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Sunday, February 26, 2012 4:48:14 AM
Iranian Experts to Manufacture Earthquake Prediction Satellite
News number: 9010175332
13:00 | 2012-02-19
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian researchers plan to manufacture a law-altitude satellite which helps predict earthquakes from space.
The satellite dubbed Ayat (Signs) will help predict the time of earthquakes for the first time in the country.
Deputy Head of Iran's Industrial and Scientific Studies Center for Innovation and International Cooperation Mohammad Hassan Entezari said the satellite would identify the signals sent out from the earth before or after the earthquake, adding the satellite weighs 50-70 kg and would be placed in a lower altitude.
He stressed some countries including France, China and Russia are working in this regard, noting Ayat satellite possesses a key role in processing the seismic disturbances before and after the shocks.
Entezari stated that basic studies have been carried out and the practical process would begin after required budget is provided.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit Bam in southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people - about a quarter of its population - and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.
Tehran alone sits on two major fault lines, and the capital's 14 million residents fear a major quake.
Copyright 2012 Fars News Agency
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9010175332 [no comments yet]
===
Delhi quake drill turns into comedy of errors
To make things worse, a building named Scope Minar in Laxmi Nagar actually caught fire with no response from the authorities.
By Kumar Vikram/Neetu Chandra, Mail Today
Updated: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:56:57 GMT
New Delhi: It was supposed to test the Capital's mettle. A dress rehearsal for what was to be a smooth, deliberate response to a natural disaster. Instead, Wednesday's first-ever citywide earthquake drill turned into a comedy of errors - with volunteers helping dummy patients over the truly injured, a building actually catching fire and the Delhi Police simply refusing to acknowledge the fake tremor altogether.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)-conducted drill kicked off with a call of an earthquake of intensity 7.9 on the Richter scale at 11.30 am. The epicenter was meant to be 275km east of Delhi, near Moradabad - and the La Nina effect was supposed to add in freezing cold and several days of rain. As soon as the call spread on wireless sets, officials swung into action and people were alerted across the city covering more than 1,000 sites, including bridges, flyovers, malls, schools, the airport and Metro stations.
Within minutes, though, things started to go wrong. Important locations such as ITO and Daryaganj didn't even get to see an ambulance, while others were 'mock rescued' too late. At the AIIMS Metro station, an ambulance was 30 minutes late, whereas V3S mall saw its vehicle show up 40 minutes past time.
Clueless civil defence volunteers were of little help to school students pretending to be either hurt or killed by the quake. "First, they carried the 'dead' leaving the 'injured' outside. They should have done the opposite," a government official said.
At Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital, volunteers began to transfer real patients from one place to the other - not part of the original plan. At a number of hospitals, there was no firefighting equipment, crucial during an earthquake.
To make things worse, a building named Scope Minar in Laxmi Nagar actually caught fire with no response from the authorities. "A fire tender stationed at the civic centre had to be sent to Scope Minar while a mock drill was being carried at V3S mall, which was nearer," an MCD official said.
In Palika Bazar, fire personnel forced shopkeepers to shut shops at 11.22am though the 'mock quake' struck at 11.30am. "It was kind of funny. No one seemed serious," Dinesh Gaur, president of the Pailka Bazar market association, said.
Source: www.indiatoday.in [ http://www.indiatoday.in/ ]
© 2012 Microsoft
http://news.in.msn.com/exclusives/it/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5851203
===
Ancient Massive Volcanic Eruption Still Mystifies
The Ontong Java Plateau, which lies in the Pacific Ocean, north of the Solomon Islands, formed from one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in the last 300 million years.
CREDIT: Public Domain
Charles Choi, LiveScience Contributor
Date: 16 February 2012 Time: 10:56 AM ET
The largest volcanic event of the last 300 million years may not have been triggered by a meteor, researchers now say.
About 120 million years ago, as much as 1 percent of the Earth's surface may have been covered with volcanic eruptions [ http://www.livescience.com/18205-ice-age-volcanoes-sea-ice.html ]. The origin of these massive 7-million-year-long eruptions in the Pacific Ocean, known as the Greater Ontong Java Event, has long been unclear, but some have suggested a cosmic impact [ http://www.livescience.com/16105-cosmic-impact-extinction-archaic-birds.html ] as the trigger, smashing into the crust and causing lava to burst forth.
To see whether or not a meteor might have caused the Greater Ontong Java Event, scientists analyzed rocks from Gorgo a Cerbara in central Italy. This area was connected to the Pacific Ocean during the eruptions.
The researchers focused on platinum group elements, metals that include platinum, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium and osmium, which all have similar physical and chemical properties. Platinum group elements are far more abundant in meteors than in Earth's crust, and their presence can therefore serve as signals of an extraterrestrial collision — for instance, the spike of iridium [ http://www.livescience.com/3165-dinosaur-killer-volcanism-asteroid.html ] seen around the time of the end of the Age of Dinosaurs suggests that a cosmic impact may have doomed that era.
The scientists analyzed how abundant these rocks were in platinum group elements. They also investigated how abundant they were in relation to each other — for instance, platinum and iridium are usually found at a 2:1 ratio with each other in extraterrestrial rocks, but on Earth, the ratio tends to be much higher.
Their findings suggest there is no support for a meteor impact as the cause of the Greater Ontong Java Event.
"The results so far indicate that this event was brought about by internal processes inside the Earth [ http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/1670-earth-crust-cycling-faster.html ]," researcher Marissa Tejada at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology told LiveScience. Earth has seen many eruptions that are apparently caused solely by internal activity.
Further work analyzing other rocks from this period, such as from the Pacific Ocean or North America, are needed to solve the mystery of this event's cause.
"Many models are proposed and they all need to be tested as more evidence becomes available in the future," Tejada said.
The scientists detailed their findings online today (Feb. 16) in the journal Scientific Reports.
*
•Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth
http://www.livescience.com/17875-destroy-earth-doomsday.html
•The 10 Biggest Volcanic Eruptions in History
http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/1436-volcanoes-biggest-history.html
•Countdown: History's Most Destructive Volcanoes
http://www.livescience.com/16679-science-photos-week-oct-22-2011.html
*
Copyright © 2012 TechMediaNetwork.com
http://www.livescience.com/18512-ancient-volcanic-eruption-mystifies.html [with comments]
===
Boom and bust cycle of marine biodiversity every 60 million years linked to uplifting of continents
Yosemite Valley and Half Dome from Glacier Point.
(Photo by Jon Sullivan)
Posted on 23 February 2012
A mysterious cycle of booms and busts in marine biodiversity over the past 500 million years could be tied to a periodic uplifting of the world’s continents, scientists report in the March issue of The Journal of Geology.
The researchers discovered periodic increases in the amount of the isotope strontium-87 found in marine fossils. The timing of these increases corresponds to previously discovered low points in marine biodiversity that occur in the fossil record roughly every 60 million years. Authors of the study [ http://kusmos.phsx.ku.edu/~melott/JGSr.pdf ] are Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, paleobiologist Richard Bambach of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Kenni Petersen of Aarhus University, Denmark, and John McArthur of University College London.
Melott, lead author, thinks the periodic extinctions and the increased amounts Sr-87 are linked. “Strontium-87 is produced by radioactive decay of another element, rubidium, which is common in igneous rocks in continental crust,” Melott says. “So, when a lot of this type of rock erodes, a lot more Sr-87 is dumped into the ocean, and its fraction rises compared with another strontium isotope, Sr-86.”
An uplifting of the continents, Melott explains, is the most likely explanation for this type of massive erosion event.
“Continental uplift increases erosion in several ways,” he said. “First, it pushes the continental basement rocks containing rubidium up to where they are exposed to erosive forces. Uplift also creates highlands and mountains where glaciers and freeze-thaw cycles erode rock. The steep slopes cause faster water flow in streams and sheet-wash from rains, which strips off the soil and exposes bedrock. Uplift also elevates the deeper-seated igneous rocks where the Sr-87 is sequestered, permitting it to be exposed, eroded, and put into the ocean.”
The massive continental uplift suggested by the strontium data would also reduce sea depth along the continental shelf where most sea animals live. That loss of habitat due to shallow water, Melott and collaborators say, could be the reason for the periodic mass extinctions and periodic decline in diversity found in the marine fossil record.
Source: University of Chicago Press Journals
*
Related posts:
1.Earth’s highest coastal mountain range moved 1,367 miles in 170 million years
http://smithsonianscience.org/2010/09/earths-highest-coastal-mountain-has-moved-2200-kilometers-in-170-million-years/
2.Fossil reveals 48-million year history of zombie ants
http://smithsonianscience.org/2010/11/fossil-reveals-48-million-year-history-of-zombie-ants/
3.New DNA study suggests coral reef biodiversity is seriously underestimated
http://smithsonianscience.org/2011/11/dna-barcode-survey-suggests-coral-reef-biodiversity-is-seriously-underestimated/
*
Copyright 2012 Smithsonian Science
http://smithsonianscience.org/2012/02/boom-and-bust-cycle-of-marine-biodiversity-every-60-million-years-linked-to-uplifting-of-continents/ [no comments yet]
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News number: 9010175332
13:00 | 2012-02-19
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian researchers plan to manufacture a law-altitude satellite which helps predict earthquakes from space.
The satellite dubbed Ayat (Signs) will help predict the time of earthquakes for the first time in the country.
Deputy Head of Iran's Industrial and Scientific Studies Center for Innovation and International Cooperation Mohammad Hassan Entezari said the satellite would identify the signals sent out from the earth before or after the earthquake, adding the satellite weighs 50-70 kg and would be placed in a lower altitude.
He stressed some countries including France, China and Russia are working in this regard, noting Ayat satellite possesses a key role in processing the seismic disturbances before and after the shocks.
Entezari stated that basic studies have been carried out and the practical process would begin after required budget is provided.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit Bam in southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people - about a quarter of its population - and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.
Tehran alone sits on two major fault lines, and the capital's 14 million residents fear a major quake.
Copyright 2012 Fars News Agency
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9010175332 [no comments yet]
===
Delhi quake drill turns into comedy of errors
To make things worse, a building named Scope Minar in Laxmi Nagar actually caught fire with no response from the authorities.
By Kumar Vikram/Neetu Chandra, Mail Today
Updated: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:56:57 GMT
New Delhi: It was supposed to test the Capital's mettle. A dress rehearsal for what was to be a smooth, deliberate response to a natural disaster. Instead, Wednesday's first-ever citywide earthquake drill turned into a comedy of errors - with volunteers helping dummy patients over the truly injured, a building actually catching fire and the Delhi Police simply refusing to acknowledge the fake tremor altogether.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)-conducted drill kicked off with a call of an earthquake of intensity 7.9 on the Richter scale at 11.30 am. The epicenter was meant to be 275km east of Delhi, near Moradabad - and the La Nina effect was supposed to add in freezing cold and several days of rain. As soon as the call spread on wireless sets, officials swung into action and people were alerted across the city covering more than 1,000 sites, including bridges, flyovers, malls, schools, the airport and Metro stations.
Within minutes, though, things started to go wrong. Important locations such as ITO and Daryaganj didn't even get to see an ambulance, while others were 'mock rescued' too late. At the AIIMS Metro station, an ambulance was 30 minutes late, whereas V3S mall saw its vehicle show up 40 minutes past time.
Clueless civil defence volunteers were of little help to school students pretending to be either hurt or killed by the quake. "First, they carried the 'dead' leaving the 'injured' outside. They should have done the opposite," a government official said.
At Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital, volunteers began to transfer real patients from one place to the other - not part of the original plan. At a number of hospitals, there was no firefighting equipment, crucial during an earthquake.
To make things worse, a building named Scope Minar in Laxmi Nagar actually caught fire with no response from the authorities. "A fire tender stationed at the civic centre had to be sent to Scope Minar while a mock drill was being carried at V3S mall, which was nearer," an MCD official said.
In Palika Bazar, fire personnel forced shopkeepers to shut shops at 11.22am though the 'mock quake' struck at 11.30am. "It was kind of funny. No one seemed serious," Dinesh Gaur, president of the Pailka Bazar market association, said.
Source: www.indiatoday.in [ http://www.indiatoday.in/ ]
© 2012 Microsoft
http://news.in.msn.com/exclusives/it/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5851203
===
Ancient Massive Volcanic Eruption Still Mystifies
The Ontong Java Plateau, which lies in the Pacific Ocean, north of the Solomon Islands, formed from one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in the last 300 million years.
CREDIT: Public Domain
Charles Choi, LiveScience Contributor
Date: 16 February 2012 Time: 10:56 AM ET
The largest volcanic event of the last 300 million years may not have been triggered by a meteor, researchers now say.
About 120 million years ago, as much as 1 percent of the Earth's surface may have been covered with volcanic eruptions [ http://www.livescience.com/18205-ice-age-volcanoes-sea-ice.html ]. The origin of these massive 7-million-year-long eruptions in the Pacific Ocean, known as the Greater Ontong Java Event, has long been unclear, but some have suggested a cosmic impact [ http://www.livescience.com/16105-cosmic-impact-extinction-archaic-birds.html ] as the trigger, smashing into the crust and causing lava to burst forth.
To see whether or not a meteor might have caused the Greater Ontong Java Event, scientists analyzed rocks from Gorgo a Cerbara in central Italy. This area was connected to the Pacific Ocean during the eruptions.
The researchers focused on platinum group elements, metals that include platinum, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium and osmium, which all have similar physical and chemical properties. Platinum group elements are far more abundant in meteors than in Earth's crust, and their presence can therefore serve as signals of an extraterrestrial collision — for instance, the spike of iridium [ http://www.livescience.com/3165-dinosaur-killer-volcanism-asteroid.html ] seen around the time of the end of the Age of Dinosaurs suggests that a cosmic impact may have doomed that era.
The scientists analyzed how abundant these rocks were in platinum group elements. They also investigated how abundant they were in relation to each other — for instance, platinum and iridium are usually found at a 2:1 ratio with each other in extraterrestrial rocks, but on Earth, the ratio tends to be much higher.
Their findings suggest there is no support for a meteor impact as the cause of the Greater Ontong Java Event.
"The results so far indicate that this event was brought about by internal processes inside the Earth [ http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/1670-earth-crust-cycling-faster.html ]," researcher Marissa Tejada at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology told LiveScience. Earth has seen many eruptions that are apparently caused solely by internal activity.
Further work analyzing other rocks from this period, such as from the Pacific Ocean or North America, are needed to solve the mystery of this event's cause.
"Many models are proposed and they all need to be tested as more evidence becomes available in the future," Tejada said.
The scientists detailed their findings online today (Feb. 16) in the journal Scientific Reports.
*
•Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth
http://www.livescience.com/17875-destroy-earth-doomsday.html
•The 10 Biggest Volcanic Eruptions in History
http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/1436-volcanoes-biggest-history.html
•Countdown: History's Most Destructive Volcanoes
http://www.livescience.com/16679-science-photos-week-oct-22-2011.html
*
Copyright © 2012 TechMediaNetwork.com
http://www.livescience.com/18512-ancient-volcanic-eruption-mystifies.html [with comments]
===
Boom and bust cycle of marine biodiversity every 60 million years linked to uplifting of continents
Yosemite Valley and Half Dome from Glacier Point.
(Photo by Jon Sullivan)
Posted on 23 February 2012
A mysterious cycle of booms and busts in marine biodiversity over the past 500 million years could be tied to a periodic uplifting of the world’s continents, scientists report in the March issue of The Journal of Geology.
The researchers discovered periodic increases in the amount of the isotope strontium-87 found in marine fossils. The timing of these increases corresponds to previously discovered low points in marine biodiversity that occur in the fossil record roughly every 60 million years. Authors of the study [ http://kusmos.phsx.ku.edu/~melott/JGSr.pdf ] are Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, paleobiologist Richard Bambach of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Kenni Petersen of Aarhus University, Denmark, and John McArthur of University College London.
Melott, lead author, thinks the periodic extinctions and the increased amounts Sr-87 are linked. “Strontium-87 is produced by radioactive decay of another element, rubidium, which is common in igneous rocks in continental crust,” Melott says. “So, when a lot of this type of rock erodes, a lot more Sr-87 is dumped into the ocean, and its fraction rises compared with another strontium isotope, Sr-86.”
An uplifting of the continents, Melott explains, is the most likely explanation for this type of massive erosion event.
“Continental uplift increases erosion in several ways,” he said. “First, it pushes the continental basement rocks containing rubidium up to where they are exposed to erosive forces. Uplift also creates highlands and mountains where glaciers and freeze-thaw cycles erode rock. The steep slopes cause faster water flow in streams and sheet-wash from rains, which strips off the soil and exposes bedrock. Uplift also elevates the deeper-seated igneous rocks where the Sr-87 is sequestered, permitting it to be exposed, eroded, and put into the ocean.”
The massive continental uplift suggested by the strontium data would also reduce sea depth along the continental shelf where most sea animals live. That loss of habitat due to shallow water, Melott and collaborators say, could be the reason for the periodic mass extinctions and periodic decline in diversity found in the marine fossil record.
Source: University of Chicago Press Journals
*
Related posts:
1.Earth’s highest coastal mountain range moved 1,367 miles in 170 million years
http://smithsonianscience.org/2010/09/earths-highest-coastal-mountain-has-moved-2200-kilometers-in-170-million-years/
2.Fossil reveals 48-million year history of zombie ants
http://smithsonianscience.org/2010/11/fossil-reveals-48-million-year-history-of-zombie-ants/
3.New DNA study suggests coral reef biodiversity is seriously underestimated
http://smithsonianscience.org/2011/11/dna-barcode-survey-suggests-coral-reef-biodiversity-is-seriously-underestimated/
*
Copyright 2012 Smithsonian Science
http://smithsonianscience.org/2012/02/boom-and-bust-cycle-of-marine-biodiversity-every-60-million-years-linked-to-uplifting-of-continents/ [no comments yet]
===
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