Monthly Archives: February 2013

Half Dome then and Now

Posted on February 25, 2013 by gymnosperm

The first time I went up the cables on Half Dome was in July, 1974. I was skiing the Muir Trail during Christmas vacations, hiking it for the second and third times during the summers, and going to school in … Continue reading →

Posted in Half Dome, Wilderness | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

California Great Central Valley as a Cretaceous Sea of Cortez

Posted on February 18, 2013 by gymnosperm

I was travelling the world as I often do in Google Earth, pondering how strange it is that the Hawaiian Seamount chain created a gravity low its entire length, when I noticed this: Probably just because gravity lows are a nice deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geology, Gravity Anomalies, Paleogeography, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Bad Hair Days and Magnetic Excursions

Posted on February 16, 2013 by gymnosperm

This picture of a model simulating the weakened and divided magnetic field during a reversal should be in the thesaurus when you look up “bad hair day”. If this is anywhere near correct it should be no surprise that the nano … Continue reading →

Posted in Gravity Anomalies, Magnetic Reversals, True Polar Wander, Virtual Geomagnetic Pole (VGP) | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Nano Carbon Cycle

Posted on February 13, 2013 by gymnosperm

We live in a world of wee beasties. Microbes here, microbes there, microbes in every breath we take, microbes on every bite we eat. They digest the food in our bellies, they create our food and drink. They make us … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon Cycle, Climate, Geography, Geology, Oceanography | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Reversals and the Carbon Dioxide Wind.

Posted on February 7, 2013 by gymnosperm

The most astonishing lesson in physics gained from floating rivers is the inclination of water to reverse direction and flow back into a “hole”. Even in the steepest rapid and in spite of its tremendous weight and momentum, when an … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Geography, Oceanography, River | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Study in Science Magazine Shows Strongest El Ninos in 7000 Years Were During Little Ice Age

Posted on February 3, 2013 by gymnosperm

Kim Cobb and others published January 3 in Science Magazine a paper exploring 18Oxygen in coral cores as old as 7000 years. Living coral was not drilled. While showing some increase in amplitude since 1970, the strongest El Ninos in … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate Change, History, Paleoclimate | Leave a comment

Structural Similarities Observed in ENSO Neutered Atmospheric Temperatures and Ocean Enthalpy

Posted on February 2, 2013 by gymnosperm

Signal lies in structure. Atmospheric temperature for the last decade and a half has made it abundantly clear that there is much more going on than the optical and radiative properties of carbon dioxide. The converse possibility that oceans, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate Change, Geography, Geology, Global Warming, Oceanography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment