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August 1, 1998 E-mail: geotimes@agiweb.org

Climate Change Data Under Our Noses

ARLINGTON, VA. — How has Earth's climate varied in human history? This is an important question as we try to put recent climate changes in a context that will indicate to what extent they result from human effects on the planet and how much they evolve from Earth's natural cycles. Humans have measured Earth's temperature and other climatic variations during the recent century, but clues to climate changes earlier in human history lie in an unlikely place, say geophysicists Henry N. Pollack and Shaopeng Huang of the University of Michigan. In the August Geotimes, Pollack and Huang describe how subsurface rocks hold geophysical data that can help scientists reconstruct surface temperature variations in human history. "Present-day rock temperatures at shallow depths provide evidence of temperature changes that have occurred at the surface in the recent past," the researchers write.

The August issue also features the conclusion of a two-part series on the Hibernia oil field, offshore of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. Journalist Geoff Meeker describes the geology of the Hibernia field, which promises to yield as much as 150,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production levels. Part one of the series (July Geotimes) recounted the technological innovations required to successfully drill in the harsh environment of the North Atlantic. Part two details the field's two reservoir formations: the Hibernia Sandstone and the Avalon Sandstone.Hibernia's Reservoir Performance Team must study the area and identify optimum drilling targets. "One of the performance team's key tasks is to gain a better understanding of the depositional environment in both of the Hibernia field's formations — but especially the Avalon," Meeker writes. "If they can understand the type of depositional model and predict the patterns that occur within these sands, devising a plan to develop the field becomes easier."

And in "Rosetta Stones of the Deep," the third feature in the August Geotimes, Kathleen Wren, formerly a writer on assignment for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and now with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, describes the study of lava pillars collected from the deep sea. The pillars form when lava erupts onto the sea floor. The chemistry and physical architecture of each pillar record the processes of the deep-sea eruptions that formed it. "Scientists know almost nothing about underwater eruptions, but the study of lava pillars may soon help change that," Wren writes. She follows the research of volcanologist Tracy Gregg and marine geologist Dan Fornari as they collect lava pillars, using a deep submergence vessel, and then study those pillars in the lab.

See part of the August issue on-line.


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