleveland Volcano lava dome may be growing
From The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA: Cleveland Volcano lava dome may be growing
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Sunday satellite data is indicating a "thermal anomaly" at Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands, which means a lava dome at the mountain may be growing.
No ash emissions have been seen since the volcano 940 miles southwest of Anchorage began its current "eruptive episode" in mid-July.
The observatory says the current episode of dome growth resumed around Sept. 3.
A growing lava dome in the crater increases the chance of an explosive eruption but does not mean one will occur.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Sunday satellite data is indicating a "thermal anomaly" at Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands, which means a lava dome at the mountain may be growing.
No ash emissions have been seen since the volcano 940 miles southwest of Anchorage began its current "eruptive episode" in mid-July.
The observatory says the current episode of dome growth resumed around Sept. 3.
A growing lava dome in the crater increases the chance of an explosive eruption but does not mean one will occur.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Indonesia: Farmers flee as world's deadliest volcano rumbles
From YahooNews: Farmers flee as world's deadliest volcano rumbles
MOUNT TAMBORA, Indonesia (AP) — Bold farmers in Indonesia routinely ignore orders to evacuate the slopes of live volcanoes, but those living on Tambora took no chances when history's deadliest mountain rumbled ominously this month.
Villagers like Hasanuddin Sanusi have heard since they were young how the mountain they call home once blew apart in the largest eruption ever recorded — an 1815 event widely forgotten outside their region — killing 90,000 people and blackening skies on the other side of the globe.
So, the 45-year-old farmer didn't wait to hear what experts had to say when Mount Tambora started being rocked by a steady stream of quakes. He grabbed his wife and four young children, packed his belongings and raced down its quivering slopes.
"It was like a horror story, growing up," said Hasanuddin, who joined hundreds of others in refusing to return to their mountainside villages for several days despite assurances they were safe.
"A dragon sleeping inside the crater, that's what we thought. If we made him angry — were disrespectful to nature, say — he'd wake up spitting flames, destroying all of mankind."
The April 1815 eruption of Tambora left a crater 11 kilometers (7 miles) wide and 1 kilometer (half a mile) deep, spewing an estimated 400 million tons of sulfuric gases into the atmosphere and leading to "the year without summer" in the U.S. and Europe.
It was 10 times more powerful than Indonesia's much better-known Krakatoa blast of 1883 — history's second deadliest. But it doesn't share the same international renown, because the only way news spread across the oceans at the time was by slowboat, said Tambora researcher Indyo Pratomo.
In contrast, Krakatoa's eruption occurred just as the telegraph became popular, turning it into the first truly global news event.
The reluctance of Hasanuddin and others to return to villages less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Tambora's crater sounds like simple good sense. But it runs contrary to common practice in the sprawling nation of 240 million — home to more volcanoes than any other in the world.
Even as Merapi, Kelut and other famously active mountains shoot out towering pillars of hot ash, farmers cling to their fertile slopes, leaving only when soldiers load them into trucks at gunpoint. They return before it's safe to check on their livestock and crops.
Tambora is different.
People here are jittery because of the mountain's history — and they're not used to feeling the earth move so violently beneath their feet. Aside from a few minor bursts in steam in the 1960s, the mountain has been quiet for much of the last 200 years.
Gede Suantika of the government's Center for Volcanology said activity first picked up in April, with the volcanic quakes jumping from less than five a month to more than 200.
"It also started spewing ash and smoke into the air, sometimes as high as 1,400 meters (4,600 feet)," he said. "That's something I've never seen it do before."
Authorities raised the alert to the second-highest level two weeks ago, but said only villagers within 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the crater needed to evacuate.
That didn't stop hundreds of men, women and children living well outside the danger zone from packing their clothes, jewelry and important documents and heading to the homes of family and friends elsewhere on Sumbawa island.
"We've urged them to go back to harvest their crops, get their kids back in school, but we're having a hard time," said Syaifullah, a community chief in Pekat, at the foot of the 2,700 meter (8,900 foot) mountain.
"The new alert awakened fears about 1815."
Most people finally trickled back to their homes by Monday.
Little was known about Tambora's global impact until the 1980s, when Greenland ice core samples — which can be read much like tree rings — revealed an astonishing concentration of sulfur at the layer dating back to 1816, said geologist Jelle de Boer, co-author of "Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruption."
Gases had combined with water vapor to form fine droplets of acid that remained for years in the atmosphere, circling the earth and reflecting some of the solar radiation back into space.
Temperatures worldwide plummetted, causing crops to fail and leading to massive starvation.
Farmers on the northeastern coast of the U.S. reported snow well into July.
In France, grape harvests were decimated. Daniel Lawton of the wine brokerage Tastet-Lawton said a note in his company's files remarks that 1816 was a "detestable year" and yielded only a quarter of the crop planted.
Soon after the ice core findings, scientists started studying Tambora in earnest.
In 2004, Icelandic vulcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson and a team of American and Indonesian researchers uncovered remnants of a village in a gully on Tambora's flank that had been pulverized in the fast-moving pyroclastic flow.
Sigurdsson heralded it as a "Pompeii of the East," and local researcher Made Geria says archaeologists have expanded the dig every year since then.
No one expects a repeat of 1815 just yet — it takes much more than 200 years for that type of huge pressure to build up again, said de Boer, who teaches at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
But that's little consolation for those confronted with the mountain's new burst of activity.
Like Hasanuddin, teenager Malik Mahmud has heard the stories.
"Tens of thousands of people, animals and rice fields disappeared," the 15-year-old said, adding that a veil of ash blocked out the sun for years.
"There was no life here," he said quietly from the village of Doropeti, 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the crater. "I know that from my parents."
MOUNT TAMBORA, Indonesia (AP) — Bold farmers in Indonesia routinely ignore orders to evacuate the slopes of live volcanoes, but those living on Tambora took no chances when history's deadliest mountain rumbled ominously this month.
Villagers like Hasanuddin Sanusi have heard since they were young how the mountain they call home once blew apart in the largest eruption ever recorded — an 1815 event widely forgotten outside their region — killing 90,000 people and blackening skies on the other side of the globe.
So, the 45-year-old farmer didn't wait to hear what experts had to say when Mount Tambora started being rocked by a steady stream of quakes. He grabbed his wife and four young children, packed his belongings and raced down its quivering slopes.
"It was like a horror story, growing up," said Hasanuddin, who joined hundreds of others in refusing to return to their mountainside villages for several days despite assurances they were safe.
"A dragon sleeping inside the crater, that's what we thought. If we made him angry — were disrespectful to nature, say — he'd wake up spitting flames, destroying all of mankind."
The April 1815 eruption of Tambora left a crater 11 kilometers (7 miles) wide and 1 kilometer (half a mile) deep, spewing an estimated 400 million tons of sulfuric gases into the atmosphere and leading to "the year without summer" in the U.S. and Europe.
It was 10 times more powerful than Indonesia's much better-known Krakatoa blast of 1883 — history's second deadliest. But it doesn't share the same international renown, because the only way news spread across the oceans at the time was by slowboat, said Tambora researcher Indyo Pratomo.
In contrast, Krakatoa's eruption occurred just as the telegraph became popular, turning it into the first truly global news event.
The reluctance of Hasanuddin and others to return to villages less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Tambora's crater sounds like simple good sense. But it runs contrary to common practice in the sprawling nation of 240 million — home to more volcanoes than any other in the world.
Even as Merapi, Kelut and other famously active mountains shoot out towering pillars of hot ash, farmers cling to their fertile slopes, leaving only when soldiers load them into trucks at gunpoint. They return before it's safe to check on their livestock and crops.
Tambora is different.
People here are jittery because of the mountain's history — and they're not used to feeling the earth move so violently beneath their feet. Aside from a few minor bursts in steam in the 1960s, the mountain has been quiet for much of the last 200 years.
Gede Suantika of the government's Center for Volcanology said activity first picked up in April, with the volcanic quakes jumping from less than five a month to more than 200.
"It also started spewing ash and smoke into the air, sometimes as high as 1,400 meters (4,600 feet)," he said. "That's something I've never seen it do before."
Authorities raised the alert to the second-highest level two weeks ago, but said only villagers within 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the crater needed to evacuate.
That didn't stop hundreds of men, women and children living well outside the danger zone from packing their clothes, jewelry and important documents and heading to the homes of family and friends elsewhere on Sumbawa island.
"We've urged them to go back to harvest their crops, get their kids back in school, but we're having a hard time," said Syaifullah, a community chief in Pekat, at the foot of the 2,700 meter (8,900 foot) mountain.
"The new alert awakened fears about 1815."
Most people finally trickled back to their homes by Monday.
Little was known about Tambora's global impact until the 1980s, when Greenland ice core samples — which can be read much like tree rings — revealed an astonishing concentration of sulfur at the layer dating back to 1816, said geologist Jelle de Boer, co-author of "Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruption."
Gases had combined with water vapor to form fine droplets of acid that remained for years in the atmosphere, circling the earth and reflecting some of the solar radiation back into space.
Temperatures worldwide plummetted, causing crops to fail and leading to massive starvation.
Farmers on the northeastern coast of the U.S. reported snow well into July.
In France, grape harvests were decimated. Daniel Lawton of the wine brokerage Tastet-Lawton said a note in his company's files remarks that 1816 was a "detestable year" and yielded only a quarter of the crop planted.
Soon after the ice core findings, scientists started studying Tambora in earnest.
In 2004, Icelandic vulcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson and a team of American and Indonesian researchers uncovered remnants of a village in a gully on Tambora's flank that had been pulverized in the fast-moving pyroclastic flow.
Sigurdsson heralded it as a "Pompeii of the East," and local researcher Made Geria says archaeologists have expanded the dig every year since then.
No one expects a repeat of 1815 just yet — it takes much more than 200 years for that type of huge pressure to build up again, said de Boer, who teaches at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
But that's little consolation for those confronted with the mountain's new burst of activity.
Like Hasanuddin, teenager Malik Mahmud has heard the stories.
"Tens of thousands of people, animals and rice fields disappeared," the 15-year-old said, adding that a veil of ash blocked out the sun for years.
"There was no life here," he said quietly from the village of Doropeti, 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the crater. "I know that from my parents."
Alaskan volcano's behavior poses a challenge for scientists
From MSNBC: Alaskan volcano's behavior poses a challenge for scientists
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands has been in an unusual low-level eruption for two months, raising the specter of an explosive eruption with little warning, officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said on Friday.
Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot peak located 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, continues to expel lava out its crater, a low-level eruption that began in mid-July, scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.
Satellite imagery shows a lava dome growing inside the volcano's crater. Satellite data also shows continued heat generated from the volcano, according to the observatory, a joint federal-state organization.
So far, there have been no signs of ash clouds. But those could come with little warning, scientists said.
"The big thing we're concerned about is an explosive eruption," said Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory.
One worry is that the dome could seal off the crater vent entirely, causing pressure to build until it is released explosively, McNutt said. Or the dome could topple, triggering a molten flow down the mountain that releases gas and ash into the atmosphere while lava and rocks tumble, he said.
While Cleveland is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes — erupting about once a year over the past decade — its long-running lava flow and dome buildup is something different from past behavior, scientists said.
Past eruptions have been mostly brief and explosives, with relatively small ash clouds, said Chris Waythomas, acting scientist-in-charge at the observatory.
Interference with air travel is the most immediate risk posed by Alaska's volcanoes because the peaks lie directly in the flight path used by jets traveling between Asia and the U.S. West Coast.
Jet engines can be damaged or shut down abruptly when they suck in gritty volcanic ash.
A KLM airliner abruptly dropped more than 14,000 feet when it flew through ash from erupting Redoubt Volcano in 1989. The badly damaged jet landed in Anchorage.
For scientists at the observatory, Cleveland's remoteness poses special challenges. Scientists have not been able to station seismic instruments on Cleveland, as they have on volcanoes closer to Anchorage, so they have no real-time data.
Instead, they must rely on satellite imagery, which is often disrupted by cloud cover, and on other measurements that can be delayed.
Getting seismic equipment on Cleveland has so far proved too costly a proposition, the scientists said.
"It's been on our list for years," McNutt said, adding that such a project could cost up to $1 million. "It's just a very expensive and very difficult place to work," he said.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands has been in an unusual low-level eruption for two months, raising the specter of an explosive eruption with little warning, officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said on Friday.
Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot peak located 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, continues to expel lava out its crater, a low-level eruption that began in mid-July, scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.
Satellite imagery shows a lava dome growing inside the volcano's crater. Satellite data also shows continued heat generated from the volcano, according to the observatory, a joint federal-state organization.
So far, there have been no signs of ash clouds. But those could come with little warning, scientists said.
"The big thing we're concerned about is an explosive eruption," said Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory.
One worry is that the dome could seal off the crater vent entirely, causing pressure to build until it is released explosively, McNutt said. Or the dome could topple, triggering a molten flow down the mountain that releases gas and ash into the atmosphere while lava and rocks tumble, he said.
While Cleveland is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes — erupting about once a year over the past decade — its long-running lava flow and dome buildup is something different from past behavior, scientists said.
Past eruptions have been mostly brief and explosives, with relatively small ash clouds, said Chris Waythomas, acting scientist-in-charge at the observatory.
Interference with air travel is the most immediate risk posed by Alaska's volcanoes because the peaks lie directly in the flight path used by jets traveling between Asia and the U.S. West Coast.
Jet engines can be damaged or shut down abruptly when they suck in gritty volcanic ash.
A KLM airliner abruptly dropped more than 14,000 feet when it flew through ash from erupting Redoubt Volcano in 1989. The badly damaged jet landed in Anchorage.
For scientists at the observatory, Cleveland's remoteness poses special challenges. Scientists have not been able to station seismic instruments on Cleveland, as they have on volcanoes closer to Anchorage, so they have no real-time data.
Instead, they must rely on satellite imagery, which is often disrupted by cloud cover, and on other measurements that can be delayed.
Getting seismic equipment on Cleveland has so far proved too costly a proposition, the scientists said.
"It's been on our list for years," McNutt said, adding that such a project could cost up to $1 million. "It's just a very expensive and very difficult place to work," he said.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Volcano Effect - Fullermoney
From Proactive investors uk: The Volcano Effect - Fullermoney
A third natural factor will add to the combined cooling effect of the cool PDO and La Niña - the impact of stratospheric volcanic debris. As discussed thoroughly in previous issues of the Newsletter, there have been multiple high level volcano eruptions in Polar Regions over the past three years: Alaska's Mt. Redoubt and Russia's Sarychev Peak in 2009, and, during this year, Iceland's Grímsvötn and Chile's Puyehue-Cordón Caulle
Another volcano, Mt. Sheveluch on Russia's Kamchatka Pennisula, may have joined these ranks. The volcano is currently erupting 8.6 km (5.3 miles) high. This is high enough that it is forcing airlines to reroute their circumpolar flights, particularly those to Japan and Northern China. It has been erupting all month and, off and on, all year. The mountain is remote and hard to observe so some of the eruptions may have been high enough to enter the stratosphere. At a minimum, the debris is drifting down wind and raining out over North America.
If eruptions are big enough for their columns to enter the stratosphere, the debris can linger for years. This has multiple effects on the weather including:
o The ash and chemicals block out incoming sunlight, cooling the air.
o Water collects around the aerosols (solid and liquid particles) forming clouds, which also block incoming sunlight.
o When the clouds finally precipitate out, the rains and snows are unusually heavy.
o The cooler air changes air pressure which changes wind patterns.
In the case of volcanoes near the Arctic and Antarctic, this means the changed air pressure weakens the circumpolar winds. These are winds that circle around the poles, trapping most of the frigid air over the Arctic or Antarctic. If the winds are weak, these frozen air masses can escape. We saw this last winter when the Arctic air masses escaped south and buried 48 of the 50 states in snow, brought European Christmas travel to a standstill and inundated Asia.
We are currently seeing this in the Southern Hemisphere. The Chilean government declared an official "catastrophe" after heavy snows that the nation's Interior minister called a "white earthquake." The nation's capital had rare snow and southern regions have as much as 9 feet (2.7 meters). South Africa, which usually receives a dusting about once or twice a year, has been hit with storms that have dumped up to 60 cm (2 feet) in some areas. New Zealand was hit by a freak winter storm with heavy snow and bitterly cold weather two weeks ago, snowing on Wellington for the first time in decades.
This is a warning for the Northern Hemisphere. In summertime, the polar air masses are trapped north. Europe, Asia and North America have been more affected by balmy tropics. As fall evolves, the polar air masses will spread south, bringing a cold wet harvest season, particularly for Europe, China and the US. This will be followed by a frozen winter.
My view - The cold winter forecast would presumably keep energy prices firm. Additionally, enough weather turbulence is predicted to ensure that farming remains a challenging profession in many regions of the globe.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Stadium-sized artificial floating volcano aims to fix Earth's climate
From Top News New Zealand: Stadium-sized artificial floating volcano aims to fix Earth's climate
In what apparently will be a landmark experiment in geoengineering, researchers from various UK universities will try to fix Earth’s climate by mimicking volcanic activity – with a 20km-high, stadium-sized artificial floating volcano!
The experiment in geoengineering - where human beings intentionally stage-manage the natural systems of the Earth in order that the impacts of climate change are counterbalanced - apparently is an upshot of the fact that volcanoes belch chemical particles into the atmosphere, which reflect solar radiation on the planet as well as bring about a reduction in its surface temperatures.
For the experiment, which is a serious concept even though it might appear to be a wacky plan of a comic villain, the researchers intend to copy the volcanic activity by spewing out sulphate aerosol particles from a stadium-sized balloon.
The proposed experiment – called Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) – is the brainchild of the researchers at the Cambridge, Oxford, Reading and Bristol universities; and it received a £1.6 million grant from the government as well as the backing of Royal Society last year.
About the experiment, The Guardian recently noted that the researchers will carry out the first field test next month. The opening experiment to be seriously scaled down --- it will be conducted with a smaller balloon, will be just 0.6km high and water droplets will be used rather than sulphate, to ascertain the feasibility of the plan!
In what apparently will be a landmark experiment in geoengineering, researchers from various UK universities will try to fix Earth’s climate by mimicking volcanic activity – with a 20km-high, stadium-sized artificial floating volcano!
The experiment in geoengineering - where human beings intentionally stage-manage the natural systems of the Earth in order that the impacts of climate change are counterbalanced - apparently is an upshot of the fact that volcanoes belch chemical particles into the atmosphere, which reflect solar radiation on the planet as well as bring about a reduction in its surface temperatures.
For the experiment, which is a serious concept even though it might appear to be a wacky plan of a comic villain, the researchers intend to copy the volcanic activity by spewing out sulphate aerosol particles from a stadium-sized balloon.
The proposed experiment – called Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) – is the brainchild of the researchers at the Cambridge, Oxford, Reading and Bristol universities; and it received a £1.6 million grant from the government as well as the backing of Royal Society last year.
About the experiment, The Guardian recently noted that the researchers will carry out the first field test next month. The opening experiment to be seriously scaled down --- it will be conducted with a smaller balloon, will be just 0.6km high and water droplets will be used rather than sulphate, to ascertain the feasibility of the plan!
Up Close: A new breed of woods worker
From AZ Daily Sun, from Sept 5: Up Close: A new breed of woods worker
For much of August, the normally vivid pink-violet sunsets in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument have been muted and hazy. The Fly Fire, a naturally ignited wildfire, has burned 1 mile north of the crater, sending billowing gray smoke far up into the skies.
Since the fire was started by a lightning strike on Aug. 19, Flagstaff resident Aaron Graeser, a firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service, has been the incident commander at the fire, acting as supervisor for a 10-person initial attack and fuels management team.
Graeser and his team worked hard to "button up" the fire, let it burn itself out, before the Labor Day weekend.
HOW TO PLAY FIRE
Working with about 20 firefighters, Graeser has been in charge of managing the fire as it burns through rugged terrain dotted with ponderosa pine and brush.
Firefighters have not been trying to put the fire out, but rather to manage its growth within about 1,400 acres, as it slowly burns northeast to meet the Black Fire burn area of 2008.
"On some fires, we need to let fire play its role in the ecosystem," Graeser said.
Some of the same tools are used in fire management, but there are other skills needed, as well.
"It's a lot of brain work; it's a lot of thinking," Graeser observed. "We still have to use chainsaws, to run helicopters effectively. But, there are these other needs, like rigorous scientific data collection and an increased mapping skill set. We have to be able to play a fire in a different way, using fire to manage fire, especially when it comes to prescribed fire."
Above all, Graeser is in charge of ensuring conditions are safe for his firefighters.
That task is emotionally, spiritually and physically demanding.
"My No. 1 goal is to make sure everyone gets home in one piece," he said. "We're engaged mindfully. We keep safety at the forefront of what we do out there.
Managing fire is an inherently dangerous job."
MORE TIME AT HOME
Graeser, 37, is now working his 13th fire season.
Ten of those seasons were with the Mormon Lake Hotshots, one of the elite teams of multi-skilled professional wildland firefighters in Arizona.
In March of this year, he accepted the new post with its emphasis on wildfire management.
Working as a supervisor has advantages over being a Hotshot, like not having to be out of the state or the region nearly as much.
This means Graeser can spend more time with his wife, Elaine, who works long hours as a nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center.
"Elaine and I have never known anything else," he observed. "We met in my second year as a Hotshot. There is no way I could do this job without the love and support of my wife. Even the little things like the other night when we both worked 14 hours, she said, 'Don't worry, I ordered us a pizza.' We ate pizza and drank a beer on the sofa. There's no way the job is more important than the marriage."
The couple has two dogs, and neighbors help care for them when they are both busy on duty.
Normally, he works 9 to 5, but when there's a fire, his hours are longer.
"When we're assigned to an incident, we have to meet some work-rest ratio guidelines:
For every two hours that we work, we have to take an hour off," Graeser said. "For the most part, it's no more than 14 days on an incident, then we take at least one day off, hopefully two, and then we can be re-assigned. It can make for some long months."
ALL FIRE ROLES VITAL
Graeser said he doesn't really miss his Hotshot job.
"I was there for a reason, and I really enjoyed it, but life progresses," he said. "I was offered the opportunity to run my own crew, the opportunity to do something a little bit different with a crew I inherited."
He said Hotshot crews are respected for good reason, but other fire jobs are also important.
"They should be respected," he said. "It's a vital role within the fire community that needs to be filled, but there are equally vital roles in other areas as well."
Graeser said sometimes fires are memorable because they are big or complex, but he has another reason to remember a fire, including a time several summers ago when he was still a Hotshot.
"The ones that stick out in my mind are the ones when the crew I was working with was really doing good work, when we were really clicking together," he said. "It's a really magical thing, to be able to say to crew members, "'Today we did it right and we did it better.'"
A SHIFT IN CAREER
Graeser fell by chance into his firefighting and wildfire management career.
After studying and earning degrees in public administration, government and politics and national security on the East Coast, he worked for an outdoor recreation company doing corporate team building with rope courses in Virginia.
Still, he was looking for a new career direction, which he found in 1999 when a college friend going to NAU suggested to Graeser that he might really like Flagstaff.
"I lived on a sofa a few months," Graeser recalled. "I was walking through campus one day, and there was a fire service recruiting table. I signed up and got a call from the Williams Ranger District to work on an engine."
He said it's been a very rewarding career choice, although unusual considering the graduate program he pursued before.
His new assignment does call for some skills he might have learned in college, like diplomacy.
"The hardest part of what I do is trying to strike a good balance," he said. "It's a constant act of balancing the needs of the folks that work for me, the needs of the people I work for, the needs of the public, the needs of the land and the needs of the agency -- the policy side of things."
Graeser said he also has a personal reason for living and working in this region: his brother Brian, who died at the age of 21.
"He's one of the reasons that Flagstaff appealed to me," he explained. "He always loved in particular the desert Southwest."
Betsey Bruner can be reached at bbruner@azdailysun.com or 556-2255.
Who are the Hotshots?
There are three Hotshot crews in the Coconino National Forest: Blue Ridge, Mormon Lake and Flagstaff.
For the past month or so, they have mostly been out of state, currently assigned to wildfires in Montana, Nevada and Wyoming.
"They're part of a national system to go where the need is," said Karen Malis-Clark, public information officer with the Coconino National Forest. "You can never count on catching a Hotshot at home."
Malis-Clark said there are about 111 crews nationwide, including 12 in Arizona, one of the states with the highest number of Hotshots in the country.
Their formal name is Interagency Hotshot Crews (IHC), and they work in 20-person teams.
Crews are available for each fire season and are employed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, various Native American tribes, and the states of Alaska and Utah.
In May, June and July, when it's hot and dry, crews are often assigned to fire activity in the Southwest.
"The Wallow Fire is a good example, when about a third of all Hotshot crews in the country were assigned to that incident," Malis-Clark said. "In August, the activity moves north to the northern Rockies and Northwest. Then it's often southern California's turn for wildfire activity, with dry conditions coupled with Santa Ana winds in October and November."
For much of August, the normally vivid pink-violet sunsets in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument have been muted and hazy. The Fly Fire, a naturally ignited wildfire, has burned 1 mile north of the crater, sending billowing gray smoke far up into the skies.
Since the fire was started by a lightning strike on Aug. 19, Flagstaff resident Aaron Graeser, a firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service, has been the incident commander at the fire, acting as supervisor for a 10-person initial attack and fuels management team.
Graeser and his team worked hard to "button up" the fire, let it burn itself out, before the Labor Day weekend.
HOW TO PLAY FIRE
Working with about 20 firefighters, Graeser has been in charge of managing the fire as it burns through rugged terrain dotted with ponderosa pine and brush.
Firefighters have not been trying to put the fire out, but rather to manage its growth within about 1,400 acres, as it slowly burns northeast to meet the Black Fire burn area of 2008.
"On some fires, we need to let fire play its role in the ecosystem," Graeser said.
Some of the same tools are used in fire management, but there are other skills needed, as well.
"It's a lot of brain work; it's a lot of thinking," Graeser observed. "We still have to use chainsaws, to run helicopters effectively. But, there are these other needs, like rigorous scientific data collection and an increased mapping skill set. We have to be able to play a fire in a different way, using fire to manage fire, especially when it comes to prescribed fire."
Above all, Graeser is in charge of ensuring conditions are safe for his firefighters.
That task is emotionally, spiritually and physically demanding.
"My No. 1 goal is to make sure everyone gets home in one piece," he said. "We're engaged mindfully. We keep safety at the forefront of what we do out there.
Managing fire is an inherently dangerous job."
MORE TIME AT HOME
Graeser, 37, is now working his 13th fire season.
Ten of those seasons were with the Mormon Lake Hotshots, one of the elite teams of multi-skilled professional wildland firefighters in Arizona.
In March of this year, he accepted the new post with its emphasis on wildfire management.
Working as a supervisor has advantages over being a Hotshot, like not having to be out of the state or the region nearly as much.
This means Graeser can spend more time with his wife, Elaine, who works long hours as a nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center.
"Elaine and I have never known anything else," he observed. "We met in my second year as a Hotshot. There is no way I could do this job without the love and support of my wife. Even the little things like the other night when we both worked 14 hours, she said, 'Don't worry, I ordered us a pizza.' We ate pizza and drank a beer on the sofa. There's no way the job is more important than the marriage."
The couple has two dogs, and neighbors help care for them when they are both busy on duty.
Normally, he works 9 to 5, but when there's a fire, his hours are longer.
"When we're assigned to an incident, we have to meet some work-rest ratio guidelines:
For every two hours that we work, we have to take an hour off," Graeser said. "For the most part, it's no more than 14 days on an incident, then we take at least one day off, hopefully two, and then we can be re-assigned. It can make for some long months."
ALL FIRE ROLES VITAL
Graeser said he doesn't really miss his Hotshot job.
"I was there for a reason, and I really enjoyed it, but life progresses," he said. "I was offered the opportunity to run my own crew, the opportunity to do something a little bit different with a crew I inherited."
He said Hotshot crews are respected for good reason, but other fire jobs are also important.
"They should be respected," he said. "It's a vital role within the fire community that needs to be filled, but there are equally vital roles in other areas as well."
Graeser said sometimes fires are memorable because they are big or complex, but he has another reason to remember a fire, including a time several summers ago when he was still a Hotshot.
"The ones that stick out in my mind are the ones when the crew I was working with was really doing good work, when we were really clicking together," he said. "It's a really magical thing, to be able to say to crew members, "'Today we did it right and we did it better.'"
A SHIFT IN CAREER
Graeser fell by chance into his firefighting and wildfire management career.
After studying and earning degrees in public administration, government and politics and national security on the East Coast, he worked for an outdoor recreation company doing corporate team building with rope courses in Virginia.
Still, he was looking for a new career direction, which he found in 1999 when a college friend going to NAU suggested to Graeser that he might really like Flagstaff.
"I lived on a sofa a few months," Graeser recalled. "I was walking through campus one day, and there was a fire service recruiting table. I signed up and got a call from the Williams Ranger District to work on an engine."
He said it's been a very rewarding career choice, although unusual considering the graduate program he pursued before.
His new assignment does call for some skills he might have learned in college, like diplomacy.
"The hardest part of what I do is trying to strike a good balance," he said. "It's a constant act of balancing the needs of the folks that work for me, the needs of the people I work for, the needs of the public, the needs of the land and the needs of the agency -- the policy side of things."
Graeser said he also has a personal reason for living and working in this region: his brother Brian, who died at the age of 21.
"He's one of the reasons that Flagstaff appealed to me," he explained. "He always loved in particular the desert Southwest."
Betsey Bruner can be reached at bbruner@azdailysun.com or 556-2255.
Who are the Hotshots?
There are three Hotshot crews in the Coconino National Forest: Blue Ridge, Mormon Lake and Flagstaff.
For the past month or so, they have mostly been out of state, currently assigned to wildfires in Montana, Nevada and Wyoming.
"They're part of a national system to go where the need is," said Karen Malis-Clark, public information officer with the Coconino National Forest. "You can never count on catching a Hotshot at home."
Malis-Clark said there are about 111 crews nationwide, including 12 in Arizona, one of the states with the highest number of Hotshots in the country.
Their formal name is Interagency Hotshot Crews (IHC), and they work in 20-person teams.
Crews are available for each fire season and are employed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, various Native American tribes, and the states of Alaska and Utah.
In May, June and July, when it's hot and dry, crews are often assigned to fire activity in the Southwest.
"The Wallow Fire is a good example, when about a third of all Hotshot crews in the country were assigned to that incident," Malis-Clark said. "In August, the activity moves north to the northern Rockies and Northwest. Then it's often southern California's turn for wildfire activity, with dry conditions coupled with Santa Ana winds in October and November."
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Reaching for the stars
From the Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Reaching for the stars
The University of Massachusetts astronomy department is about to go on a journey back in time, exploring galaxies over seven billion years older than the Sun.
Courtesy astro.umass.edu
The department, in cooperation with Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, is building a Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) atop the Sierra Negra volcano located between Vera Cruz and Puebla in Mexico in an effort to explore some of the earliest formed galaxies in space.
“[It] gives us a chance to go back and use the telescope like a time machine,” said Peter Schloerb, who directed UMass’ contribution to the project.
The LMT will be able to pick up galaxies seven to eight billion years older than the sun, and should be able to study galaxies at any age in the history of the universe and maybe even the very first galaxies, he said. Data from the telescope could answer questions about origins of the solar system, he added.
Schloerb said that, at its full potential, the LMT will be the largest and most sensitive telescope of its kind in the world. It could be as large as 50 meters in diameter, which can be compared to an Olympic sized swimming pool, said Gopal Narayanan, a research associate professor of astronomy at UMass and one of the principal instrument builders in the project.
How will the LMT be able to observe such early galaxies? The secret lies in the telescope’s Redshift Search Receiver, a heterodyne receiver used to measure the spectra of objects. The main purpose of the receiver is to detect higher redshift galaxies, which are galaxies farther away in space, Narayanan said.
“We look for the earliest galaxies which are moving away from us at immense speeds,” said Narayanan, who said that once explorers know the redshift of an object, they can then determine how far away it is and therefore how old.
“Knowing this information is vital to understanding when stars and galaxies first formed in the early universe, and in understanding how the structures of galaxies and voids that we see in the present day universe were put together,” he said.
He explained that because the universe is expanding, objects farther away are moving at a higher velocity than those closer.
“When you are looking at the spectra of molecules like carbon monoxide from these distant galaxies, you can tell its frequency has changed because it is moving away at a very high velocity,” said Narayanan.
Mark Heyer, part of the science committee collecting engineering and commissioning data for the telescope, explained how measuring the shift in frequency of wavelengths can measure how fast the galaxy is receding and therefore, give way to knowledge of a galaxy’s age.
“We see galaxies moving away from us shifting to longer wavelengths,” said Heyer, who added that knowing how the universe is expanding could help determine the distance of objects.
The LMT will also allow the team to soon observe never-before-seen galaxies, Heyer said.
He explained that researchers are aware of these galaxies because certain equipment in the telescope finds information emitted from new galaxies generated by new stars.
“We know where the objects are in the sky, we know where to look but don’t know the velocity and therefore, the distance,” he said.
Narayanan said the team has just completed the commissioning stage of the process to verify the capabilities of the telescope and receiver. During this process, the astronomers observed what Narayanan described as “the first light,” which was the first time millimeter wavelength photons made their way through the telescope and all sub-systems.
“We now know its capabilities and are happy with its performance so far,” he said.
He called the endeavor one of the largest scientific projects UMass has ever taken on.
“All of it coming together, and after all these years of hard work, it is gratifying to have success and we are now filled with great hope for the future scientific potential of the Large Millimeter Telescope,” he said.
Narayanan said the LMT is located on the inactive Sierra Negra volcano at 1,500 feet. In order to function properly, the telescope must be above much of the water vapor in the atmosphere because the vapor reduces the intensity of the radiation used by the telescope, he said.
Narayanan said working at such altitude, though, is risky and physically demanding.
“Oxygen deprivation is somewhat of an issue,” he said.
A previous telescope built in the 1970s was 14 meters in diameter. Schloerb said in order to keep up with competing space exploration and telescopes, project organizers began the concept of building a larger telescope in the early 1990s.
Schloerb pointed out that the LMT at its current measurements is 32 meters in diameter, but noted that it will be close to 42 meters in diameter in approximately six months. He also said there is a 45-meter telescope in Japan and a 100-meter telescope in West Virginia.
He said the LMT upon completion will be more sensitive and accurate than even the telescope in West Virginia, even though that telescope possesses more surface area.
The University of Massachusetts astronomy department is about to go on a journey back in time, exploring galaxies over seven billion years older than the Sun.
Courtesy astro.umass.edu
The department, in cooperation with Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, is building a Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) atop the Sierra Negra volcano located between Vera Cruz and Puebla in Mexico in an effort to explore some of the earliest formed galaxies in space.
“[It] gives us a chance to go back and use the telescope like a time machine,” said Peter Schloerb, who directed UMass’ contribution to the project.
The LMT will be able to pick up galaxies seven to eight billion years older than the sun, and should be able to study galaxies at any age in the history of the universe and maybe even the very first galaxies, he said. Data from the telescope could answer questions about origins of the solar system, he added.
Schloerb said that, at its full potential, the LMT will be the largest and most sensitive telescope of its kind in the world. It could be as large as 50 meters in diameter, which can be compared to an Olympic sized swimming pool, said Gopal Narayanan, a research associate professor of astronomy at UMass and one of the principal instrument builders in the project.
How will the LMT be able to observe such early galaxies? The secret lies in the telescope’s Redshift Search Receiver, a heterodyne receiver used to measure the spectra of objects. The main purpose of the receiver is to detect higher redshift galaxies, which are galaxies farther away in space, Narayanan said.
“We look for the earliest galaxies which are moving away from us at immense speeds,” said Narayanan, who said that once explorers know the redshift of an object, they can then determine how far away it is and therefore how old.
“Knowing this information is vital to understanding when stars and galaxies first formed in the early universe, and in understanding how the structures of galaxies and voids that we see in the present day universe were put together,” he said.
He explained that because the universe is expanding, objects farther away are moving at a higher velocity than those closer.
“When you are looking at the spectra of molecules like carbon monoxide from these distant galaxies, you can tell its frequency has changed because it is moving away at a very high velocity,” said Narayanan.
Mark Heyer, part of the science committee collecting engineering and commissioning data for the telescope, explained how measuring the shift in frequency of wavelengths can measure how fast the galaxy is receding and therefore, give way to knowledge of a galaxy’s age.
“We see galaxies moving away from us shifting to longer wavelengths,” said Heyer, who added that knowing how the universe is expanding could help determine the distance of objects.
The LMT will also allow the team to soon observe never-before-seen galaxies, Heyer said.
He explained that researchers are aware of these galaxies because certain equipment in the telescope finds information emitted from new galaxies generated by new stars.
“We know where the objects are in the sky, we know where to look but don’t know the velocity and therefore, the distance,” he said.
Narayanan said the team has just completed the commissioning stage of the process to verify the capabilities of the telescope and receiver. During this process, the astronomers observed what Narayanan described as “the first light,” which was the first time millimeter wavelength photons made their way through the telescope and all sub-systems.
“We now know its capabilities and are happy with its performance so far,” he said.
He called the endeavor one of the largest scientific projects UMass has ever taken on.
“All of it coming together, and after all these years of hard work, it is gratifying to have success and we are now filled with great hope for the future scientific potential of the Large Millimeter Telescope,” he said.
Narayanan said the LMT is located on the inactive Sierra Negra volcano at 1,500 feet. In order to function properly, the telescope must be above much of the water vapor in the atmosphere because the vapor reduces the intensity of the radiation used by the telescope, he said.
Narayanan said working at such altitude, though, is risky and physically demanding.
“Oxygen deprivation is somewhat of an issue,” he said.
A previous telescope built in the 1970s was 14 meters in diameter. Schloerb said in order to keep up with competing space exploration and telescopes, project organizers began the concept of building a larger telescope in the early 1990s.
Schloerb pointed out that the LMT at its current measurements is 32 meters in diameter, but noted that it will be close to 42 meters in diameter in approximately six months. He also said there is a 45-meter telescope in Japan and a 100-meter telescope in West Virginia.
He said the LMT upon completion will be more sensitive and accurate than even the telescope in West Virginia, even though that telescope possesses more surface area.
Sierra Negra Volcano
Pico de Orizaba and Sierra Negra viewed from the west, near Ciudad Serdán
From Wikipedia.com
Sierra Negra (also, and perhaps more properly, called Cerro La Negra) is an extinct volcanic companion peak of Mexico's highest mountain, the Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltepetl). At up to 4,640 m (15,220 ft) above sea level (depending on which source one consults) it is one of Mexico's highest peaks, perhaps even the fourth highest, though it is usually listed fifth. However, because it is overshadowed by its much higher companion it is not as well known as, for instance, the slightly lower Matlalcueitl (Malinche), and is often not included in lists of Mexico's mountains.
The summit of Sierra Negra is the site for one of the world's premier astronomical instruments, the Large Millimeter Telescope. The service road for this project is claimed to be the highest road in North America. A part of the telescope facility is visible as a white dot in the first picture below and more clearly in the second picture.
The name Sierra Negra is confusing, because a 'Sierra' is usually a mountain range rather than a single peak, and there is a Sierra often called the Sierra Negra which lies to the south of this peak, along the border of the states of Puebla and Veracruz. However, it is the name that occurs on the official INEGI maps and is the one that is most commonly used by English speakers to refer to the mountain. The Nahuatl names "Tliltepetl" or "Atlitzin" are attached to it by some, though they have also been used for other mountains in the area. Speakers of Orizaba Nahuatl call the mountain Istaktepetl Ikni 'the White Mountain's Sibling' (the Pico de Orizaba being the White Mountain).
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
From Russia's rarely seen 'Yellowstone,' a plea for tourists
From Christian Science Monitor: From Russia's rarely seen 'Yellowstone,' a plea for tourists
As Russia invests $3 billion to attract visitors, it could open a nature preserve with the largest concentration of active volcanoes and geysers in Eurasia to tourism.
Casting an envious eye toward Yellowstone National Park, Russia may finally be ready to let the world know it has big geysers, too.
The remote Valley of the Geysers has been seen only by a handful of people since it was discovered in 1941. It was completely closed to visitors under Soviet law, which preserved many of the most naturally impressive sites for scientific research. Since 1991, the four-mile-long valley that contains 90 active geysers and numerous mineral hot springs, opened only for guided tours for a limited few.
But as Russia tries to undo its reputation as the most unwelcoming tourist destination in Europe, Moscow is investing $3 billion to make the country more enticing to visitors and has set aside $82 million for its 200 nature preserves, some of which are unique natural wonders that have never been open to even the Russian public, much less foreign tourists.
And while Russia appears to be putting out a welcome mat, money looks like the primary motivator. "If we invest in national parks and nature reserves, we'll see this money return to the budget," Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev told journalists last week, noting that national parks in the US bring in around $14.5 billion each year.
Hoping to take advantage of this new mood, officials at the Kronotsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve in the remote Pacific territory of Kamchatka are petitioning Moscow to change its status to a "national park" so that it can attract more tourists. This week, it posted a virtual tour of the Valley of the Geysers, the largest concentration of active volcanoes and geysers in Eurasia.
"There are enormous possibilities for developing ecological tourism here," says Arkady Tishkov, deputy director of the official Institute of Geography in Moscow. "Over the past couple decades Kamchatka has been depopulated, because people are leaving. They might have stayed if there were properly organized tourism."
But he adds that while the Valley of the Geysers could be opened to greater numbers of guided tourists, other parts of the park, which include Eurasia's highest active volcano and the natural habitat of the world's largest bears, Kamchatka brown bears, should remain off limits.
"Unrestricted access is the biggest threat [to the delicate ecology]," he says. "The geyser valley could host more visitors, if they are properly organized, but other parts of the preserve should be for scientists only."
The geyser valley is one of 10 restricted nature zones in Russia – which have been identified as UNESCO World Heritage sites – that the Russian government is thinking of developing for tourist potential.
The list includes Siberia's Lake Baikal, which contains a stunning 20 percent of the world's fresh water; Europe's last alpine wilderness in the western Caucasus mountains; and Europe's largest tract of ancient virgin forest in northern Russia's Komi Republic.
"There are amazing places in Russia that are virtually untouched by human activities," says Andrei Petrov, head of the World Heritage project at Greenpeace-Russia. "It's very good if they are planning to make them more open, so that people can see them. But it's worrisome too. These sites are unique and irreplaceable, it's very important to preserve them for future generations."
Fermi, Volcanoes, and the Dark Art of Estimation
From Technology Review.com: Fermi, Volcanoes, and the Dark Art of Estimation
Enrico Fermi was renowned for his ability to make reliable estimates. But how well can you do on a modern estimation problem?
During the first test of an atomic bomb on 16 July, 1945, one important question was the yield of the weapon. During the test, the Nobel-prize winning physicist Enrico Fermi, one of the leaders of the team, estimated that it was about 10 kilotons.
This was more than a mere guess. As the shockwave from the explosion hit the Base Camp where Fermi was observing the test, he method threw a handful of paper scraps into the air and watched how far the shock moved them.
Then. with a few straightforward assumptions, he made an estimate that turned out to be reasonably accurate. The actual yield turned out to be 19 kilotons.
Fermi was a master of estimation, an art that is worth acquiring. He famously set his students problems such as estimating the number of piano tuners in Chicago. This involves making a number of reasonable assumptions such as as the number of people living in Chicago, in how many houses there is a piano, how often a piano should be tuned, how long it takes for a tuner to do the work and so on.
In this spirit, Hernan Asory and Arturo Lopez Davalos at the Comision Nacional De Energia Atomica in Argentina, have set themselves (and their students) a similar estimation task. The problem is to estimate the energy release as well as the volume and mass of sand ejected during the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile on 4 July.
You can look up the calculations and the assumption they make in the paper. You might want to try the estimate yourself.
I'll just leave you with a couple of very general but impressive figures: These guys conclude that the volcano produced 24 million truckloads of sand and released as much energy as the entire Argentinian electric power grid generates in 2.3 days.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1109.1165: Fermi Problem: Power developed at the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic system in June 2011
Enrico Fermi was renowned for his ability to make reliable estimates. But how well can you do on a modern estimation problem?
During the first test of an atomic bomb on 16 July, 1945, one important question was the yield of the weapon. During the test, the Nobel-prize winning physicist Enrico Fermi, one of the leaders of the team, estimated that it was about 10 kilotons.
This was more than a mere guess. As the shockwave from the explosion hit the Base Camp where Fermi was observing the test, he method threw a handful of paper scraps into the air and watched how far the shock moved them.
Then. with a few straightforward assumptions, he made an estimate that turned out to be reasonably accurate. The actual yield turned out to be 19 kilotons.
Fermi was a master of estimation, an art that is worth acquiring. He famously set his students problems such as estimating the number of piano tuners in Chicago. This involves making a number of reasonable assumptions such as as the number of people living in Chicago, in how many houses there is a piano, how often a piano should be tuned, how long it takes for a tuner to do the work and so on.
In this spirit, Hernan Asory and Arturo Lopez Davalos at the Comision Nacional De Energia Atomica in Argentina, have set themselves (and their students) a similar estimation task. The problem is to estimate the energy release as well as the volume and mass of sand ejected during the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile on 4 July.
You can look up the calculations and the assumption they make in the paper. You might want to try the estimate yourself.
I'll just leave you with a couple of very general but impressive figures: These guys conclude that the volcano produced 24 million truckloads of sand and released as much energy as the entire Argentinian electric power grid generates in 2.3 days.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1109.1165: Fermi Problem: Power developed at the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic system in June 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Stunning volcanoes seen from space by NASA and the International Space Station
From the Herald Sun(Australia): Stunning volcanoes seen from space by NASA and the International Space Station
A SERIES of breath-taking aerial shots of some of the world's most famous, and notorious, volcanoes have been captured from space.
The US-operated GeoEye-1 satellite and the International Space Station were able to take the spectacular images.
Go to the link to see these really cool photos.
In Spain, Hiking Along the Volcanoes of Catalonia
From the New York Times: In Spain, Hiking Along the Volcanoes of Catalonia
A BLACK-AND-WHITE bird, perhaps a magpie, looking not unlike a soaring penguin, floated above my wife, Jessie, and me as we walked out of Olot, deep in the foothills of the Pyrenees in Spanish Catalonia. We weren’t exactly lost, but an old lady’s directions, in rambling Catalan, seemed somewhat improbable: go until you see a path that looks like it used to be a railroad, she said. Then follow it for about 35 miles until you reach Girona.
When I hesitated, she added, “Just keeping walking along this volcano.”
A record scratch across the heavens: we had been walking along a volcano? I knew from pre-trip research that this area is dotted with volcanoes — extinct ones — but it wasn’t until this moment that I realized we’d been walking along the base of one.
We were starting a three-day hike on the Vías Verdes, or Greenways (viasverdes.com), through the hinterlands of Catalonia, in northeast Spain. These hiking and biking trails have recently been etched throughout Spain by the federal government in an effort to bring eco-tourism (and tourists’ euros) to less trammeled parts of the country.
I was particularly intrigued by our stretch, which follows an old railway line that once opened up a particularly isolated area of the country. The trail, officially called Carrilet I, starts in Olot, a volcano-studded town of about 33,000, to Girona, a painfully attractive medieval town about 33 miles away.
This is a Catalonia outside Barcelona, one tourists rarely see — a rural countryside, created in part by those volcanoes, with dramatic cliffs, verdant fields and untrammeled medieval villages.
After walking over the babbling Fluvià River, we found a neurotically straight path stretching under 100-foot-long tunnels and arched stone bridges. We had discovered our trail.
In fact, the Greenways infrastructure practically handholds hikers along the way, with regular markers, informational signs and stones marking each kilometer. Old railway stations in each village have been restored and transformed into information offices or snack bars for hikers and bikers. And with the handy guide I bought at the tourist office in Olot (8 euros, about $11 at $1.41 to the euro), describing the highlights along the way and listing restaurants and hotels in each town, it now seemed impossible to get lost.
We made our way up a slight ascent before the trail leveled off into a cornfield. Our view was dominated by the towering, rocky peak El Puigsacalm to our right; behind us were a large volcanic crater and, farther, the snow-capped Pyrenees. Perhaps more notably, we weren’t surrounded by tourists. We did see some friendly locals, including a group of old men, canes jabbing at the gravel path; as we passed, we exchanged “Bon dia,” Catalan for “Buenos días.” Even bikers, zooming by, managed to squeak out a “Hola.”
When the first train chugged along this route in November 1911, it connected the interior of Catalonia to the Costa Brava town of San Feliu de Guixols in an unprecedented way, allowing villagers a more comfortable and quicker passage to Girona (and then on to the sea). It was also financially beneficial, opening up the economy of the area by giving villagers and farmers a new market for their goods. But thanks to the Milagro Español, or Spanish Miracle, the strong growth in the economy between 1959 and 1973, many people in the area swapped train travel for cars. And so, in 1969, the carrilet made its last trip.
Eventually, the region bought the tracks and railway line from the state, and in the 1990s, a hiking and biking trail along the same lines as the railway, opened. “The trains were important for the economy of the region,” Silvia Marty, the communications director for the Vías Verdes of Girona, told me when we visited her office. “But now, in a way, the Vías Verdes are doing the same thing: bringing people to relatively unknown places who are then supporting the local economy.”
We had the option of starting in Girona and walking toward Olot. We did it the other way around, mostly because starting in Olot means the journey is mostly downhill, but for one challenging hill, nearly 2,000 above sea level, outside the town of Sant Esteve d’en Bas.
Most of the first day’s hike would be through the Garrotxa (pronounced Garr-OHT-sha), or, as it’s officially called, Parque Natural de la Zona Volcánica de la Garrotxa, a 50-square-mile area studded with 40 extinct volcanoes. All that fertile volcanic soil has sprouted a sub-cuisine of sorts, known here as cuina volcanica, or volcanic cuisine, based on the produce grown in the area.
Before we left Olot, I had met with David Coloma, who manages the Volcanic Cuisine Group, an organization of local restaurants, at Hostal dels Ossos. We sampled some local favorites, like fesols de Santa Pau, beans that were unusually soft thanks to the soil, which, Mr. Coloma told me, regulates the temperature and creates a natural greenhouse. “Potatoes, for example, are smaller and more absorbent here because of the soil,” he said. “They’re different from the same type of ingredients you’ll get 30 miles from here.”
I could have used some volcanic cuisine, or really any cuisine, by about the 15th mile of the first day’s hike. Just as my legs told me it was time to call it a day, I noticed the wind start to pick up. Behind us, dark clouds were gathering. We were almost at our night’s first destination, the small town of Les Planes d’Hostoles and its one hotel.
We trudged in, still dry, and walked up to the Art Deco Hotel Can Garay. The owner, Lluis Garay, was nursing cool beverages with his two sons at a picnic table in the hotel garden. He waved us over. “Are you looking for a room?” he asked in Spanish. I nodded, and he made a harsh slashing gesture through the air. “Completo,” he said. I let my head fall back in exasperation — why hadn’t I made a reservation?
“But don’t worry,” he said. “There’s another hotel in the next town. Let me call.” A minute later we had a room reserved in Amer, just down the road, but we decided to linger and have a cold bottle of Estrella Damm, the local beer.
“We should really get going,” Jessie said.
“What’s the rush?” Mr. Garay said. “Sit down. Enjoy your beer. Want some patatas bravas?” he asked, referring to the ubiquitous Spanish potato dish.
I did want some patatas bravas, but I pointed out the dark clouds in the distance and said that it looked like it was going to start raining soon.
He shrugged and then turned to look at the clouds himself. “Oh, sí. Es posible,” he said sheepishly.
I asked how far it was to Amer, the next town. Five more miles, it turned out, which meant we had to move fast enough to keep ahead of the impending downpour.
“Is there a taxi in this town?” I asked. There was not.
Jessie and I looked at the rumbling clouds and then at each other. Potato-less, we picked up our bags and darted back to the trail.
About halfway to Amer, the storm finally caught up with us, pounding the earth and knocking down tree branches across the path. Fortunately, we were equipped with ponchos and umbrellas, and so we continued on, crossing 90-foot-high bridges below suddenly gushing creeks. By the time we trudged into the town of Amer, with its large arcaded square, we were both soaked. We wandered into Fonda Giralt, a hotel and restaurant, and the mustached owner, Gerardo Castillo, was standing there, a welcome smile splashed across his face. “David?” he asked. “Welcome,” he said and stuck out his hand.
Thanks to our extra push to Amer, the next day’s hike was short — only seven miles to Angles. The path, starting at the Amer railway station, passed by the dramatic steep cliffs of Sant Roc and craggy bald mountain tops. We soon spilled out into the valley of the Ter river, the path flanked by orchards, before hiking into Angles, an unremarkable town with an reputedly remarkable restaurant called L’Aliancia. I say “reputedly,” because it, like most of the restaurants I wanted to sample on this trip, was fully booked on the day we arrived (note: make hotel and restaurant reservations ahead). But a comfortable hotel with free Wi-Fi made up for it.
On the final day of the hike, my bag feeling heavier than ever, the landscape was the least dramatic we’d seen, though we did pass by orchards and fields of red poppies. The hike itself, though, was one of the most entertaining, thanks in large part to a fellow hiker I dubbed Opera Man. It started just outside of the village of Bescanó. A tenor’s voice belted out powerful notes behind us; it was as if we were being followed by the Catalan tenor José Carreras. About 200 feet away stood a short, track-suit-clad man with a mustache. I slowed down to let him catch up.
“There are only two times I sing,” he said, “in the shower and during my morning walk. You should try it. It really opens the lungs.” Then he belted out another 10-second note and strode ahead. In a few minutes, when he was 100 feet away, I took his advice. He turned and gave me a thumbs-up.
A few hours later, we stumbled into Salt, a suburb of Girona, and then finally Girona itself, checking into a hotel where I threw my bags down and jumped into the shower. I sang, perhaps inspired by Opera Man, in celebration of completing our journey.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Too hot to handle
From London Free Press: Too hot to handle
Playboy cover model Elle Patille gives new meaning to the term "explosive workouts."
The Canadian bombshell loves climbing active volcanoes in Central America in her spare time.
Seriously.
Patille, a 33-year-old native of Mississauga, Ont., has documented eight such daring and gruelling volcanic treks online.
Her latest conquest was the mighty Santiaguito in Guatemala's western highlands during an orange alert -- aka a "do not climb" advisory, she tells QMI Agency with a devilish laugh.
The brown-eyed brunette and three other thrill-seekers spent three days hiking the dangerously active volcano earlier this year.
"There's debris about the size of small cars to minivans that actually come flying your way with every eruption. We were hiding behind large boulders whenever that would happen," she recalls.
"And after every eruption, there's usually a torrential downpour because of all the vapour clouds. And there's ash showers. It looked like snow was falling. It's pretty unreal."
It's also "an amazing workout," the Torontonian adds, noting she has "27 more volcanoes left to climb in Guatemala."
Of course, not all of Patille's workouts are quite as extreme.
But then again, there's nothing routine about her, well, workout routine, especially considering her hectic travel schedule.
"I just try to do it as often as I can," she explains. "So even if that means grabbing a kettlebell and working out in the backyard, or taking some weights or one of those stability balls while I travel, then I do, just so I can try to get a quick workout in my hotel room. It's too hard to stick to a daily regimen when you're so busy."
Patille, a lean 125 pounds at five-foot-10, also enjoys Bikram yoga.
She works up a sweat in what she affectionately calls the "torture chamber" as often as her schedule allows.
"It's hot yoga for 90 minutes at 115 degrees," she says. "It's like doing yoga for an hour and a half in a sauna."
Fitness has always been important to Patille.
But as she moves into her mid-30s, she admits she's "a little older than most of the girls who are still posing for Playboy," and her workouts have taken on a greater sense of urgency.
"I've been very lucky, very fortunate -- good genes, I guess," she says. "At the same time, it does put pressure on you. You look at the younger girls coming in, and by no means is it a competition, but it does put more pressure on you, absolutely."
That's why Patille doesn't splurge as much as she'd like to when it comes to her diet.
She eats plenty of veggies, fruit, nuts and fish.
"I try to avoid red meat. I think it's the animal lover in me," she adds.
Even if she didn't pose nude for a living, Patille explains, she'd still keep fit.
"Fitness is important for anybody, even if you're not in my profession," she says. "I just think it's something that should be mandatory for everybody just to feel good about themselves. I'm a strong believer in it."
Visit www.ellepatille.com.
Elle's advice:
"You know what, as long as you're feeling good about your life, you're healthy and you're having fun, that's all that really matters. So don't put too much pressure on yourself. I know we're our own worst critics, but that can just be detrimental at the end. Just take care of yourself and enjoy your life."
Playboy cover model Elle Patille gives new meaning to the term "explosive workouts."
The Canadian bombshell loves climbing active volcanoes in Central America in her spare time.
Seriously.
Patille, a 33-year-old native of Mississauga, Ont., has documented eight such daring and gruelling volcanic treks online.
Her latest conquest was the mighty Santiaguito in Guatemala's western highlands during an orange alert -- aka a "do not climb" advisory, she tells QMI Agency with a devilish laugh.
The brown-eyed brunette and three other thrill-seekers spent three days hiking the dangerously active volcano earlier this year.
"There's debris about the size of small cars to minivans that actually come flying your way with every eruption. We were hiding behind large boulders whenever that would happen," she recalls.
"And after every eruption, there's usually a torrential downpour because of all the vapour clouds. And there's ash showers. It looked like snow was falling. It's pretty unreal."
It's also "an amazing workout," the Torontonian adds, noting she has "27 more volcanoes left to climb in Guatemala."
Of course, not all of Patille's workouts are quite as extreme.
But then again, there's nothing routine about her, well, workout routine, especially considering her hectic travel schedule.
"I just try to do it as often as I can," she explains. "So even if that means grabbing a kettlebell and working out in the backyard, or taking some weights or one of those stability balls while I travel, then I do, just so I can try to get a quick workout in my hotel room. It's too hard to stick to a daily regimen when you're so busy."
Patille, a lean 125 pounds at five-foot-10, also enjoys Bikram yoga.
She works up a sweat in what she affectionately calls the "torture chamber" as often as her schedule allows.
"It's hot yoga for 90 minutes at 115 degrees," she says. "It's like doing yoga for an hour and a half in a sauna."
Fitness has always been important to Patille.
But as she moves into her mid-30s, she admits she's "a little older than most of the girls who are still posing for Playboy," and her workouts have taken on a greater sense of urgency.
"I've been very lucky, very fortunate -- good genes, I guess," she says. "At the same time, it does put pressure on you. You look at the younger girls coming in, and by no means is it a competition, but it does put more pressure on you, absolutely."
That's why Patille doesn't splurge as much as she'd like to when it comes to her diet.
She eats plenty of veggies, fruit, nuts and fish.
"I try to avoid red meat. I think it's the animal lover in me," she adds.
Even if she didn't pose nude for a living, Patille explains, she'd still keep fit.
"Fitness is important for anybody, even if you're not in my profession," she says. "I just think it's something that should be mandatory for everybody just to feel good about themselves. I'm a strong believer in it."
Visit www.ellepatille.com.
Elle's advice:
"You know what, as long as you're feeling good about your life, you're healthy and you're having fun, that's all that really matters. So don't put too much pressure on yourself. I know we're our own worst critics, but that can just be detrimental at the end. Just take care of yourself and enjoy your life."
FHVNP Annual Meeting at Volcano House (Sept. 10)
From Hawaii 24/7: FHVNP Annual Meeting at Volcano House (Sept. 10)
The Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (FHVNP) hosts its Annual Meeting at the Volcano House, which is currently closed to the general public. The members-only meeting is 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.
“At the Friends meeting, our members get a rare behind-the-scenes experience in the Volcano House, which has been closed for renovations since 2009,” said FHVNP General Manager Julie Mitchell.
The meeting takes place in the koa bar, with a panoramic view of Kilauea Caldera and the vent at Halemaumau Crater.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Don Swanson, a senior geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. He will summarize the current state of activity at the summit and along the east rift zone.
“Join us for an exciting day of meet and greet, the board of directors election, and your choice of three special guided tours,” Mitchell said. “Plus, enjoy a light luncheon by Conard Eyre, the Green Goose Gourmet, featuring salmon caesar salad, curried rice pilaf, frittata squares, nicoise salad, spiced hummus with bread, fruit medley, desserts, and iced tea.”
Following lunch, three tours are on offer: “Explore the Volcano House” with Walt Poole, “’Iliahi (Sandalwood) Trail” with John Stallman, and “Successes on the Summit” with Rhonda Loh. The latter includes a walk down to the park’s native plant nursery.
Up for election on FHVNP’s board for the first time are new candidates Kristen Clyne-Hamitouche, Cheryl Gansecki, Pohai Montague-Mullins, and Thane K. Pratt. Up for reelection are incumbent candidates Natalie Pfeifer and Ab Valencia.
“Although this is a members-only event, we invite non-members to join the Friends in order to attend. Anyone who would like to become a Friends member is welcome,” Mitchell said.
To RSVP or to become a member, call the Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at 985-7373 or visit: www.fhvnp.org
The Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (FHVNP) hosts its Annual Meeting at the Volcano House, which is currently closed to the general public. The members-only meeting is 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.
“At the Friends meeting, our members get a rare behind-the-scenes experience in the Volcano House, which has been closed for renovations since 2009,” said FHVNP General Manager Julie Mitchell.
The meeting takes place in the koa bar, with a panoramic view of Kilauea Caldera and the vent at Halemaumau Crater.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Don Swanson, a senior geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. He will summarize the current state of activity at the summit and along the east rift zone.
“Join us for an exciting day of meet and greet, the board of directors election, and your choice of three special guided tours,” Mitchell said. “Plus, enjoy a light luncheon by Conard Eyre, the Green Goose Gourmet, featuring salmon caesar salad, curried rice pilaf, frittata squares, nicoise salad, spiced hummus with bread, fruit medley, desserts, and iced tea.”
Following lunch, three tours are on offer: “Explore the Volcano House” with Walt Poole, “’Iliahi (Sandalwood) Trail” with John Stallman, and “Successes on the Summit” with Rhonda Loh. The latter includes a walk down to the park’s native plant nursery.
Up for election on FHVNP’s board for the first time are new candidates Kristen Clyne-Hamitouche, Cheryl Gansecki, Pohai Montague-Mullins, and Thane K. Pratt. Up for reelection are incumbent candidates Natalie Pfeifer and Ab Valencia.
“Although this is a members-only event, we invite non-members to join the Friends in order to attend. Anyone who would like to become a Friends member is welcome,” Mitchell said.
To RSVP or to become a member, call the Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at 985-7373 or visit: www.fhvnp.org
5 biggest geothermal energy generating plants in the world
From Pow-Eng.com: 5 biggest geothermal energy generating plants in the world
Shabina Shafi:
geothermal energy generating plantsGeothermal energy generating plants
Geothermal power plants may appear to be easy on paper but actually they need engineering at such a large scale that has never been made use of before. Geothermal power plants use the earth's heat to heat the water which is then used to run a steam turbine. In order to do this, engineers have to dig below the earth's surface and then insert shafts into the dug holes. After the shafts are in their proper places, cold water is shot down into them for bringing the superheated water back to the earth's surface, which is then used to move the steam turbines. Various scientists say that the electricity produced in this way is fully safe, clean and virtually an inexhaustible process capable of fulfilling the world's yearly power needs. Some of the biggest and most famous geothermal energy generating plants of the world are listed below.
1. Utah's 10MW geothermal power plant
10MW geothermal power plant10MW geothermal power plant BY Utah
This is an eco-friendly project that has been constructed along the largest geothermal hotbeds uncovered since the last 25 years and has taken only 6 months to finish. The company has said that their zero-emission plant is capable of providing 10MW of green power the day it has started to function. However, geothermal power plants have their own negative points. The construction of these plants can affect the land stability severely in the surrounding area. Also, a considerable amount of heat generated is lost that decreases the efficiency of such plants.
2. Raser Technologies' 10MW geothermal power plant
Raser Geothermal power plantRaser Geothermal power plant
After a lead time of five months, Raser Technologies has introduced their geothermal power plant in Beaver County, Utah that has started to generate 10MW electricity and is distributed it to Anaheim, California. Traditionally, a geothermal power plant requires up to 5 years lead time before it begins to generate power. Raser plant has made use of those modular components that are off-the-shelf and are taken from the air conditioning industry to minimize the lead time to a large extent.
3. Indonesia plans to tap volcano power for 4000MW of clean electricity
4000MW geothermal power plant4000MW geothermal power plant for Indonesia
Indonesia has launched a grand plan to utilize the immense power of its volcanoes that occupy an area from the Indian to the Pacific Oceans and generates about 4000MW of green energy. The 17,000 islands comprise of hundreds of volcanoes that are expected to hold around 40 percent of the world's potential of geothermal energy. This country is determined to generate 4GW of power by the year 2014, which will multiply the present capacity of 1189MW four times.
4. Harry Reid's world's first hybrid solar-geothermal power plant
Hybrid Solar-Geothermal Power Plantfirst Hybrid Solar-Geothermal Power Plant
This is the world's first hybrid power plant, and is built at the location of present Stillwater Geothermal Plant. Even though the solar component is insignificant, it is a big step forward towards combining the renewable sources of energy. This new hybrid of solar and geothermal energy power plant is constructed by Enel, which is one of the world's biggest power plant developers, and is also used to carry out the test runs of similar projects.
5. New geothermal power plant could provide a tenth of UK's electricity
geothermal power plantgeothermal power plant for UK
In this technology, natural heat that lies beneath the earth's surface is used to produce electricity. The heat generated is used to run electricity-generating turbines. This is the prospective power station of the UK that can account for 10 percent of the UK's electricity requirements. Furthermore, it is considered as the most feasible and reliable option in contrast to controversial wind farms. This plant generates 3MW of electricity that is carbon-neutral, and is sufficient to provide power supply to approximately 5,000 homes.
Undoubtedly, the geothermal power options are much better then nuclear energy usage, but the costs associated with it are much higher than their other counterparts. Only drilling a 3 mile tunnel below the ground will cost around $8 million, and if you want to produce 100 Gigawatts of power, you require an investment of more than a billion dollars. The rocks that are tapped with drilling would eventually lose their heat in some decades and then new wells would need to be drilled somewhere else. The tunnels that are dug are at a huge risk of collapsing in case of earthquakes
Shabina Shafi:
geothermal energy generating plantsGeothermal energy generating plants
Geothermal power plants may appear to be easy on paper but actually they need engineering at such a large scale that has never been made use of before. Geothermal power plants use the earth's heat to heat the water which is then used to run a steam turbine. In order to do this, engineers have to dig below the earth's surface and then insert shafts into the dug holes. After the shafts are in their proper places, cold water is shot down into them for bringing the superheated water back to the earth's surface, which is then used to move the steam turbines. Various scientists say that the electricity produced in this way is fully safe, clean and virtually an inexhaustible process capable of fulfilling the world's yearly power needs. Some of the biggest and most famous geothermal energy generating plants of the world are listed below.
1. Utah's 10MW geothermal power plant
10MW geothermal power plant10MW geothermal power plant BY Utah
This is an eco-friendly project that has been constructed along the largest geothermal hotbeds uncovered since the last 25 years and has taken only 6 months to finish. The company has said that their zero-emission plant is capable of providing 10MW of green power the day it has started to function. However, geothermal power plants have their own negative points. The construction of these plants can affect the land stability severely in the surrounding area. Also, a considerable amount of heat generated is lost that decreases the efficiency of such plants.
2. Raser Technologies' 10MW geothermal power plant
Raser Geothermal power plantRaser Geothermal power plant
After a lead time of five months, Raser Technologies has introduced their geothermal power plant in Beaver County, Utah that has started to generate 10MW electricity and is distributed it to Anaheim, California. Traditionally, a geothermal power plant requires up to 5 years lead time before it begins to generate power. Raser plant has made use of those modular components that are off-the-shelf and are taken from the air conditioning industry to minimize the lead time to a large extent.
3. Indonesia plans to tap volcano power for 4000MW of clean electricity
4000MW geothermal power plant4000MW geothermal power plant for Indonesia
Indonesia has launched a grand plan to utilize the immense power of its volcanoes that occupy an area from the Indian to the Pacific Oceans and generates about 4000MW of green energy. The 17,000 islands comprise of hundreds of volcanoes that are expected to hold around 40 percent of the world's potential of geothermal energy. This country is determined to generate 4GW of power by the year 2014, which will multiply the present capacity of 1189MW four times.
4. Harry Reid's world's first hybrid solar-geothermal power plant
Hybrid Solar-Geothermal Power Plantfirst Hybrid Solar-Geothermal Power Plant
This is the world's first hybrid power plant, and is built at the location of present Stillwater Geothermal Plant. Even though the solar component is insignificant, it is a big step forward towards combining the renewable sources of energy. This new hybrid of solar and geothermal energy power plant is constructed by Enel, which is one of the world's biggest power plant developers, and is also used to carry out the test runs of similar projects.
5. New geothermal power plant could provide a tenth of UK's electricity
geothermal power plantgeothermal power plant for UK
In this technology, natural heat that lies beneath the earth's surface is used to produce electricity. The heat generated is used to run electricity-generating turbines. This is the prospective power station of the UK that can account for 10 percent of the UK's electricity requirements. Furthermore, it is considered as the most feasible and reliable option in contrast to controversial wind farms. This plant generates 3MW of electricity that is carbon-neutral, and is sufficient to provide power supply to approximately 5,000 homes.
Undoubtedly, the geothermal power options are much better then nuclear energy usage, but the costs associated with it are much higher than their other counterparts. Only drilling a 3 mile tunnel below the ground will cost around $8 million, and if you want to produce 100 Gigawatts of power, you require an investment of more than a billion dollars. The rocks that are tapped with drilling would eventually lose their heat in some decades and then new wells would need to be drilled somewhere else. The tunnels that are dug are at a huge risk of collapsing in case of earthquakes
Friday, September 9, 2011
List of Volcanoes in Arizona
Volcano -- Last eruption
Mount Baldy -- 8-9 million years ago
Mount Elden -- ?
Merriam Cone -- ?
Red Mountain -- 740,000 years ago
San Francisco Mountain -- ?
SP Crater -- 71,000 years ago
Sunset Crater -- 1122 ± 58 years
Mount Baldy -- 8-9 million years ago
Mount Elden -- ?
Merriam Cone -- ?
Red Mountain -- 740,000 years ago
San Francisco Mountain -- ?
SP Crater -- 71,000 years ago
Sunset Crater -- 1122 ± 58 years
Thursday, September 8, 2011
List of volcanoes in Alaska
Volcanoes in Alaska:
Name -- Last eruption
Mount Adagdak -- ?
Mount Akutan -- 1996
Amak Volcano -- 1796
Mount Amukta -- 1997
Mount Aniakchak -- 1931
Mount Augustine -- 2005
Bogoslof Island -- 1992
Buldir Volcano -- ?
Mount Bona -- ?
Mount Blackburn -- ?
Buzzard Creek -- 1050 BC
Capital Mountain -- ?
Mount Carlisle -- 1987
Mount Chagulak -- ?
Mount Chiginagak -- 1998
Mount Cleveland -- 2008
Cold Bay Volcano -- ?
Mount Dana -- 1890 BC
Davidof Volcano -- ?
Mount Denison -- ?
Devils Desk -- ?
Mount Douglas -- ?
Mount Dutton -- ?
Mount Edgecumbe -- 2220 BC ± 100 years
Mount Emmons -- ?
Mount Fisher -- 1830
Mount Frosty -- ?
Fourpeaked -- 2006
Gareloi Volcano -- 1989
Mount Gilbert -- ?
Great Sitkin -- 1974
Mount Gordon -- ?
Mount Griggs -- ?
Hayes Volcano -- 1200 ± 300 years
Mount Herbert -- ?
Mount Iliamna -- 1876
Imuruk Lake -- 300
Ingakslugwat Hills -- ?
Mount Isanotski -- ?
Mount Kagamil -- 1929
Mount Kaguyak -- 1650 BC
Mount Kanaga -- 1995
Kasatochi Island -- 2008
Mount Katmai -- 1912
Mount Kialagvik -- ?
Mount Kiska -- 1990
Mount Koniuji -- ?
Korovin Volcano -- 2006
Mount Kukak -- ?
Mount Kupreanof -- 1987
Kookooligit Mountains -- Holocene
Little Sitkin -- 1830
Mount Mageik -- ?
Mount Makushin -- 1995
Mount Martin -- 1953
Monte Moffett -- ?
Novarupta -- 1912
Nunivak Island -- ?
Mount Okmok -- 2008
Mount Recheschnoi -- ?
Mount Redoubt -- 2009
Mount Roundtop -- ?
Saint Michael -- ?
Saint Paul Island -- 1280 BC ± 40 years
Mount Pavlof -- 2007
Pavlof Sister -- 1786
Pogromni -- ?
Roundtop -- ?
Mount Sanford -- ?
Mount Seguam -- 1993
Mount Segula -- ?
Mount Semisopochnoi -- 1987
Mount Sergief -- ?
Mount Shishaldin -- 2004
Snowy Mountain -- ?
Mount Spurr -- 1992
St. Michael -- ?
St. Paul Island -- 1280 BC ± 40 years
Mount Steller -- ?
Mount Stepovak -- ?
Table Top-Wide Bay -- ?
Mount Takawangha -- ?
Mount Tanaga -- 1914
Tlevak Strait-Suemez Island -- ?
Trident Volcano -- 1975
Ugashik-Peulik -- 1814
Ukinrek Maars -- 1977
Mount Uliaga -- ?
Mount Veniaminof -- 2006
Mount Vsevidof -- 1957
Mount Westdahl -- 1992
Yantarni Volcano -- 800 BC ± 500 years
Mount Yunaska -- 1937
Prindle Volcano -- Pliestocene
Mount Churchill -- 1250 years ago
Mount Drum -- ?
Mount Jarvis -- ?
Mount Wrangell -- 1999
Name -- Last eruption
Mount Adagdak -- ?
Mount Akutan -- 1996
Amak Volcano -- 1796
Mount Amukta -- 1997
Mount Aniakchak -- 1931
Mount Augustine -- 2005
Bogoslof Island -- 1992
Buldir Volcano -- ?
Mount Bona -- ?
Mount Blackburn -- ?
Buzzard Creek -- 1050 BC
Capital Mountain -- ?
Mount Carlisle -- 1987
Mount Chagulak -- ?
Mount Chiginagak -- 1998
Mount Cleveland -- 2008
Cold Bay Volcano -- ?
Mount Dana -- 1890 BC
Davidof Volcano -- ?
Mount Denison -- ?
Devils Desk -- ?
Mount Douglas -- ?
Mount Dutton -- ?
Mount Edgecumbe -- 2220 BC ± 100 years
Mount Emmons -- ?
Mount Fisher -- 1830
Mount Frosty -- ?
Fourpeaked -- 2006
Gareloi Volcano -- 1989
Mount Gilbert -- ?
Great Sitkin -- 1974
Mount Gordon -- ?
Mount Griggs -- ?
Hayes Volcano -- 1200 ± 300 years
Mount Herbert -- ?
Mount Iliamna -- 1876
Imuruk Lake -- 300
Ingakslugwat Hills -- ?
Mount Isanotski -- ?
Mount Kagamil -- 1929
Mount Kaguyak -- 1650 BC
Mount Kanaga -- 1995
Kasatochi Island -- 2008
Mount Katmai -- 1912
Mount Kialagvik -- ?
Mount Kiska -- 1990
Mount Koniuji -- ?
Korovin Volcano -- 2006
Mount Kukak -- ?
Mount Kupreanof -- 1987
Kookooligit Mountains -- Holocene
Little Sitkin -- 1830
Mount Mageik -- ?
Mount Makushin -- 1995
Mount Martin -- 1953
Monte Moffett -- ?
Novarupta -- 1912
Nunivak Island -- ?
Mount Okmok -- 2008
Mount Recheschnoi -- ?
Mount Redoubt -- 2009
Mount Roundtop -- ?
Saint Michael -- ?
Saint Paul Island -- 1280 BC ± 40 years
Mount Pavlof -- 2007
Pavlof Sister -- 1786
Pogromni -- ?
Roundtop -- ?
Mount Sanford -- ?
Mount Seguam -- 1993
Mount Segula -- ?
Mount Semisopochnoi -- 1987
Mount Sergief -- ?
Mount Shishaldin -- 2004
Snowy Mountain -- ?
Mount Spurr -- 1992
St. Michael -- ?
St. Paul Island -- 1280 BC ± 40 years
Mount Steller -- ?
Mount Stepovak -- ?
Table Top-Wide Bay -- ?
Mount Takawangha -- ?
Mount Tanaga -- 1914
Tlevak Strait-Suemez Island -- ?
Trident Volcano -- 1975
Ugashik-Peulik -- 1814
Ukinrek Maars -- 1977
Mount Uliaga -- ?
Mount Veniaminof -- 2006
Mount Vsevidof -- 1957
Mount Westdahl -- 1992
Yantarni Volcano -- 800 BC ± 500 years
Mount Yunaska -- 1937
Prindle Volcano -- Pliestocene
Mount Churchill -- 1250 years ago
Mount Drum -- ?
Mount Jarvis -- ?
Mount Wrangell -- 1999
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Cascade Volcanic Arc continued
from Wikipedia:
The Cascadia subduction zone
The Cascade Volcanoes were formed by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca, Explorer and the Gorda Plate (remnants of the much larger Farallon Plate) under the North American Plate along the Cascadia subduction zone. This is a 680 mi (1,094 km) long fault, running 50 mi (80 km) off the west-coast of the Pacific Northwest from northern California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The plates move at a relative rate of over 0.4 inches (10 mm) per year at a somewhat oblique angle to the subduction zone.
Because of the very large fault area, the Cascadia subduction zone can produce very large earthquakes, magnitude 9.0 or greater, if rupture occurred over its whole area. When the "locked" zone stores up energy for an earthquake, the "transition" zone, although somewhat plastic, can rupture. Thermal and deformation studies indicate that the locked zone is fully locked for 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) downdip from the deformation front. Further downdip, there is a transition from fully locked to aseismic sliding.
Unlike most subduction zones worldwide, there is no oceanic trench present along the continental margin in Cascadia. Instead, terranes and the accretionary wedge have been uplifted to form a series of coast ranges and exotic mountains. A high rate of sedimentation from the outflow of the three major rivers (Fraser River, Columbia River, and Klamath River) which cross the Cascade Range contributes to further obscuring the presence of a trench. However, in common with most other subduction zones, the outer margin is slowly being compressed, similar to a giant spring. When the stored energy is suddenly released by slippage across the fault at irregular intervals, the Cascadia subduction zone can create very large earthquakes such as the magnitude 9 Cascadia earthquake of 1700.
Cascadia subduction zoneMain article: Cascadia subduction zone
Area of the Cascadia subduction zone, including Cascade volcanoes (red triangles)The Cascade Volcanoes were formed by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca, Explorer and the Gorda Plate (remnants of the much larger Farallon Plate) under the North American Plate along the Cascadia subduction zone. This is a 680 mi (1,094 km) long fault, running 50 mi (80 km) off the west-coast of the Pacific Northwest from northern California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The plates move at a relative rate of over 0.4 inches (10 mm) per year at a somewhat oblique angle to the subduction zone.
Because of the very large fault area, the Cascadia subduction zone can produce very large earthquakes, magnitude 9.0 or greater, if rupture occurred over its whole area. When the "locked" zone stores up energy for an earthquake, the "transition" zone, although somewhat plastic, can rupture. Thermal and deformation studies indicate that the locked zone is fully locked for 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) downdip from the deformation front. Further downdip, there is a transition from fully locked to aseismic sliding.
Unlike most subduction zones worldwide, there is no oceanic trench present along the continental margin in Cascadia. Instead, terranes and the accretionary wedge have been uplifted to form a series of coast ranges and exotic mountains. A high rate of sedimentation from the outflow of the three major rivers (Fraser River, Columbia River, and Klamath River) which cross the Cascade Range contributes to further obscuring the presence of a trench. However, in common with most other subduction zones, the outer margin is slowly being compressed, similar to a giant spring. When the stored energy is suddenly released by slippage across the fault at irregular intervals, the Cascadia subduction zone can create very large earthquakes such as the magnitude 9 Cascadia earthquake of 1700.
Major catastrophic eruptions
1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was one of the most closely studied volcanic eruptions in the arc and one of the best studied ever. It was a Plinian style eruption with a VEI=5 and was the most significant to occur in the lower 48 U.S. states in recorded history. An earthquake at 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, caused the entire weakened north face to slide away. An ash column rose high into the atmosphere and deposited ash in 11 U.S. states. The eruption killed 57 people and thousands of animals and caused more than a billion U.S. dollars in damage.
1914–17 Eruptions of Lassen Peak
On May 22, 1915, an explosive eruption at Lassen Peak devastated nearby areas and rained volcanic ash as far away as 200 miles (320 km) to the east.
A huge column of volcanic ash and gas rose more than 30,000 feet (9,100 m) into the air and was visible from as far away as Eureka, California, 150 miles (240 km) to the west. A pyroclastic flow swept down the side of the volcano, devastating a 3-square-mile (7.8 km2) area. This explosion was the most powerful in a 1914–17 series of eruptions at Lassen Peak.
2350 BP Eruption of Mount Meager
Mount Meager produced the most recent major eruption in Canada, sending ash as far away as Alberta.
The eruption was similar to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, sending an ash column approximately 20 km high into the stratosphere. This activity produced a diverse sequence of volcanic deposits, well exposed in the bluffs along the Lillooet River, which is defined as the Pebble Creek Formation. The eruption was episodic, occurring from a vent on the north-east side of Plinth Peak. An unusual, thick apron of welded vitrophyric breccia may represent the explosive collapse of an early lava dome, depositing ash several meters in thickness near the vent area.
7700 BP Eruption of Mount Mazama
The 7,700 BP eruption of Mount Mazama was a large catastrophic eruption in the U.S. state of Oregon. It began with a large eruption column with pumice and ash that erupted from a single vent. The eruption was so great that most of Mount Mazama collapsed to form a caldera and subsequent smaller eruptions occurred as water began to fill in the caldera to form Crater Lake. Volcanic ash from the eruption was carried across most of the Pacific Northwest as well as parts of southern Canada.
13100 BP Eruption of Glacier Peak
About 13,000 years ago, Glacier Peak generated an unusually strong sequence of eruptions depositing volcanic ash as far away as Wyoming.
Other eruptions
Silverthrone Caldera
Most of the Silverthrone Caldera's eruptions occurred during the last ice age and was episodically active during both Pemberton and Garibaldi Volcanic Belt stages of volcanism. The last eruption from Mount Silverthrone ran up against ice in Chernaud Creek. The lava was dammed by the ice and made a cliff with a waterfall up against it.
Mount Cayley
Mount Cayley last erupted about 20,000 years ago. It contains several complex features which probably represent multiple eruptions under different conditions and are difficult to classify.
Mount Garibaldi
Mount Garibaldi was last active about 10,700 to 9,300 years ago from a cinder cone called Opal Cone. It produced a 15 km long broad dacite lava flow with prominent wrinkled ridges. The lava flow is unusually long for a silicic lava flow.
Mount Baker
During the mid-19th century, Mount Baker erupted for the first time in several thousand years. Fumarole activity remains in Sherman Crater, just south of the volcano's summit, became more intense in 1975 and is still energetic. However, an eruption is not expected in the near future.
Glacier Peak
Glacier Peak last erupted about 200–300 years ago and has erupted about six times in the past 4,000 years.
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier last erupted between 1824 and 1854, but many eyewitnesses reported eruptive activity in 1858, 1870, 1879, 1882 and in 1894 as well. Mount Rainier has created at least four eruptions and many lahars in the past 4,000 years.
Mount Adams
Mount Adams was last active about 1,000 years ago and has created few eruptions during the past several thousand years.
Mount Hood
Mount Hood was last active about 200 years ago, creating pyroclastic flows, lahars, and a well-known lava dome close to its peak called Crater Rock. Between 1856 and 1865, a sequence of steam explosions took place at Mount Hood.
Newberry Volcano
A great deal of volcanic activity has occurred at Newberry Volcano, which was last active about 1,300 years ago. It has one of the largest collections of cinder cones, lava domes, lava flows and fissures in the world.
Medicine Lake Volcano
Medicine Lake Volcano has erupted about 8 times in the past 4,000 years and was last active about 1,000 years ago when rhyolite and dacite erupted at Glass Mountain and associated vents near the caldera's eastern rim.
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta last erupted in 1786 and has been the most active volcano in California for about 4,000 years, erupting once every 300 years. The 1786 eruption created a pyroclastic flow, a lahar and three cold lahars, which streamed 7.5 miles (12 km) down Shasta's east flank via Ash Creek. A separate hot lahar went 12 miles (19 km) down Mud Creek.
The Cascadia subduction zone
The Cascade Volcanoes were formed by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca, Explorer and the Gorda Plate (remnants of the much larger Farallon Plate) under the North American Plate along the Cascadia subduction zone. This is a 680 mi (1,094 km) long fault, running 50 mi (80 km) off the west-coast of the Pacific Northwest from northern California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The plates move at a relative rate of over 0.4 inches (10 mm) per year at a somewhat oblique angle to the subduction zone.
Because of the very large fault area, the Cascadia subduction zone can produce very large earthquakes, magnitude 9.0 or greater, if rupture occurred over its whole area. When the "locked" zone stores up energy for an earthquake, the "transition" zone, although somewhat plastic, can rupture. Thermal and deformation studies indicate that the locked zone is fully locked for 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) downdip from the deformation front. Further downdip, there is a transition from fully locked to aseismic sliding.
Unlike most subduction zones worldwide, there is no oceanic trench present along the continental margin in Cascadia. Instead, terranes and the accretionary wedge have been uplifted to form a series of coast ranges and exotic mountains. A high rate of sedimentation from the outflow of the three major rivers (Fraser River, Columbia River, and Klamath River) which cross the Cascade Range contributes to further obscuring the presence of a trench. However, in common with most other subduction zones, the outer margin is slowly being compressed, similar to a giant spring. When the stored energy is suddenly released by slippage across the fault at irregular intervals, the Cascadia subduction zone can create very large earthquakes such as the magnitude 9 Cascadia earthquake of 1700.
Cascadia subduction zoneMain article: Cascadia subduction zone
Area of the Cascadia subduction zone, including Cascade volcanoes (red triangles)The Cascade Volcanoes were formed by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca, Explorer and the Gorda Plate (remnants of the much larger Farallon Plate) under the North American Plate along the Cascadia subduction zone. This is a 680 mi (1,094 km) long fault, running 50 mi (80 km) off the west-coast of the Pacific Northwest from northern California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The plates move at a relative rate of over 0.4 inches (10 mm) per year at a somewhat oblique angle to the subduction zone.
Because of the very large fault area, the Cascadia subduction zone can produce very large earthquakes, magnitude 9.0 or greater, if rupture occurred over its whole area. When the "locked" zone stores up energy for an earthquake, the "transition" zone, although somewhat plastic, can rupture. Thermal and deformation studies indicate that the locked zone is fully locked for 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) downdip from the deformation front. Further downdip, there is a transition from fully locked to aseismic sliding.
Unlike most subduction zones worldwide, there is no oceanic trench present along the continental margin in Cascadia. Instead, terranes and the accretionary wedge have been uplifted to form a series of coast ranges and exotic mountains. A high rate of sedimentation from the outflow of the three major rivers (Fraser River, Columbia River, and Klamath River) which cross the Cascade Range contributes to further obscuring the presence of a trench. However, in common with most other subduction zones, the outer margin is slowly being compressed, similar to a giant spring. When the stored energy is suddenly released by slippage across the fault at irregular intervals, the Cascadia subduction zone can create very large earthquakes such as the magnitude 9 Cascadia earthquake of 1700.
Major catastrophic eruptions
1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was one of the most closely studied volcanic eruptions in the arc and one of the best studied ever. It was a Plinian style eruption with a VEI=5 and was the most significant to occur in the lower 48 U.S. states in recorded history. An earthquake at 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, caused the entire weakened north face to slide away. An ash column rose high into the atmosphere and deposited ash in 11 U.S. states. The eruption killed 57 people and thousands of animals and caused more than a billion U.S. dollars in damage.
1914–17 Eruptions of Lassen Peak
On May 22, 1915, an explosive eruption at Lassen Peak devastated nearby areas and rained volcanic ash as far away as 200 miles (320 km) to the east.
A huge column of volcanic ash and gas rose more than 30,000 feet (9,100 m) into the air and was visible from as far away as Eureka, California, 150 miles (240 km) to the west. A pyroclastic flow swept down the side of the volcano, devastating a 3-square-mile (7.8 km2) area. This explosion was the most powerful in a 1914–17 series of eruptions at Lassen Peak.
2350 BP Eruption of Mount Meager
Mount Meager produced the most recent major eruption in Canada, sending ash as far away as Alberta.
The eruption was similar to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, sending an ash column approximately 20 km high into the stratosphere. This activity produced a diverse sequence of volcanic deposits, well exposed in the bluffs along the Lillooet River, which is defined as the Pebble Creek Formation. The eruption was episodic, occurring from a vent on the north-east side of Plinth Peak. An unusual, thick apron of welded vitrophyric breccia may represent the explosive collapse of an early lava dome, depositing ash several meters in thickness near the vent area.
7700 BP Eruption of Mount Mazama
The 7,700 BP eruption of Mount Mazama was a large catastrophic eruption in the U.S. state of Oregon. It began with a large eruption column with pumice and ash that erupted from a single vent. The eruption was so great that most of Mount Mazama collapsed to form a caldera and subsequent smaller eruptions occurred as water began to fill in the caldera to form Crater Lake. Volcanic ash from the eruption was carried across most of the Pacific Northwest as well as parts of southern Canada.
13100 BP Eruption of Glacier Peak
About 13,000 years ago, Glacier Peak generated an unusually strong sequence of eruptions depositing volcanic ash as far away as Wyoming.
Other eruptions
Silverthrone Caldera
Most of the Silverthrone Caldera's eruptions occurred during the last ice age and was episodically active during both Pemberton and Garibaldi Volcanic Belt stages of volcanism. The last eruption from Mount Silverthrone ran up against ice in Chernaud Creek. The lava was dammed by the ice and made a cliff with a waterfall up against it.
Mount Cayley
Mount Cayley last erupted about 20,000 years ago. It contains several complex features which probably represent multiple eruptions under different conditions and are difficult to classify.
Mount Garibaldi
Mount Garibaldi was last active about 10,700 to 9,300 years ago from a cinder cone called Opal Cone. It produced a 15 km long broad dacite lava flow with prominent wrinkled ridges. The lava flow is unusually long for a silicic lava flow.
Mount Baker
During the mid-19th century, Mount Baker erupted for the first time in several thousand years. Fumarole activity remains in Sherman Crater, just south of the volcano's summit, became more intense in 1975 and is still energetic. However, an eruption is not expected in the near future.
Glacier Peak
Glacier Peak last erupted about 200–300 years ago and has erupted about six times in the past 4,000 years.
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier last erupted between 1824 and 1854, but many eyewitnesses reported eruptive activity in 1858, 1870, 1879, 1882 and in 1894 as well. Mount Rainier has created at least four eruptions and many lahars in the past 4,000 years.
Mount Adams
Mount Adams was last active about 1,000 years ago and has created few eruptions during the past several thousand years.
Mount Hood
Mount Hood was last active about 200 years ago, creating pyroclastic flows, lahars, and a well-known lava dome close to its peak called Crater Rock. Between 1856 and 1865, a sequence of steam explosions took place at Mount Hood.
Newberry Volcano
A great deal of volcanic activity has occurred at Newberry Volcano, which was last active about 1,300 years ago. It has one of the largest collections of cinder cones, lava domes, lava flows and fissures in the world.
Medicine Lake Volcano
Medicine Lake Volcano has erupted about 8 times in the past 4,000 years and was last active about 1,000 years ago when rhyolite and dacite erupted at Glass Mountain and associated vents near the caldera's eastern rim.
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta last erupted in 1786 and has been the most active volcano in California for about 4,000 years, erupting once every 300 years. The 1786 eruption created a pyroclastic flow, a lahar and three cold lahars, which streamed 7.5 miles (12 km) down Shasta's east flank via Ash Creek. A separate hot lahar went 12 miles (19 km) down Mud Creek.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
What is a Decade Volcano?
The Decade Volcanoes are 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) as being in need of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to populated areas.
The following volcanoes were selected as the 16 current Decade Volcanoes:
Avachinsky-Koryaksky -- Kamchatka, Russia
Colima -- Jalisco and Colima, Mexico
Mount Etna -- Sicily, Italy
Galeras -- Nariño, Colombia
Mauna Loa -- Hawaii, USA
Mount Merapi -- Central Java, Indonesia
Mount Nyiragongo -- Democratic Republic of Congo
Mount Rainier -- Washington, USA
Sakurajima -- Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
Santa Maria/Santiaguito -- Guatemala
Santorini -- Cyclades, Greece
Taal Volcano -- Batangas, Luzon, Philippines
Teide -- Canary Islands, Spain
Ulawun -- New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Mount Unzen -- Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Vesuvius -- Naples, Italy
The Decade Volcanoes project encourages studies and public-awareness activities at these volcanoes, with the aim of achieving a better understanding of the volcanoes and the dangers they present, and thus being able to reduce the severity of natural disasters.
They are named Decade Volcanoes not because they are expected to erupt within a ten year period of time, but because the project was initiated as part of the United Nations-sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.
A volcano may be designated a Decade Volcano if it exhibits more than one volcanic hazard (people living near the Decade Volcanoes may experience tephra fall, pyroclastic flows, lava flows, lahars, volcanic edifice instability and lava dome collapse); shows recent geological activity; is located in a populated area (eruptions at any of the Decade Volcanoes may threaten tens or hundreds of thousands of people, and therefore mitigating eruption hazards at these volcanoes is crucial); is politically and physically accessible for study; and there is local support for the work.
Aims of the program
The general approach of Decade Volcano projects has been to convene a planning workshop, identify the major strengths and weaknesses of risk mitigation at each volcano, and to plan how to address the weaknesses identified. One of the difficulties faced in mitigating hazards at volcanoes is ensuring that geoscientists and those who will enact the mitigation measures communicate adequately with each other, and the Decade Volcano program has attempted to ensure this by making sure both groups are well represented at Decade Volcano workshops.
Funding
Hopes that United Nations funding might be available for Decade Volcano projects did not come to fruition, and funding was sought instead from a variety of sources. For example, Mexican scientific and civil defense bodies funded work at Colima, principally for Mexican scientists but also for a few foreign colleagues; major bilateral French-Indonesian and German-Indonesian programs were initiated at Merapi; and the European Union has provided funding for many of the studies carried out at European volcanoes.
One particular activity that has not been funded—because it typically is not allowable under most national or bilateral funding—is the exchange of scientists and civil defense leaders between the various Decade Volcano projects of developing countries, for example, between the Philippines and Indonesia, or between Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia, or across the Pacific and Atlantic. Often, scientists and civil defense leaders from developing countries can relate better to each other's experiences than they can to the experience of counterparts from industrialized countries. Also, civil defense leaders who have experienced volcanic crises are far more credible witnesses, in the eyes of local civil defense leaders, than either local or visiting scientists might be.
Achievements
Since it was initiated, the Decade Volcano program has achieved a number of successes in predicting volcanic events and mitigating disasters. One of the most notable was the successful diversion of a lava flow and blanket at Mount Etna in 1992. The flow was threatening the town of Zafferana, and had overwhelmed several barriers placed perpendicular to its flow down a valley. Scientists and civil defence leaders decided to try to dam the flow higher up, and did so by dropping large concrete blocks into a skylight in a lava tube which was feeding the flow. The flow subsequently stopped short of Zafferana.
The program has significantly increased what is known about the Decade Volcanoes, some of which were very poorly studied before being designated. The eruptive history of Galeras volcano is now much better established than previously, and at Taal Volcano the importance of water in driving its explosive eruptions has come to light.
Measures which have been taken to mitigate disasters which might be caused by future eruptions include a new law in the vicinity of Mount Rainier, requiring assessment of geological hazards before any new developments; limitations on high density housing developments in the Taal Caldera; and the development of an evacuation plan for parts of Naples which might be affected in the event of an eruption at Vesuvius.
Problems
Although studies at many volcanoes have led to a clear reduction in the risk faced by nearby settlements, eruptions at some of the Decade Volcanoes have demonstrated the difficulties faced by the program. Eruptions at Mount Unzen which began shortly before it was designated a Decade Volcano were heavily monitored, but despite this, a large pyroclastic flow killed 43 people, including three volcanologists.
Later, a Decade Volcano conference in the city of Pasto, Colombia in 1993 ended in disaster when several of the scientists present mounted an impromptu expedition to the crater of Galeras. An eruption occurred unexpectedly while they were at the summit, which resulted in the deaths of six scientists and three tourists.
Another problem faced by the program has been civil unrest in the vicinity of several volcanoes. The Civil War in Guatemala affected studies of Volcán Santa María until a ceasefire was called in 1996, while ongoing civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has hampered studies of Nyiragongo volcano. More generally, scarce resources for volcano studies have led to programs competing for limited funding.
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