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What tools are available to build unstructured grids for ocean models?
Generating finite element/volume grids is tricky for ocean models, especially when you are dealing with complex coastlines. What are the more common tools to create the grids and to check the quality (e.g., minimum angles, wave propagation…
arkaia
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Does earth's size affect the temperature of the poles?
What effect does Earth's size have on the temperature of the north and south poles? If the Earth were larger, or smaller, would this affect those temperatures?
NecroTechno
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9
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How did sand dunes appear in the midst of a fertile region?
I recently visited a place called Talakad/Talakadu about 40 km from Mysore, India. Its an amazing place where a whole city has been covered by sand about 15 m deep. The local myth is that a curse turned the once thriving town to a barren dune. Does…
TV Mohini
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How do we use oxygen isotopes as temperature proxy?
As far as I know scientists use oxygen isotope 16 to 18 ratio in air trapped in glaciers (or in old foraminiftera shells) as proxy for temperature in the past. I know that $\ce{^18O}$ is heavier, and it precipitates faster, and $\ce{^16O}$ is…
amorfis
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Is there an estimate for the length of the American Cordillera?
There was no geography site on Stack Exchange, so I thought the best place to ask about this was in Earth Science: Do we have an estimate for the length of the American Cordillera (the chain of mountain ranges in the west of the Americas, reaching…
Jonathan Spirit
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How much has the total transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current changed over time?
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the oceanic current that flows around the Antarctic continent, has many links to weather and climate processes (e.g., Is there conclusive evidence for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current developing after the…
arkaia
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How isotropic is the Earth's inner core boundary?
Often, in texts (particularly for schools etc) depict a smooth spherical isotropic boundary between the inner and outer core, as shown in the image from this USGS public education page:
The inner core boundary is between the inner and outer core…
user889
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Are there any quantities defined analogically to the virtual temperature, but for other gases?
The virtual temperature is a pseudo-temperature taking into account water vapour in the atmosphere in such a way, that the resulting quantity can be used with the ideal gas law and the molar mass for dry air. Although the most significant in the…
gerrit
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9
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Horizon letter for bedrock
What is the official letter for the bedrock soil horizon? I know that the letters to represent the A, B, and C horizons are widespread, but the fourth layer (bedrock) is referred to with different names. Some call it the D-Horizon, some the…
Timtech
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Pyroclastic flow protection
Related to the question Why don't scientists use fire entry suits to study volcanoes?, where the issue of volcanologist protection against lava splatter and bombs is discussed. Another major and sometimes sudden volcanic event are pyroclastic flows…
user889
9
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What is Geoalchemy?
I am reading this paper, and the authors have an interesting affiliation:
Center for Geoalchemy, MIT? A quick Google Scholar search shows that it was a thing in the late 1970s to 1980s. Seems like they were researching geochemical petrology. Any…
Gimelist
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What are the criteria that make a planet (in)habitable?
Recently, I realized a lot of factors must contribute toward making a planet habitable, other than just the ones that come to mind like having oxygen, the right temperature, and so on.
What makes a planet habitable? Is there an official set of…
Stan Shunpike
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Why is the concept of "mass extinction" a relatively recent development in geology?
The concept of "mass extinctions", with its catastrophic connotations, is a relatively recent development in the geological sciences. It evolved in the early 1980s, driven by two landmark publications in the journal Science:
Alvarez et al. (1980)…
Gimelist
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What tectonic structures delineate the split between the Australian and Indian tectonic plates?
Growing up, when looking in textbooks and other references about plate tectonics, there was always the Indo-Australian (or Indian-Australian) plate, such as shown below:
Image source: The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park (1987) by N. King…
user889
9
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1 answer
Was volcanic activity more prevalent when the dinosaurs roamed?
Popular film culture often depicts much volcanic activity during the time of the dinosaurs.
Assuming "time of the dinosaurs" as the Jurassic (200 million years ago) until the end of the Cretaceous (66 million years ago):
Are there any geological…
Bohemian
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