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Field work on remote Pacific islands reveals answers
March 7, 2011 | 4
A promising pond awaits in the Marshall Islands.
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A sediment core, which holds preserved algae that reveal past rainfall, must be kept vertical and still during transit so the contents do not mix.
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Trees prove handy for keeping a core vertical as thin sections are cut for the lab.
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Julian Sachs [ left ] and Dan Nelson [ right ] repeatedly drop a weight onto an empty core tube to slowly force it down into the thick, swampy peat on Kosrae, an island in the Federated States of Micronesia....[More]
Sachs and Nelson remove the core by pulling (extremely hard) to overcome the suction created when the tube was pounded in.
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A thin slice of core is wrapped. It will be locked in a protective case for its return to the lab.
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When sediment is saturated with water it is cut in one-centimeter intervals and bagged. Local children seem to find the exercise entertaining, if not a bit odd.
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An algae mat is catalogued for later analysis. The ratio of hydrogen isotopes in preserved lipids indicates the amount of rainfall that occurred when the algae lived.
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4 Comments
Add Comment"Sachs and Myhrvold remove the core by pulling (extremely hard) to overcome the suction created when the tube was pounded in."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot to nitpick, but there is no suction until the pulling begins. Unfortunately for the pullers, the harder they pull the more suction they cause.
"That loud sucking sound...."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was hoping for some conclusions based on the title. A better name would have been "Asking Where the Rain Will Fall in 2100".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisReally hate to "rain" on your parade guys BUT;
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Earth in its orbit around the Sun both magnetically interact giving us our Seasons.
Normally there are two dramatic Earth tippings a year.
One in late summer or fall when the Suns north magnetic pole severs with the Earths north magnetic pole and one in late winter or early spring when the Suns south magnetic pole severs with the Earths south magnetic pole.
The cause of Earth Changes is the erratic movement of Earth on its's meandering magnetic axis changing it's exposure to both Sun and Moon.
The date, time and distance of these tippings (magnetic pole movement) is at this time crucial and will explain it this way.
When the Earth tipped that one thousand miles it moved the magnetic pole location one thousand miles in the opposite direction moving the Equator (Sun exposure) one thousand miles. Last winter Russia was getting the cold from the closer pole and loosing the heat of Sun exposure. This year its opposite.
This is real important Stuph and all we need is to have some one monitor these tippings. We would then know what and where crops should be planted, where to plan our skiing etc.
Like I say we really need some one to take charge and properly monitor Magnetic Pole Movement. Believe me its for the good of OUR WORLD!
cbc.ca bruce voigt