An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale on Thursday hit China's Wenchuan County, which was the epicentre of the May 12 earthquake last year that left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, an official said.
According to the National Earthquake Network Center, the earthquake took place in Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2.23 am on Thursday. No casualties or geological disasters have been reported, said Liao Min, head of Wenchuan County.
The epicentre was located at 31.3 degrees north latitude and 103.3 degrees east longitude. The quake took place about 22 km underground.
Earth Changes
An earthquake measuring 5.0 degree on the Richter scale jolted Sorong in Indonesia's West Papua Province in the wee hour of Thursday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) was quoted by the national Antara News Agency as saying.
The quake's epicenter was at 0.34 degrees southern latitude and 132.28 degrees eastern longitude, some 123 km northwest of Sorong, at a depth of 46 km below sea level.
The quake's epicenter was at 0.34 degrees southern latitude and 132.28 degrees eastern longitude, some 123 km northwest of Sorong, at a depth of 46 km below sea level.
© USGS
Date-Time Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 17:49:39 UTC
Friday, January 16, 2009 at 03:49:39 AM at epicenter
Location 46.859°N, 155.173°E
Depth 36 km (22.4 miles) set by location program
Distances 430 km (270 miles) S of Severo-Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands, Russia
595 km (370 miles) ENE of Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands
1785 km (1110 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
7245 km (4500 miles) NE of MOSCOW, Russia
Research published today reveals the major influence of fish on maintaining the delicate pH balance of our oceans, vital for the health of coral reefs and other marine life.
The discovery, made by a team of scientists from the UK, US and Canada, could help solve a mystery that has puzzled marine chemists for decades. Published today (16 January 2009) in Science, the study provides new insights into the marine carbon cycle, which is undergoing rapid change as a result of global CO2 emissions.
Until now, scientists have believed that the oceans' calcium carbonate, which dissolves to make seawater alkaline, came from the external 'skeletons' of microscopic marine plankton. This study estimates that three to 15 per cent of marine calcium carbonate is in fact produced by fish in their intestines and then excreted. This is a conservative estimate and the team believes it has the potential to be three times higher.
The discovery, made by a team of scientists from the UK, US and Canada, could help solve a mystery that has puzzled marine chemists for decades. Published today (16 January 2009) in Science, the study provides new insights into the marine carbon cycle, which is undergoing rapid change as a result of global CO2 emissions.
Until now, scientists have believed that the oceans' calcium carbonate, which dissolves to make seawater alkaline, came from the external 'skeletons' of microscopic marine plankton. This study estimates that three to 15 per cent of marine calcium carbonate is in fact produced by fish in their intestines and then excreted. This is a conservative estimate and the team believes it has the potential to be three times higher.
© USGS
Date-Time
* Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 07:27:21 UTC
* Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 06:27:21 PM at epicenter
Location 22.379°S, 170.624°E
Depth 40.4 km (25.1 miles)
Region SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
Distances 145 km (90 miles) W of Ile Hunter, Loyalty Isl., New Caledonia
300 km (185 miles) ESE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
430 km (265 miles) E of NOUMEA, New Caledonia
1650 km (1030 miles) NNW of Auckland, New Zealand
Anchorage - Five months after suing to keep polar bears off the U.S. threatened species list, Alaska's government said Wednesday it plans to issue a similar challenge to block federal protections for a struggling population of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, a mature oil-producing basin.
Former vice presidential hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin said the energy-rich state believes the Endangered Species Act protections for belugas announced in October by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are unwarranted.
"The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet," the Republican governor said in a news release announcing that a 60-day notice of intent to sue had been sent to NOAA. "This listing decision didn't take those efforts into account as required by law."
Beluga whales swimming in Cook Inlet, a glacier-fed saltwater channel running from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska, numbered as high as 1,300 three decades ago, but has dropped to about 375 since then, according to NOAA.
Former vice presidential hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin said the energy-rich state believes the Endangered Species Act protections for belugas announced in October by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are unwarranted.
"The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet," the Republican governor said in a news release announcing that a 60-day notice of intent to sue had been sent to NOAA. "This listing decision didn't take those efforts into account as required by law."
Beluga whales swimming in Cook Inlet, a glacier-fed saltwater channel running from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska, numbered as high as 1,300 three decades ago, but has dropped to about 375 since then, according to NOAA.
Rothera Base - Lurking among rocks on the Antarctic Peninsula, the most aggressive land predator on the frozen continent is on the prowl -- for microscopic prey.
Animals such as lions, crocodiles or snakes thrive elsewhere on the planet, but Antarctica's most fearsome land predator is a reddish bug.
The continent is best known for penguins, seals and whales, but all rely on the sea for food, unlike its Lilliputian land-based creatures and plants -- so far almost unaffected by humans.
Scientists are stepping up their study of these tiny creatures in Antarctica for possible early warnings about how climate change may disrupt life around the planet in coming decades.
"Antarctica is strikingly different to other continents in terms of what you find on land," Pete Convey, a biologist at the British Antarctic Survey, said while peering at an apparently barren pile of rocks on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Animals such as lions, crocodiles or snakes thrive elsewhere on the planet, but Antarctica's most fearsome land predator is a reddish bug.
The continent is best known for penguins, seals and whales, but all rely on the sea for food, unlike its Lilliputian land-based creatures and plants -- so far almost unaffected by humans.
Scientists are stepping up their study of these tiny creatures in Antarctica for possible early warnings about how climate change may disrupt life around the planet in coming decades.
"Antarctica is strikingly different to other continents in terms of what you find on land," Pete Convey, a biologist at the British Antarctic Survey, said while peering at an apparently barren pile of rocks on the Antarctic Peninsula.
© Claus Vogel
Pangnirtung, Nunavut - Baffin Island, Canada, January 9, 2009.
Pangnirtung, Nunavut - Baffin Island, Canada, January 9, 2009.
A solar wind stream is heading toward Earth, due to arrive on Jan. 17th or 18th. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.
© Jari Luomanen and Marko Riikonen
Ice Halos
Ice Halos
Night falls. You grab your halogen lamp and step outside into the moonlight. A bitter arctic wind tries to push you back; ice crystals sting your eyes. But what you see overhead carries you forward into the night.
"Jari Luomanen and Marko Riikonen braved the intense cold of the Finland night on January 9/10 to research halos and obtain this stunning shot showing halos from the Moon competing with those from a halogen lamp," explains atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "Lamps plus crystals from snow-making machines are the latest way to study ice halos. Here the lamp is acting as the equivalent of a low sun to create a whole set of rare arcs such as the Hastings and helic previously seen only in Antactica."
A small earthquake rattled parts of the New River Valley and West Virginia Monday evening.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake's epicenter was in West Virginia (37.269 N, 80.776 W), about 5 miles South-Southeast from Narrows, and 5 miles South-Southwest from Pearisburg.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake's epicenter was in West Virginia (37.269 N, 80.776 W), about 5 miles South-Southeast from Narrows, and 5 miles South-Southwest from Pearisburg.
