Was it the big one?

Actually it was the little one. Again.

A magnitude 5.0 (preliminary) just southwest of LA, near the airport... Not huge, but we felt it here in Laguna. My brother felt it about five seconds before I did. The cat seemed singularly unconcerned, but then she's sleeping on towels fresh from the drier...

It appears to be on or near the Newport-Inglewood fault 13.5 km depth with a minor thrust component... Well back to grading...

Don't Panic!

Happy 2009, everyone!

I've been intending to revive this blog for a while, and I wanted to begin with a post on geology; I have a few in the works, but in the mean time there are a couple of things I"ve come across in the past week that I wanted to acknowledge.

First, I came across this Op-Ed yesterday: Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable (I saw it first on, of all places, Gawker.com). I don't know this guy, but this seems to me to contain some important insights about technology and revolutions (I say this as a fan of newspapers, who is saddened to see what has happened to the Rocky Mountain News, what is happening to the SF Chronicle, and what appears to be happening to the LA Times).

Last week was Douglas Noel Adams' birthday (He once noted that he was the most famous DNA born in Cambridge in 1952, but that would be topped the next year). Though I was a fan of Monty Python, I had no idea who he was until 1982 when I took my first college science class, introduction to astronomy. Dr. Kim (I'm going to start doing some posts about my favorite teachers) recommended that we watch a series that was premiering that weekend on PBS called Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I don't know the context in which he heard about it, but he assumed it was a documentary about astronomy. He apologized for his misapprehension the following week, but it was one of the funniest bits of science fiction I'd seen in my life.

It's now close to 30 years later and I've listened to all of the radio series, seen the movie (meh...), read all of the books (and for good measure, since Dr. Kim retired a few years ago I've been teaching one of his astronomy sections). Adams died in May of 2001 at the age of 49, too young for many of his fans. His combination of brilliant wit, love of emerging technologies, and love of the natural world made the world a richer place.

Some of his influence is obvious: when Alta Vista developed the first universal translator for text, what else could they call it but Babel Fish?

". . . imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for."

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"I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things."

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"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day."

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"(..) Sir Isaac Newton, renowned inventor of the milled-edge coin and the catflap!"
"The what?" said Richard.
"That catflap! A device of the utmost cunning, perspicuity and invention. It is a door within a door, you see, a ..."
"Yes," said Richard, "there was also the small matter of gravity."
"Gravity," said Dirk with a slightly dismissed shrug, "yes, there was that as well, I suppose. Though that, of course, was merely a discovery. It was there to be discovered." ...
"You see?" he said dropping his cigarette butt, "They even keep it on at weekends. Someone was bound to notice sooner or later. But the catflap ... ah, there is a very different matter. Invention, pure creative invention. It is a door within a door, you see."

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"We don't have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it."

Not the Big One -- yet...

Magnitude 5.8, Chino fault... USGS and SCEC are getting good at updating their sites, info was up within 2-3 minutes.

No damage to the building, but I felt a pretty solid jolt when it first hit, followed by a good 10 seconds of moderate shaking (including a dull cracking as the building -- 3 stories, c. 1973 -- flexed). I got on the floor, waiting to see if the shaking would accelerate, like I remember from Loma Prieta and Sylmar (yes, I'm that old). According to the shake map it was most intense to the north of the epicenter, and I'm about 45 km to the south.

Oh, and as I'm writing this the event has been downgraded to Mo = 5.4. The mt shows it to be mostly right lateral motion on a WNW trending fault, with a component of thrust.

...and we're already up to 35 aftershocks, though I haven't felt one here yet...

Temple Butte Channel

Garry at Geotripper is posting a beautiful account of the history of the Colorado Plateau, based on his recent field course. In his most recent post he discussed the formation and subsequent erosion of much of the Temple Butte Limestone, but laments that he had no good photos. I offer this one for illustration.

Exposure of Temple Butte in south-facing wall in morning light near mile 45.

The erosion that preceded the deposition of the Redwall Limestone was greater in what is now the eastern portion of the Canyon, thus in many places the Temple Butte was removed entirely and the Redwall sits directly atop the Muav Limestone. The scraps of Temple Butte that are found here exist as filled channel cuts. Fortunately in the eastern part of the park the Temple Butte Limestone has a distinctive purple tinge that makes it stand out, especially when the light conditions are right.

In 2002 I was lucky enough to spend 17 days on the Colorado on a private trip organized by some friends from graduate school. If you've never had the chance to spend two weeks floating the entire canyon with a group of geologists, my recommendation is that you drop everything you are doing right now and focus on making that happen! Of course that's my opinion, the 2-3 people we had along who were not geologists might differ (they would be wrong).

Group of (mostly) former Banana Slugs setting up camp just below Nankoweap Rapid (mile 53)

29 years +1 day ago...

29 years ago yesterday, on July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter went on television to deliver what is commonly known as “The Malaise Speech” (though he never used this term). In this address he talked about a number of issues America was facing in the late 1970s, but this section stands out:

What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.

Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never… I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade -- a saving of over 4-1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day.

Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my presidential authority to set import quotas… I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow...

Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel...

I propose the creation of an energy security corporation to lead this effort to replace 2-1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day by 1990. The corporation I will issue up to $5 billion in energy bonds, and I especially want them to be in small denominations so that average Americans can invest directly in America's energy security.

…I will soon submit legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this nation's first solar bank, which will help us achieve the crucial goal of 20 percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000.

These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without delay. It will be money well spent. Unlike the billions of dollars that we ship to foreign countries to pay for foreign oil, these funds will be paid by Americans to Americans...

Point four: I'm asking Congress to mandate, to require as a matter of law, that our nation's utility companies cut their massive use of oil by 50 percent within the next decade and switch to other fuels, especially coal, our most abundant energy source.

Point five: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals I will urge Congress to create an energy mobilization board which, like the War Production Board in World War II, will have the responsibility and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays, and the endless roadblocks to completing key energy projects…

Point six: I'm proposing a bold conservation program to involve every state, county, and city and every average American in our energy battle. This effort will permit you to build conservation into your homes and your lives at a cost you can afford.

…To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. And I'm asking you for your good and for your nation's security to take no unnecessary trips, to use carpools or public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit, and to set your thermostats to save fuel. Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense -- I tell you it is an act of patriotism.

Our nation must be fair to the poorest among us, so we will increase aid to needy Americans to cope with rising energy prices. We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate way of rebuilding our nation's strength. Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives.

So, the solution of our energy crisis can also help us to conquer the crisis of the spirit in our country. It can rekindle our sense of unity, our confidence in the future, and give our nation and all of us individually a new sense of purpose.

…I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. I do not promise a quick way out of our nation's problems, when the truth is that the only way out is an all-out effort. What I do promise you is that I will lead our fight, and I will enforce fairness in our struggle, and I will ensure honesty. And above all, I will act. …there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice…

I guess I can see where he went wrong: Carter proposed hard work and sacrifice for long-term success. He was followed by political leaders who made a big show of denigrating any talk of sacrifice (I can still remember the celebratory mood accompanying the removal of the White House solar panels) and told Americans that consumption was the way to success and happiness. I guess we know now which one is the better electoral strategy.

For all the discussions we've had over the years about who is a flip-flopper, who is proud to have been a C student or to have finished near the bottom of their class, who we'd collectively like to have a beer with or eat barbecue with, who took honor and dignity from the White House and who brought it back, I can't help but look back wistfully to the late 1970s, the last time we had a president who wasn't afraid to talk to us like we were grown-ups with reasoning skills…

Breakfast with a Geologist

Haven't posted in awhile. I plan on doing so more frequently this summer, but not until I grade these last few papers on my desk.

In the meantime, Jeff Marshall forwarded me this video: It is not the story of my life as a geologist (I hope it more closely resembles one or all of yours), but we can all dream can't we?

"There... That wasn't so good now, was it?"

Accretionary Wedge #7: Geology in the Movies

The portrayal of science and scientists in popular culture is always a rich topic, as Hollywood loves stereotype and simplification almost as much as it loves money and giving itself awards (see? I can stereotype with the best of ‘em!).

When this topic was announced my first thoughts went to The Core, which is a whole dissertation topic of its own (though it was amusing watching Hilary Swank land a Space Shuttle in the LA river). I saw this film movie flick the weekend it was released, you know, because as a geology teacher it's part of my job -- like watching South Park.

In my first semester of teaching I got a call from a guy who said that he was researching what he described to me as a “disaster movie about a group of scientists trying to save the Earth when something goes wrong with the core.” He wasn’t sure at the time from what they would be saving it, and he was calling geologists to figure out the “technical stuff.” He had some ideas but wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to write a movie with some real science scattered across a fantasy landscape (Dante’s Peak, Deep Impact) or a movie whose only connection to the real world is that the cast is predominantly bipedal (Volcano, Armageddon).

We talked for about 20 minutes about angular momentum and rotation, the dynamo effect and the magnetic field, cosmic rays and the aurora, the geothermal gradient and pressure (I recall describing a diamond anvil cell and may have defined gigapascal). By the end of the call he had concluded that he would be writing a completely fantasy movie.

I never got the guy’s name, so I’ll never know if it was one of the credited writers, an uncredited writer, or if it was even someone associated with the same project. The phone call may have been entirely a coincidence and had nothing to do with the movie.

The plot is pretty simple: the military has developed an “earthquake weapon” that somehow draws energy from the rotational velocity of the Earth’s core. Since the core contains (I believe) 10-20% of Earth’s angular momentum, I can’t imagine what the quakes would be like…

If my math is right, the rotational energy in the core is ~10³⁵ ergs. If we could draw energy from the rotation of the Earth, we could power the entire human race and have no more effect on the planet's rotation than the Voyager did on Jupiter's orbit when it stole a bit of angular velocity to boost itself into the outer solar system...

Somehow just the testing of this weapon leads to a significant loss in rotational velocity within the core, exposing the planet to laser-like beams of microwave energy from space that slice the Golden Gate Bridge in half, giant lightning bolts that destroy the Colosseum in Rome and causing a flock of pigeons in Trafalgar Square to go all Hitchcock on the tourists.

It was interesting that the lost of 10% of the planet’s angular momentum had no discernable effects on the rotation of the surface, as the people at the surface being fried by laser beams from the sun seemed to be experiencing 24 hour days. What really struck me though was that the kick-start the core needed to get spinning again came from setting off a series of nuclear bombs.

In the 1950’s and 60’s, nuclear tests and radiation served the same purpose that toxic waste did in the 70’s and 80’s and genetic engineering does today: turning animals and human beings into monsters and/or superheroes. Today, the minds that can’t imagine entertainment greater than The Hills Have Eyes II, 10,000 BC and Semi-Pro also cannot conceive of a problem that a strategically-placed nuke can’t solve.

Besides jarring the core back into motion, nukes can be used to start earthquakes (both in the 1978 version of Superman and in A View to a Kill) and stop earthquakes (10.5 – to quote Leonard Pinth-Garnell again: “Exquisitely awful”). A nuke planted 100 meters beneath the surface of an asteroid or comet will break it cleanly in two (both Deep Impact and Armageddon) and change the trajectory of the fragments enough that they miss the Earth entirely, even if the bomb is not detonated until the bolide is within a few hundred thousand kilometers of the Earth…

Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that the only flick in which a nuclear bomb wasn’t up to the job was Independence Day (starring Bill Pullman, who I always get mixed up with Bill Paxton, the swashbuckling meteorologist from Twister) – but why send a few hundred kg of enriched uranium to do a job that can be accomplished with a virus written on a late 90’s vintage Apple Powerbook?