http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/geography/ Geography. Read the latest geographical research from universities and institutes around the world. Geography articles, maps, images. en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:05:01 EST Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/geography/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109121117.htm Large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This remarkable colonization is having a beneficial impact on climate change. As the blooms die back phytoplankton sinks to the sea-bed where it can store carbon for thousands or millions of years. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109121117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029161532.htm Climate models that predict heavy rainfall don't give the whole picture, according to the results of a new study. Researchers examined climate changes that have taken place over the past 800,000 years, and discovered that the melting icebergs in the North Atlantic and changes in the El Niño Southern Oscillation have a great influence on the intensity of monsoon rains. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029161532.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108131442.htm New research demonstrates that deep creep may mean milder, more frequent earthquakes along SoCal's San Jacinto fault, making it a less likely candidate for a major earthquake than its neighbor to the east, the Southern San Andreas fault. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108131442.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106095636.htm The seriousness of current global warming is underlined by a reconstruction of climate at Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands of the Antarctic Peninsula over approximately the last 14,000 years, which appears to show that the current warming and widespread loss of glacial ice are unprecedented. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106095636.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106140757.htm Despite the fact that summer 2009 had more sea ice than in 2007 or 2008, scientists are seeing drastic changes in the region from just five years ago and at rates faster than anticipated. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106140757.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106103510.htm Remains of one of the oldest known marsupials have been recovered in Charente-Maritime, France, by palaeontologists. This discovery raises a new hypothesis about the dispersal route of the earliest marsupial mammals. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106103510.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106201613.htm Deep under the sea, a fossil the size of a sand grain is nestled among a billion of its closest dead relatives. Known as foraminifera, these complex little shells of calcium carbonate can tell you the sea level, temperature, and ocean conditions of Earth millions of years ago. That is, if you know what to look for. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106201613.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121207.htm The Alps are growing just as quickly in height as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result comes from a new study by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists. Due to glaciers and rivers, about exactly the same amount of material is eroded from the slopes of the Alps as is regenerated from the deep Earth's crust. The climatic cycles of the glacial period in Europe over the past 2.5 million years have accelerated this erosion process. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121207.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106111214.htm Predictions made over the last decade about the impacts of climate change on biodiversity may be exaggerated, according to a paper published in the journal Science. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106111214.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143815.htm The impact of airborne nitrogen released from the burning of fossil fuels and wide-spread use of fertilizers in agriculture is much greater that previously recognized and even extends to remote alpine lakes. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143815.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172247.htm About half of 36 fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the last four decades, with some stocks nearly disappearing from US waters as they move farther offshore, according to a new study. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172247.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103144822.htm Engineers are assessing systematic production methods that could make the costs of algae oil production more reasonable, helping move the U.S. from fossil fuel dependency to renewable energy replacements. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103144822.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103145611.htm Following the launch of ESA's SMOS satellite on Nov. 2, the French space agency CNES, which is responsible for operating the satellite, has confirmed that the instrument's three antenna arms have deployed as planned, and that the instrument is in good health. During launch and the first few orbits around Earth, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) instrument's antenna arms remained safely folded up. Today, these three arms folded-out and now form a large three-pointed star shape. With its unusual shape, measuring eight metres across, SMOS can be dubbed a 'star in the sky'. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103145611.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104123027.htm Scientists have used images compiled over a decade to study volcanic activity in the African Rift. A new article focuses on the section of the rift in Kenya. Surface deformation of four active volcanoes underscore possibility for human hazard, as well as the potential of geothermal resources. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104123027.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104101555.htm In Bangladesh cholera epidemics occur twice a year. Scientists have tried, without much success, to determine the causes -- and advance early detection and prevention efforts. Now, researchers have proposed a link between cholera and fluctuating water levels in the region's three principal rivers -- the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104101555.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171559.htm Deep-sea ecosystems occupying 60 percent of the Earth's surface could be vulnerable to the effects of global warming, warn scientists. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171559.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172037.htm In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial. Now, scientists from several countries have confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172037.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103121616.htm Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle, Oct. 18, 2009, the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI) developed by the Naval Research Laboratory offers a first of its kind technique for remote sensing of the ionosphere and thermosphere from space. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103121616.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103112237.htm Large-scale distributions of two important nutrient pools -- dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus have been systematically mapped for the first time over the Atlantic Ocean in a new study. The findings have important implications for understanding nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles and the biological carbon pump in the Atlantic Ocean. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103112237.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102111845.htm A rocket carrying the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite blasted off successfully today. SMOS is the first-ever satellite to attempt to measure ocean salinity from space. It will provide global maps of soil moisture over land and surface salinity over the ocean. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102111845.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027170853.htm Isotopic measurements performed on fossil land snail shells found in ancient soils on the subtropical eastern Canary Islands resulted in oxygen isotope ratios that suggest the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa has become progressively drier over the past 50,000 years, according to new research. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027170853.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029160119.htm Generating energy on a large scale by mixing salt and fresh water is both technically possible and practical. The worldwide potential for this clean form of energy – 'blue energy' – is enormous. However, several essential technological developments are needed and investments in large-scale trials, a Dutch researcher says. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029160119.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121628.htm Scientists have discovered that interactions between iron supply, transported through the atmosphere from deserts, and large-scale oceanic circulation control the availability of a crucial nutrient, nitrogen, in the Atlantic. Their findings have potentially important implications for understanding global climate, both past and future. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121628.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028140043.htm Researchers are using a remotely operated vehicle and satellite-linked data loggers to learn more about turtle behavior in commercial fishing areas and to develop new ways to avoid catching turtles in fishing gear. This marks the first time an ROV has been used to follow turtles in the wild to learn about their behavior and how they interact with their habitat Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028140043.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029141217.htm Geoscientists have corroborated evidence that oxygen production began in Earth's oceans at least 100 million years before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). The researchers analyzed 2.5 billion-year-old black shales, which revealed that episodes of hydrogen sulfide accumulation in the oxygen-free deep ocean occurred nearly 100 million years before the GOE. Scientists have long believed that the early ocean was characterized by high amounts of dissolved iron. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029141217.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091030095513.htm In October, the hydraulic benthic interactive sampler HyBIS made 10 dives over the Casablanca Seamount, a four-kilometer high seamount located some 300 miles west of Morocco. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091030095513.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029111907.htm A new European Earth observation satellite will be launched in the early hours of Monday November 2 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The European Space Agency Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite will measure moisture levels in the Earth's soils and the saltiness of the world's oceans from space for the very first time. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029111907.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028090530.htm One of the first-ever analyses of the effects of global warming on endangered primates has examined how El Niño warming has affected the abundance of four highly threatened New World monkeys. All four monkey species showed drops in abundance relating to large-scale climate fluctuations. The study suggests that the consequences of intensified climate fluctuations could be devastating for several primate species. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028090530.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028090528.htm Marine biologists examined whether Laysan albatrosses nesting on Kure Atoll and Oahu, Hawaii, 2,150 km away, ingested different amounts of plastic by putting miniaturized tracking devices on birds to follow them at sea and examining their regurgitated stomach contents. Surprisingly, birds from Kure Atoll ingested almost ten times the amount of plastic compared to birds from Oahu. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028090528.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192617.htm An international team of environmental scientists has shown that sea-level rise in North Carolina is accelerating, a jump that appears to have occurred during a time of industrial change. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192617.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112622.htm The United Kingdom's deepest diving Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Autosub6000, has been put through its paces during an extremely successful engineering trials cruise on the RRS Discovery, Sept. 27 to Oct. 17, 2009. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163509.htm While most people head to Myrtle Beach for vacation, a group of scientists have been hitting the famous South Carolina beach for years to figure out how to keep the sand from washing away. Their work is a model for beach preservation that can apply elsewhere. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163509.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026162546.htm Relatively minor increases in ocean acidity brought about by high levels of carbon dioxide have significant detrimental effects on the growth, development, and survival of hard clams, bay scallops, and Eastern oysters, according to researchers. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026162546.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917161736.htm Predicting harmful algal blooms, or HABs, in the Great Lakes is now a reality as NOAA announces an experimental HAB forecast system in Lake Erie. HABs produce toxins that may pose a significant risk to human and animal health through water recreation and may form scum that are unsightly and odorous to beach visitors, impacting the coastal economy. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917161736.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019162929.htm An analysis of sediment cores indicates that biological and chemical changes occurring at a remote Arctic lake are unprecedented over the past 200,000 years and likely are the result of human-caused climate change, according to a new study. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019162929.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016093927.htm Satellite tracking has allowed a research team to uncover the mysteries of the migration of Eleanora's falcon for the first time. In total, the bird flies more than 9,500 kilometers across the African continent from the Balearic and Columbretes Islands before reaching the island of Madagascar. Some of the previously-obscure secrets now revealed by the scientists show that these falcons migrate by both day and night, and cross supposed ecological barriers such as the Sahara Desert. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016093927.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902133639.htm Two related research expeditions by NOAA scientists to track the habitat preferences and movements of fish at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary may help managers protect overfished species such as red snapper and grouper. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902133639.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm Europe's southern-most skeletal remains of a mammoth were unearthed in a moor on the 37 degree N latitude. This is considerably south of the inhospitable habitat than one usually imagines for mammoths, and for the characteristically dry and cold climate that prevailed during the ice ages in the north of Eurasia. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026093728.htm There is a likely chance of tsunami waves reaching the shores of Israel, says one researcher, following geoarchaeological research at the port of Caesarea. Tsunami events in the Mediterranean occur less frequently than in the Pacific Ocean, but recent findings reveal a moderate rate of recurrence. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026093728.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026132932.htm Researchers here have discovered the pivotal role that volcanoes played in a deadly ice age 450 million years ago. Perhaps ironically, these volcanoes first caused global warming -- by releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When they stopped erupting, Earth's climate was thrown off balance, and the ice age began. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026132932.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016094045.htm A new study sheds light on oil and gas development potential in the US Intermountain West. Maps accompanying the study show the impacts to greater sage-grouse populations in relation to potential energy development. If business as usual continues and more forward-thinking development strategies are not considered, sage-grouse populations will decline an additional 7 to 19 percent, the study's authors predict. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016094045.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022153635.htm An Israeli researcher's "hyperspectral remote sensor" combines sophisticated sensors in orbit with sensors on the ground and in the air to give advance warnings about contamination, pollution and weather disasters. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022153635.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917161740.htm Temperature differences and slow-moving water at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers in Idaho might delay the migration of threatened fall Chinook salmon salmon and allow them to grow larger before reaching the Pacific Ocean. To find out if that's the case, a team of researchers is implanting young fish with acoustic and radio tags to track their movement and using hydrological sensors to measure water temperature and speed. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917161740.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022182412.htm Thirty million years ago, Ethiopia had warmer soil temperatures, higher rainfall and different atmospheric circulation patterns than it does today, according to new research of fossil soils found in that central African nation. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022182412.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022141121.htm The expansion of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) affects the processes by which carbon is captured and sequestered on the seafloor. Researchers describe the metagenome of an abundant but uncultivated microbe from a fjord on the coast of British Columbia, Canada that is silently helping to shape the ecology of OMZs worldwide. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022141121.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022101702.htm The fossil remains of some of the first animals with shells, ocean-dwelling creatures that measure a few centimeters in length and date to about 520 million years ago, provide a window on evolution at this time, according to scientists. Their research indicates that these animals were larger than previously thought. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022101702.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020122536.htm Using data from Hurricane Katrina and four other destructive storms, researchers have found a way to accurately predict power outages in advance of a hurricane. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020122536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019134711.htm Jerusalem's geology has been crucial in molding it into one of the most religiously important cities on the planet, according to a new study. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019134711.htm