Earth ChangesS


Hourglass

Yellowstone Hot Spot Shreds Ancient Pacific Ocean

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© AGU
If you thought the geysers and overblown threat of a supervolcanic eruption in Yellowstone National Park were dramatic, you ain't seen nothing: deep beneath Earth's surface, the hot spot that feeds the park has torn an entire tectonic plate in half.

The revelation comes from a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters that peered into the mantle beneath the Pacific Northwest to see what happens when ancient ocean crust from the Pacific Ocean runs headlong into a churning plume of ultra-hot mantle material.

Geologically speaking, the Pacific Northwest is a peculiar place. Hot spots usually sit way out on their own in the middle of a tectonic plate (think Hawaii or the Galapagos). Not Yellowstone -- it pokes its way to the surface just a few hundred miles from the edge of the North America plate, where a giant trench sends the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate sliding underneath Washington, Oregon, and northern California.

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Virtual Reality Parhelic Circle

Parhelic Circle
© Spaceweather.comParhelic Circle
A parhelic circle is an unforgettable sight. Thin and pale, it circles the zenith in a majestic arc, always keeping the same distance above the horizon. "I've been looking for a parhelic circle for more than 13 years," says photographer Laurent Laveder of Pluguffan, France. "Yesterday I finally saw one." He rushed for his camera and quickly snapped enough pictures to assemble a complete 360o zenith-to-horizon composite view of the phenomenon. Click here to experience the VR parhelic circle.

Parhelic circles are caused by sunlight reflecting from the vertical faces of ice crystals--millions of them floating in thin cirrus clouds spread almost evenly across the wide blue sky. As Les Cowley notes in his authoritative web page on the subject, "the parhelic circle appears simple yet more ray paths contribute to it than in any other halo. Some are very intricate."

A striking aspect of the parhelic circle is its dual personality. At the same time it appears both circular and straight. "These two pictures (1, 2) illustrate the effect," says Laveder. More images may be found here.

Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: Earthquake Magnitude 7.0 - Christchurch

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© Screen shot, Google MapsThe quake at a depth of 34 kilometres (21.1 miles) struck six kilometres (four miles) from Christchurch at 04:05 am (1635 GMT Friday), the USGS said.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch early Saturday, causing widespread damage including the collapse of some buildings and power outages, witnesses and the U.S. geological survey said. The Civil Defence ministry said the national crisis management centre had been activated. "We've had a wide range of reports of some serious damage," a civil defence spokesman said.

Although many people with minor injuries sought treatment, hospitals said there were no reports of any serious injuries although doctors were on standby because of the intensity of the quake and the damage to buildings.

The quake struck at a depth of 16.1 kilometres some 30 kilometres northwest of Christchurch at 4:35 a.m. (11:35 a.m. ET Friday), the USGS said.

Roads in the seaside suburbs were packed with cars as residents moved inland but there were no tsunami alerts issued. A swarm of aftershocks were ongoing and police said damage was widespread throughout Christchurch, with electricity supplies cut to about half of the city of about 340,000.

Sewer lines were damaged and residents were being urged to conserve water supplies. Local resident Colleen Simpson told the Stuff website that many people had run out onto the streets in fear, while the mobile phone network was failing.

"Oh my God. There is a row of shops completely demolished right in front of me," Simpson said. Kevin O'Hanlon, from Mairehau in Christchurch, said: "Just unbelievable. I was awake to go to work and then just heard this massive noise and, boom, it was like the house got hit. It just started shaking. I've never felt anything like it."

Snowman

Scotland: The first snow of winter falls ... in August

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© Unknown
The first snow of winter fell in Scotland at the weekend - still August - forecasters have revealed.

Temperatures on the highest peaks of the Cairngorms began dropping below freezing on Saturday night into Sunday morning and mountains more than 1100 metres high in the area saw a light powder of snow.

Geoff Monk of Mountain Weather Info Service, which produces forecast for eight different mountain areas of the UK, said that very cold winds had given the Munros a wintry feel.

He added that he would not be surprised to see snow on the top of Ben Nevis this weekend.

Mr Monk said: "There were snow showers across the Cairngorms. They lasted a couple of hours, it was almost ongoing. On some places the snow remained on the ground.

"Most of it was gone after a few hours, but some fresh patches remained there until Monday morning.

"It is something that very occasionally happens in Scotland. Northerly winds from the Arctic cause them. It's very unlikely more snow will fall in the next 10 days.

Bizarro Earth

Alaska: Earthquake Magnitutde 6.3 - Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands

Alaska Quake_030910
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Friday, September 03, 2010 at 11:16:08 UTC

Friday, September 03, 2010 at 02:16:08 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
51.785°N, 176.010°W

Depth:
50.8 km (31.6 miles)

Region:
ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA

Distances:
45 km (30 miles) E of Adak, Alaska

130 km (80 miles) WSW of Atka, Alaska

1905 km (1180 miles) WSW of Anchorage, Alaska

2715 km (1680 miles) W of JUNEAU, Alaska

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Orbital Sunrise

Noctilucent Cloud
© NASA
The Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station photographed this image of polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by an orbital sunrise. Polar mesospheric, or noctilucent ("night shining"), clouds usually are seen at twilight, following the setting of the sun below the horizon and darkening of Earth's surface. Occasionally the station's orbital track becomes nearly parallel to Earth's day/night terminator for a time, allowing the clouds to be visible to the crew at times other than the usual twilight because of the station's altitude.

This photograph shows polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by the rising, rather than setting, sun at center right. Low clouds on the horizon appear yellow and orange, while higher clouds and aerosols are illuminated a brilliant white. Polar mesospheric clouds appear as light blue ribbons extending across the top of the image. The station was located over the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea (near the southwestern coastline of Turkey) when the image was taken at approximately midnight local time. The orbital complex was tracking northeastward, nearly parallel to the terminator, making it possible to observe an apparent "sunrise" located almost due north. A similar unusual alignment of the ISS orbit track, terminator position and seasonal position of Earth's orbit around the sun allowed for this striking imagery of over the Southern Hemisphere.

Bizarro Earth

Sweden: Aurora Surprise

Wow, what a surprise! I was out photographing lunar light landscape by the east coast north of Norrtälje when a nice Aurora Borealis display started to play. And just before that I witnessed/photographed a nice fireball, the smoke trail was visible for than 2 minutes. What a great night under a starry sky with moonlight! Canon 550D/350D and 15mm/20mm Sigma.

Swedish Aurora
© P-M HedénAurora
Swedish Fireball
© P-M HedénFireball

Cloud Lightning

Fire Tornado in Brazil


Magnify

Oilsands increase toxic metals downstream: study

Suncor oil sands extraction facility
© Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty ImagesAn aerial view of the Suncor oil sands extraction facility on the banks of the Athabasca River and near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta
Edmonton - A study released on Monday shows that the oilsands industry increases the concentrations of dangerous metals, such as mercury, in locations downstream of development.

National or provincial guidelines for the protection of aquatic life were exceeded for seven of these metals: cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver and zinc - in melted snow and/or water, says the research, published in the prestigious scientific journal called the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research was led by Erin Kelly and David Schindler, two ecologists at the University of Alberta. Other scientists from Queen's University in Kingston and Alaska also contributed.

Bizarro Earth

Infrared NASA image shows strong convection in new Atlantic Depression 9

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© NASA JPL, Ed OlsenThis infrared image from NASA's AIRS instrument onboard the Aqua satellite shows Tropical Depression 9 on Sept. 1 at 03:41 UTC (Aug. 31 at 11:41 p.m. EDT). It shows high thunderstorm cloud tops west and southwest of the center of circulation (purple) indicating strong convection.
The Atlantic Ocean is in overdrive this week, and NASA satellite imagery captured the birth of the ninth tropical depression in the central Atlantic Ocean today, trailing to the east of Tropical Storm Fiona.

NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument, flying onboard the Aqua satellite, captured an infrared image of Tropical Depression 9 on Sept. 1 at 03:41 UTC (Aug. 31 at 11:41 p.m. EDT). It showed high thunderstorm cloud tops west and southwest of the center of circulation indicating strong convection.

At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EDT) on Sept. 1, Tropical Depression 9 (TD9) was born in the Atlantic Ocean. It had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, and was moving west at 15 mph. It was located about 830 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, near 12.4 North and 35.8 West. Although there are warm sea surface temperatures (as seen in NASA's infrared AIRS imagery) over the 80 degree Fahrenheit threshold that's needed to power up tropical cyclones, there is wind shear in the area, so intensification will be slow to occur.