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Taking Earth's Temperature |
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Taking Earth's Temperature |
| August 1998 | Table of Contents | Volume 43 | Number 8 |
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What triggers the ice rafts? ... Small particles, big findings ... Evolution out of starvation ... Administration makes waves ... Teaching our teachers ... Global seismic network reaches new depths ... Questioning the fossil record ... Research "shocks" geophysicists ... Deep impact on Capitol Hill ...
POLITICAL SCENE
The Case for a Natural Hazards Caucus
David Applegate
FEATURES
Underground Temperatures Reveal Changing Climate
by Henry N. Pollack and Shaopeng Huang
Few people argue any longer about rising global temperatures. The debate
now centers around the causes: are they manifestations of natural processes
or anthropogenic forces? Two geothermal researchers explain how borehole
temperature profiles can be used to reconstruct the history of Earth's
surface temperatures, especially during the past five-to-ten centuries,
and to help predict future trends.
Solving the Mysteries of Hibernia
by Geoff Meeker
To better understand the depositional characteristics of the Grand
Banks, the Hibernia oil field's Reservoir Performance Team digs back 220
million years to examine two different formations that were once part of
a large deltaic system. By studying the passage of environments through
time and the effects of plate tectonics, the team creates models that are
being used to develop the field.
Rosetta Stones of the Deep
by Kathleen Wren
Two thousand meters beneath the surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico,
a volcanologist and a marine geologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
have teamed up to study basalt pillars on the sea floor. By studying these
mysterious columns of lava, the researchers hope to contribute to our understanding
of how Earth's crust forms and transfers heat from its hot interior.
See the related press release describing
the August issue.
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