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Scientists are to sail to the mid-Atlantic to examine a massive "open wound" on the Earth's surface. Dr Chris MacLeod, from Cardiff University, said the Earth's crust appeared to be missing across an area of several thousand square kilometres. The hole in the crust is midway between the Cape Verde Islands and the Caribbean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The team will survey the area, up to 5km (3 miles) under the surface, from ocean research vessel RRS James Cook. The ship is on its inaugural voyage after being named in February. Dr MacLeod said the hole in the Earth's crust...

Almighty smash left record crater on Mars 25 June 2008 From New Scientist Print Edition. David Shiga A giant impact explains why Mars's two hemispheres are so different (Illustration: Jeff Andrews-Hanna) Five minutes after Mars was hit by an asteroid travelling at 40 times the speed of sound, pieces of the planet's crust (orange blobs) are flung into space, while a shock wave propagates into the planet's molten core (yellow) (Illustration: Francis Nimmo) A suspected crater in the planet's northern hemisphere forms a kidney shape (blue region at left), but when researchers studied the variations in the strength of gravity...

A Pembroke man was playing with Google Earth - an online digital map of the planet - when he came across something that seemed out of this world: an apparent meteorite crater in Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham. "I was just searching around on Google, looking at lakes, because I'm a sailor," said Stephen Dupuis, 52. "As I was panning down through the landscape, it kind of caught my eye." Dupuis, a multimedia artist, has been fascinated with astronomy and outer space since his father, a former engineer, built the heat shields used for the Apollo spacecraft in the 1960s....

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - Tsunami-like waves created by an earthquake may have triggered the world's largest known hydrothermal explosion some 13,000 years ago, a federal scientist says. The explosion created the Mary Bay crater that stretches more than one mile across along the north edge of Yellowstone Lake. Debris from the explosion has been found miles away. Lisa Morgan of the U.S. Geological Survey told a gathering of scientists over the weekend at Mammoth Hot Springs that an earthquake may have displaced more than 77 million cubic feet of water in Yellowstone Lake, creating huge waves that essentially unsealed...

Crater From 1908 Russian Space Impact Found, Team Says Maria Cristina Valsecchi in Rome, Italy for National Geographic NewsNovember 7, 2007 Almost a century after a mysterious explosion in Russia flattened a huge swath of Siberian forest, scientists have found what they believe is a crater made by the cosmic object that made the blast. The crater was discovered under a lake near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in western Siberia, where the cataclysm, known as the Tunguska event, took place (see map). On June 30, 1908, a ball of fire exploded about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the ground in...

Report: Israel spots nuclear installations in Syria Washington official says Israeli surveillance shows possible Syrian nuclear installation stocked by North Korea, Israeli Arab newspaper claims target of alleged raid last week was Syrian missile base financed by Iran Israel believes that North Korea has been supplying Syria and Iran with nuclear materials, a Washington defense official told the New York Times. “The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left,” he said. The official added that recent Israeli reconnaissance flights over Syria revealed possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials estimate might have been...

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is making its way into a giant impact crater to learn more about the Red Planet's geologic past. Engineers sent commands to Opportunity to drive into Victoria Crater and received a confirmation signal from the rover. It will be several hours before NASA knows how well the drive went. Opportunity is expected to drive all six wheels into the crater and back out before making the full plunge several days from now. The drive comes two months after a massive Martian dust bowl kept Opportunity and its twin Spirit hunkered down to conserve energy.

LOS ANGELES - NASA's aging but durable Mars rover Opportunity will make what could be a trip of no return into a deep impact crater as it tries to peer further back than ever into the Red Planet's geologic history. The descent into Victoria Crater received the go-ahead because the potential scientific returns are worth the risk that the solar-powered, six-wheel rover might not be able to climb out, NASA officials and scientists said Thursday. The vehicle has been roaming Mars for nearly 3 1/2 Earth years. Scientists and engineers want to send it in while it still appears healthy....

UK impact crater debate heats up By Jonathan Fildes Science and technology reporter, BBC News Seismic surveys show a trough surrounded by concentric fractures A deep scar under the North Sea thought to be the UK's only impact crater is no such thing, claims a leading geologist. Professor John Underhill, from the University of Edinburgh, says the Silverpit structure, as it is known, has a far more mundane explanation. Detailed surveys reveal nine similar vast chasms in the area, he says. This suggests it was part of a more widespread process, probably the movement of salt rocks at depth, not...

Oil exploration work in California's Central Valley region has uncovered a possible space impact crater. The 5.5km-wide bowl is buried under shale sediments west of Stockton, in San Joaquin County, and is thought to be between 37 and 49 million years old. Researchers are continuing to analyse cuttings from oil exploration wells drilled in the structure. Details of the discovery were presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston. Data from a 3D seismic survey of an ancient sea bed clearly shows a circular structure buried 1,490-1,600m (4,890-4,250ft) below sea level. The Victoria Island structure, as it has...

Volcanic crater lake primed to spill 12:41 11 January 2007 NewScientist.com news service Emma Young Ruapehu is one of the world's most active volcanoes. The deep crater lies between its peaks and fills with a lake between big eruptions The crater lake of New Zealand’s Mount Ruapehu is brimming and could burst at any time, releasing at least one million cubic metres of water and sending a mudflow – or lahar – gushing down the volcano. The last Mt Ruapehu lahar, in 1953, was on a similar scale. It swept away a railway bridge, killing 151 people travelling across it....

Lotsw of questions for TXNMA. I'd send him an email, but can't find one for him. Hi: Recently, I got interested in the OKC bombing, again when I saw how it was being misused in discussions of the collapse of the WTC. Looking at some websites, I couldn't believe how badly the'd mischaracterize the Eglin Blast Effects Study. We can all thank Jasper for that. What was particularly hilarious was there'd be statements about how official the so-called EBES was and then they'd quote Jasper's article that made clear (if they'd read it) that it wasn't any kind of official...

There's a new crater on the Moon. It's about 14 meters wide, 3 meters deep and precisely one month, eleven days old. NASA astronomers watched it form: "On May 2, 2006, a meteoroid hit the Moon's Sea of Clouds (Mare Nubium) with 17 billion joules of kinetic energy—that's about the same as 4 tons of TNT," says Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, AL. "The impact created a bright fireball which we video-recorded using a 10-inch telescope." Lunar impacts have been seen before--"stuff hits the Moon all the time," notes Cooke--but this is the best-ever...

Does a giant crater lie beneath the Antarctic ice? Signs of an ancient impact could help to explain a mass extinction. Mark Peplow A dense bit of rock in the Antarctic (orange circle) seems to be circled by a crater. © Ohio State University Evidence of a cataclysmic meteorite impact has been unearthed in Antarctica, according to researchers who say the collision could possibly explain the greatest mass extinction ever seen on our planet. But scientists contacted by news@nature.com say they are sceptical, as no signs of such an enormous impact have been found in other, well-studied areas of Antarctica....

Scientists have discovered a huge crater in the Saharan desert, the largest one ever found there. The crater is about 19 miles (31 kilometers) wide, more than twice as big as the next largest Saharan crater known. It utterly dwarfs Meteor Crater in Arizona, which is about three-fourths of a mile (1.2 kilometers) in diameter. In fact, the newfound crater, in Egypt, was likely carved by a space rock that was itself roughly 0.75 miles wide in an event that would have been quite a shock, destroying everything for hundreds of miles. For comparison, the Chicxulub crater left by a...

Connect the dots: 1) Heard about a new (small) eruption of Piton de la Fournaise. 2) Piton de la Fournaise is the current "expression" of the La Reunion mantle plume. 3) Thought about what happened when the Indian subcontinent passed over the La Reunion plume = Deccan Traps volcanism. 4) Tried to find a good picture of the Deccan Traps. 5) Discovered that one of the few places to see Deccan Trap basalt layering is Lonar Crater. 6) Lonar Crater is said to be the only impact crater on volcanic basalt. 7) Found remote sensing and surface pictures of Lonar...

Link post: to see the images (and discuss them), go to the thread in the General/Chat section: Geology Picture of the Week, July 17-23, 2005: Crater Lake After I posted the original thread, I realized that one reason I thought of this (other than my trip) was the News/Current Events item, the release of the Oregon State Quarter:

The view from space: and underwater: and classically:

This image from the Mars Express spacecraft shows a pocket of water ice nestling in a martian crater, bathed in the late martian summer sun. The shadow of the crater’s rim, which towers 300 metres over the surrounding plains, prevents the ice from vaporizing in the planet’s thin atmosphere. A dusting of frost survives inside the rim to the upper right, while the sun glimmers on its south-facing outer edge. The 35-kilometre-wide crater sits 70
north of the martian equator, in a low-lying region known as Vastitas Borealis. Previous orbiters have spotted ice deposits in craters, but the High Resolution...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - NASA's Mars rovers don't seem to be wearing out so mission planners have begun to think more boldly, including a plan to let one climb up a steep "escape hatch" from a crater it has been exploring and set out on a trek across a plain. "The rovers have lasted longer than expected, but as long as we have them we're going to keep them busy," project manager Jim Erickson said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. Already on the second extension of their mission, the rovers Spirit and Opportunity have lasted so long that...

A large explosion occurred in the northern part of North Korea, sending a huge column of smoke into the air on an important anniversary of the communist regime, a South Korean news agency reported Sunday. The South Korean government said it was trying to confirm the report of an explosion at 11 a.m. on Thursday in Yanggang province near the border with China. The Yonhap news agency carried reports from unidentified sources, with one in Washington saying the incident could be related to a natural disaster such as a forest fire. It also cited a diplomatic source in Seoul as...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

CAPE CHARLES, Va. - Geologists drilling half a mile below Virginia's Eastern Shore say they have uncovered more signs of a space rock's impact 35 million years ago. For more than two weeks, scientists drilled around the clock alongside a parking lot across the harbor from Cape Charles. They stopped at 2,700 feet. From the depths came jumbled, mixed bits of crystalline and melted rock that can be dated, as well as marine deposits, brine and other evidence of an ancient comet or asteroid that slammed into once-shallow waters near the Delmarva Peninsula. Cape Charles is considered Ground Zero for...

WASHINGTON - Scientists have discovered signs of a large impact crater buried off the coast of Australia that may be linked to the biggest extinction event in Earth's history, the "Great Dying" 250 million years ago. Many scientists have long blamed a massive meteor near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for wiping out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. What caused the far earlier and larger Permian-Triassic extinction — when about 90 percent of all species disappeared — is subject to sharper debate. The leading theory is that the extinction actually stretched over thousands of years, triggered by volcanic eruptions. A massive...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2004 May 10 Endurance Crater on Mars Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA Explanation: Scroll right to see the inside of Endurance Crater, the large impact feature now being investigated by the Opportunity rover rolling across Mars. The crater's walls show areas of light rock that might hold clues about the ancient watery past of this Martian region. Inspection of this true-color image shows, however, that much of...

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - NASA scientists said Thursday they may send the Opportunity rover on a one-way trip to the depths of a crater on Mars so the robot can finish out its days studying stacks of layered rock that may have formed long ago at the bottom of a salty extraterrestrial ocean. The multiple layers of bedrock that line much of the inner slope of Endurance crater stand in cliffs 16 to 33 feet tall in places. They are seen in a sweeping color panorama that NASA released Thursday at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It's the most spectacular view we've...

A large crater is seen at the railway station in Ryongchon, North Korea (news - web sites), after a catastrophic explosion, April 24, 2004. At least 154 people, including 76 students, were killed and more than 1,300 people had been injured in the blast at the railway station in the town of Ryongchon near the Chinese border on April 22, China's Xinhua news agency said, quoting a senior rescue official. CHINA OUT, NO ARCHIVES, NO SALES REUTERS/Xinhua/Ren Libo A compartment destroyed in the train blast is seen on Saturday April 24, 2004 in Ryongchon County, North Korea (news -...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2004 March 24 Intriguing Dimples Near Eagle Crater on Mars Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA Explanation: What are those unusual looking dimples? Looking back toward Eagle crater, its landing place on Mars, the robot rover Opportunity has spotted some unusual depressions in the Martian soil. The dimples, visible above on the image left, each measure about one meter across and appear to have light colored rock in...

Scientists may have destroyed the well-established theory that a single, massive asteroid strike killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. New data suggests the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, supposedly created by the collision, predates the extinction of the dinosaurs by about 300,000 years. The controversy over what killed the dinosaurs may run and run The authors say this impact did not wipe out the creatures, rather two or more collisions could have been responsible. The report is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. An international group of scientists led by Professor Gerta Keller, of Princeton University,...

Washington-AP -- New research casts doubt on the theory that a single asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Scientists have often pointed to a crater in Mexico as the asteroid's impact point. But Princeton University researchers say the impact that caused the crater occurred 300-thousand years before the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 (m) million years ago. A report appears in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. At least one scientist doubts the group's findings. Richard Norris of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography says the Princeton researchers were working with incorrect site data.

THE American Civil War was known for its ferocity and bloodshed, but one event, the Battle of the Crater, was unique in its ferociousness. Now its site -- one of a massive explosion followed by mass butchery and slaughter -- is becoming a new highlight on the tourist trail of Civil War memorials and battlefield guided tours. Much of this is because of the horror depicted by the graphic opening scenes of the film Cold Mountain, co-starring Nicole Kidman.It tells how the event unfolded when Union soldiers blasted a gaping crater beneath a Confederate camp outside Petersburg, Virginia, in July,...

Link post, to alert interested readers to the post in the FR "chat" section, where comments should be posted (i.e., click the link, and if you want to comment, comment there): Geology Picture of the Week, February 15-22, 2004

Two pictures from one of my favorite Web sites (continuing an unintended Pacific Northwest theme). The first shows a reconstruction of approximately Mount Mazama would have looked like had it not been for the immense eruption that formed Crater Lake. The second is one of the few I've ever seen that shows the clarity of the lake's water. The linked Web site takes you to the Stromboli On-Line Crater Lake "virtual tour" site.

Spirit On Final Approach To Mars Pasadena - Dec 30, 2003 NASA's Spirit rover spacecraft fired its thrusters for 3.4 seconds on Friday, Dec. 26, to make a slight and possibly final correction in its flight path about one week before landing on Mars. Radio tracking of the spacecraft during the 24 hours after the maneuver showed it to be right on course for its landing inside Mars' Gusev Crater at 04:35 Jan. 4, 2004, Universal Time (8:35 p.m. Jan. 3, Pacific Standard Time.) Spirit's twin, Opportunity, will reach Mars three weeks later. "The maneuver went flawlessly," said Dr....

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 December 30 A Dust Devil Crater on Mars Credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA Explanation: What caused the streaks in this Martian crater? Since the above image shows streaks occurring both inside and outside the crater, they were surely created after the crater-causing impact. Newly formed trails like these presented researchers with a tantalizing martian mystery but have now been identified as likely the work...

<p>LONDON, England (AP) -- Scientists have ruled out two possible explanations for their inability to pick up signals from Europe's Beagle 2 Mars probe and discovered another -- a large crater where the vessel was supposed to land.</p> <p>The European team has received no transmissions from the craft, which was supposed to touch down on the distant planet on Christmas Day to begin its search for Martian life.</p>

In 1989, Edward Bryant climbed a point on the southeast coast of his native Australia with a colleague and found an odd jumble of boulders well above the surf. A big wave, he thought, maybe a tsunami from an earthquake, must have tossed them up there. Over the next few years, however, the University of Wollongong geologist explored hundreds of miles of coast and found more signs of wave action, hundreds of feet above the water--too high for any quake-spawned surge. An astonishing hypothesis of devastation from outer space formed in his mind. It gathered some praise, along with many...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 August 15 Sedimentary Mars Credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA Explanation: High-resolution imaging of an area in the Schiaparelli Basin of Mars on June 3 by the MGS Mars Orbiter camera produced this stunning example of layered formations within an old impact crater. On planet Earth, such structures would be seen in sedimentary rock -- material deposited at the bottom of ancient lakes or oceans...

Getting to bottom of crater mystery 06/22/2003By ALEXANDRA WITZE / The Dallas Morning News ODESSA – It took two hours for Vance Holliday to travel back thousands of years. For a time machine, he drilled into the dirt of the meteor crater just west of Odessa. The deeper he went, the closer Dr. Holliday got to his goal – discovering the crater's age. When the Odessa meteorite hit, some tens of thousands of years ago, it would have been a fearsome sight. An iron rock nearly 50 feet across fell screaming from the sky, hitting with energy roughly equivalent to...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A missile crashed into a residential neighborhood in central Baghdad on Monday, AFP correspondents said. A building collapsed and several others were damaged on Ramadan 14th, a main commercial artery in the al-Mansur area, they said. Shattered glass and stones covered the sidewalk along the road. There was no immediate word on casualties, but two ambulances were seen rushing out of the area with sirens wailing.

Astronomy Picture of the DayDiscover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 29 The Shadow of Phobos Credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA Explanation: Hurtling through space above the Red Planet, potato-shaped Phobos completes an orbit of Mars in less than eight hours. In fact, since its orbital period is shorter than the planet's rotation period, Mars-based observers see Phobos rise in the west and set in the east - traveling from horizon to horizon in about...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 12 Lunar Farside from Apollo 11 Credit: Apollo 11 Crew, NASA Explanation: The far side of the Moon is rough and filled with craters. By comparison, the near side of the Moon, the side we always see, is relatively smooth. Since the Moon is rotation locked to always point the same side toward Earth, humanity has only glimpsed the lunar farside recently -- last century. The...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 21 Melting Snow and the Gullies of Mars Credit: P. Christensen (ASU), THEMIS, Mars Odyssey, NASA Explanation: Tantalizing images of gullies on Mars have offered striking evidence for recent flows of liquid water. But Mars is too cold and its atmosphere too thin for liquid water to exist on the surface. Still a new and compelling explanation for gullies carved by liquid water was inspired by...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 16 Southwest Mercury Credit: Mariner 10, NASA Explanation: The planet Mercury resembles a moon. Mercury's old surface is heavily cratered like many moons. Mercury is larger than most moons but smaller than Jupiter's moon Ganymede and Saturn's moon Titan. Mercury is much denser and more massive than any moon, though, because it is made mostly of iron. In fact, the Earth is the only planet more...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 12 A Spherule from Outer Space Credit: Timothy Culler (UCB) et al., Apollo 11 Crew, NASA Explanation: When a meteorite strikes the Moon, the energy of the impact melts some of the splattering rock, a fraction of which might cool into tiny glass beads. Many of these glass beads were present in lunar soil samples returned to Earth by the Apollo missions. Pictured above is one...

Friday, 20 December, 2002, 01:57 GMT Moon's youngest crater discovered Is this the youngest crater on the Moon? By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor Astronomers have discovered the only known lunar crater to have been formed in recorded history. In 1953 a flash was seen on the Moon that was taken to be the impact of a small asteroid. But ground-based telescopes were not powerful enough to see any crater. But now, searching more detailed images of the Moon obtained by orbiting spacecraft, researchers have found a small, fresh, crater in the same position as the flash....

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 30 Surveyor Hops Credit : Surveyor Project, NASA Explanation: This panorama of the cratered lunar surface was constructed from images returned by the US Surveyor 6 lander. Surveyor 6 was not the first spacecraft to accomplish a soft landing on the Moon ... but it was the first to land and then lift off again! After the spacecraft touched down near the center of the Moon's...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 October 28 Earth's Richat Structure Credit: Landsat 7, USGS, NASA Explanation: What on Earth is that? The Richat Structure in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania is easily visible from space because it is nearly 50 kilometers across. Once thought to be an impact crater, the Richat Structure's flat middle and lack of shock-altered rock indicates otherwise. The possibility that the Richat Structure was formed by a volcanic...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 October 1 Rectangular Ridges on Mars Credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA Explanation: What could cause rectangular ridges on Mars? As data flows in from the two spacecraft currently orbiting Mars, surface structures are seen that are not immediately understood. These structures pose puzzles that planetary geologists are eager to solve, as they might provide clues to past processes that have shaped Mars over billions...

Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 September 13 Aristarchus Plateau Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman Explanation: Anchored in the vast lava flows of the Moon's Oceanus Procellarum lies the Aristarchus Plateau. Recorded from a backyard observatory on planet Earth, this sharp, amazingly colorful view nicely captures the geologically diverse area, including the brownish plateau, Aristarchus and Herodotus craters, and the meandering Vallis Schroteri. The bright impact crater at the corner of the plateau is...