Earth Sciences132
-
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…
-
A Dry Mediterranean
The Crotone Basin accumulated sediments for nine million years before the forearc uplifted above sea level. Each layer of sand, clay, and conglomerate in the basin contains information about the environment at the time that layer was deposited. About six million years ago, halite and gypsum were deposited in the Crotone Basin. Geologists refer to…
-
Finally on Ice
With the blessing of two wonderful days of clear weather, all our equipment was moved into place this morning. The ice coring can now begin. We anticipate finishing the drill assembly today and drilling by mid-morning tomorrow at three sites on the Northwall Firn glacier: the two “domes” and the saddle, where the team will…
-
Travels through the Crotone Basin
The climate of the Crotone Basin is marked by cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers. We arrived last year, on our first trip, in the middle of a six-month drought that lasted from April to September. I love how life figures out a way to flourish. Flowers in a riverbed; Snails on a thorn…
-
On Our Way to the Top
This morning we were at our staging area at the Grasberg mine at 5 am, and were able to use the B3 helicopter to get ourselves set up. First trip up, our colleagues Keith Mountain and Vladimir Mikhalenko went to what we call the “saddle camp”—a spot between two peaks—where we will stage the first…
-
Ice Drills Retrieved
With the drills essential to our work apparently lost somewhere in transit, Lonnie and I finally backtracked to Jakarta–a five-hour flight–and found them sitting in an airline warehouse! Within 24 hours, we had them shipped to our staging site, and now we are ready to go.
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings“