Quartz is the Key

March 16, 2011

Mountain and Rift Building

Science Daily - Quartz

New studies supporting and old study named "The Wilson Tectonic Cycle" support how ocean basins opened and closed along the North American eastern seaboard. The new evidence is that quarts is the key role in causing he Earth's surface to fold, stretch, crack, and wrinkle. The evidence comes from places where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains, where the crust under the plains has nearly no quarts in it while the Rockies have a high quantity of quartz and there for took the effect of the earths movement. The stress of rocks cause the response of earthquakes and mountain building. For a long time rift zones and mountain belts formed at the same location over and over again and with the use of Earthscope Array of seismic stations they were able to determine the thickness along the seismic velocity ratio along the continental crust.

Higher Rate of Global Warming

March 16, 2011

Hyper-Thermal Heating

Science Daily - Global Warming

A new study has found that over the life time of Earth's History more and more burst of global warming have taken place then previously thought.  The study shows that within the deep oceans carbon dioxide was released and triggered hyper thermal events of great heating. These events would raise temperates nearly 2-3 degrees Celsius for almost 40,000 years before returning to the original temperature. Further use of the study will reveal the effects global warming had on climate, ocean circulation and marine ecosystem as well as predict the future of global warming. As previously thought, these hyper thermal events happened much more then thought at an average of 400,000 years, with the strongest of the times known to be the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum in which the Earth took nearly 200,000 years to return back to its original temperature. 

March 22, 2011

Fossil Tools of Trade

Science Daily - Fossilgraph

A new tool called the "fossil seismograph" is being used to predict future earthquakes by studying earthquakes of the ancient past. The tool first developed in study of disturbed sediment in the Dead Sea region was idea to study the risk of where the plan to build new hydroelectric power plants. Current technologies such as the seismographical data only dates back a few centuries where this new system investigates wave patterns of heavy sediment that penetrate into the lighter sediments. The first use in the Dead Sea where sediment look stable but with the new tool they have discovered that the heavier sediment was pulled on top of the lighter sediment. This proposes a similar idea that the how clouds and waves are formed are similar to how these rock sediment patterns form as well.

Deep or Shallow Living

March 28, 2011

Shrimp used for Deep Sea Living

Science Daily - Deep Sea Shrimp

A new study involving shallow water shrimp were used to test the tolerance of deep sea pressure gave new understanding of other shallow water species could also be treated in the deep sea. The idea is that during certain times of Earth's history extinctions caused many deep water creatures to go nearly extinct, and the ones that re-colonized shallower areas of the sea evolved to have adaptations for both shallow and deep sea environment. Though currently they at question as to how these creatures initially made the journey from deep sea to shallow water environments. One of the theories is that it was during a geological period where the water was much colder say an ice age, or traveling to the northern poles.  The study used variable shrimp as a shallow water was a prime candidate because it already lived in extreme conditions.

Cotton Candy Rocks

March 28, 2011

Smaller Then Dust

Science Daily - Cotton Candy

According to new research studies, we are predicting that the earliest rocks in our Solar System are more similar to the pink and teal fluffy cotton candy rather then the rocks we know today. The study that was based on computer models and lab experiments gives new evidence that the first rocks were porous and fragile and during times of extreme turbulence was eventually cast into harder rocks that eventually made planets like earth. The effect of these rocks traveling thought billions of years of space is similar to a rock in a river taking the reverse effect and breaking up. The test subject being an asteroid fragment known as a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that they assumed formed over larger time frame and the original pieces only being around a millimeter in size.

Canada's Natural Border

March 29, 2011

New Evidence of Separated Countries

Science Daily - Northern Borders

A new research shows evidence that canadian rocks are different on each side of the northern country borders. This was thought not to be true because the mountain chains run right from Canada into North America. This was found evident when one professor attempted to further prove the long standing idea that the rocks heed not attention to the political borders but though research found out himself wrong. A tiny piece of zircon found in sandstone was able to determine the the original location of certain rocks and when compared to there current locations. The Cretaceous sediment in the United States have a clear American signature where those in Canada have a different signature and properties The reasoning behind this is that the rivers that flow south and north today may have been very different and that the rivers in Canada just stayed up there while also true of American rivers.

Wind Chisels

March 29, 2011

Cutting Away at Mountains

Science Daily - Wind Cuts

Stopping the evolution of mountains from growing is a simple yet powerful force. The wind blows right over the top of mountains causing a sand blasted effect. For centuries no one thought the wind could be this powerful, but its quite a competitor against rivers and glaciers when it comes to breaking down rock. The new study believes wind is nearly 10 to 100 times more effect then what was previously thought. The particular effect of what is created are call yardangs that takes place when wind chisels away at long gouges of bedrock, leaving only keel-shapped ridges. This was taking much more effect along time ago, but not so much anymore because of the different climate. There is also evidence because during glacial periods the winds shift towards the equator while during periods off the winds shift towards the poles.