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New equipment for the ESS Rock Lab.
Monday, April 10, 2023
YOUR student endorsement is needed to secure funding for new equipment at the ESS Rock Lab. Please consider taking 30 seconds to endorse the Student Rock Lab‘s proposal at https://stf.submittable.com/gallery/cf52c8fc-b8c2-470c-8f30-5244d8030105/36260742. Located in JHN 039, the Student Rock Lab is available for student research! With the requested funding, badly needed new rock saws, a new rock pulverizer, crusher, and restore the lab to its former glory. Currently, students seeking to crush rock have to send their samples off campus, when they could be processing them quickly, efficiently, and free of charge with the ESS department‘s very own equipment. It all depends on ESS students‘ support for the initiative to get the equipment funded. An endorsement takes just a few clicks, and will make your life so much easier and exciting when you need to crush, cut, or otherwise process rock samples. Tell your friends! Read More -
As glaciers retreat, new streams offer homes for salmon | Smithsonian Magazine
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Glacial melting is shining a spotlight on the science of ecological succession, the name given to the patterns of arrival of one species after another as they show up in habitats previously lacking in life. After the waterways form, insects move in, alders and willows spring up, and spawning fish arrive in thousands. Taryn Black, a doctoral student in Earth and space sciences at UW, is mentioned. Read More -
Opinion: Turkey's earthquake disaster: Could it happen in the Puget Sound region? | The Seattle Times
Monday, March 20, 2023
"Like everyone else, we have been saddened and horrified by the tremendous loss of life and the suffering in Turkey and Syria caused by the twin powerful earthquakes and their aftershocks...You may think, 'Surely we are much better off, and it couldn't really happen here.' But the Puget Sound region has similar faults and an abundance of buildings designed and built before our current understanding of the region's seismicity and modern structural engineering practice. We cannot be complacent in the face of the very real risk of an urban earthquake," write the UW's Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and professor of Earth and space sciences; Jeffrey Berman, professor of civil and environmental engineering' and Marc Eberhard, professor of civil and environmental engineering. Read More -
How the Turkey earthquake caused thousands of aftershocks | Reuters
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Thousands of earthquakes struck southern Turkey in the weeks after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6, killing more than 50,000 people in Turkey and northwest Syria. These additional quakes, called aftershocks, are common after a large earthquake; many aftershocks can be small relative to the main quake, but some have the potential to be severe and destructive, as was the case in Turkey. Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, and Dawn Lehman, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the UW, are quoted. Read More -
Take water, add sodium chloride, chill and squeeze into salty ices | The New York Times
Monday, February 27, 2023
Scientists have discovered two new forms of salty ice that probably do not exist naturally on Earth but might be found on icy moons farther out in the solar system. Baptiste Journaux, acting assistant professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More -
Chance of a major WA earthquake possible, but how big? | Tacoma News Tribune
Friday, February 24, 2023
Running 43 miles long from east to west directly below Puget Sound, a weak point on the North American Tectonic Plate is quietly rumbling away. Two giant pieces of rock, separated by an ancient fracture, are pressed against one another, shifting and sliding in tandem. It's called the Seattle Fault Zone -- it passes directly under Seattle and follows approximately the same path as Interstate 90 -- and could one day be responsible for an earthquake resulting in massive destruction and death totals throughout Puget Sound. Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More -
Newly discovered type of salt could explain the mystery of Europa's ice cracks | Space
Friday, February 24, 2023
Scientists have discovered two new types of solid crystals that form when table salt and water mix in cold temperatures and at low pressures. The down-to-Earth discovery could have out-of-this-world implications, as these salts could be found in deep cracks and crevices across the surface of moons around the solar system. Baptiste Journaux, acting assistant professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More -
New forms of salty ice discovered and they could be covering icy moons | IFL Science
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Researchers report two new types of ice made of salt water. The new ice can only form under high pressure and at cool temperatures but it can remain stable at low pressure. These new substances might be a component in the icy shells of moons such as Europa and Ganymede, and could also be present at the bottom of alien oceans. Baptiste Journaux, acting assistant professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More -
Newly discovered salty ice could exist on surface of faraway moons | NBC News
Thursday, February 23, 2023
A newly discovered form of salty ice could provide scientists with key information on the frozen oceans of faraway moons -- which may contain extraterrestrial life. Researchers who mixed table salt with water under high pressure and extremely low temperatures inadvertently unearthed a previously unknown solid crystal. And scientists believe the same compound could also be found in the depths of the frozen oceans of Jupiter's moons. Baptiste Journaux, acting assistant professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More -
Glimpse beneath iconic glacier reveals how it's adding to sea-level rise | Nature
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Researchers have dropped a submersible vehicle down a hole in Antarctic ice to get their closest-ever look at the underside of Thwaites Glacier -- a massive and increasingly unstable body of ice that has become an icon of climate change -- and the first-ever glimpse at the spot where the ice meets the land. The observations, published in two papers in Nature on 15 February could help to pin down one of the biggest uncertainties in current projections of rising global sea levels. The studies imply that models of how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and glacier flow respond to climate change are missing some important details. Incorporating these insights should clarify how and why the ice will change in the future. Eric Steig, professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More