Current Geology News and
Earth Science Articles

Geology news and current earth science articles and blogs from around the world. Our geology news stories are archived monthly. All links are to external sites and linking does not mean the site or opinions are endorsed by AGS. If links are broken, it is because the news source has removed it from its website.

July 18, 2008

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveils carbon dioxide storage rule
In its first regulations on the burial of carbon dioxide underground, the EPA unveiled measures to protect drinking water from the gas behind the bubbles in carbonated beverages.

Geologists say little oil to drill off South Carolina coast
While national momentum grows to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling, geologists say it's unlikely there will be rigs off South Carolina anytime soon because there's simply little oil to be had.

July 17, 2008

We've seen this heedless rush to oil shale before, just ahead of the inevitable bust
Bush and his fellow oil shale boosters claim that if only Western communities would stand aside, energy companies could begin extracting more than 500 billion barrels of recoverable oil from domestic shale deposits.

July 16, 2008

Russian ice camp in rapid shrink
But after enduring the permanent night of the Arctic winter and surviving the threat of polar bears, the scientists now find that their temporary home has shrunk to just 600m by 300m and faces complete break-up as it drifts towards a current known to contain relatively warm waters.

High gold price swells ranks of illegal miners
As a new gold rush spreads to the world's remotest corners, the faceoff between illegal, small-scale miners and multinational firms has cost millions of dollars and claimed lives.

US expert urges Karachi to check for underground uranium contamination
Pakistan, like the US and Mexico, could also be suffering from uranium contamination of underground water because of industrial units, hypothesized Dr Philip C. Goodell, Geologist and Professor at the Texas University, Department of Geology.

Tokyo University geologist to assist temple restoration
The intensely weathered temple is on the brink of collapse, according to Tokunaga, an associate professor of geology at Tokyo University. He has been working with the Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor since last year.

July 15, 2008

2010 organizing and the tar sands: inspiring the SPP and helping the Olympics
The tar sands— under their “rebranded” name of oil sands, received an entire separate round of talks and agreements within the SPP negotiations— “The Oil Sands Experts group.”

Seismic report puts estimate on property damage costs in Oregon
A new state report estimates that an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 off the Oregon Coast would cause about 1,000 deaths and $12 billion in property damage. The report by the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries prompted Senate President Peter Courtney to call for a quicker process of seismic upgrading by schools, hospital emergency rooms and other public-safety facilities.

July 14, 2008

Ottawa and Nova Scotia announce $870M resource deal
The deal aims to put to rest a dispute that dates back to 1986, when the federal government promised Nova Scotia compensation for giving up its ownership interest in offshore resources.

Orissa, India, finds another bauxite reserve, explores new mines
According to a preliminary estimation made by the Directorate of Geology, nearly 8 million tonnes (MT) of bauxite was reserved at Ushabali plateau in Kandhmal district.

Science that rocks: warming to global geology
A professor of geology at Salem State College has been studying sea levels at Chesapeake Bay and core samples beneath North Shore ponds.

Underground water in Varanasi, India, contaminated with uranium
In an alarming development, a group of scientists has revealed that underground water in Varanasi and adjoining areas is contaminated with uranium, but the centre and the state government are unaware of the fact.

Natural gas is used in virtually everything we consume
Using oil and natural gas, the petrochemical industry manufactures chemicals that serve as building blocks in making everything from plastics and clothing to medicine and computers.

Angolan government prioritizes geological survey of national territory
The Angolan government will prioritize the geological survey of the whole territory so as to improve the knowledge on the mineral potential.

July 11, 2008

Journey to the Center of the Earth: schisty summer fun
With the exception of dinosaurs, geology can be a hard sell, especially to kids. But the new Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D special effects extravaganza might entice even the most apathetic junior geologists to wonder what really is down there in Earth’s core.

Related story

Mississippi university geologist dies in car crash
James Woolsey, the director of Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute at University of Mississippi died in a vehicle accident near Batesville on Wednesday. Woolsey a renowned geologist and expert in undersea minerals resources, led efforts to establish a gas hydrate monitoring station on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

Can microorganisms be a solution to the world's energy problems?
In the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology, researchers outline paths where bacteria are the best hope in producing renewable energy in large quantities without damaging the environment or competing with our food supply.

Pre-quake changes seen in rocks
A team of US researchers has detected stress-induced changes in rocks that occurred hours before two small tremors in California's San Andreas Fault.

July 10, 2008

A carbon tax is a good tax
Oil companies want us to think of fossil fuels as being as renewable as wheat or apples. Saying otherwise would spoil the party, the "energy boom," that might better be called a "depletion boom."

Alberta to capture CO2 with oil sands revenue
The government estimates that the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions brought about by these initiatives would be the equivalent of taking 1m motor vehicles off the road.

Early warning system for earthquakes: seismic 'stress meter' warned of earthquake 10 hours in advance
Using remarkably sensitive new instruments, seismologists have detected minute geological changes that preceded small earthquakes along California's famed San Andreas Fault by as much as 10 hours.

Retired geology professor gives fossils to college
Mr. Kirchgasser is cataloguing his collection of several hundred invertebrate fossils, days before he donates it to the college. SUNY Potsdam will use his fossils as teaching tools, and some will be displayed on a rotating basis in the Geology Hallway Museum in Timerman Hall.

Research suggests moon might contain water
A study published in the journal Nature shakes up long-held assumptions that the moon is dry. Researchers say glass beads collected by Apollo astronauts nearly 35 years ago contain as much water as collected from ocean ridges on Earth.

Peak oil: it doesn’t translate into Kurdish
As oil prices again flirt with records, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration hustles to revise upward its forecasts for the price of oil and gas, the “peak oil” camp seems to win more converts every day. However, the Kurdish region of northern Iraq is the last bastion of “easy oil,” where black pools seep to the surface and where wildcatters can strike gushers after a few months of poking around.

July 9, 2008

Alberta Premier Stelmach pledges $4B to cut emissions
The Alberta government will spend $4 billion to help slash greenhouse gas emissions as Premier Ed Stelmach's government strives to improve its environmental credentials amid heightened Canadian and international scrutiny.

Government press release

Carbon dioxide taking its toll on oceans
Besides loading the atmosphere with heat-trapping greenhouse gases, human emissions of carbon dioxide have also begun to alter the chemistry of the ocean, according to researcher by scientists at the University of Hawaii.

Monster interest in loch filming
A documentary has been shot on the geology of Loch Ness and locals are expecting another one to be done on the geology of the Great Glen.

Glaciers on California's Mt. Shasta keep growing
With global warming causing the retreat of glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere in the Cascades, Mt. Shasta is actually benefiting from changing weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean.

July 8, 2008

Thousands stuck after China landslide
Landslides have blocked a highway with rubble and isolated 3,000 people in a quake-hit town in southwest China.

Geologists push back date basins formed, supporting frozen Earth theory
Even in geology, it’s not often a date gets revised by 500 million years. But University of Florida geologists say they have found strong evidence that a half-dozen major basins in India were formed a billion or more years ago, making them at least 500 million years older than commonly thought.

Invisible waves shape continental slope
A class of powerful, invisible waves hidden beneath the surface of the ocean can shape the underwater edges of continents and contribute to ocean mixing and climate, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have found.

 

Last modified: July 18, 2008