Archive for July, 2008

Polar News & Notes: Submerged Arctic Volcanoes Erupt Explosively in the Deep Ocean

A research team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) has found evidence of explosive volcanic eruptions deep under the ice-covered surface of the Arctic Ocean. Violent eruptions were not thought possible at great ocean depths because of the intense weight and pressure of water.
Researchers found jagged, glassy rock fragments, known as pyroclastic deposits, […]

Posted in Topics: Arctic, Current News, Polar News & Notes, Scientists in the field

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Polar News & Notes: Wilkins Ice Shelf Hanging On to Land by a Narrow Bridge

According to news from the European Space Agency, the Wilkins Ice Shelf is “hanging by its last thread” to the  Antarctic Peninsula The researchers are studying satellite images that show continuing disintegration of the shelf and a fracture in the ice bridge connecting the shelf to land. The bridge helps stabilize the ice shelf, and […]

Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Current News, Polar News & Notes

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Polar News & Notes: Okmok Volcano in the Aleutian Islands Erupts with Little Warning

A volcano located on Umnak Island in the western Aleutians Islands erupted on Saturday, July 12, 2008, with little warning to the ranch family who shares the island or the Alaska Volcano Observatory, which monitors the state’s hazardous volcanoes.
The crater of the Okmok Volcano is about six miles wide and 1,600 feet deep. Seismologists maintain […]

Posted in Topics: Arctic, Current News, Polar News & Notes

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Polar News & Notes: Artist Paints at North and South Poles, Leaves Flags…and Shoes

In June 2008, Miami, Florida, artist Xavier Cortada traveled to the North Pole with sound artist Juan Carlos Espinosa to create paintings using Arctic water and install eco-art at 90 degrees North.
Cortada made a similar art trek to the South Pole in January 2007 as a recipient of an Antarctic Artists and Writers Program residency […]

Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Arctic, Current News, International Polar Year, Polar News & Notes

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Polar News & Notes: Climate Scientist Tells Us Again: Time Is Running Out for Action on Greenhouse Gases

In June 1988, a government scientist named James E. Hansen told a Senate committee that the greenhouse effect was changing the climate. “We have already reached the point where the greenhouse effect is important,” he said.
It is now generally agreed that Hansen’s presentation to the committee alerted other scientists, policymakers, and the general public to […]

Posted in Topics: Current News, Polar News & Notes

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