Big Island Officials Prepare for Kilauea Danger

Hawaii, USA
Big Island Officials Prepare for Kilauea Danger - Levels of toxic sulfur dioxide at the summit are six to ten times greater than before the eruption. "The ten-fold increase of SO2 at the summit makes the total output for the volcano double basically, and the increased hazard from this emission source is, it's closer to where people live and breath and visit than Pu'u 'O'o is." Experts say no one can know exactly what will happen next so they're preparing for the worst. Tradewinds have been pushing the toxic cloud away from the nearest towns but a wind shift could force evacuations. The billowing fumes from Halema'uma'u crater are a growing danger. Even the experts say they are prepared to leave if conditions get too dangerous.
Geologists have been analyzing the steam and gas plume that’s been gushing from Halemaumau crater at the summit of Kilauea since March 11th. They've found something they didn’t expect: the H2O in their test tubes is not from ground water. It's been released from the molten subterranean magma itself. They’re calling it “juvenile water,” and IT'S NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET.

Tornado in Portugal - Cabo Espichel 19-03-2008

A few watersprouts and a small tornado filmed by the team of PortugalWeather near Cabo Espichel, Portugal.

This is not a drill: The earth actually is moving beneath western Washington

Earlier in the week, seismographs in the southern Hood Canal area began recording bursts of low-level shaking associated with what is called an episodic tremor-and-slip event. If this episode behaves true to form, the tremor will move north beneath the Olympic Mountains and across to Vancouver Island during the next two to three weeks.

This the fifth so-called slow-slip event to be recorded since the phenomenon was discovered in 2002, and it will be the most closely studied such event so far. University of Washington scientists and students are hurrying to deploy a special set of instruments, 100 temporary seismographs set in a close formation in the Olympic mountains, to record the current episode. The temporary stations will augment readings from the permanent seismograph network that covers all of Washington and Oregon.

"We hope to record unprecedented detail as the tremor moves beneath the seismometer array," said John Vidale, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

Slow-slip events, or silent earthquakes, occur at a depth of about 25 miles and can last for several weeks. Though they are unfelt by humans, they can release as much energy as a large earthquake.

Since they were first discovered in the Puget Sound region, such events have occurred regularly about every 14 months. The current slow-slip event was expected to start between mid-February and mid-April, and the first evidence that it had begun turned up on Sunday.

Could Volcanic Activity In West Antarctic Rift Destabilize Ice Sheet?

About 98 percent of it is buried beneath glacial ice, up to 2.5 miles thick, and bedrock beneath the ice is 2000--3000 feet below sea level over large areas. All of this makes it a difficult region to study.

It is interesting nevertheless, because volcanic eruptions beneath the ice could destabilize the ice sheet, leading to as much as 25 feet of sea-level rise. How likely is it that this could happen is a question scientists have debated for over a decade. LeMasurier addresses the question by comparing the West Antarctic rift with similar areas of crustal stretching elsewhere in the world.

The comparison shows that volcanic activity in rifts is most common where the land is a mile or more above sea level, and rising, which can readily be seen in Antarctica along the Transantarctic Mountains, and in the Pacific coast mountains of Marie Byrd Land. The large sub-sea-level interior of the rift does not, therefore, seem to be a likely place for present-day volcanic activity.

First Evidence Of Under-ice Volcanic Eruption In Antarctica

The subglacial volcano has a 'volcanic explosion index' of around 3-4. Heat from the volcano creates melt-water that lubricates the base of the ice sheet and increases the flow towards the sea. Pine Island Glacier on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is showing rapid change and BAS scientists are part of an international research effort to understand this change.

Using airborne ice-sounding radar, scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered a layer of ash produced by a 'subglacial' volcano. It extends across an area larger than Wales.

Lead author* Hugh Corr of the BAS says, "The discovery of a 'subglacial' volcanic eruption from beneath the Antarctic ice sheet is unique in itself. But our techniques also allow us to put a date on the eruption, determine how powerful it was and map out the area where ash fell. We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years. It blew a substantial hole in the ice sheet, and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose around 12 km into air."

'Enjoy life while you can'

Climate science maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable, carbon offsetting is a joke and ethical living a scam.

"There have been seven disasters since humans came on the earth, very similar to the one that's just about to happen. I think these events keep separating the wheat from the chaff. And eventually we'll have a human on the planet that really does understand it and can live with it properly. That's the source of my optimism."

What would Lovelock do now, I ask, if he were me? He smiles and says: "Enjoy life while you can. Because if you're lucky it's going to be 20 years before it hits the fan."

Anthímio de Azevedo na SIC

7.1 quake in Philippines

2008-03-03 14:11:16.3 13.46N 125.66E 30 7.1 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
2008-03-03 13:49:40.8 19.92N 121.36E 10 6.2 BABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES
2008-03-03 09:31:02.7 46.58N 153.10E 10 6.8 KURIL ISLANDS
2008-03-03 02:37:29.0 2.08S 99.82E 30 6.1 KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA

5.1 quakes at Azores

2008-03-02 01:34:17.8 36.45N 33.77W 2km 5.1 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
2008-03-02 00:20:01.3 36.50N 33.79W 17km 5.1 AZORES ISLANDS REGION

NASA Baffled by Unexplained Force Acting on Space Probes

Mysteriously, five spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions.

These newfound enigmas join the so-called "Pioneer anomaly" as hints that unexplained forces may appear to act on spacecraft.

A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun.

A host of explanations have been bandied about for the Pioneer anomaly. At times these are rooted in conventional science — perhaps leaks from the spacecraft have affected their trajectories. At times these are rooted in more speculative physics — maybe the law of gravity itself needs to be modified.

Mystery hum puzzles geologists

Geologists have detected a new continuous seismic signal in the Earth, but its cause is anybody's guess

Listen closely, and you'll hear the Earth humming - in not just one note, but two. The source of this second signal is a mystery.

For around a decade we've known about Earth's quiet "vertical" hum, probably caused by the steady thumping of deep waves on the ocean floor. Now a team in Germany has discovered a second "horizontal" note, too, and nobody knows what's causing this new signal.

They found evidence of a "horizontal" signal at all four stations. The signal migrates by around 1 micrometre one way or the other every three minutes or so, and its horizontal orientation distinguishes it from Earth's "vertical" oscillation. (Geophysical Research Letters)

Though certain events seem to amplify this constant signal - such as earthquakes, volcanoes and large storms - the source is a mystery. "Something entirely new to us is causing this hum," says Spahr Webb of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York, who studied the original hum.

"Something entirely new to us is causing this hum. Its frequency suggests something is 'twisting' the surface of the crust."