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After a magnitude 8.1 earthquake caused a deadly tsunami in the Solomon Islands, Fred Taylor and colleagues rushed to the epicentral area to learn about rupture across a subducting triple junction.
The analysis of mantle-derived rocks on increasingly smaller scales and advances in geodynamic modelling are providing new insights into the nature of mantle heterogeneity and magmatic processes.
Beth Shaw and colleagues found the corals they were sampling being used as wall decorations, and braved nudist beaches in full field gear to understand the AD 365 earthquake.
Scientists know much more about their field than is ever published in peer-reviewed journals. Blogs can be a good medium with which to disseminate this tacit knowledge.
Torbjörn Törnqvist and several teams of students ventured into the wilds of the Louisiana coast to investigate Mississippi Delta sediments, armed with only a hand-corer and a fifteen-year-old station wagon.
Patrick Lajeunesse and colleagues enjoyed the picturesque environment of Hudson Bay while mapping its floor in order to understand the nature of the catastrophic outburst flood of Lake Agassiz-Ojibway.
International Polar Year is drawing attention to the poles. But if more people are entering this pristine environment as a result, any negative impacts must be justified with commensurate benefits.
International Polar Year 2007–2009 had three predecessors 125, 75 and 50 years ago. These international research efforts were not free from geopolitical interests.
US geoscience departments are still heavily weighted towards men, especially in the most senior ranks. All scientists, male or female, should work towards a more equal distribution.
