Earth ChangesS


Attention

6.0 Magnitude Quake Jolts Northern Japan, No Immediate Reports of Damage

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 jolted parts of northern Japan near a quake-stricken nuclear power plant Wednesday, national broadcaster NHK said.

There were no immediate reports of damage. Numerous aftershocks have been rocking the country following a devastating quake and tsunami on March 11.

Bizarro Earth

Vietnam: Mud Eruption in Ninh Thuan is Defined as Volcano Mud

Mud Volcano
© VietNamNet Bridge
Dr. Dinh Doan Lam, a senior official from the Institute for Geology of Vietnam, said that mud eruption in Ninh Thuan is not dangerous. Mud volcano or mud dome are used to refer to formations created by geo-excreted liquids and gases, although there are several different processes which may cause such activity. Hot water mixes with mud and surface deposits. Mud volcanoes are associated with subduction zones. Temperatures are much cooler in these processes than at igneous volcanoes.

About 86 percent of the gas released from these structures is methane, with much less carbon dioxide and nitrogen emitted. Ejected materials are often a slurry of fine solids suspended in liquids which may include water, which is frequently acidic or salty, and hydrocarbon fluids.

Bizarro Earth

US: At Least 32 Musk Oxen Freeze to Death After Winter Storm Produces Tidal Surge, Flooding

Frozen Oxen
© Associated Press / National Park ServiceIn this March 15, 2011 photo provided by the National Park Service, the carcass of a musk ox is shown frozen in ice at Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska. The frozen musk oxen were found on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, during a routine flight to track at least four musk oxen that had been fitted with collars to conduct research.
Anchorage, Alaska - At least 32 musk oxen were found frozen in the ice on the northern coast of Alaska's Seward Peninsula, killed in the aftermath of a tidal surge and flooding from a winter storm blowing in off the Chukchi Sea, the National Park Service said Tuesday.

Researchers found the frozen animals March 15 while flying over the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve to track at least four of the animals, which had been outfitted with radio collars.

"Basically, the radio collars led us to the dead animals," National Park Service spokesman John Quinley said.

Officials planned to fly over the area again Tuesday to determine the fate of another 23 animals in the herd. It wasn't immediately clear if any of those were fitted with collars.

"We didn't see any carcasses, but we didn't see them walking around," he said.

The remainder of the herd could be buried deeper in the snow. If so, the bodies wouldn't be visible until spring.

Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 2.6 - Southern Alaska

Magnitude 2.6
Date-Time

* Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 02:33:31 UTC
* Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 06:33:31 PM at epicenter

Location 59.757°N, 153.199°W
Depth 136.8 km (85.0 miles)
Region SOUTHERN ALASKA
Distances

* 52 km (32 miles) E (93°) from Pedro Bay, AK
* 79 km (49 miles) ENE (71°) from Pope-Vannoy Landing, AK
* 79 km (49 miles) SE (129°) from Port Alsworth, AK
* 247 km (153 miles) SW (231°) from Anchorage, AK

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 0.6 km (0.4 miles); depth +/- 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Parameters NST= 38, Nph= 0, Dmin=11.7 km, Rmss=0.69 sec, Gp= 94°,
M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=1

Bizarro Earth

US: Landslide Blocks Roads Leaving Residents Isolated

Landslide
© Shannon BurkeyA massive landslide in an unincorporated area of the county has blocked the only road in and out of the neighborhood, stranding residents.
Updated - California: Residents of 33 homes in an unincorporated area of the county are in their second day of being stranded from the outside world after a landslide on Monday afternoon blocked the only road to their homes.

According to Scotts Valley Fire District Cpt. Mike Pasquini, the slide, which occurred near Scotts Valley on Nelson Road at Sky Meadow Lane, does not present any immediate danger to residents.

"The homes are affected in the sense that they have no access," Pasquini said.

About 57 people live in the affected area and three to four houses are still without power, according to April Murray, public information officer for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's officers contacted all of the residents on Monday and most said they were planning on staying in their homes.

"We have seen some people leave though," Murray said. "People with babies and animals have been making their way out."

Cloud Lightning

US: Snow Melt Causing Major Flooding in Midwest

Image
© Associated PressFlooding Over Midwest.
Excessive snow in the northern Great Plains and Midwest may spur floods that rival the record- setting deluge of 2009, threatening U.S. wheat crops and livestock as cities in the region stockpile sandbags.

Since October, North Dakota, the largest wheat-growing state, South Dakota and Minnesota got almost 3 feet more snow than usual, National Weather Service data show. According to Bloomberg News, more than 20 inches remain in some areas, about the same amount that was on the ground at this time in 2009, before floods along the Red River of the North caused about $223.7 million in damage and killed more than 91,000 cattle.

Planting delays may curb wheat output for a third year in the U.S., the world's largest exporter. Global inventories of the grain already were eroded by floods last year in Australia and Canada and a drought in Russia that sent wheat prices to two-year high last month. World food prices tracked by the United Nations reached a record in February.

"There is strong interest in wheat" from traders because of the potential threat to U.S. production, said Jim Peterson, the marketing director of the Bismarck-based North Dakota Wheat Commission, an industry group. If floods delay the start of spring planting until late April, "you'll start seeing the market get quite concerned," he said.

Bizarro Earth

Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge - Earthquake Magnitude 6.0

Mid-Atlantic Quake_220311
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 13:31:29 UTC

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 12:31:29 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
33.106°S, 16.027°W

Depth:
14.5 km (9.0 miles)

Region:
SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

Distances:
553 km (343 miles) NW of Tristan da Cunha

1917 km (1191 miles) SE of Ilha da Trindade, Espirito Santo, Brazil

3187 km (1980 miles) W of Cape Town, South Africa

3447 km (2141 miles) WSW of WINDHOEK, Namibia

Bizarro Earth

The deep green sea: Algae that's FIFTY MILES long is lurking in the English Channel

An enormous algae bloom 50 miles long has been discovered in the English Channel.

The swarm of Skeletonema has come to the surface between the Lizard in Cornwall and Salcombe in Devon because of the warm weather.

Scientists at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) discovered the bloom and another off the south east coast of Ireland using satellite images.

Image
© PALurking by the beach: The agaue algaue stretches east from Lizard, Cornwall to Salcombe, Devon

Bizarro Earth

US: Whale, more dolphins found dead on South Carolina beaches

dead whale
© Provided/Karo Klipps This pygmy sperm whale washed up on Morris Island.

Morris Island - A large pygmy sperm whale carcass washed up by the Morris Island lighthouse and was found over the weekend. It was too decomposed to say what killed it, researchers concluded.

The whale stranding follows a string of 13 bottlenose dolphin carcasses since late February. And a marine mammal stranding crew was in Charleston Harbor Monday recovering another dolphin carcass. But the pygmy sperm carcass is only the second whale to wash up on a South Carolina beach this year. A dwarf sperm whale was discovered in January.

The 11-foot-long male whale found on Morris Island didn't appear to have any external wounds, said Wayne McFee, National Ocean Service marine mammal stranding program scientist. Its organ were so far gone "there wasn't a whole lot we can tell with this one," he said. The ocean service lab is waiting the results of pathology tests of the dwarf sperm whale, he said.

Bizarro Earth

US: South Florida water table rose up to three inches after quake

West Palm Beach - The devastating earthquake that shook Japan caused a temporary jolt in groundwater levels throughout much of Florida, officials said.

The South Florida Water Management District reports that a network of groundwater gauges registered a jump of up to three inches in the water table from Orlando to the Florida Keys about 34 minutes after the quake struck on March 11.

The oscillations were observed for about two hours and then stabilized.