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The National Park Service seems to have it's stuff up still. as does the USGS

• Electronic Library of Interior Policies
• US Geological Survey
• National Park Service

It looks like the Park Service, USGS , and Office of Aircraft Services are still online. Yet there are some seemingly unrelated divisions offline that probably shouldn't be. I don't see why the National Interagency Fire Center is offline. It seems somewhat important!

Krakatoa was an enormous eruption. I don't doubt that...however the Long Valley/Yellowstone events (which did occur in pre-history times) were _much_ larger

For example, the URL you listed menioned that about 21 cubic km of "crud" was ejected in the Krakatoa eruption. This URL states "About 760,000 years ago a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in the area blew out 150 cubic miles of magma (molten rock) from a depth of about 4 miles beneath the Earth's surface." If Google's math is correct, that is about 625 cubic km of "crud" :-)

IIRC, Yellowstone's Giant eruption was somewhere around 1,000 cubic km in size!

Even when a volcano erupts next in Yellowstone it is unlikely to be of a massive scale like the rare caldera forming events of the past. Yellowstone is an exceptional geologic feature, and the spectacular geysers, hot springs, mud pots, etc... are all due to the presence of molten rock at unusually shallow levels beneath the park. If, however, you look at the size and frequency of past eruptions, then combine that with present observations, it's clear that the risk of another catastrophic caldera forming event in our lifetimes is very low.

Smaller eruptions are, however, much more common. There are various sorts of volcanic events that might qualify as "smaller eruptions," and it really wouldn't surprise me to see one in my lifetime.

Steam explosions seem like the most likely candidate for the next eruption. Small ones occur every few years. These can blast steam and scorching hot rock high in to the air, but don't result in the actual eruption of lava -- they occur far above any molten rock. These events occur when groundwater, heated from below, flashes catastrophically to steam. Doing so entails the liquid water rapidly increasing in volume, and in order to make room for itself, rock (as well as trees, people, bison, and anything that might get in the way) may be excavated from the vicinity of the explosion. There's a bulge underneath Yellowstone lake that some people speculate is caused by the accumulation of hydrothermal gases and that may possibly represent the future site of a steam explosion (although, again, that's just speculation at this point), and part of Norris Geyser Basin has been temporarily closed because of concern that it could be the site of a future steam explosion -- the ground there recently heated up to around 200 degrees F. Generally, however, steam explosions are hard to predict, and they're also usually fairly localized and fleeting events that present relatively little hazard.

There are also several dozen non-caldera forming volcanoes in the caldera and immediate vicinity. Most of these erupted shortly before or after the last giant eruption that occurred (roughly) 640,000 years ago. Keep in mind, however, that shortly is relative: most were spaced several thousand years apart. The last one erupted about 70,000 years ago.

The nice thing about volcanic eruptions is that they usually give some indication that they're coming before any eruption actually occurs. Warning signs can include: ground inflation over wide areas which can be detected by tiltmeters, GPS, and satellite inferometry; changes in groundwater chemistry; earthquake swarms that indicate magma moving a depth; volcanic tremors; and changes in volcanic gas discharge from the ground (this effect can be observed at Long Valley Caldera in California where CO2 escaping from magma has killed many trees, and is present in high enough concentration to be dangerous for humans in some situations). Yellowstone is, furthermore, very well monitored and to date there is no increase in bckground activity to indicate any volcanic eruption is imminent.

Human history has never recorded a giant caldera forming eruption like those that have occurred at Yellowstone and Long Valley Caldera, we know they are very infrequent events, and also know that much smaller events are much, much, more common. The largest eruptions should also give many of the same kinds of warning signs that other eruptions give, and probably many more. Again, it's also worth noting that past such eruptions at Yellowstone were prefaced for thousands of years by smaller eruptions.

"North Pacific and Russian Far East air routes (gray lines) pass over or near more than a hundred potentially active volcanoes (red triangles). Aircraft flying along these routes, some of the busiest in the world, carry more than 10,000 passengers and millions of dollars of cargo each day to and from Asia, North America, and Europe. In the North Pacific region, several explosive eruptions occur every year. Ash from these eruptions, which has caused jet engines to fail, is usually blown to the east and northeast, directly across the air routes."

And here's what happened to one 747: "As the crew of KLM Flight 867 struggled to restart the plane's engines, "smoke" and a strong odor of sulfur filled the cockpit and cabin. For five long minutes the powerless 747 jetliner, bound for Anchorage, Alaska, with 231 terrified passengers aboard, fell in silence toward the rugged, snow-covered Talkeetna Mountains (7,000 to 11,000 feet high). All four engines had flamed out when the aircraft inadvertently entered a cloud of ash blown from erupting Redoubt Volcano, 150 miles away. The volcano had begun erupting 10 hours earlier on that morning of December 15, 1989. Only after the crippled jet had dropped from an altitude of 27,900 feet to 13,300 feet (a fall of more than 2 miles) was the crew able to restart all engines and land the plane safely at Anchorage. The plane required $80 million in repairs, including the replacement of all four damaged engines."

-cp-

Alaska Bugs Sweat Gold Nuggets

Yes, but the caldera itself isn't very likely to erupt. What you would get is a relatively small (as far as volcanic eruptions go) eruption at Mammoth Mountain or at one of the craters in a chain that runs to the north.

Volcanic activity has occured there within the last 600 years or so as well. Just take a short drive up 395 to Obsidian Dome. That pile of obsidian wasn't there 600 years ago! What is actually interesting is that you can sit on top of Obsidian Dome and look north towards Mono Lake and you will see a series of similiar looking hills that form the Mono-Inyo Craters.

There is a lot of evidence that there is magma beneath the ground. From various earthquake swarms, to the hot springs towards the south to the treekill at Horseshow Lake.

Anyway, check out the USGS's outlook on the Long Valley Caldera and also browse around the .

Yes, but the caldera itself isn't very likely to erupt. What you would get is a relatively small (as far as volcanic eruptions go) eruption at Mammoth Mountain or at one of the craters in a chain that runs to the north.

Volcanic activity has occured there within the last 600 years or so as well. Just take a short drive up 395 to Obsidian Dome. That pile of obsidian wasn't there 600 years ago! What is actually interesting is that you can sit on top of Obsidian Dome and look north towards Mono Lake and you will see a series of similiar looking hills that form the Mono-Inyo Craters.

There is a lot of evidence that there is magma beneath the ground. From various earthquake swarms, to the hot springs towards the south to the treekill at Horseshow Lake.

Anyway, check out the USGS's outlook on the Long Valley Caldera and also browse around the .

The threat of a massive eruption is exaggerated in the articles, without a doubt. There is, however, a lot of interesting scientific data presented.

The interview points out that since the last caldera-forming eruption, which was 640,000 years ago, there have been 30 smaller eruptions. That's an average of one eruption per 21,000 years. According to the USGS, the last eruption at Yellowstone was 70,000 years ago. It's not unreasonable to suggest that another eruption could occur in the near future.

As for the threat of a massive caldera-forming eruption. the same USGS site reports that they tend to have occurred every 600,000 to 800,000 years over the past 2.1 million years. Since the last such eruption was 640,000 years, it's not unreasonable to suggest that such an eruption could occur within the next 200,000 years if the pattern continues. The threat of such an eruption is overplayed in some of the articles cited in the story, but is not completely unreasonable.

Note, also, that there aren't any records of what happened the last time Yellowstone had a massive eruption. Such an eruption has not been observed.

Also, the government does have a tendency to downplay threats while they are still being investigated.

I tend to think the questions are reasonable but exaggerated. But if the government downplays stuff, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I just don't think people ought to be ridiculed when it's easy enough just to debunk them with the facts if they really are wrong.

Earthquake activity in the Long Valley area of eastern California increased greatly after 1978. ... Since 1980, typical background geologic activity in the Long Valley area has included as many as 20 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or smaller a day, occasional swarms of magnitude 3 and larger earthquakes (felt locally), and uplift of the center of Long Valley Caldera at a rate of about 1 inch per year. Swarms including magnitude 4 earthquakes may occur about once a year.

There is a lots of information concerning the actual research being conducted.

The largest portion of water used in the US is for agriculture. Most of this is in the west. This is because without irrigation it's hard to grow much of anything in a desert. The proportion of consumptive use in the west is 90% for agriculture. 1996 USGS water use survey As the population expands in the west this agriculture becomes less and less sustainable.

Nothing to see here, move along.

ps. that third one looks kinda like Tinkerbells legs sprouting out of a frog's ass. Kinda gruesome. Time to order dinner from that Frenchy place on third ave.

The researchers have been collecting samples. Nothing statistically significant. Jump back into your SUV and move along.

Not wrong.

You assume in your attack that there was a "North America" and and "India" during the K/T time frame.

A cursory inspection of the plate movements and alignments during this period of time reveals that your debris track would have collided with Africa as well.

Do the authors indicate that there were massive forest extinctions, or just massive forest fires? Which mechanism caused the decline of the dinosaurs? Was the extinction just in North America?

Problems, problems......

Well, the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature answered my question, and also seems to suggest that in fact not everything on Venus has a woman's name.

Craters though are! Sadly Melissa is not on the list.

Actually, check out the whole USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. It's very cool.

Well, the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature answered my question, and also seems to suggest that in fact not everything on Venus has a woman's name.

Craters though are! Sadly Melissa is not on the list.

Actually, check out the whole USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. It's very cool.

Well, the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature answered my question, and also seems to suggest that in fact not everything on Venus has a woman's name.

Craters though are! Sadly Melissa is not on the list.

Actually, check out the whole USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. It's very cool.

Starchild

For background on current names:

Names past

How names for features are selected:

Categories

And the best explanation you're likely to get of how planets get their names:

Cornell University

Starchild

For background on current names:

Names past

How names for features are selected:

Categories

And the best explanation you're likely to get of how planets get their names:

Cornell University

There is also information about the rover, and science instruments on NASA's site, but these are extremely topical, but also good to look at first. So there you go.

Anyway, what the original poster didn't mention, is that as the water levels in the aquifer decrease, the energy required (rho*g*h) to pump that water also increases. Eventually, it will be prohibitively expensive to pump the water out of there. Additionally, the concentration of contaminates will also increase. Most Americans really have no idea of the seriousness of the situation here. Much of the agriculture in the U.S. depends on ground water irrigation-- those sources of groundwater are fast disappearing. -S. Dugan

Growing all that corn also takes a Lot of Water. more water than rain. The High Plains Aquifer is steadily being drained and by some estimates may not last as long as the world's petrolium reserves.

• You turn it into an Open Source project,
• A software house picks it up creates a derivative product to sell without releasing the code and being forced to share their work with the world (e.g. Global Mapper derived from USGS dlgv32), and
• Another company packages it "as is" (maybe with a nice installer, or ported to another platform), and the price of a license buys you tech support, training, and/or printed documentation.

This is probably the package you are looking for: Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers. It's been distributed freely for many years, and is, indeed, public domain. It's funded by NASA for use by NASA-funded researchers and the planetary science community in general.

Note, Isis 3.0 has not been released yet, look for the beta in coming months - look at Isis 2.1 for the stable release. Download/Install instructions are on this page: Isis 2.1 Installation Guide.

Automatic mosaicking is generally done using the spacecraft positioning information. Automatic registration? It doesn't exist (yet). Registration involves varying levels of human intervention, and when some level of automation is achieved, it's mission-specific and under special circumstances. Isis is primarily a cartographic package - IDL is generally used for statistical work.

Another image processing package that's public domain is USGS MIPS. It's a (non-NASA) terrestrial image processing package that evolved from the same roots as Isis, so you'll find it has many of the same capabilities.

I don't know what other NASA packages there might be out there like this, if there are any. I'll ask around.

This is probably the package you are looking for: Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers. It's been distributed freely for many years, and is, indeed, public domain. It's funded by NASA for use by NASA-funded researchers and the planetary science community in general.

Note, Isis 3.0 has not been released yet, look for the beta in coming months - look at Isis 2.1 for the stable release. Download/Install instructions are on this page: Isis 2.1 Installation Guide.

Automatic mosaicking is generally done using the spacecraft positioning information. Automatic registration? It doesn't exist (yet). Registration involves varying levels of human intervention, and when some level of automation is achieved, it's mission-specific and under special circumstances. Isis is primarily a cartographic package - IDL is generally used for statistical work.

Another image processing package that's public domain is USGS MIPS. It's a (non-NASA) terrestrial image processing package that evolved from the same roots as Isis, so you'll find it has many of the same capabilities.

I don't know what other NASA packages there might be out there like this, if there are any. I'll ask around.

This is probably the package you are looking for: Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers. It's been distributed freely for many years, and is, indeed, public domain. It's funded by NASA for use by NASA-funded researchers and the planetary science community in general.

Note, Isis 3.0 has not been released yet, look for the beta in coming months - look at Isis 2.1 for the stable release. Download/Install instructions are on this page: Isis 2.1 Installation Guide.

Automatic mosaicking is generally done using the spacecraft positioning information. Automatic registration? It doesn't exist (yet). Registration involves varying levels of human intervention, and when some level of automation is achieved, it's mission-specific and under special circumstances. Isis is primarily a cartographic package - IDL is generally used for statistical work.

Another image processing package that's public domain is USGS MIPS. It's a (non-NASA) terrestrial image processing package that evolved from the same roots as Isis, so you'll find it has many of the same capabilities.

I don't know what other NASA packages there might be out there like this, if there are any. I'll ask around.

You post about some dome-looking thing, and completely ignore all the sandworms in the context pictures?

What, are you working for the Fremen?

The enormous golf-ball / buckyball-like structure sitting in a crater:

What the hell?. Here is the image in context.

It looks like a gigantic sphere has crashed into the planet - but the ridges on it make it almost look artificial. I'm amazed something that size could impact the planet (at, presumably, orbital velocities) - yet maintain it's shape. It's the most interesting structure that I've seen yet in any of the mars photos and I'd love to see a close-up view of it from the surface to help figure out exactly what the hell it is.

The enormous golf-ball / buckyball-like structure sitting in a crater:

What the hell?. Here is the image in context.

It looks like a gigantic sphere has crashed into the planet - but the ridges on it make it almost look artificial. I'm amazed something that size could impact the planet (at, presumably, orbital velocities) - yet maintain it's shape. It's the most interesting structure that I've seen yet in any of the mars photos and I'd love to see a close-up view of it from the surface to help figure out exactly what the hell it is.

Now, imagine breaking up this structure. Take the top molecule and rotate it by approximately 120 degrees, so that the H atom in the upper left of the image is now positioned between the H atoms bonded to the O second from the top. This is what happens when the ice melts... the molecules get closer together, causing the density to increase slightly upon melting.

If you have access to the Feynman lectures on physics, there is much better explanation with more pictures explaining this phenomenon.

from up to a 10 km deep hole

the deepest oil and gas wells penetrate the Earth's crust to about 8 kilometers

"The mission will result in Mars being more carefully mapped than Earth has been to date!

Uhh.. I'm sure you're not including military mapping"

-1 uninformed

Five words for you: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic. The maps you mention may be accurate, but they only describe around 30% of our planet's surface. To date, the world whose surface we know best is Venus.

My favourites are the 'pictures of alien moon bases'. Many of these prove to be blowups of astronomical JPG files. The compression algorithm used in the JPG format introduces artificial distortions in the details of images

By all means, explain what compression artifact in the JPEG algorithm, or natural process occuring on Mars, accounts for the top two images (in the left column, not the Viking contexts) at this page, containing raw images from the Mars Global Surveyor dataset.

Keep in mind that each pixel corresponds to 4.47 meters, and you can download the raw file as they have it, rather than a grainy and blown-up JPEG. That makes the interesting feature in the top image roughly 120 meters in diameter, and the curiously organic-looking features in the rest of the set around 50m wide by several kilometers long.

• Lunar Orbiter camera info from the Lunar Orbiter mission history
• Online Photographic Atlas of the Moon contains scans of the hand-mosaicked frames originally published in the original NASA Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon by Bowker and Hughes
• Another site with scanned Lunar Orbier frames
• Lunar Orbiter Digitization Project is a project to scan the films and digitally mosaic the frames to get rid of striping and other blemishes and create a global lunar mosaic

If it flows, it's not a solid.

Go look at the Lunae Planum region of Mars, especially with that color-coded altitude. That there was water on Mars, lots of water, oceans and sea and lakes and rivers, just strikes you in the face when you look at the huge canyons that rivers carved (Kasei Valles, Echus Chasma, Ares Valles, etc...) there. One can even follow the borders of what could very well have been oceans on Mars (Chryse Planitia is, IMHO, the bottom of what was a sea).

Some scientists have estimated that there is enough water on Mars to cover it entirely with a 500 meters deep ocean (if it was perfectly flat).

Go look at the Lunae Planum region of Mars, especially with that color-coded altitude. That there was water on Mars, lots of water, oceans and sea and lakes and rivers, just strikes you in the face when you look at the huge canyons that rivers carved (Kasei Valles, Echus Chasma, Ares Valles, etc...) there. One can even follow the borders of what could very well have been oceans on Mars (Chryse Planitia is, IMHO, the bottom of what was a sea).

Some scientists have estimated that there is enough water on Mars to cover it entirely with a 500 meters deep ocean (if it was perfectly flat).

Using the Mercalli scale is much more difficult, as it is not quantitative. Mercalli intensity is a qualitative description of the amount of shaking felt and the amount of property destruction. Plus, Mercalli intensity is not a single value, but rather may be different at every location. Nevertheless, the USGS has been working on a product called ShakeMap that can estimate Mercalli intensity within a few minutes of a quake. However, constructing these maps requires extensive local seismic networks. For an example of a ShakeMap, see this link.

Predicting the shaking from a given quake (e.g. mag. 7 and 15 km depth in a particular location) before the fact for planning purposes is also done. Small variations in the earthquake parameters (location, direction of slip, depth, etc.) may significantly affect the shaking felt at a given location. Local geology also has a big effect on the amount of shaking experienced. So, it's a tough problem that requires lots of data.

The most important prediction method is to antipicate the maximum horizontal force resulting from an earth quake. A force execeeding 10% the amout of earth's surface gravity, called a "g", at one Hertz can collapse a poorly designed building or overpass. 200% g is observed in the largest quakes. A guide to destruction in terms of "g" is here .

The United States Geological Survey has spent a lot of effort predicting maximum forces. this is based on the location of previous large earthquakes and local soil conditions among other factors. This has resulting in relatively low death rates of quakes of similar size. For example last month's central California quake and Iranian quakes were about the same size with death tolls of 3 and 30,000. Ditto 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe Japan with tolls of 55 and 6,000.

USGS Earthquake Reference Site

Incidentally, I'm posting this because I want to test the load bearing of this server, one of the ones I take care of here at work. So click away.

(anon to avoid karma-whoring)

This is a myth.

Please learn some basic geology before making such claims.

As our water is blue because of the SKY, not the water it self.

BZZZT! Wrong answer. The longer wavelengths of light (toward the red end of the visible spectrum) tend to be absorbed by water, while the shorter wavelengths (blue) are transmitted. This probably has something to do with water containing oxygen. Therefore, by definition, water is blue. Have you ever seen a clear, deep lake on a cloudy day? It's still intensely blue. In that picture, you'll notice that couds are actually kind of bluish, too. After all, they're made of water.

Where is the proper RGB test pattern image on the lander to calibrate it?

The camera needs to be calibrated under laboratory lighting conditions where a full-spectrum light source is available. If indeed the atmosphere IS reddish, then a test pattern will appear reddish under that atmosphere.

If we want to see what the landscape would look like under earth's lighting conditions, then we can do color balancing. This can be valuable to someone analyzing the image.

Why don't you look up Petuxent then?

You can believe who you want, but you have to use your *analytic* ability, if you have any, short of actually conducting an experiment yourself; but we are posting on Slashdot after all!

What do you require to believe?

PDF directly from Patuxent itself? This is a gov sponsored site, but it shows the same (it is the same!) data the other two reference.

First I would like to state that IANAB (I am not a biologist). That said, from what I have gathered CWD is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (which include mad cow diesease). Diseases such as these result in the formation of lesions on the brain via deformed prions. As a result of this, animals motor skills are impared. Learn more here and here

Spain and morroco are indeed on separate tectonic plates. However, they only move 10mm towards eachother each year, and the subduction is not happening between spain and morroco, but south of greece and farther to the east. So, my personal guess is that plate movement for this tunnel can be reasonably safely disregarded (no fault lines to mess things up).

But then, IANATG (tectonic geologist).

Tunnels. Trains have been running through the Pennines between Manchester and Sheffield since the industrial revolution.

HAHAHAHAHA... man you kill me. I knew someone was going to suggest a tunnel.

Consider this this map, especially the section of I-5 that runs the most accessible route over the mountains, and uncoincidentally happens to be right on top of the map's thickest red line...

"Tunnels." Comedy gold!

From the same website.

So what's the big deal?

There may be none. This region has active hydrothermal features, and possibly some uplift. It's possible that the area could host future hydrothermal explosions, but so could other areas beneath the lake and other areas within the Park.

Do any of the features beneath the lake relate to possible volcanic eruptions?

It is very unlikely. All active features are related to faults and hot water (hydrothermal) vents. Identified craters were formed by collapse or as a result of old hydrothermal explosions. Many of the rocks beneath the lake are lava flows more than 100,000 years old.

I don't think we have too much to worry about :P

Now, what can we do about Yellowstone?

I read that, however I felt that it was somewhat irrelevant. Yes, the fact that Bechtel created a $125 million dollar mistake is nothing to be smiled upon, and that is the reason why that reactor is not in operation.

However, San Onofre has been through 6 major earthquakes in Southern California since it went online in 1984 and is still operational.

Despite the Bechtel incident, San Onofre *is* built to withstand earthquakes: A 7.0 directly underneath the plant.

While I realize that Bechtel is a horrible company, I think the fact that it has withstood earthquakes on multiple occasions speaks for itself.

If you want to see one of the greatest examples of Nuclear Power working right in the middle of earthquake country, you need to look no further than Japan, who gets almost one third of their energy from Nuclear power.
Yes, I realize nuclear power creates horrible waste disposal problems and is probably not the best way to go for a source of energy. However, I'm more worried about a train carrying nuclear waste derailing near my neighborhood than I am of an earthquake destroying a nuclear power plant.

Pinatubo expelled more CO2 into the atmosphere than the entire history of industrialized civilization.

Pinatubo was spectacular, but its CO2 contribution wasn't even a blip on the scale. Worse, even a trivial amount of research would have dispelled your misconceptions. Don't you know how, or don't you care?