This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Apologies for this being so late, my darlings! I've started a new, very physically demanding job, and going from 100% sedentary to 100% active about did me in. Also, I had a book to finish. And reasons. But here we go at last!
Geotripper: The Hawai'i that Was series. Garry just got back from a visit to the active volcanoes of the Big Island, and his series of posts on Hawaiian volcanism is just incredimazacular. I had to make up a word because it's so great!
LA Times: Lucy Jones is leaving her job - to shake up more than just earthquakes.
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In her 33 years with the USGS, Jones has become a universal mother for rattled Southern Californians. After each quake, she turns fear of the unknown into something understandable.
"When I give it a name, I give it a number, I give it a fault, it puts it back into a box and makes it less frightening," Jones said. "You feel better if somebody shows they understand what's going on."
Looking for Detachment: Approach to Titus Canyon: Up and Over White Pass
I'm not doing a pull-quote here because the images and words are all so intimately linked. Go visit an extremely beautiful and geologically fascinating desert canyon with Silver Fox as your guide!
Eruptions: Annotated Volcano: Exploring Pinatubo’s Devastating Eruption, 25 Years Later
The 1991 ERUPTION OF Pinatubo in the Philippines was the second largest of the 20th century (only losing to Novarupta in Alaska in 1912). It had a significant impact on global climate, dropping average temperatures by ~0.25°C (on average) for the next five years. It could have been a massive disaster if it wasn’t for some great work by volcanologistswho carefully monitored the volcano and understood when the big eruption was going to happen. Yet, even a few months before this giant eruption, no one was watching Pinatubo. Much like Novarupta, the volcano was hiding in plain view—a nasty trick when it comes to many of Earth’s really big eruptions.
This June 15 marks the 25th anniversary of the Pinatubo eruption, so it is a great candidate for an annotated volcano.I have some great images taken before and after, showing how the landscape changed and how it has recovered in the quarter century since the eruption.
And finally, for the Yellowstone fans: DO NOT MISS THIS POST! It's just magnificent.
Magma Cum Laude: Yellowstone hot springs: Upsetting your color scale
In science, color is used to show gradients, and in many parts of geology, temperature scales. Visually rainbows are very impactful (even if they aren’t good in graphic design terms), but for most people, a rainbow is composed of “warm” and “cold” colors – reds are “warm” and blues and greens are “cool”. In Yellowstone, however, that color scale gets turned on its head. Hot springs and thermal features in the park can have temperatures of up to 93 °C (199 °F – the boiling temperature at the elevation of the Yellowstone Plateau), but it’s waters much cooler than boiling temperature that shows the warmest colors. Totally counter-intuitive, when it’s based on your usual understanding of the color scale – so why the reversal?
That's it for June. I know I've probably missed some great stuff, so you've gotta help me out for July, folks. Send me great geoblog post links! If you're a geoblogger, don't feel a bit shy about shameless self promotion! Email me your greatest hits at dhunterauthor at gmail.
And for those of you who are avid readers of the geoblogosphere, please do send me the posts that capture your attention as you come across them. I want them all!
