Tag Archives: Down to Earth

The Notorious E15 in Pictures

Posted on March 29, 2012 by rberkowitz

Physics Today’s Earth sciences correspondent took her camera on a field trip to the scourge of transatlantic air travelers in 2010, the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull. Continue reading →

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Building Sea-floor Features in the Lab

Posted on March 26, 2012 by rberkowitz

Researchers in Canada investigate overpressures needed to form ocean-floor domes. Continue reading →

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The Old Maya and the Sea

Posted on March 24, 2012 by rberkowitz

Maya civilization survived and thrived in a changing environment. Still, scientists speculate on why it ceased to thrive in the presence of climatic and social change. Continue reading →

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Burgess Shale-type Fossil Preservation

Posted on March 23, 2012 by rberkowitz

Extraordinary soft-tissue preservation is due to early inhibition of microbial activity. Continue reading →

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A Dionysian Indicator of Climate Change

Posted on March 20, 2012 by rberkowitz

Drier soil and warmer temperatures are causing wine grapes to ripen earlier in Australia. Continue reading →

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Food for Thought on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Posted on March 20, 2012 by rberkowitz

Reducing humans’ meat consumption by at least 50% will be necessary to stabilize discharge of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, by 2050. Continue reading →

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Two Columns of Air, Two Seasons, and Two Aircraft

Posted on March 17, 2012 by rberkowitz

Airborne and ground-based atmospheric research facilities measure aerosol chemical and radiative properties over land and sea. Continue reading →

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Will she blow? Magma Chamber Inflation at Santorini Caldera

Posted on March 4, 2012 by rberkowitz

Recent geodetic unrest at Santorini caldera in the Aegean Sea may or may not foreshadow an eruption. Continue reading →

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Explaining Sheeting Joints on Yosemite’s Half Dome

Posted on February 27, 2012 by rberkowitz

The fractures that lead to rockfall on Yosemite National Park’s Half Dome are best explained by curvature and forces parallel to the rock surface. Continue reading →

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A Seismic Story told by Turbidites

Posted on February 3, 2012 by rberkowitz

Sediment deposits off the coast of Washington and Oregon reveal periodic tsunami and earthquakes of similar magnitude to the ones that struck Japan’s Tohoku region in March 2011. Continue reading →

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