Most Popular
1500 questions
14
votes
1 answer
What tectonic mechanisms cause the North and South Islands of New Zealand to be so geologically different?
New Zealand is a very active seismic and volcanic region of the Pacific Ring of Fire, on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific Plates; however, there is a difference between the 2 islands: volcanoes and earthquakes on the North Island and…
user889
14
votes
2 answers
How can odor travel be tracked
Odd question, but what data would be needed to to calculate how far winds will carry a strong odor (such as the smells of a restaurant, pizza parlor or burning wood/building?
There is wind direction and wind speed. But how does one measure the…
auto
- 243
- 1
- 6
14
votes
1 answer
Is there a standard definition of a "dry-down" event in hydrology?
When studying the land surface, dry-down periods - periods after rain where the soil moisture is decreasing due to evapotranspiration and drainage - are of great interested, because soil moisture has such a strong effect on nearly every aspect of…
naught101
- 5,425
- 2
- 31
- 68
14
votes
1 answer
GOES Visible Channel - asymmetry between morning and afternoon
In the GOES-13 Visible channel, there seems to be a morning/afternoon asymmetry in the data. I'm wondering what might cause this.
In this example data, the morning is the lower branch, and the afternoon is the upper branch. The y-axis is the pixel…
John
- 865
- 5
- 10
14
votes
1 answer
Does Contwoyto Lake empty into both Bathurst Inlet and Chantrey Inlet?
Contwoyto Lake is a large lake in northwestern Nunavut. Descriptions of it say that its primary outlet leads to Bathurst Inlet.
Does the lake also have an outlet that leads to Chantrey Inlet, reaching the sea 300 miles to the east?
Joe
- 243
- 1
- 5
14
votes
4 answers
Can we really travel through earth's core?
Inspired by the movie, "The Core".
Can we really travel through earth's core? I will provide 2 sub questions:
Is there any substance that can resist the heat of earth's core?
Between the crust and mantle, and the mantle and outer core is there any…
Poomrokc The 3years
- 1,171
- 3
- 11
- 18
14
votes
1 answer
What are the causes of the supercontinent cycle?
Throughout geologic history, Earth's continents have broken apart and come together to form supercontinents multiple times, in a somewhat regular period, known as the supercontinent cycle. The length of a cycle is estimated to be 450 million years,…
congusbongus
- 1,833
- 16
- 23
14
votes
1 answer
Why are there more intense earthquakes in Iran than in Iraq?
Why are there more intense earthquakes in Iran than in Iraq, if they are so close together?
I often hear news items of earthquakes in Iran that are higher on the Richter Scale than those that happen in Iraq.
Are there maybe more earthquakes in Iraq…
Reuven
- 341
- 1
- 4
14
votes
1 answer
How are the patterns in solid rock born
I took this photo on my vacation in Finland showing white stripes in the rock going different ways. How are these patterns born?
jpkeisala
- 243
- 1
- 4
14
votes
1 answer
Is there a geological explanation for the recent Mammoth tusk discovery 185 miles off the California coast?
A recently publicized discovery of a Columbian Mammoth tusk located well of the coast of California in quite deep water made me wonder if geological conditions 100,000 years ago can explain how it got to the location it was found at?
Pilot Randy…
justCal
- 1,186
- 7
- 16
14
votes
3 answers
Why did Hurricane Ida have so much precipitation when it reached the Northeast?
The US Northeast was hit surprisingly hard by Hurricane Ida, dumping a phenomenal amount of rain on the region, causing significant flooding and tornadic activity. I'm having difficulty understanding why the hurricane was able to travel so far…
Pyrotechnical
- 241
- 1
- 6
14
votes
1 answer
Temperature as a function of luminosity and greenhouse gas concentrations
The evidence seems clear that there is an interrelationship between solar luminosity, greenhouse gas concentrations, and temperature.
Has temperature as a function of luminosity and greenhouse gas concentrations been developed? If so, what is the…
user641
14
votes
1 answer
Odd structures in 66 year NCEP daily temperature reanalysis
I have done some simple analyses of historical surface temperature
from the NOAA NCAR/NCEP reanalysis (downloaded from ftp://ftp.cdc.noaa.gov/Datasets/ncep.reanalysis.dailyavgs/surface/air.sig995.*.nc).
It consists 66 years of daily temperature…
Daniel Mahler
- 241
- 1
- 5
14
votes
1 answer
How can I estimate a 2 m temperature from / in an atmospheric model?
Numerical models of the atmosphere usually have their first atmospheric grid level well above 2 m, but the temperature at 2 m above ground level is something one often wants to calculate with such a model.
These models have some surface scheme to…
BHF
- 1,681
- 1
- 18
- 38
14
votes
2 answers
Is soil a renewable resource?
My geology textbook tells me that soil is not renewable, and I agree with this, but there was some question in my class as to whether this is true.
Some soils take more than a human lifetime to regenerate. However, in crop production, it seems as…
Inkenbrandt
- 1,055
- 1
- 8
- 16