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Researcher Says the Hawaiian Islands Are Dissolving
SternisheFan writes with a snippet from Science Recorder: "Reporting in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, researchers at Brigham Young University say that the Hawaiian Islands are slowly dissolving. Eventually, Oahu's Koolau and Waianae mountains will dwindle to little more than a flat, low-lying island like Midway. While erosion is certainly a guilty party, researchers contend that the mountains of Oahu are, in fact, dissolving from within. Researchers spent several months collecting samples of groundwater and stream water to determine which source removed more mineral material. They also put to use surface water estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey to calculate the quantity of mass that vanished from the island each year. Researchers point out that Oahu is actually rising in elevation at a slow but steady rate due to plate tectonics. [BYU geologist Steve Nelson] and colleagues believe that Oahu will continue to grow for as long as 1.5 million years. Beyond that, the force of groundwater will eventually win and Oahu will begin its transformation to a flat, low-lying island like Midway." (If you have journal access, or don't mind forking over $40, you can read the original paper.)
Larry Ellison isn't going to like this...
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
colleagues believe that Oahu will continue to grow for as long as 1.5 million years.
So what you're saying is, we've got some time?
TL;DR 1.5 million years form now, Oahu will stop growing. Then it will start to shrink.
Be afraid! Be very afraid!
This is how islands form and erode. This is some kind of surprise?
In the 70s, all people heard was "save the oceans!" and such. Now, we're making MORE ocean and people are still upset. We just can't win.
>Beyond that, the force of groundwater will eventually win and Oahu will begin its transformation to a flat, low-lying island like Midway."
What do you mean "begin?" Begun it has, already. /yoda.
Oahu's eventual metamorphosis is to that of a seamount, like all the other seamounts that stretch along the ocean floor all the way to the Aleutians and Kamchatka.
This is not news at all for Geologists, or anyone for that matter, who has seen a map of the ocean floor on Google Earth or the globe at the Boston Museum of Science in the 70s (yours truly).
--
BMO
Then call Steve McGarrett and friends.
Does this mean Oahu will become a flat, low-lying island like Midway?
Every one of their papers find something or other is melting.
They will discover plate tectonics are in the process of building the Hawai'ian islands just a bit faster than the erosion is taking them down.
Man, those birthers will do just about anything to show Obama wasn't born in the US. Did someone catch Donald Trump tossing shovels of sand into the ocean on the backside of the island?
Why does the summary keep referencing the flatness of Midway? I don't think many people are familiar with Pacific island topography.
what kind of island Midway is? Its mountainous right?
How disappointing that the islands seem to be dissolving from within and this isn't fully due to man-made erosion. It is just impossible for me (personally) to really get into an environmental story unless there is an angle of how mankind is awful.
Everything will be gone, given enough time.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
better sell them off to some cashed up country while it is still worth something!
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
> (If you have journal access, or don't mind forking over $40, you can read the original paper.)
You might ask why the journal is charging $40. Usually the journals - run by companies - have nothing to do with writing the original paper, contributing only academic review (possibly by unpaid volunteers) and publishing. They won't print the article unless the author signs a copyright transfer agreement which means they no longer own the copyright, and can't even put the paper on their own website. It's a ripoff, but academic institutions made the mistake of crediting publications by their employees which count towards promotions. The academic publishers in turn charge institutions extortionate rates - many thousands of dollars - to see papers by other academics they didn't pay a cent for. These people are the academic version of the RIAA: Redundant Middle-men ripping off both sides. There are papers written as far back as the 1960s which academic publishing companies still hold copyright over, standing in the way of ongoing research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_transfer_agreement
"Princeton goes open access to stop staff handing all copyright to journals - unless waiver granted " - http://theconversation.edu.au/princeton-goes-open-access-to-stop-staff-handing-all-copyright-to-journals-unless-waiver-granted-3596
"One of disadvantages of this publishing model, is that the published research is only available to those researchers who have a subscription to the journal or can afford to buy the book. Often subscription and book costs are prohibitively expensive. Many libraries, particularly smaller ones, cannot afford these subscriptions." - http://www.unimelb.edu.au/copyright/information/new/research/publishing.html
the time frame puts this out beyond my care factor. Don't worry, rising sea levels will flood the Island first.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Just idle curiosity : Do Mormons believe in an 'young earth', and if so how can they have geologists?
No, mormons don't believe in a young earth. There doesn't seem to be any official doctrine on the matter. A quick google yields this: http://en.fairmormon.org/Brigham_Young/As_Young_Earth_Creationist.
Thanks for the valuable information and insights you have so provided here.
As a practicing Mormon who graduated from BYU and currently works there, I can say that I'm not aware of any official doctrine regarding the creation of the Earth. Science classes covered the same material as at other universities. We believe that Christ created the Earth but don't know exactly how. If He could command the elements (e.g. calming the sea), why couldn't he command the elements over time to create the Earth? Or, as many other Christians believe, He could command the elements to all appear more at once and look properly aged and weathered? I personally believe that the process was over a long time (i.e. what science is telling us) and was under the direction of Jesus Christ.
I think the confusion comes from the use of the word "day" in Genesis and some other terms. Was a "day" 24 hours when the sun and Earth weren't yet created? It could have been, but it easily could have meant "time period" (e.g. "back in my day"). I personally think it was the latter, meaning the creation was broken into multiple "time periods" instead of 24 hour periods.
I happen to work with a lot of BYU scientists in different fields who are very religious and see absolutely no conflict between science and church doctrine. I can't really speak for other church members, though, since this isn't exactly a normal conversation topic at church (not being avoided, just not something people even think to talk about).
"Eventually, Oahu's Koolau and Waianae mountains will dwindle to little more than a flat, low-lying island like Midway."
Considering how Midway is the remnant of an island created by the same volcanic hotspot that created the Hawaiian island chain, that's not surprising.
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.