It's a new year and we're full of new ideas: great science stories to last the whole year through. This monthly collection can help you cover ongoing earth and natural science research and investigations at USGS -- photos and web links are provided to enhance your story. If you are not receiving this and would like to, would like to change the recipient, or no longer want to receive it, please email bkinerney@usgs.gov.

Included this month:

• 2003 Marked Deadly Year for Earthquakes
• Salt, Pests and War Make For Bad Dates
• Eden's Fall From Grace From Space
• Counting America's Bald Eagles
• Tracking California Hazards Online
• Can't Know the Martians Without A Program

LEADS:

2003 Marked Deadly Year for Earthquakes -- Worst Since 1990: 2003 closed as the deadliest year for earthquakes since 1990, and almost 20 times more fatal than 2002; As of January 7, 32,819 earthquake deaths worldwide have been confirmed by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), but many more have been reported in December's Bam earthquake in Iran. In 2002, 1711 people died in quakes around the world. In 1990, 51,916 people were killed in various seismic events.

The "strong" magnitude 6.6 that hit Bam, Iran on Dec. 26 was the cause of the most deaths, with the preliminary death toll of 30,000 and expected to rise. Japan's magnitude 8.3 earthquake that rattled the Hokkaido region on Sept. 25 rang in as the largest temblor in the world for 2003, and the only "great" quake. California experienced the only deadly U.S. quake, a magnitude 6.5, on Dec. 22 in San Simeon, 40 miles northwest of San Luis Obispo, Calif. Two deaths occurred due to a building collapse in nearby Paso Robles. Shallow but powerful, the earthquake uplifted the Santa Lucia Mountains and triggered a vigorous aftershock sequence. USGS locates about 50 earthquakes each day or almost 25,000 a year. On average, there are 18 major earthquakes (magnitude 7.0 to 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or higher) each year worldwide. Several million earthquakes occur in the world each year, but many go undetected because they occur in remote areas or have very small magnitudes. In the U.S., earthquakes pose significant risk to 75 million Americans in 39 States. Learn more and see earthquakes moments after they occur by visiting http://earthquake.usgs.gov. For more information, call Butch Kinerney at 703-648-4732 or by email at bkinerney@usgs.gov.

Salt, Pests, War Make for Really Bad Dates: USGS scientists are studying satellite images of the 120-mile-long Shatt al-Arab estuary, at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iran and Iraq and looking for dates. The estuary, you see, is home to the largest date palm forest in the world. From the riverbanks to four miles into the desert in some places, date-bearing palm trees line both sides of the river. In the mid- 1970s, there were some 17 to 18 million date palm trees (a fifth of the world's supply!) Now, more than 80 percent of them are gone. Destruction of the palm forest is due to a variety of factors but war has had the most direct impact, while salinization and pest infestation have caused long-term damage. The livelihoods of millions of people dependent on dates for food and income are in ruin, including a regional trade whose export earnings ranked second only to oil. In total, war, salt and pests destroyed approximately 14 million palms: around 9 million in Iraq and 5 million in Iran. Moreover, of the remaining 3-4 million palms many are in poor condition. For more information, contact Mark Ernste at 605-594-2508 or ernste@usgs.gov.

Counting America's Symbol: While there may be American flags on many doorsteps and on the bumpers of countless cars nationwide, USGS scientists are interested in another of our country's national symbols: the bald eagle. Continuing until January 15, USGS is sponsoring its 16th annual Mid-Winter Bald Eagle Count. This year, more than 1000 participants will survey approximately 700 routes in 42 states. More than 500 routes have been studied each year since 1986. Most participants are employees of state or federal conservation agencies, but private volunteers also help out. Sizes of survey routes vary from single fixed points to "transects" up to 150 miles long. The count helps to establish long-term population trends for breeding and non-breeding bald eagles, as well as point out impacts on important winter eagle habitat. Information and data from the count is compiled on a web site that can be accessed by state, survey route or geographic location. The interactive web site can be found at http://ocid.nacse.org/qml/nbii/eagles/. For more information, call Ruth Jacobs at 541-750-1047Photos can be downloaded. http://fresc.usgs.gov/news/images/2003_4a.jpg (Bald eagle in flight: Photo credit Sue Mathews and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) http://fresc.usgs.gov/news/images/2003_4b.jpg (Bald eagle close up: Photo credit Mike Lockart and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

FEEDS

Eden's Fall From Grace: Situated at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq, the Mesopotamian marshlands (widely reputed to be the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden) are the largest wetlands in the Middle East and one of the finest in the world. And in one of the worst engineered disasters in modern times, 90 percent of this vast wetland ecosystem vanished in less than a decade. Satellite images collected by USGS show how Iraqi engineering forever scarred this once beautiful ecosystem of more than 10,000 square miles. This mosaic of wetland habitats supports a complex web of life from globally threatened species to unique human communities. The marshlands also are a key wintering and staging area for waterfowl traveling from western Siberia to southern Africa. Disappearance of marshland habitat has had a catastrophic impact on wildlife, with bird, fish and animal species all at risk. Ecological demise of the Mesopotamian marshlands is attributable to two main causes: upstream dams and drainage schemes. In the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War in 1992, Iraq launched a massive drainage scheme that cut-off the water supply to the marshlands. Deprived of water two major marsh realms regressed into desert. Satellite data from the USGS are being used by scientists to evaluate the extent of the alteration and for planning for remedial action to restore the fragile ecosystem. Dramatic before-and-after satellite images and other information is available from Mark Ernste at 605-594-2508 or ernste@usgs.gov.

Now When They Tell You To Get Lost, You'll Know How. And How To Find Yourself Again. The USGS in Denver routinely instructs hikers and outdoorsy folk on how to marry the paper technology of a topographic map, the ancient technology of a compass and the modern technology of a handheld GPS unit. Now, that information is available online at: http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/public/outreach/gps.html.This website is especially useful for subjects best committed to print rather than memory. The material provides a quick review of hard-to-remember facts like:

• When do I add and when do I subtract to compensate for local magnetic declination?
• What north reference should I select on my GPS receiver?
• What are the formulas for calculating percent and angle of slope?

Handheld Global Positioning Satellite units are increasing in popularity (some are even built into cell phones now!) and their use is expanding beyond the hiker crowd and includes fire departments, nature centers, and search-and-rescue units. For more information, call Steve Reiter at 303-202-4168 or email him at snreiter@usgs.gov.

STORY SEEDS

You Can't Tell Mars From Jupiter Without A Program! As America sits entranced with new color images of the Martian landscape, you can play along at home with a new topographic map of the red planet from USGS. The new map is a two-sheet set containing a topographic version of Mars, and a color-coded contour map of the planet. The USGS map was prepared for NASA and is based on data collected in prior missions. The image used for the base of this map represents more than 600 million measurements gathered between 1999 and 2001. The $14 map is available from any USGS Earth Science Information Center by calling 1-888-ASK-USGS. Orders may be placed through the USGS Store at: http://store.usgs.gov. For more information, call Sheryle Girk-Jackson at 303-202-4176 or email: sjjackson@usgs.gov. For more on USGS work in partnership with NASA on Mars, visit http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Missions/MarsPathfinder/.

New Web Tool Teaches Researchers About the Birds and the Bees: The USGS' web-based National Biological Information Infrastructure (http://www.nbii.gov) provides ready access to comprehensive biological resources data and information. Now, a new tool called the Interactive Biodiversity Information System or IBIS offers access to data on marine, freshwater, and terrestrial wildlife and their habitats throughout the Pacific Northwest -- including Canada. It includes detailed information on some 771 wildlife species, their 32 habitats, geographical maps, and explanatory text that transcends local, state, and provincial boundaries. IBIS also provides tools for supporting the integration and evaluation of land and water conservation strategies. Now scientists, planners, decision-makers in government agencies, teachers, students, and anyone with a PC and a browser can learn more about these critters, how they live, and how we can all live together better. Already, the site has garnered acclaim from Washington State and Harvard University. For more information, call Ron Sepic at 703-648-4218 or email at ron_sepic@usgs.gov.

What's Trickling Between the Cracks and Crevices? A new colorful map featuring the principal aquifers that supply ground water to the Nation, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is now available through the National Atlas (http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasmap.html). Although hidden from view, vast quantities of water exist in the crevices, cracks and pore spaces of rocks and soil that make up the Earth's surface. The new map, which is 30 x 42 inches, also shows state boundaries, major cities, and surface-water features. More water is contained in aquifers below the land surface of the U.S. than is contained within all the surface reservoirs and lakes including the Great Lakes. For more, call Karen Wood at 703-648-4447 or email at kwood@usgs.gov..

California Fire-Related Debris Flow Hazard Maps Online: USGS is supporting to FEMA and the California Office of Emergency Services and County Flood Control Districts in the wake of fatal Christmas-day mudslides in California. New maps were produced and are now on the web showing basins with the greatest potential for producing debris-flows (mudslides) as a result of the devastating October fires in Southern California. The new maps show the probability for debris-flow activity and estimates of peak discharge from drainage basins burned by the Old and Grand Prix Fires near San Bernardino and the Piru, Simi and Verdale Fires near the Simi Valley and Fillmore. In addition, USGS is on the ground collecting information from stream gages and doing field surveys to pass information on potential mudslide hazards to first responders in county, state and federal agencies. Maps: and http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr-03-481/.. For more, call Stephanie Hanna 206-220-4573 or Sue Cannon 303-273-8604.

What's Shakin' At the San Simeon Earthquake Site? The USGS Earthquake Hazard Team at Menlo Park has created a web site to post and share scientific information about the San Simeon earthquake, a magnitude 6.5 that struck the central California coast at 11:15 a.m. PST on December 22, 2003. The new site http://www.cisn.org/special/evt.03.12.22/prelimreport.html shows maps of the complex faulting network where the quake occurred, analysis of the main shock, aftershocks and stress on other faults and will be updated as new on-site information from aerial surveys and seismic sensors temporarily deployed in the earthquake area becomes available. For more, call Stephanie Hanna 206-220-4573 or Andrew Michael 650-329-4777