Geology PictureS of the Two Weeks, July 27-August 9, 2003 (ET and T)

Various

[cogitator]

Catching up with 2-for-1:

In honor of the upcoming Mars opposition (closest approach between Earth and Mars in 60,000 years), here's the most recent Mars Global Surveyor shot at SpaceRef:

"The Marte Vallis system, located east of Cerberus and west of Amazonis Planitia, is known for its array of broken, platy flow features. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a close-up view of some of these plates; they appear to be like puzzle pieces that have been broken apart and moved away from each other. The Mars science community has been discussing these features for the past several years---either the flows in Marte Vallis are lava flows, or mud flows. In either case, the material was very fluid and had a thin crust on its surface. As the material continued to flow through the valley system, the crust broke up into smaller plates that were then rafted some distance down the valley. This picture is located near 6.9 °N, 182.8 °W. It is illuminated by sunlight from the left."

And our second feature illustrates one of my favorite geological terms, which for some reason I woke up with in my mind this morning. See if you can guess what the term is.

[cogitator]

NASA's Earth Observatory has a high-resolution ASTER image of New York City. The number of ship wakes is amazing!

New York City

Question to New Yorkers: In Central Park, there are three clusters of big white spots. What are they? (I can't answer because I don't know.)

[cogitator]

** Ping **

[Lil'freeper]

I'm guessing the second one is a slump, or some type of mass wasting event.

[kinsman redeemer]

I agree.

[Between the Lines]

In Central Park, there are three clusters of big white spots. What are they?

I am not from NY but they are baseball diamonds.

[Between the Lines]

Map of Central Park

[cogitator]

I'm guessing the second one is a slump, or some type of mass wasting event.

Definitely correct, and since this isn't a challenge, I'll put up the reason that I posted this: this is the Slumgullion earthflow in Colorado. Now, I can't explain why I woke up with "slumgullion" on my mind this morning, but I did.

[cogitator]

I am not from NY but they are baseball diamonds.

Yeah, that's what I realized. I was kind of surprised that Central Park had three sets of them -- but a lot of people play softball.

[Lil'freeper]

*clap* Yaaay, I got one!

Slumgullion Slump would be a great name for a band.

[cogitator]

Great map! Yep, Central Park has a lot of ballfields.

[cogitator]

And Slumgullion Stew would be a great name for a thoroughbred racehorse.

[Between the Lines]

Question: In the New York image, is the large sand colored and white spot in lower Mahatten where the WTC once was?

[cogitator]

In the New York image, is the large sand colored and white spot in lower Manhattan where the WTC once was?

Yes. Here's the IKONOS 1-meter before-and-after images.

God rest their souls, and may we remember them with eternal vigilance and righteous vengeance.

[cogitator]

I should also mention, and to lighten the mood from posting the previous image, that there are some amazing high-resolution images on this site:

World Trade Center: Before and After Comparison

Look at the "Images of the Week" archive on the right side of the page; and remember that these images were obtained from space (and our intelligence spysats are almost 10x better, according to the rumors).

[Between the Lines]

Thank you for the info... and the link.

Images like these still bring a tear to my eye. God rest their souls.

[Coleus]

Question to New Yorkers: In Central Park, there are three clusters of big white spots. What are they? (I can't answer because I don't know.)>>>

[Coleus]

one of them is probably the "Great Lawn" where the famous concerts take place. Most of the green spots are probably trees and the lighter spots are open areas like the great lawn and the zoo...I pinged some NY'ers, so I'm sure they will let you know.

[Coleus]

I clicked on the picture to enlarge it and it seems there are a bunch of yellow dots on the middle and upper clear spots. I wonder what they are?

[cogitator]

I clicked on the picture to enlarge it and it seems there are a bunch of yellow dots on the middle and upper clear spots. I wonder what they are?

I think we're seeing the same thing, if you're talking about Central Park and not somewhere else in the image. The three clusters of light "spots" in Central Park correspond to the locations of baseball diamonds. The central "Great Lawn" has evenly-spaced baseball diamonds around its perimeter; that's what I initially noticed.

It always seems funny to me how easy it is to see golf courses in these images.

[Tamzee]

The light area above the resevoir is the North Meadow which has many baseball diamonds and soccer fields. The light area directly below the resevoir is the Great Lawn, again more baseball diamonds. The whiter area below the resevoir and to the right is the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Native NYC'ers may have more info to add, but I think this explains the light blurs you were wondering about :-)