Earth Sciences130
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Getting Under the Surface
With many questions still unanswered about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Earth Institute staff have been providing perspective to the public and press on many aspects, from the spill’s magnitude and spread, to the technologies available to abate it, and its long-term policy implications. Marine geophysicist Tim Crone was one of the first to openly question official estimates of the oil’s rate…
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Same Road, Different Obstacle
Last year I was collecting a sample of sediment from a riverbed and spent the day walking up the Neto River to find a good location. When I finished, I noticed a road high on one side of the valley. I climbed to the road and found a tunnel with no lights inside. I looked…
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High Elevation Lakes
We are currently taking samples of water and sediments from high-elevation lakes near the glaciers. Like ice cores from the glaciers themselves, these should contain substances that will help us understand the climate history of this region. The sampling is being done in conjunction with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological…
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Needed: Ice Drills
We are staying at the high-elevation Grasberg gold and copper mine—not on top of Puncak Jaya—because some of our equipment has not arrived. We have 99 pieces out of the 106 we shipped, but unfortunately our ice drills are in the missing pieces, and we cannot do anything without those. We are working hard to…
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How the Toe of Italy’s Boot Evolved
Nano and I have arrived in the Crotone Basin, where we’re staying in a place that Italians call an “agriturismo,” which is like a bed and breakfast that also serves lunch and dinner. Our little place is unique even among agriturismos. It is called Canciumati (can-chew-ma-tea), a house with four generations living under one roof.…
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Scouting the Glacier
Team members are now actively scouting by foot on Puncak Jaya, looking for the best drill spots, travel routes and campsites. The man in red is Broxton Bird of Ohio State University. In brown, the appropriately named alpine veteran Keith Mountain of the University of Louisville. At bottom: team leaders Dwi Susanto and Lonnie Thompson give a…
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Recovering from Jet Lag in a Dormant Volcano
It is a brutal flight from New York City to Roma. I am a sucker for in-flight movies: things I would never watch in the real world, I am completely enthralled with during an overseas flight. The problem on this flight is that we arrive at 7:30am. We have a whole day ahead of us…
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Moving Up a Melting Mountain
Four days ago, we flew into the lowland Papuan city of Timika, then moved up to Tembagapura, a town managed by the Freeport-McMoRan company, whose gold/copper mine near our glaciers is lending us logistical support. Tembagapura, at 1,900 meters (6,000 feet), was our first step in acclimatizing to high elevation. Now we have moved up…
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Return to Malawi: Bringing Home Instruments and Earthquake Data
In early May, Scott Nooner and I returned to Malawi to retrieve our seismic equipment and finally lay eyes on the data recorded over the last 4 months. Picking them up was vastly easier than putting them out. In contrast to the days studying out-dated maps and driving down dirt roads looking for sites, and…
