Photo from the Associated Press

A boat that was part of the five million tons of “stuff” thrown into the Pacific Ocean during the massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami has been spotted off the Canadian Coast. 

The Associated Press is reporting that the 65-meter long boat is moving toward land, 160 miles off the coastline of British Columbia. 

To put that in perspective, if you were driving down Interstate 39, that’s about 20 miles farther than the distance between Wausau and Madison!

The horrific earthquake and tsunami struck Japan just over one year ago on March 11, 2011.  More than 15,000 people died and it brought about one of the biggest nuclear power plant scares in years.    

According to The Toronto Star, there is no environmental concerns over the abandoned ship, but mariners in the Pacific Ocean need to take warning because “the vessel poses a potential navigational hazard.”

Photo from National Geographic

Posted under Earthquake, Environment, Flooding, Geology, Natural Disasters, Nature, Oceans, Tsunami, Uncategorized, Weather History, Weather NEws

Source: United States Geological Survey

With the source of the mysterious booming sounds and shakes from Clintonville being cited as a series of mini-quakes taking place you might be thinking about where you can learn more about earthquakes from a reliable source. 

The United States Geological Survey is the premiere organization for you to turn toward for information. 

This web link: http://www.earthquake.usgs.org provides a wealth of interesting information.  Perhaps most fascinating is that the page provides two maps that depict the locations of every detected earthquake in both the United States and around the world.  For specific data on individual earthquakes you can click on the map and zoom in toward each quakes’ epicenter. 

The largest of the series of mini-quakes in Clintonville measured 1.5 on the Richter scale.  Though that is very small compared to other earthquakes around the world, it’s the rock types found deep beneath the surface soils that play a large role here. 

Source: University of Wisconsin--Green Bay

Granite is a commonly found rock beneath Clintonville, and much of East Central Wisconsin.  It’s also one of the strongest rock types on the planet.  I asked a geologist at the Universityof Wisconsin—Marathon County yesterday about granite and he said on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the strongest, granite is a solid 10.

That’s an important part in the story.  Strong rock types like granite have little give.  Any shaking below the earth doesn’t have much lee-way when the vibrations move through it.  Softer rock types though have more of an ebb and flow approach. 

So-called earthquake-ready buildings do not try to fight the force of earthquakes, but rather are designed to in a way ride it out.  Rigid structures (strong rocks too) don’t handle this well and shake (or collapse in the case of buildings.)  Relatively flexible structures (and rock types) cope with earthquakes because they allow for more give.        

For a complete report of the 1.5 magnitude quake from the USGS, click here: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/usc0008n7t.php

Posted under Earthquake, Education, Geology, Weather History, Weather NEws

During the last week or so I have been updating the blog with news about the attempt to drill into Lake Vostok in Antarctica. It is a story I have followed for a few years because it could turn out to be a significant scientific discovery. The lake has been isolated from the environment for hundreds of thousands of years and more likely millions of years. Life that was once in the lake when it was not covered with 2 miles of ice, might have evolved into strange new forms. Or the lake might be sterile due to the presence of too much oxygen. In that case it would be interesting as well be cause it would be the only place on earth where there is a body of water but no life.

So what has brought this lake into focus again? A Russian drilling program has now reached the surface of the lake - or so they think. They are very close but cannot say for certain if they have reached liquid water that is part of the lake or just some liquid water in the sheet of ice. In any case you will have to hold your enthusiasm for a few months because they have shut down the drilling operation for the season. They have sent most of the engineers and scientists home until late next fall when Summer sunlight and warmer temps return. Only two people will remain to keep an eye on the bore hole. And that is the most interesting part of the story right now. Could you imagine spending a few months near the south pole, a thousand miles from the nearest human, thousands of miles away from any significant civilization, with hardly any daylight? The only thing stirring within hundreds of miles would be you and your comrade. I suppose there is a good communication link (satellite) nowadays that would allow for voice and maybe video communication. That would make it better, but it would still be a tough stint. Having seen The Thing, I would probably be a bit freaked-out for such a mission.

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State Temps During January 2012

From bitter cold Antarctica to a very mild contiguous United States. If you thought that this Winter was a bit milder than normal, you are not mistaken. The NCDC has released state-by-state statistics for the month of January (2012) and it turns out that almost every state had above normal temperatures. In Wisconsin it was the 10th warmest out of the last 118 years. The only states that experienced normal temps were Washington and Florida. Alaska was the only state with below normal temps. In fact, it was the record coldest January in many parts of Alaska. Not only have they experienced record cold but very heavy near record snow in some parts as well.

For anyone who follows the weather you are probably aware of the inverse correlation between weather in Alaska and the contiguous U.S. When it is warmer than normal in the lower 48, it is almost always colder in Alaska. When it is mild in Alaska, the bitter cold tends to move down into the lower 48. If you want to dig into past temperature data from around the U.S. take a look at this interactive web page at the NCDC.

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Alta Devices Solar Panel

Now another blast of good news from the solar power industry. Early this week I profiled Semprius, a company that has claimed the record for the highest efficiency using concentrated solar panels. Another company recently broke a record as well, but this time for regular (non light concentrating) solar panels. Alta Devices’ commercial solar panel has reached an efficiency of 23.5%. I detailed their devices in a past blog post as well. What is even more impressive is that their goal is to be cost competitive with fossil fuel generated electricity WITHOUT government subsidies. Hooray for Alta Devices!

In more speculative solar energy research, at the University of Cambrige scientists have come up with a design that might squeeze 25% more effciency out of today’s solar panels. They are combining inorganic and organic layers within one solar cell in order to capture more energy from the blue light of the visible spectrum.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Ecology, Environment, Geology, Heat, Monthly Recap, Seasonal Items, Technology, World Weather

A rather depressing and apocalypse-themed photo exhibition has hit the art circuit recently - called the “Last Days of The Arctic”.  This Youtube video showing some of the great photography is put to haunting music which makes it seem even more like the end of the world. And, it definitely is a serious challenge for the people and animals that live around the arctic. Less sea ice, if the trend continues in the future, will require more adaptation and some hardship will result. But remember the earth does change – on its own for the most part. Sometimes when discussing anthropogenic global warming (AGW), I get the sense that some people expect the climate and the biosphere to remain exactly like it was earlier in their lifetime – that the global temperature will always remain “around average”, whatever that temperature is deemed to be.

Even outside the theoretical effects that human beings might be having on the atmosphere, the earth and atmosphere is in a constant state of change. The Sahara desert was once covered by large lakes. The arctic has had much more ice as recent as a few hundred years ago during the Little Ice Age. Before that, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the arctic was mostly ice free a few times during interglacial periods. During these wide swings in ice cover and temperature, no doubt there was some angst about the changing climate. There was most likely some hardship before people and animals were able to adapt to the changing conditions. This is not to say that possible future AGW is OK (we should try to reduce our negative environmental impacts as much as feasible), just that we should remember that things change.  Spending too much time reminiscing about what was, leaves less time to prepare for what will be.

Speaking of what was, I mentioned the Little Ice Age a bit earlier and there is some new research suggesting that increased volcanism during the 1275 to 1300 period might have triggered it, or at least helped it along. If you are familiar with the Little Ice Age, you know that a leading theory is that reduced solar energy (known as the Maunder Minimum). This solar theory is not conclusive but one cannot help but notice the trend in temps and solar activity seemed to go hand-in-hand, especially during the coldest point of the Little Ice Age. However, one must not rule out volcanic activity. It is well known that large volcanic eruptions (like Pinatubo and Krakatoa) can cool the planet by a degree or two for a couple of years after the eruption. What is theorized in this latest study is that successive large volcanic eruptions cooled the planet for a couple of decades and this created a positive feedback loop of colder temps leading to more sea ice formation. The increased sea ice then reflected more of the sun’s energy into space leading to cooler temps. This is an interesting theory, and no doubt there was some cooling due to volcanic eruptions, however, I would expect that the volcanism would show up a bit more dramatically in the re-constructed temperature graphs from around the late 1200s into the early 1300s. Perhaps the granularity of the data obscures the temperature changes a bit, but if volcanism was the main trigger for the Little Ice Age, then there should be some evidence in the temperature record during that time.

On the subject of ice ages, there is a recent theory that the periodic ice ages beginning around 450 million years ago were caused by the arrival of plants on the earth’s surface. The theory is that early plants (resembling mosses) covered land masses and led to chemical weathering of the rocks. The minerals released from this process ended up turning into carbonate materials, with the carbon coming from the atmosphere. The minerals might have also fertilized the oceans as well, leading to more growth of plant life. Once free carbon dioxide was now being bound up in the process of life and this could have led to a decrease in the global temperature seen around that period. I say could have, because there are a lot of assumptions built into the theory. The atmosphere and climate are so complex that even today it is hard to predict how they will evolve together. 450 million years ago the land masses were different, the earth’s orbit and tilt were different, the magnetic poles we different. It all adds up to a difficult job of deciphering temperature changes.

It is not all that difficult to decipher what happened last month because we keep track of the daily conditions right here at StormTrack9! The month of January ended up 6 degrees above normal. It was about the same amount above normal as the month of December. I can’t remember the last time we had to months in a row when temps were that far above normal….whoops, nope….I do remember. It was February and March of 2000. February of that year was 9 degrees above normal and March was 11 degrees above normal.

January of 2012 did not feel a whole lot like winter with 6 different days rising above 40 degrees. This warmth included 2 days with record highs. In Wausau, we had a record high of 47 on the 10th and 45 on the 11th. The best part about the month, in my opinion, is that precipitation was a little above normal. It is nice to start out the year on an above normal trend. Besides being above normal, there were no other odd patterns in the numbers. Here are the final January stats for Wausau:

Average High Temp: 29.3  (normal: 23.1)

Average Low Temp: 12.0  (normal: 6.0)

Precipitation: 1.04 inches  (normal: 1.02 inches)

Snowfall: 12.3 inches  (normal: 13.5 inches)

Highest Temperature: 47 on January 10th

Lowest Temperature: -14 on January 20th

Have a good Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under AGW, Arctic climate, Climate Change, Geology, Monthly Recap, Weather History

 Anyone was paying attention to the news in 2010 will recall the Icelandic volcano eruption that caused air travel in Europe to come to a literal standstill. 

Newscasts and newspapers around the globe lead with the enormous story that had tremendous economic, geologic and meteorological fallouts. 

Plus it was juicy piece of news that had incredible pictures.   

I sure won’t soon forget the images of people marooned at airports or those dramatic shots of the huge ash cloud.  And it’s always fun to watch non-native Icelanders try to pronounce the volcano’s lengthy name—Eyjafjallajökull.  Here’s a video with a crash course in Icelandic 101.

But a recent study will soon be raising some eyebrows that Eyjafjallajökull might be just getting started. 

According to a group of researchers from the UK and US, they’ve tracked down past eruptions fromIceland’s volcanoes by looking at peat and lake sediments around northern Europe.

What did they find?  Icelandic volcano ash clouds drifting across Europe isn’t anything new.  But, in the past 1,500 years the events seem to happen more frequently. 

It’s important to note that the researchers are not positive if the increase in volcanic activity is a result of more eruptions or just an anomaly in the way the geologic record appears in Europe.

Here’s a link to the article published in Geology so you can look it over at your leisure.  It’s an interesting finding, but hopefully one that doesn’t turn out to be true, especially if you’ve got a European vacation scheduled in the next few years!

Posted under Environment, Geology, International Weather, Natural Disasters, Uncategorized, Weather History, World Weather

Due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, devastating tornadoes in the U.S. and various other disasters, 2011 is already the costliest year for weather disasters in recorded history. Through the first 6 months of 2011 natural disasters have resulted in $265 billion in losses. The second place year was 2005 when losses were about $220 billion. Surprisingly (and thankfully) this year is no where near close to being tops in human deaths from natural disasters. Tragically, 19,380 people have died from natural disasters this year. Last year the total was much higher due to the earthquake in Haiti which killed 225,000 people alone. Another deadly disaster last year was the heat wave  that struck Russia, killing about 50,000 people.

This year, the most deadly event was the Japan earthquake and deaths from that disaster might continue to rise due to lingering after effects. Not only have some strong aftershocks hit the island nation (one just a few days ago), unfortunately, the complete meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant spread a lot more radiation around that what was originally assumed and reported. Recently, radioactive particles have been found in the ash of waste incinerators. Contaminated meat has also been found from cows raised near Fukushima. So far, the radiation health risks have been contained, at least according to Japanese government officials, some of whom have not been very forthcoming throughout this ordeal. It makes me wonder how much radiation actually reached the United States. It is probably not much and I haven’t seen any reports about health risks, so hopefully we will be alright. What makes the tragedy even more tragic is the news that the Fukushima plant was built on a site that once had a 120 foot hill. TEPCO razed the hill so that the nuclear plant would be closer to sea level and bedrock. They calculated the odds of a tsunami as being so low that the plant would be ok. Sadly, it wasn’t. Mother Nature surprised us again.

Maybe we will not be so surprised in the future, by earthquakes anyway. geologists and seismologists have long been working on methods of predicting major earthquakes (including a new and better understanding of how plate tectonics work) and now they might get a new tool in their arsenal, courtesy of the weather. Preliminary analysis of the weather over northeastern Japan shortly before the big earthquake shows an increase in infrared emssions and an increase in total electron content in the ionosphere over the epicenter in the days leading up to the quake (another article here with graphics).

Because it is only one quake and one set of data, it is hard to draw any firm conclusions about the weather before an earthquake. I would say the electron content of the ionosphere holds more promise. The infrared emissions of the atmosphere change all the time for all kinds of different reasons, so it would be hard to know what increases in heat (infrared emissions) were presaging an earthquake and which ones were not. Still, given all the anecdotal reports of weird weather prior to earthquakes, it is an interesting field of study and something to keep an eye on in the future.

Have a fine Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Earthquake, Geology, Natural Disasters, Severe Weather

WATCH THE VIDEO: Wandering Wisconsin: Dells of the Eau Claire

Dells of the Eau Claire

Our state has a very interesting geologic history. 

Though you wouldn’t know it when driving through the rolling Wisconsin hills dotted with dairy farms, at one point a long time ago things looked a little different. 

Geologists believe that about two billion years ago massive volcanoes were centered in what we know today as Marathon County!  Why do they think that?  The Dells of the Eau Claire. 

When the lava from these ancient volcanoes hardened into rhyolite–some of the hardest rocks on the planet–millions of years of tectonic shifting tilted that horizontal rock vertically.  That’s how today we see those beautiful chunks of rocks bolt from the ground seemingly soaring toward the sky.   

But wait…where did the volcanoes go then?  

The glaciers steamrolled those volcanoes when they retreated northward, whittling them down to smooth rolling hills.  Glacial melting provided the water needed to erode away sections into the Eau Claire River, giving us what we see today.  Few places on earth can you see naturally occuring square rock formations paried with smooth circular edges because of sand and water erosion. 

For more information on Dells of the Eau Claire and the other parks in the Marathon County Parks family, visit them online here.

Posted under Community, Earthquake, Environment, Geology, Nature, Science, Summer, Trails

I enjoyed Tony’s most recent post about “making hay when the sun shines”. I grew up on a dairy farm as well and had similar experiences in the Summer heat. Interestingly, while some farmers might have hoped for warm dry weather this past weekend, I was hoping for some rain. Instead of making hay, I was out watering the garden. One of our larger garden plots is out in the country with no irrigation system and no water hose long enough to reach the it, therefore, we have to haul the water in jugs and it is a decent amount of exercise.

I engaged in another “old time” activity this past weekend. Something that became quite famous during the 1800s in America, and is still practiced a bit today – panning for gold. Instead of buying a few shares of GLD, my wife and I took a trip down the river in our canoe and stopped at a couple of spots to see if we could find any of the real shiny stuff. We chose an area that is under active investigation by mining companies and known to have at least low grade ore. The odds of finding anything in Northcentral Wisconsin are pretty slim, but it was a fun time out on the water, soaking up some sun, and seeing if we could find any treasure. Just like making hay, panning depends on the weather to at least a small extent. Without any sunshine it is much tougher to see shiny metals that might be in the river. Thankfully, it was a nice sunny day. We didn’t find any easily identifiable gold or silver but we did find some interesting small rocks with some sort-of shiny ore. One thing I found interesting is that there are a great variety of rocks/stones in rivers around here. While fishing or boating, you tend to pass over the rocks without noticing the differences. Panning the stream bed focuses your attention on the smaller pieces of material that are hard to find otherwise. We found it is easier to discover old human-made “treasures” in the river than natural ones like gold and silver.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Geology, Nature, Travel

The Cave of the Mounds

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE! WANDERING WISCONSIN: CAVE OF THE MOUNDS

Water is powerful.

We experience its might when rivers flood and dams produce electricity.  Given time it can carve beautiful vistas like the Grand Canyon and anyone who’s experienced the majesty of Niagara Falls needs no background on how incredible water is.

To experience another example of what water and time can do, take a look beneath your feet at Cave of the Mounds in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin.  Here you’ll discover an underground world that is breathtaking as it is intriguing.   

As the water from Wisconsin’s rain and snow slowly trickle into the ground, the right geologic conditions and materials were in place for this beautiful area to develop over time.  A long time…more than 1.5 million years. 

The Cave of the Mounds

Today this National Natural Landmark is a great place to spend a hot summer day (since it’s always 50 degrees in the caves) or to spend a chilly winter day (since it’s always 50 degrees in the caves….yep even in winter). 

It offer parents a way to get kids on summer break to learn a lot while experiencing what can be described as the state’s biggest science classroom.  Plus it’s a great activity for families to spend a day as explorers.  But don’t worry…because of the way the cave developed there’s no animals inside it.  It doesn’t have an outside entrance, except for the one you go in that was accidently discovered in the 1930′s.

For more information check out Cave of the Mounds online.

Posted under Environment, Geology, Nature, Science, Seasonal Items, Summer, Travel

  

It’s always cool to visit interesting places, and if you’re interested in going to one that is in our backyard, totally free and educational for the kids, listen up! 

The Earth has four hemispheres.  Using coordinates from lines of latitude and longitude, you can pin point any location on the planet.  There can only be one center for each hemisphere.  So, where are they?

Both points in the Southern Hemisphere are in the oceans.  You’ll need a boat and a life preserver to visit them.  The Northeastern Hemisphere’s center point is in a extremely mountainous region of China.  Prepare the passport and an adventurous spirit, because it’s quite difficult to get to. 

But right here in Marathon County lies the center of the Northwestern Hemisphere.  That means we are the half-way point between the International Date Line and the Prime Meridian plus the North Pole and Equator. 

Long before we all had personal GPS systems and computers, a local man discovered this interesting point using maps to help draw visitors to his tavern in Poniatowski, Wisconsin.  Amazingly, he was off by such a small amount, that the Reitbrock Geologic Marker was built to remember his adventurous spirit.  Visitors to the marker were given a free beer and signed their name into the 45×90 Club registry. 

Today, you can still become a member of the 45×90 Club by taking the nice drive our to Poniatowski (about a half-hour west of Wausau), snapping a photo and then returning to the Wausau-Central Wisconsin Visitors Bureau in downtown Wausau.  There you’ll sign your name and be given a free commemorative coin marking your achievement traveling to the center of the Northwestern Hemisphere!

Posted under Community, Geology, Nature, Summer, Travel