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11 December 2013
Buoyant rover records Arctic ice from beneath
Researchers have developed a rover that floats beneath the surface of the ice and photographs it from underneath. The upside down images could help scientists understand the source of methane bubbles trapped in Arctic ice, and how much of this powerful global warming gas is seeping from the permafrost.
1 April 2013
Diminished Arctic sea ice threatens communities in northern latitudes
Melting Arctic sea ice is threatening local communities and Arctic habitats, experts stressed at a congressional briefing on March 20. The American Geophysical Union co-hosted the briefing to help inform members of Congress and their staffers about the state of the Arctic and the repercussions of sea ice loss due to global warming. The experts stressed that the consequences are already evident in Arctic communities, and will continue to compound as more sea ice is lost.
7 December 2012
Aerial surveys make light work of snow-depth measurements
Scientists have recently developed a technique for sharpening the accuracy of detailed tundra snow-depth maps critical to issues ranging from climate modeling to figuring out where to herd grazing caribou. “Budgets for observing the snow are comparatively small, and the area to observe is comparatively large,” said geophysicist Chris Polashenski with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “So, efficiency is key.” One innovation in snow-depth measurements has been the …
15 December 2010
Turning back the clock of human arrival in Alaska’s interior
Humans are thought to have first migrated to North America from Asia over the Bering land bridge into modern day Alaska. Eventually, these peoples moved inland and southward as they began to colonize the rest of North America. The first steps of human migration into the rest of the continent can be seen in the early human settlements of the interior of Alaska. A study presented in one of yesterday morning’s poster session shows that human occupation of central Alaska happened earlier than previously thought.
28 October 2010
Beaches can harbor hidden oil long after spills
Crude oil from a spill can remain trapped for decades under a beach’s surface. A 2001 survey of beaches along Alaska’s Prince William Sound estimated that about 100 tons of oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill remained in the beaches’ lower layers, and much of it is still there, researchers say. A new study of one of those beaches found that the reason the oil becomes trapped in the …
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.