State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Earth Sciences127

  • Analyzing Mount Etna’s Lava

    Italy has some of the most famous volcanoes in the world: Vesuvius, Stromboli, and Vulcano all lie in a chain along Italy’s western coast. Scientists have found that these volcanoes are all intricately linked to the subduction of the Ionian Sea beneath southern Italy, Calabria, and Sicily. An oceanic plate contains rocks that have a…

  • Decline and Fall of a Glacier

    The glaciers around Puncak Jaya have long been in visible decline. From 1936 to 2006, they lost nearly 80 percent of their area–two-thirds of that since 1970, according to a new paper by glaciologist Michael Prentice of the Indiana Geological Survey, who has long been interested in the area. Satellite images show that from 2002 to 2006…

  • Reflections

    We are finally back from Greenland, bringing to a close the data collection piece of the spring 2010 Ice Bridge campaign. During my month-long piece in this campaign our time was split between two West Greenland base -camps, Kangerlussuaq and Thule (also known as Qaanaaq). Thule, at the northern end of Greenland, is the farthest…

  • The Ice Cores

    Maybe the most difficult thing about ice cores comes after the actual drilling: then you then have to get them out and transport them long distances, and make sure they don’t melt. Otherwise, all that work was for nothing. Here are some images showing how we handle them initially. (Courtesy David Christenson/Freeport McMoRan)

  • Images of Ice Drilling

    Here are some photos of the ice drilling, and the site where we are working. All come courtesy of David Christenson, Greg Chmura and Ario Samudro, the video/photography team from Freeport McMoRan, which has been helping us with all phases of logistics.

  • Like Fireflies, Earthquakes May Fire in Synchrony

    Small Stresses Might Bring Big Results, Says Study

  • The Landscape We Are Up Against

    We have drilled a second core through the ice to bedrock, and are done at our first site. Unfortunately, the helicopter that we need to move the heavy pieces to our second planned spot is down for regular maintenance until next Monday, June 21. That means the team must wait it out at the relatively sheltered “saddle…

  • Drilling the Glacier to Bedrock

    Yesterday we completed our first ice core at the Northwall Firn Glacier, down to bedrock, penetrating 30 meters through the glacier, until we hit bottom. The ice seems to contain visible layers all the way down–a sign that yearly accumulations have been preserved, instead of melding into each other. This means we should be able to…

  • Surveying the Sea of Marmara to Understand Faults and Earthquakes in Turkey

    In 1999, an earthquake along the North Anatolian fault killed some 30,000 people in western Turkey. There is some evidence that another segment closer to the densely populated city of Istanbul could be next to rupture, which could create worse devastation. A team of Turkish, American and French scientists are on a Turkish research ship…

  • Analyzing Mount Etna’s Lava

    Italy has some of the most famous volcanoes in the world: Vesuvius, Stromboli, and Vulcano all lie in a chain along Italy’s western coast. Scientists have found that these volcanoes are all intricately linked to the subduction of the Ionian Sea beneath southern Italy, Calabria, and Sicily. An oceanic plate contains rocks that have a…

  • Decline and Fall of a Glacier

    The glaciers around Puncak Jaya have long been in visible decline. From 1936 to 2006, they lost nearly 80 percent of their area–two-thirds of that since 1970, according to a new paper by glaciologist Michael Prentice of the Indiana Geological Survey, who has long been interested in the area. Satellite images show that from 2002 to 2006…

  • Reflections

    We are finally back from Greenland, bringing to a close the data collection piece of the spring 2010 Ice Bridge campaign. During my month-long piece in this campaign our time was split between two West Greenland base -camps, Kangerlussuaq and Thule (also known as Qaanaaq). Thule, at the northern end of Greenland, is the farthest…

  • The Ice Cores

    Maybe the most difficult thing about ice cores comes after the actual drilling: then you then have to get them out and transport them long distances, and make sure they don’t melt. Otherwise, all that work was for nothing. Here are some images showing how we handle them initially. (Courtesy David Christenson/Freeport McMoRan)

  • Images of Ice Drilling

    Here are some photos of the ice drilling, and the site where we are working. All come courtesy of David Christenson, Greg Chmura and Ario Samudro, the video/photography team from Freeport McMoRan, which has been helping us with all phases of logistics.

  • Like Fireflies, Earthquakes May Fire in Synchrony

    Small Stresses Might Bring Big Results, Says Study

  • The Landscape We Are Up Against

    We have drilled a second core through the ice to bedrock, and are done at our first site. Unfortunately, the helicopter that we need to move the heavy pieces to our second planned spot is down for regular maintenance until next Monday, June 21. That means the team must wait it out at the relatively sheltered “saddle…

  • Drilling the Glacier to Bedrock

    Yesterday we completed our first ice core at the Northwall Firn Glacier, down to bedrock, penetrating 30 meters through the glacier, until we hit bottom. The ice seems to contain visible layers all the way down–a sign that yearly accumulations have been preserved, instead of melding into each other. This means we should be able to…

  • Surveying the Sea of Marmara to Understand Faults and Earthquakes in Turkey

    In 1999, an earthquake along the North Anatolian fault killed some 30,000 people in western Turkey. There is some evidence that another segment closer to the densely populated city of Istanbul could be next to rupture, which could create worse devastation. A team of Turkish, American and French scientists are on a Turkish research ship…