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  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.
  • Earth's Center Is 1,000 Degrees Hotter Than Previously Thought, Synchrotron X-Ray Experiment Shows
    Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth’s center to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 ...Read more

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    Earth's Center Is 1,000 Degrees Hotter Than Previously Thought, Synchrotron X-Ray Experiment Shows

    Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth’s center to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago. These measurements confirm geophysical models that the temperature difference between the solid core and the mantle above, must be at least 1500 degrees to explain why the Earth has a magnetic field. For more information about this study, see the press release from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
  • Ocean Volcanic Rocks Contain Samples of Recycled Crust
    Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials fr...Read more

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    Ocean Volcanic Rocks Contain Samples of Recycled Crust

    Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials from the early Earth’s crust. But decisive evidence for this phenomenon has proven elusive. New research from a team including Carnegie’s Erik Hauri demonstrates that oceanic volcanic rocks contain samples of recycled crust dating back to the Archean era 2.5 billion years ago. Their work is published in Nature. Oceanic crust sinks into the Earth’s mantle at so-called subduction zones, where two plates come together. Much of what happens to the crust during this journey is unknown. Model-dependent studies for how long subducted material can exist in the mantle are uncertain and evidence of very old crust returning to Earth’s surface via upwellings of magma has not been found until now. For more information about these results, see the press release from the Carnegie Institution.

    Image courtesy of Kate Pound.

From: Kate Pound
Christchurch, New Zealand, October 4, 2007

En Route to Antarctica - First Stop New Zealand

Hello Everyone!

We are not in Antarctica yet - but we are getting closer! We are now in Christchurch, New Zealand. We still have to get all our Extreme Cold Weather Gear from the Clothing Distribution Center as well as complete several other administrative and outreach events. In the meantime we have been trying to get on to New Zealand time after our long flight here. We crossed the International date line en route from Los Angeles to Auckland, so that means that we are one day ahead of people in the US - we actually missed the 2nd of October entirely; we left Los Angeles on the evening of Monday October 1st, and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on the morning of Wednesday October 3rd! Can you explain how that is? You will notice that we were welcomed in Christchurch by a rain/hail storm - we got quite wet wheeling our luggage carts to the rendezvous spot. You can also see from the postcard that we flew across the New Zealand Southern Alps, where we had a brief view of the mountains through the clouds that covered most of the land. Once we got settled in Christchurch we took a brief walk around the botanic gardens. Notice all the flowers - what season is it here - and why? I have to go now – we are doing a presentation tonight and I have to get ready. I'll write again soon.

Bye,
Kate

Postcards from the Field: ANDRILL

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