USGS Arctic Oil and Gas Report, Estimates of Undiscovered Oil and Gas North of the Arctic Circle

IntroductionIn May 2008 a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists completed an appraisal of possible future additions to world oil and gas reserves from new field discoveries in the Arctic. This Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal (CARA) evaluated the petroleum potential of all areas north of the Arctic Circle (66.56° north latitude);...

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Mount Etna - Italy

Mount Etna: IntroductionMount Etna is Europe’s highest and most active volcano. Towering above the city of Catania on the island of Sicily, it has been growing for about 500,000 years and is in the midst of a series of eruptions that began in 2001. It has experienced a variety of eruption styles, including violent explosions and voluminous...

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Diamond Mineral Uses & Properties

The world's most popular gemstone. -- The hardest natural substance known.Diamond is a fascinating mineral. It is chemically resistant and it is the hardest known natural substance. These properties make it suitable for use as a cutting tool and for other uses where durability is required. Diamond also has special optical properties such...

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Volcanic Ash

What is Volcanic Ash?Volcanic ash consists of powder-size to sand-size particles of igneous rock material that have been blown into the air by an erupting volcano (see image at right). The term is used for the material while it is in the air, after it falls to the ground and sometimes after it has been lithified into rock. The terms "volcanic...

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Earthquake in Papua, Indonesia

In the early morning hours of January 4, 2009, a pair of powerful earthquakes rattled Papua, Indonesia. The first earthquake, a magnitude 7.6 event, hit at 4:43 a.m., local time. The second, a 7.4 magnitude quake, followed at 7:33 a.m. The earthquakes damaged more than 800 buildings in Manokwari, the city nearest their epicenters, said the...

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Indonesia Tsunami Map

(www.geology.com)A great earthquake occurred at 00:58:53 (UTC) on Sunday, December 26, 2004. This 9.0+ magntide event was located off the west coast of Northern Sumatra as shown on the map below. This was the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake. The tsunami...

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The bizarre mechanics of a Leda clay landslide

A Leda clay landslide, such as the one that killed 34 people in Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, is a strange and frightful natural phenomenon.Carleton University professor emeritus Kenneth Torrance, a soil scientist, says he remains in awe of Leda clay landslides after more than 30 years of studying them."They are utterly astonishing," he says. "The material essentially turns liquid and the debris -- the failed material -- flows away."The...

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Iowa, Illinois and Missouri Flooding is Visible from Space Levee Breaks and Overtoppings Flood Large Areas

In early June, 2008 the United States Midwest was hit by a steady string of rainstorms. The precipitation completely saturated the ground and produced record flooding in many parts of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and other Midwestern states. Flooding was severe enough to exceed 500-year levels in several areas. The damage caused by the flooding...

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Uses of Granite

Granite is one of the most popular building materials. It has been used for thousands of years in both interior and exterior applications. Granite dimension stone is used in buildings, bridges, paving, monuments and many other exterior projects. Indoors, polished granite slabs and tiles are used in countertops, tile floors, stair treads and...

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Humans Linked to Climate Change

Human-Caused Climate ChangeA new NASA-led study shows human-caused climate change has made an impact on a wide range of Earth's natural systems, including permafrost thawing, plants blooming earlier across Europe, and lakes declining in productivity in Africa.Cynthia Rosenzweig of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Science in New York and...

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Stromboli - Italy

Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth and has been erupting almost continuously since 1932. Because it has been active for much of the last 2,000 years and its eruptions are visible for long distances at night, it is known as the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean". It is among the world's most visited volcanoes.Stromboli is...

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Government offering 15 geothernal fields for power bids

Benget Besalicto Tnb. , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta The government is to soon offer 15 geothermal fields up for power development tenders expected to generate a total of about 1,500 MW (megawatts) of electricity requiring a total investment of US$ 4.5 billion. Bambang Setiawan, the Director General of Mineral, Coal and Geothermal at the ministry of energy and mineral resources, said Monday...

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Geologic Time Scale A Time Line for the Geological Sciences

Geologists have divided Earth's history into a series of time intervals. These time intervals are not equal in length like the hours in a day. Instead the time intervals are variable in length. This is because geologic time is divided using significant events in the history of the Earth. For example, the boundary between the Permian and Triassic...

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Active Volcanoes of Our Solar System

Volcanoes Are Not Confined to EarthEvidence of past volcanic activity has been found on most planets in our solar system and on many of their moons. Here are a few examples: our own moon has vast areas covered with ancient lava flows; the largest volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars; and, hundreds of volcanic features have...

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Dark Matter in a Galaxy Supercluster

What is Dark Matter?Astronomers are using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to dissect one of the largest structures in the universe as part of a quest to understand the violent lives of galaxies. Hubble is providing indirect evidence of unseen dark matter tugging on galaxies in the crowded, rough-and-tumble environment of a massive supercluster...

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Hurricane Ike: Storm Surge Flooding Image of the Gulf Coast

This photo-like image of the Texas and Louisiana coasts shows the impact of Hurricane Ike’s powerful storm surge on coastal wetlands. Hurricane Ike came ashore over southeast Texas on September 13, 2008, bringing with it a wall of water that stretched from Galveston, Texas, across all of coastal Louisiana. The storm’s surge covered hundreds...

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Tsunami Geology - What Causes a Tsunami?

What causes a tsunami?... A tsunami is a large ocean wave that is caused by sudden motion on the ocean floor. This sudden motion could be an earthquake, a powerful volcanic eruption, or an underwater landslide. The impact of a large meteorite could also cause a tsunami. Tsunamis travel across the open ocean at great speeds and build into...

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Expansive Soil and Expansive Clay The hidden force behind basement and foundation problems

What is an "Expansive Soil"?Expansive soils contain minerals such as smectite clays that are capable of absorbing water. When they absorb water they increase in volume. The more water they absorb the more their volume increases. Expansions of ten percent or more are not uncommon. This change in volume can exert enough force on a building...

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The San Andreas Fault

By David K. Lynch, Ph.D of ThuleScientific.comThe San Andreas Fault is the sliding boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. It slices California in two from Cape Mendocino to the Mexican border. San Diego, Los Angeles and Big Sur are on the Pacific Plate. San Francisco, Sacramento and the Sierra Nevada are on the North...

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