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December 2, 1996
***SPECIAL EDITION***
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION-SUPPORTED RESEARCH
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION MEETING
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
DECEMBER 15-19, 1996
The National Science Foundation supports research in several fields
related to geophysics, results of which will be reported at the
upcoming American Geophysical Union meeting. NSF-supported research
areas making news are: Sun-Earth interactions and the space weather
program; Volcanism at Popocatepetl, Mexico; the Northern Gorda Ridge
eruptive event; the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty verification
regime; Earth's inner core and its dynamics; the Loihi seamount
seismic event; Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea oceanography; and the
Aerosol Characterization Experiment. For more information on any of
these sessions, please contact Cheryl Dybas at NSF at: (703) 292-8070.
Sun-Earth Connections: Implementation of the Space Weather Program
(Sessions SA71A, SA72B, SAllB, SA21A).
Because our society depends more and more on technology that is
affected by conditions in the space environment, special sessions will
focus on space weather forecasting and the space weather program.
Topics in these sessions range from using artificial intelligence
techniques to predict and model space weather, to the importance of
placing a radar and optical observatory in the northern polar cap, to
the launch of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite, which
will provide important solar wind information that will likely lead to
forecasting of major geomagnetic storms. The sessions will also
address how active the sun will become during the next solar cycle
maximum period, and when that period will occur.
Renewed Volcanism at Popocatepetl, Mexico (Session V22D).
The Popocatepetl volcano is located some 40 kilometers from Mexico
City, and even closer to the major city of Puebla, Mexico. After
decades of dormancy, the volcano has resumed emitting ash. The history
of "E1 Popo" is characterized by recurrent voluminous eruptions every
1,000 to 3,000 years, the most recent of which destroyed human
settlements in its path. This session will focus on observations of E1
Popo, and modeling studies that describe the behavior of this and
similar volcanoes, and that may be used to predict the future behavior
of this volcano.
The Northern Gorda Ridge Intrusive/Eruptive Event (Session U71A).
Access to real-time data allows tracking of the evolution of
eruptive events at ridge crests in the northeast Pacific Ocean,
changing scientists' ability to locate and respond to short-lived
events at submarine volcanoes. A major event was recently detected at
the Northern Gorda Ridge, including discovery of a large plume and
fresh lava. This session will explore what is currently known about
the Gorda Ridge eruptive event.
CTBT Verification Regime: Monitoring the Earth System (Sessions U71B,
U72C, U11A).
A historic milestone in the 40-year quest to eliminate nuclear
explosion testing was met on September 24, 1996, when the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (C11313 was opened for signature
at the United Nations in New York. The CTBT verification regime will
include an International Monitoring System (IMS) to deter and detect
nuclear explosions in the earth, atmosphere, and oceans. This system
is composed of a network of 320 globally-distributed seismic,
hydroacoustic, infrasound, and radionuclide stations transmitting data
in real-time to the CTBT International Data Center (IDC), which
analyzes these data to provide global event bulletins within hours to
days. These sessions describe the elements of the IMS and IDC, and
the analysis of data from this emerging verification regime.
Earth's Inner Core and Core Dynamics (Sessions U32B, U42A).
Major breakthroughs in studies of Earth's core have revealed
significant new insights into the structure and rotation of the core,
the generation of Earth's geomagnetic field, and the thermal evolution
of the planet. These sessions are a latter-day "Journey to the Center
of the Earth."
Loihi Seamount Seismic Event of 1996 (Session OS12D).
In July, 1996, the largest "swarm" of earthquakes ever recorded
from any Hawaiian volcano was detected at the Loihi Seamount, located
offshore of the island of Hawaii. More than 4,000 earthquakes were
recorded, with more than 40 with magnitudes between four and five. A
rapid response cruise and submersible dives were conducted in early
August, with follow-up cruises and dives shortly thereafter. The
cruises and dives detected and mapped an undersea world completely
changed from how it had looked before the event. The swarm of
earthquakes resulted in large-scale bathymetric changes and highly
altered hydrothermal plumes. Results of studies at Loihi Seamount
will be presented in these sessions.
Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea Oceanography (Sessions OS72C, OS11C,
0812A, OS12C, OS21C).
Recently completed field work conducted largely through the WOCE
and JGOFS programs has focused on the large-scale circulation, heat,
and freshwater fluxes, and biogeochemical cycles, of the Indian Ocean
and Arabian Sea. Moored buoy and shipboard measurements have provided
unprecedented information about the effects of monsoons on upper ocean
physical, chemical, and biological processes, topics these sessions
will address.
Aerosols in the Remote Marine Atmosphere: Aerosol Characterization
Experiment (ACE-l) (Sessions A71D, A72B, A12A).
Aerosols in Earth's troposphere can affect climate directly through
the scattering of incoming solar radiation, and indirectly through
their role in cloud formation. ACE- 1
was the first of a series of experiments designed to quantify the
processes controlling the evolution and properties of atmospheric
aerosols. These sessions will present results from ACE-1.
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