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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 Robin Frisch-Gleason.

From: Robin Frisch-Gleason
McMurdo Station, Antarctica, October 30, 2007

A Visit to Scott's Discovery Hut, Antarctica

Out at the end of Hut Peninsula, on an arm extending from the center of McMurdo Station into the frozen Ross Sea, sits Discovery Hut. Discovery Hut was built by the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott during the Discovery Expedition of 1901-1904. On that expedition, his ship became locked in the closing sea ice in February of 1902, and he and his men built this hut to endure the long Antarctic winter.

The hut has been restored, and it is quite a remarkable place to visit. It is like stepping back into time 100 years, and seeing the food, cooking utensils, beds, and other gear laid out just as they were so long ago. Wandering through the hut, one feels a profound connection to Antarctic exploration history, and a sad reminder of the hardships that befell so many explorers. From the hut, one can gaze in one direction up Observation Hill and see the memorial cross for Scott, who died on the return from the south pole in the Terra Nova expedition of 1910 - 1913. Just beyond the Discovery Hut is a cross commemorating George T. Vince, a member of the Discovery Expedition, who fell to his death off the cliff face near the hut.

One is reminded frequently of the dangers of the Antarctic. Yet somehow, these dangers compel me all the more to follow in the footsteps of these explorers and bring their thrill of discovery back to life.

Postcards from the Field: ANDRILL

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