Current Geology News and
Earth Science Articles

Geology news and current earth science articles from around the world. Stories are archived monthly.

All links are to external sites. AGS does not endorse these sites or their opinions. If a link is broken, it is because the news source has removed it from its website.

July 3, 2009

Carbon capture no silver bullet for climate change
The theory is simple, the debate divisive: To survive global warming, simply insert billions of dollars, suck, and blow. It's called carbon capture and storage, and Canada is ponying up to support what is effectively big-ticket enviro liposuction for a generation of consumers who can't — or won't — stop gobbling up fossil fuels.

Dead Sea peril: sinkholes swallow up the unwary
These underground craters can open up in an instant, sucking in whatever lies above and leaving the surrounding area looking like an earthquake zone. The parched moonscape, famous as the site of biblical Sodom and Gomorra, is the lowest point on earth and runs more than 60 miles through Israel and the West Bank.

Los Angeles will end use of coal-fired power
Los Angeles will eliminate the use of electricity made from coal by 2020, replacing it with power from cleaner renewable energy sources. The elimination of coal-fired power will also mean higher electricity rates.

E.P.A. lists high-hazard coal-ash dumps
The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of 44 high-hazard potential coal-ash waste dumps across the U.S. The high hazard rating is applied to sites where a dam failure would most likely result in a loss of human life.

Mars more like Earth than thought? New details about history of water on the Red Planet
Scientists offer new details about the history of water on Mars, gleaned from the 2008 NASA Phoenix Mars Mission that was operated from The University of Arizona.

July 2, 2009

Magmatic plumbing of a large Permian caldera exposed to a depth of 25 kilometres
Large volcanic calderas, aka super volcanoes, are enormous craters tens of kilometres in diameter produced by giant, explosive eruptions that rank among the most violent geologic events. Geophysical studies of recently active calderas and investigations of their eruption products suggest that their magmatic systems are driven by intrusion of mantle-derived basalt in the deep crust, a process commonly referred to as magmatic underplating.

Survival of U.S. state geological surveys
The annual meeting of the state geologists wrapped up Wednesday night and it’s clear that state geological surveys across the nation are generally hurting from the economic mess.