The Earth Strikes Back? May 1, 2010
Posted by Jill S. Schneiderman in climate change, earthquakes, volcanic hazards.add a comment
A former student of ours in the Vassar College Department of Earth Science and Geography, Ian Saginor, has a nice editorial on CNN, “Are Earthquakes Getting Worse? No!”
It answers questions that I suspect may occur to readers of EarthDharma.
Earth Observatory Images of Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland April 21, 2010
Posted by Jill S. Schneiderman in Iceland, learning differences, satellite images, volcanic hazards.add a comment
NASA’s Earth Observatory project is one of my favorite sources for images of earth processes. In my opinion, images of Earth, rather than words about it, often make the strongest statement about the place of human beings in the larger scheme of things. And for visual learners, rather than text-based learners, these images can’t be beat!
Earth Observatory images of the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland, taken between March 24 and April 19 show development and movement of the ash plume over time.
Regarding Iceland: Of Course Volcanic Eruptions May Disrupt Air Transport! April 19, 2010
Posted by Jill S. Schneiderman in volcanic hazards.add a comment
Flight Engineer Jeff Williams contacted the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) on May 23, 2006 to report that the Cleveland Volcano, as photographed by Williams, was emitting a column of ash. The AVO reported that the ash cloud height might have achieved a height of 20,000 feet above sea level.
Cleveland Volcano, one of the most active of the volcanoes in Alaska’s Aleutian Island chain, is a stratovolcano, composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, compacted volcanic ash, and volcanic rocks. Northwestward movement of the Pacific lithospheric plate beneath the North American lithospheric plate generates magma that results in the eruptions of ash and lava from the volcano.
Watch Dina Venezky, Ph.D., a geologist for the United States Geological Survey’s volcano hazards program in Menlo Park, California, explain lucidly this type of hazard.
And check out Iceland-specific information via Scientific American’s reliable coverage.
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