169

VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

News: Haiti Earthquake Increased Stress Along Fault, p. 170

News: Scientists Sift Through Urban Soils, p. 171

News: Interview With Shuttle Astronaut and AGU Member Piers Sellers, p. 171

In Memoriam: Irene K. Fischer (1907–2009), p. 172

Forum: New Approaches to the Gulf Hypoxia Problem, p. 173

About AGU: Han Receives 2009 Geodesy Award, p. 174

About AGU: Mölg Receives Cryosphere Young Investigator Award, p. 175

Research Spotlight: Exciting New Research From AGU Journals, p. 180

The spectacular eruption of Mount St. Hel-

ens on 18 May 1980 electrifi ed scientists

and the public. Photodocumentation of the

colossal landslide, directed blast, and ensu-

ing eruption column—which reached as

high as 25 kilometers in altitude and lasted

for nearly 9 hours—made news worldwide.

Reconnaissance of the devastation spurred

efforts to understand the power and awe of

those moments (Figure 1).

The eruption remains a seminal histori-

cal event—studying it and its aftermath rev-

olutionized the way scientists approach the

fi eld of volcanology. Not only was the erup-

tion spectacular, but also it occurred in day-

time, at an accessible volcano, in a country

with the resources to transform disaster into

scientifi c opportunity, amid a transforma-

tion in digital technology. Lives lost and the

impact of the eruption on people and infra-

structure downstream and downwind made

it imperative for scientists to investigate

events and work with communities to lessen

losses from future eruptions.

Before the 1980 Eruption

Before highlighting insight gleaned

from this eruption, it is important to recall

the rather different state of volcano sci-

ence 30 years ago. In 1980, investigation

of active volcanism by the U.S. Geological

Survey (USGS) was modest and focused

in Hawaii— in fact the only volcano obser-

vatory in the United States was in Hawaii,

where the emphasis fell naturally on basal-

tic volcanism. Few U.S. universities could

boast integrated programs in volcanology.

The University of Washington’s Pacifi c North-

west Seismic Network (PNSN) had installed

the fi rst seismometers for regional earth-

quake studies in 1969, including one on

the upper fl ank of Mount St. Helens in 1972

[Malone et al., 1981]. Yet a host of technolo-

gies that we now take for granted, such as

cell phones, powerful portable computers,

Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers,

digital cameras, satellite communications,

and streaming of real- time digital seismic

and geodetic data, did not exist. Individual

scientists had studied volcanoes in the Cas-

cades, including Mount St. Helens, but char-

acterization of fragmental deposits from

pyroclastic fl ows, tephras, and lahars to

infer a volcano’s history and probable future

behavior was less than 2 decades old and

the specialty of only a few geologists.

Few inhabitants of the Pacifi c Northwest

knew that they lived near volcanoes that

could erupt or that Mount St. Helens had last

erupted in 1857. Building on stratigraphic

evidence that revealed frequent eruptions

of Mount St. Helens, commonly punctuated

by short dormant intervals of a few hundred

years or less, the USGS published in 1978

a hazard assessment of the volcano [Cran-

dell and Mullineaux, 1978] that stated that an

eruption was likely within the next 100 years

and perhaps even before the end of the cen-

tury. Geologists working on the volcano

in summer 1979 could only wonder if they

would live to see an eruption.

The 1980 Eruption

Onset of unrest at Mount St. Helens was

swift, beginning in late March 1980 with

earthquakes that heralded the volcano’s

reawakening after 123 years. Within a week,

steam and ash blasted out, forming a summit

crater. Earthquakes as large as M 4.7 rocked

the volcano, and the north fl ank began bulg-

ing outward by as much as 1.5 meters per

day in response to a shallow intrusion of

magma. USGS, PNSN, and university scien-

tists assembled at the volcano, one that few

of them knew well. As they scrambled to

install new instruments during late winter

weather and acquire and interpret data, they

faced the challenge of providing short- term

forecasts of possible activity. A critical part-

ner in the response, and one that provided

offi ce space and vital logistical support to

scientists, was the U.S. Forest Service, which

had experience with coordinating response

to large wildfi res but not to an erupting vol-

cano. Crisis response in the spotlight of the

national and international media was a new

experience for scientists, and most had to

learn on the fl y.

On the morning of 18 May, the unrest

culminated in a cataclysmic eruption,

which was economically the most destruc-

tive volcanic event in U.S. history. The

2.8- cubic- kilometer landslide reduced the

summit by 400 meters. Sudden decompres-

sion of shallow gaseous magma caused a

directed blast that traveled about 500 kilo-

meters per hour northward and blew down

or scorched 625 square kilometers of forest

within 3 minutes. Within 15 minutes, a verti-

cal plume of volcanic ash rose to an altitude

of 25 kilometers. By afternoon, the dense

ash cloud dumped centimeters of ash in

eastern Washington and so darkened skies

that lights came on in cities downwind. The

plume crossed the United States in 3 days

and circled the Earth in 15 days. Lahars

fi lled nearby rivers with mud and debris,

damaging or destroying 27 bridges and 200

homes. Lahar deposits in shipping lanes

stranded 31 ships in ports upstream and cut

off ports such as Portland, Oreg., and Van-

couver, Wash., for a week.

Clear weather provided scientists and the

public unparalleled views of the landslide,

directed blast, eruption plume, pyroclastic

fl ows, and lahars. Most aspects of the explo-

sive eruption were forecast well, but the

scale of the landslide and the blast’s 180º arc

of devastation to the north were unforeseen.

Also surprising were troublesome secondary

effects, such as the economic consequences

of distal ashfall in far- fl ung communities and

infi ll of the Columbia River shipping channel

by lahar sediment.

The magnitude of devastation motivated

a redoubling of scientifi c studies and hazard

assessments. Five smaller explosive erup-

tions from 25 May to 18 October spread ash

in all directions, some of it toward large met-

ropolitan areas, including Portland, Oreg.,

and Olympia, Wash. Scientists received suf-

fi cient resources to study all aspects of the

18 May eruption and the ensuing explo-

sive eruptive sequence in more detail and

with more techniques than in any previous

eruption.

Early Ash and Aircraft Incidents

In the wake of the ash plumes that spread

over Europe in April 2010 from Iceland’s Eyja-

fjallajökull volcano, causing widespread dis-

ruption of air traffi c, it is surprising to recall

that the devastating impact of atmospheric

ash on aircraft was poorly understood and

not well documented 30 years ago. Nonethe-

less, awareness was about to dawn.

Thanks to clear daytime conditions,

most air traffi c successfully avoided the

Mount St. Helens 18 May 1980 ash cloud as

it tracked eastward. Despite the favorable

conditions, one jetliner strayed into the ash

cloud and was badly damaged [International

Civil Aviation Organization, 2001]. Only a

week later, during the 25 May eruption, a

turbo prop C- 130 unknowingly entered an

ash cloud in foul weather and recorded the

fi rst documented example of temporary in-

fl ight engine failure owing to ash intake. The

C- 130 regained power after losing altitude

and was able to land safely, but its engines

were ruined. Nonetheless, it took almost

10 more years and several more nearly disas-

trous ash- aircraft encounters before the

airline industry and various government

agencies responsible for air traffi c fully

understood the threat that ash posed to

aircraft.

The Next Decade

Within a year, a monograph of initial

observations and interpretations of the

18 May cataclysm and summer events was

published [Lipman and Mullineaux, 1981].

News of the eruption fueled interest of vet-

eran scientists and fi red imaginations of

aspiring volcanologists around the world.

The USGS responded by establishing Cas-

cades Volcano Observatory and tasking the

observatory not only with monitoring the

ongoing eruption of Mount St. Helens but

also with assessing hazards and monitor-

ing volcanoes throughout the Pacifi c North-

west and northern California. Another con-

sequence of the Mount St. Helens eruption,

in conjunction with the tragic 1985 erup-

tion of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, was

that USGS and the United States Agency for

International Development jointly developed

the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program

(VDAP) for the purpose of rapid response

to volcanic crises in developing countries

around the world. By 1991, when Mount

Pinatubo entered a state of unrest, VDAP

and other scientists at USGS were prepared

to respond. The response brought state-

of- the- art equipment and experience that

were crucial to helping Philippine scientists

respond successfully to Pinatubo’s paroxys-

mal eruption of 12–15 June 1991.

Newhall [2000] summarized the princi-

pal scientifi c lessons of the 1980 eruption:

the “aha” moment of associating hummocky

topography, long noticed around scores of

volcanoes such as at Mount Shasta in Cali-

fornia and Galunggung in Indonesia, with

deposits from volcano fl ank failures; the

idea that sudden removal of overburden

from shallow gaseous magma decompresses

it explosively to form devastating blasts,

such as at Bezymianny, Kamchatka, in 1956

and Mount Lamington, Papua New Guinea,

in 1951; and the realization that continuing

Mount St. Helens: A 30- Year Legacy of Volcanism

BY J. W. VALLANCE, C. A. GARDNER, W. E. SCOTT,

R. M. IVERSON, AND T. C. PIERSON

Mount St. Helens cont. on page 170

Fig. 1. View looking north of Mount St. Helens on the afternoon of 18 May 1980. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) photo by R. M. Krimmel.

170

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

The destructive magnitude 7.0 earthquake

that ruptured a 40- kilometer segment of the

Enriquillo fault 15 kilometers from Port au

Prince, Haiti, on 12 January 2010 has danger-

ously increased the failure stress on an adja-

cent eastern segment of that fault, according

to research presented on 3 May at the Euro-

pean Geosciences Union General Assembly

in Vienna, Austria.

Jian Lin, a senior scientist with the Geol-

ogy and Geophysics Department at Woods

Hole Oceanographic Institution ( WHOI),

in Massachusetts, explained that the Haiti

quake brought the eastern segment about

2–5 bars closer to failure. With 1 bar equal

to atmospheric pressure at sea level, a 2- to

5- bar increase may not seem signifi cant, Lin

said. However, the fault has not ruptured for

about 240 years, and it has built up about

1.5–2 meters of stress, at an estimated rate of

7–8 millimeters per year. An increase of just

a few bars could act as a trigger, he said. “It’s

just like your car is on the edge. Now just

give a kick and it’s going to fall,” he told Eos.

If the 40- to 60- kilometer eastern segment

ruptures together, “it could create a magni-

tude earthquake similar to January 12,” Lin

said. One key difference is that the January

event was 15 kilometers away from the Hai-

tian capital of Port au Prince; the eastern

segment comes within about 5 kilometers of

the city.

The WHOI scientist told Eos that there is

no scientifi c evidence to indicate the eastern

segment is a creeping zone that gradually

releases stress, rather than a locked zone,

and that the stress along the segment has

not been relieved. “Port au Prince has been

destroyed at least three times now: 1751,

1770, 2010. When is the next one? I think the

writing is on the wall. No one has convinced

me that it is not going to happen.”

The January quake also brought a seg-

ment west of that event 1–2 bars closer

to failure and slightly increased stress on

other faults including the Septentrional

fault on Hispaniola, Lin said. Another con-

cern is what the threat might be to Kings-

ton, Jamaica, which is at the western end

of the fault.

Lin noted that the research conducted by

him and his colleagues depends on input pro-

vided by seismologists and geodesists and

that there are discrepancies between the two

models. However, he said the inference of

stress increase on the section of the Enriquillo

fault to the east of the 12 January event “is rel-

atively robust regardless of the specifi c seis-

mic and geodetic slip models used.”

The 2010 event was the deadliest quake in

34 years, killing an estimated 230,000 people

and collapsing or damaging about 200,000

buildings. The magnitude 7.8 quake that

struck Tangshan in northern China in 1976

killed nearly 243,000 people and destroyed

or damaged 95% of the city’s buildings. Lin,

at that time a high- school student living

in southern China, told Eos that the quake

“affected me as profoundly as 9/11 affected

American kids” and infl uenced his decision

to become a seismologist. Bamboo trees

from his town were sent to Tangshan for

building temporary housing. A factory in his

town produced plastic bags in which to bury

the dead.

Lin said he hopes there is not another

devastating quake in Haiti but that he is very

concerned. There is historical evidence of a

previous major earthquake cluster along the

fault in the 1700s. He noted that if the histori-

cal quakes occurred farther west along the

Enriquillo fault than had been thought pre-

viously, as some other researchers recently

have indicated, it could mean the eastern

segment has been accumulating stress for

a longer period. Lin said it is unknown,

though, whether another quake could occur

soon or years from now. “Earthquakes do

interact. Earthquakes do talk to each other,”

he said. “It’s just that how they talk to each

other sometimes is complicated, sometimes

is obvious.”

For more information, see http:// pubs .usgs

.gov/ of/ 2010/ 1019/.

—RANDY SHOWSTACK, Staff Writer

lahars and fl uvial redistribution of sediment

can cause downstream aggradation into

populated areas years after eruptions cease,

such as at Mount Pinatubo after 1991. The

1980 eruptions were of equal signifi cance

to ecologists who studied revegetation and

repopulation of the devastated areas and

thus learned about the natural reclamation

of disturbed landscapes.

Vitally important was learning how to

respond to volcanic crises. Scientists built

credibility by disseminating consistent mes-

sages and explaining the nature of the activ-

ity and hazards in plain language. Hazard

coordinators assumed responsibility for pro-

viding information to public offi cials to help

them decide how to respond to the threat

of an eruption, such as by restricting access

to and evacuating potentially dangerous

areas, but avoided making such decisions

themselves. This division in responsibilities

allowed the scientists to focus on monitor-

ing, interpreting, and forecasting the volca-

no’s activity and separated them from the

political aspects of decision making. Scien-

tists learned that they needed to inform peo-

ple quickly and accurately of developments

at the volcano and to quickly quash false

rumors [Miller et al., 1981].

The 1980 unrest and ensuing eruption

of Mount St. Helens ended in October 1986

after 6 years of intermittent lava dome

growth [Swanson and Holcomb, 1990]. Lava

dome extrusion was more benign than ear-

lier explosive eruptions. Nonetheless, explo-

sions and collapses of hot dome rock occa-

sionally sent ash plumes to jet- cruising

altitudes and spawned new lahars that

spilled from the crater. Between 1989 and

1991, at least six unheralded explosions from

the cooling dome produced ash plumes and

minor fallout. This continuing activity taught

scientists and the public that eruptive activ-

ity, unlike many hazardous natural events,

can last for years, affect areas distant from

the volcano, and disrupt air travel.

Reawakening

The reawakening of Mount St. Helens

between 2004 and 2008 (Figure 2) [Sher-

rod et al., 2008] involved a different style of

lava dome emplacement, this time through

the 150- meter- thick Crater Glacier, which

had grown between the 1980s dome and the

steep 1980 crater walls. As in 1980, the onset

of activity in late September 2004 was swift

and within about a week led to explosions

and notable localized deformation. These

phenomena indicated the shallow presence of

rising magma, as demonstrated within 2 weeks

of the fi rst precursors when lava spines

extruded from a vent concealed beneath the

glacier. Vent location on the southern slope

of the 1980s dome, topographic surfaces, and

previous spine remnants appeared to control

spine growth. The presence of thick glacier ice

was insuffi cient to divert or slow spine growth.

Unlike dome growth eruptions of the

1980s, that of 2004–2008 involved continuous

extrusion of degassed magma spines that

had apparently solidifi ed at less than 1 kilo-

meter beneath the surface. Spine growth

divided the glacier into two arms, bulldozed

it hundreds of meters fi rst east and then

west, and then heaped it more than 100

meters higher than its original altitude. The

extrusion failed to melt the glacier apprecia-

bly despite the proximity of hot rock, but it

did cause the west glacier snout to advance

at an accelerated rate of 115 meters per year,

110 meters per year greater than before the

eruption. Increased internal fl ow from uplift

and steepening of the glacier surface slope,

not basal slip, caused the acceleration.

Another remarkable feature of the

renewed eruption was the months- long per-

sistence of repetitive, shallow (<1- kilometer)

earthquakes, dubbed “drumbeats” because

of their regular occurrence at intervals

of 30–300 seconds. Such repetitive earth-

quakes are now known to be common dur-

ing dome- building eruptions, but never

have they been as long lasting as those at

Mount St. Helens in 2004–2008.

The volcano’s swift reawakening in Sep-

tember 2004 was surprising because the

4 preceding years were seismically the qui-

etest of the 1986–2004 dormant interval.

Campaign- style GPS surveys had detected no

fl ank deformation, and a continuous GPS sta-

tion 9 kilometers north of the volcano had

shown no response between 1997 and Sep-

tember 2004. Nor did increases in steaming,

volcanic gas or any other phenomena foretell

that the volcano would rekindle. The erup-

tion was abnormally gas poor, and painstak-

ing petrologic studies suggest only hints of

magma recharge. Most parameters indicated

that the recent eruption was merely a con-

tinuation of the 1980–1986 eruptive cycle

and involved little addition from a deeper

source. Petrologic and geodetic modeling

studies suggest that the 2004–2008 eruption

was fueled by a magma source about 5 kilo-

meters deep; apparently, old thoroughly

degassed magma moved to the surface in the

more recent eruptions from this depth with-

out signifi cant recharge of fresh magma. The

triggering mechanism for such an eruption

remains enigmatic, but a model describing

forces driving and resisting dome extrusion

implies a balance between magma pres-

sure and friction so delicate that even slight

changes could have altered the eruption

character [Iverson et al., 2006].

The Legacy of Mount St. Helens

The 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount

St. Helens, possibly the most studied

TRANSACTIONS AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION

The Newspaper of the Earth and Space Sciences

Editors

Anny Cazenave: Laboratoire d’Etudes en

Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales,

Toulouse, France; anny.cazenave@cnes.fr

John W. Geissman: Department of Earth and

Planetary Science,University of New Mexico,

Albuquerque, USA; jgeiss@unm.edu

Wendy S. Gordon: Texas Parks and Wildlife

Department, Austin, USA; wendy.gordon@tpwd

.state.tx.us

Manuel Grande: University of Wales,

Aberystwyth; mng@aber.ac.uk

Editor in Chief

Barbara T. Richman AGU, Washington, D. C., USA; eos_ brichman@agu.org

Editorial Advisory Board

M. Lee Allison Earth and Space Science Informatics

Roland Bürgmann Tectonophysics

John E. Ebel Seismology

Arlene M. Fiore Atmospheric Sciences

Michael N. Gooseff Hydrology

Seth S. Haines Near Surface Geophysics

Jung-Fu “Afu” Lin Mineral and Rock Physics

Xin-Zhong Liang Global Environmental Change

Stephen Macko Education

Stefan Maus Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism

Jerry L. Miller Oceanography

Peter Olson Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior

Michael Poland Geodesy

Paul R. Renne Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology

John B. Rundle Nonlinear Geophysics

Susan E. H. Sakimoto Planetary Sciences

Sarah L. Shafer Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

David G. Sibeck Space Physics and Aeronomy

Maribeth Stolzenburg Atmospheric and Space Electricity

Jeffrey M. Welker Biogeosciences

Staff

Editorial: Randy Showstack, Senior Writer; Mohi Kumar, Science Writer/Editor; Ernie Tretkoff, Writer/ Editor; Melissa A. Corso, Production Coor-dinator; Liz Castenson, Editor’s Assistant; Don Hendrickson, Copy Editor; Faith A. Ishii, Hard-cover Production Coordinator

Advertising: Rebecca Mesfin, Advertising Assistant;Tel: +1-202-777-7536; E-mail: advertising@agu.org

Creative Services: Brian Kelm, Manager; Valerie Bassett, Mari sa Grotte, Carole Saylor, Electronic Graphics Specialists

©2010 American Geophysical Union. Material in this issue may be photocopied by individual scientists for research or classroom use. Permis-sion is also granted to use short quotes, figures, and tables for publication in scientific books and journals. For permission for any other uses, contact the AGU Publications Office.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (ISSN 0096-3941) is published weekly by the American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA. Periodical Class postage paid at Washington, D. C., and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Member Service Center, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA. Member Service Center 8:00 A.M.–6:00 P. M. East-ern time; Tel: +1-202-462-6900; Fax: +1-202-328-0566; Tel. orders in U.S.:1-800-966-2481; E-mail: service@agu.org. Information on institutional subscriptions is available from the Member Ser-vice Center. Use AGU’s Geophysical Electronic Manuscript Submissions system to submit a manuscript: http: //eos-submit.agu.org.

Views expressed in this publication do not neces-sarily reflect official positions of the American Geophysical Union unless expressly stated.

Robert T. Van Hook, Interim Executive Director

http://www.agu.org/pubs/eos

Fig. 2. View into the crater of Mount St. Helens on 12 September 2006 showing the 1980–1986 lava dome, the complex dome that began growing in mid- October 2004, and the greatly deformed arms of Crater Glacier. USGS photo by W. E. Scott.

Mount St. Helenscont. from page 169

NEWS

Haiti Quake Increased Stress Along Fault

Mount St. Helens cont. on next page

News cont. on next page

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

171

modern volcanic event ever, initiated numer-

ous lines of scientifi c investigation that con-

tinue today. Careful investigation of defor-

mation and seismicity in the 1980s showed

how a slow but steady rise of magma pre-

ceded each lava dome eruption and permit-

ted most to be predicted [Swanson et al.,

1983]. It also showed the necessity of hav-

ing monitoring instruments close to the

vent. Detailed petrological studies of amphi-

bole breakdown [Rutherford and Hill, 1983]

and microlite crystallization [Cashman,

1992] led to estimations of magma rise rates

and the roles of ascent rate, decompres-

sive degassing, and crystallization in mod-

ulating eruptive style. Monitoring volcanic

gases, especially sulfur dioxide, through-

out the 1980s eruption cycle highlighted

the importance of volcanic emissions for

interpreting processes of unrest and erup-

tion [McGee and Casadevall, 1994]. Mount

St. Helens also spurred scientists to inves-

tigate basic fl owage and depositional pro-

cesses—such as lahars, debris avalanches,

and pyroclastic fl ows, which are among the

most common and deadliest hazards at arc

volcanoes—and to develop models to inves-

tigate basic mechanics and delineate hazard

zones. The detailed documentation of many

aspects of the eruption, such as tephra fall,

remains invaluable as scientists strive to

develop improved models to forecast more

accurately the downstream and downwind

effects of eruptions.

Not only has the style of volcanism at

Mount St. Helens evolved during the past

30 years, but monitoring and modeling tech-

nology have also. Broadband seismometers,

vastly improved telemetry using satellite

and microwave technology, and powerful

real- time data processing and analysis have

replaced laborious manual analysis of seis-

mic records. Simple accelerometers and

GPS instruments can now be installed on

portable stands called spiders and slung

quickly by helicopter to dangerous places.

Tele metered GPS stations can monitor defor-

mation, which previously was painstakingly

surveyed in the fi eld. Additional technologi-

cal innovations have facilitated the measure-

ment of volcano gas emission rates.

Accompanying the revolution in geo-

detic measurements is a revolution in visu-

alization and positioning that includes lidar

(light detecting and ranging) and photo-

grammetric generation of successive digi-

tal elevation models throughout an eruptive

sequence. Besides enabling GPS survey-

ing, satellites allow radar measurement of

deformation, new ways of tracking eruptive

plumes, and detection of thermal changes.

Digital cameras have made possible inex-

pensive, remote time- lapse photography.

Sweeping improvements in numeri-

cal modeling tools have helped to cod-

ify scientifi c understanding and formalize

methods of hazards forecasting. Models

remain imperfect, but seismological, geo-

mechanical, geochemical, ash dispersal,

and fl ow dynamics models are now used

routinely as a basis for data interpretation

and forecasting. This accelerating merger

of insights from monitoring and model-

ing may pave the way for volcanological

advances of the future.

Its past record suggests that Mount

St. Helens will continue to erupt frequently

and is likely to erupt again this century.

Not only has Mount St. Helens been the

most active volcano in the Cascade Range

during the past 4000 years [Crandell and

Mullineaux, 1978], but also nearly all of its

visible edifi ce is less than 3000 years old.

When the volcano’s edifi ce last collapsed

(~2500 years ago), it then erupted repeat-

edly, rebuilding its edifi ce within several

hundred years [Clynne et al., 2005]. So far

the volcano has rebuilt only 7% of the vol-

ume it lost to the landslide on 18 May 1980;

it is sure to continue its reconstruction.

For 30 years, Mount St. Helens has been

a world- renowned natural laboratory for

study of volcanic processes and landscape

responses. Doubtless its next eruption,

like previous ones, will generate surprises,

opportunities for innovation, and new

research possibilities.

References

Cashman, K. V. (1992), Groundmass crystalliza-

tion of Mount St. Helens dacite, 1980–1986: A

tool for interpreting shallow magmatic process-

es, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 109(4), 431–449,

doi:10.1007/ BF00306547.

Clynne, M. A., D. W. Ramsey, and E. W. Wolfe

(2005), Pre- eruptive history of Mount St. Helens,

Washington, U.S. Geol. Surv. Fact Sheet, 2005-

3045, 4 pp.

Crandell, D. R., and D. R. Mullineaux (1978),

Potential hazards from future eruptions of

Mount St. Helens volcano, Washington, U.S.

Geol. Surv. Bull., 1383- C, 26 pp.

International Civil Aviation Organization (2001),

Manual on volcanic ash, radioactive material

and toxic chemical clouds, ICAO Doc. 9691-

AN/954, Montreal, Que., Canada. (Available

at http:// www2 .icao .int/ en/ anb/ met - aim/ met/

iavwopsg/ Documents/)

Iverson, R. M., et al. (2006), Dynamics of seis-

mogenic volcanic extrusion at Mount St. Hel-

ens in 2004–05, Nature, 444(7118), 439–443,

doi:10.1038/ nature05322.

Lipman, P. W., and D. R. Mullineaux (Eds.) (1981),

The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Wash-

ington, U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap., 1250, 844 pp.

Malone, S. D., E. T. Endo, C. S. Weaver, and J. W.

Ramey (1981), Seismic monitoring for eruption

prediction, in The 1980 Eruptions of Mount

St. Helens, Washington, edited by P. W. Lipman

and D. R. Mullineaux, U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof.

Pap., 1250, 803–813.

McGee, K. A., and T. J. Casadevall (1994), A com-

pilation of sulfur dioxide and carbon- dioxide

emission- rate data from Mount St. Helens dur-

ing 1980–1988, U.S. Geol. Surv. Open File Rep.,

94- 212, 24 pp.

Miller, C. D., D. R. Mullineaux, and D. R. Crandell

(1981), Hazards assessments at Mount St. Hel-

ens, in The 1980 Eruptions of Mount St. Helens,

Washington, edited by P. W. Lipman and D. R.

Mullineaux, U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap., 1250,

789–802.

Newhall, C. G. (2000), Mount St. Helens, master

teacher, Science, 288(5469), 1181–1183.

Rutherford, M. J., and P. M. Hill (1993), Magma

ascent rates from amphibole breakdown: An

experimental study applied to the 1980–1986

Mount St. Helens eruptions, J. Geophys. Res.,

98(B11), 19,667–19,685.

Sherrod, D. R., W. E. Scott, and P. H. Stauffer

(Eds.) (2008), A volcano rekindled: The

renewed eruption of Mount St. Helens, 2004–

2006, U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap., 1750, 856 pp.

Swanson, D. A., and R. T. Holcomb (1990),

Regularities in growth of the Mount St. Hel-

ens dacite dome, 1980–1986, in Lava Flows

and Domes: Emplacement Mechanisms and

Hazard Implications, IAVCEI Proc. Volcanol.,

vol. 2, edited by J. H. Fink, pp. 3–24, Spring-

er, Berlin.

Swanson, D. A., T. J. Casadevall, D. Dzurisin, S. D.

Malone, C. G. Newhall, and C. S. Weaver (1983),

Predicting eruptions at Mount St. Helens,

June 1980 through December 1982, Science,

221(4618), 1369–1375.

Author Information

James W. Vallance, Cynthia A. Gardner, Wil-

liam E. Scott, Richard M. Iverson, and Thomas C.

Pierson, David A. Johnston Cascades Volcano

Observatory, USGS, Vancouver, Wash.; E-mail

jvallance@ usgs .gov

Q: As a child, did you want to be an astro-

naut or a scientist—and which came fi rst?

Sellers: I defi nitely wanted to be an astro-

naut fi rst. I was 7 years old, and space was

completely entrancing. I started reading

about astronauts and their backgrounds.

They’d all been something else fi rst—

pilots, scientists, doctors, engineers— and

the penny dropped: There was this whole

area of stuff that I didn’t know about, techni-

cal careers that I didn’t know much about,

and the more I asked questions, the more I

got interested. So I ended up being a scien-

tist, thinking that I was en route to being an

astronaut eventually. But it turned out that

I loved my scientifi c career. I think you can

thank the space program for getting a lot of

kids interested in science and engineering in

the fi rst place.

Q: Were you infl uenced by a science fi c-

tion book or movie when you were growing

up that led you to go into your career in the

space program?

Sellers: At a very impressionable age, I

saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I was com-

pletely captivated. I think that the images

that Stanley Kubrick put together in that

movie of the shuttle coming up to the space

Science, Space, and Shuttles: An Interview With Astronaut and AGU Member Piers Sellers

On 14 May, NASA is scheduled to launch what will likely be the fi nal mission for space shut-

tle Atlantis. This mission will deliver cargo and science payloads— including the Russian-built

Mini Research Module (MRM 1)— to the International Space Station (ISS).

On board the shuttle will be Piers Sellers, an AGU member. Born in 1955 in Crowborough,

United Kingdom, Sellers completed his doctorate in biometeorology at UK’s Leeds University

in 1981. He became an AGU Fellow in 1996 for research on how the Earth’s biosphere and

atmosphere interact; that same year, he was selected as an astronaut candidate. He has since

logged more than 559 hours in space on two shuttle missions. In the course of those missions,

he spent almost 41 hours on six space walks.

During his current mission, Sellers will be operating a robotic arm nearly 60 feet long from

inside a viewing cupola on the ISS. This arm will move components around the outside of the

station and, with the help of astronauts on space walks, will attach MRM 1 to ISS.

On 3 May, Eos science writer/editor Mohi Kumar, along with journalists from other news

agencies, got to chat with Sellers about his current mission and his experiences as an astro-

naut. An edited transcript follows.

Mount St. Helenscont. from page 170

City soil gets tramped on, dumped on,

and pushed around, but some soil scientists

are carefully examining what is underfoot in

urban areas. During a 3 May session on urban

soils at the European Geosciences Union’s

General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, scien-

tists discussed various aspects of city dirt.

In a presentation about the large amount

of rubble from buildings that were bombed

during World War II, Beate Mekiffer with

the Soil Protection Group at the Berlin Insti-

tute of Technology, Germany, noted that

the sulfate concentration in Berlin’s upper

aquifer has increased continuously for

decades. Many areas in Berlin now exceed a

240- milligram- per- liter “precaution value” for

sulfate in drinking water, according to Mekiffer.

The main source of the sulfate in drink-

ing water is assumed to be from the rub-

ble, which can have a sulfate level nearly

3 times that of natural soils (720 versus 250

parts per million) according to Mekiffer.

More than 400 million cubic meters of rub-

ble still remain in Germany, Mekiffer said,

with 75 million cubic meters in Berlin. The

rubble’s biggest components are brick, mor-

tar, and slag; ash, tar, coal char, and soot

are also mixed in. Research by Mekiffer and

her colleagues found that technogenic (i.e.,

anthropogenic) components with grain sizes

less than 2 milli meters cause the rubble to

be of high density, which results in a lower

percolation velocity. “The kind of techno-

genic component and its grain size strongly

infl uences the release of SO4 to the soluble

phase,” she said.

Another presentation at the session looked

at the nutrient storage of bricks. Brick, the

oldest preproduced construction material

(dating to 3000 B.C.E.), has a long accumula-

tion history in urban soils and is a very resis-

tant component of rubble, noted Thomas

Nehls with the Berlin Institute of Technology.

Nehls and his colleagues studied soil samples

from a fallow urban site and a rubble dump

site, meticulously examining small brick par-

ticles down to 0.63 millimeter in size.

Looking into why brick particles in sandy

soils often are rooted with plants, they noted

that bricks—which can have up to 40%

porosity—provide good water storage. In

addition, they found that bricks store dis-

solved nutrients well and have high total

nutrient amounts, though further investiga-

tion is needed regarding nutrient availabil-

ity. Although bricks may not dramatically

enhance bulk soil cation exchange capacity,

Nehls said that in sandy soils, bricks could

serve as “hot spots” of water and nutrient sup-

ply and lead to plants taking root in them.

Ligang Dao of the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) in Ireland and the National Uni-

versity of Ireland, Galway, presented research

identifying and mapping heavy metal pollution

in soils at bonfi re sites in Galway. Dao said that

while traditional bonfi res use material such

as wood, straw, and bone, some modern bon-

fi res instead burn heaps of hazardous mate-

rials such as tires, television sets, microwave

ovens, plastic, bicycles, and batteries. The mal-

odorous bonfi res produce a range of poison-

ous compounds— including copper, lead, and

zinc—that can accumulate in soils, he said.

Dao and colleagues took 218 surface soil

samples from a site in Galway where there

had been Halloween bonfi res in 2008 and

2009. The researchers used a portable X- ray

fl uorescence analyzer and geographic infor-

mation systems (GIS) to investigate the sta-

tus of heavy metal pollution at the site, iden-

tify spatial pollution patterns and possible

pollution sources, and produce a hazard

assessment map of the site. Dao’s conclu-

sion: To prevent further contamination, tires

and other metal- containing wastes should

not be burned in bonfi res.

Other talks during the session focused on

topics including the signifi cance of visitors’

pressure on soil in an urban park in Tel Aviv,

Israel; the properties and evolution of artifi cial

soil- like bodies in the urban environment; and

soil aeration defi ciencies in urban sites.

—RANDY SHOWSTACK, Staff Writer

Scientists Sift Through Urban Soils

Newscont. from page 170

News cont. on page 172

172

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

station, people working on the Moon, made

a huge impression on me, and it stayed with

me. And the real thing has not disappointed!

In the sixties, the rate of achievement was so

rapid—we went from nothing to a lunar land-

ing in 10 years. It was really incredible! True,

it is taking a bit longer than we thought when

we were watching 2001, but I think we’re going

to get there. I think that during our lifetimes

we’re going to see people on Mars, exploring

Mars. I’m really looking forward to that.

Q: How did you get interested in Earth

science?

Sellers: I had a particularly inspiring

teacher at school who got me turned on

to biology. And then as I got to work with

NASA more, I started looking with friends at

how the biosphere acts planetwide to infl u-

ence the climate system. So I went from little

biology, to big biology, to satellites, to cli-

mate modeling.

Q: What are the objectives of this mission?

Sellers: The fi rst objective is delivering

this large Russian module, which will be

of great benefi t to all the partners on the

[space] station because it will allow space-

craft to dock more safely. It provides a stand-

off, like a jetty on a dock, allowing safer

docking for the coming years.

The second objective is to help set up the

station for the long haul, for the next 10 or

20 years, by swapping out batteries, getting

redundant parts in place, basically lugging

up big items of equipment that other vehi-

cles will have diffi culty doing once we slow

down shuttle operations.

Q: Does being trained as an Earth scien-

tist help you with your responsibilities as an

astronaut?

Sellers: I used to be the Earth science guy,

but I’m not using much of that training now

except as a very interested observer when

looking down at the planet with an Earth sci-

entist’s eye. It is wonderful to be able to see

weather systems, to see different air currents

and ocean currents with your naked eye

over thousands of miles. I’ve seen the whole

length of the Amazon in one glance when I

was spacewalking—I could see it between my

feet! To see the world on a scale that an angel

would see it from—it is really something. And I

wish Earth scientists could all go and see it too.

Q: When you install the MRM 1 mod-

ule, you’ll be installing a Russian module

to an international space station, carried

by an American spaceship, and wielded

by a Canadian robotic arm. What are your

thoughts on how this station will be com-

plete in just two more fl ights?

Sellers: The last time I saw the station it

was 35% or 40% built. Pretty skinny, didn’t

have all the big trusses, the outer trusses,

didn’t have the other labs. I’m really look-

ing forward to seeing it in its almost fi nished

form. This is a huge effort by a lot people,

and it is a tremendous privilege and oppor-

tunity to see the thing done.

I think it is a tremendous accomplishment

that we now have a fully functioning space

station, and the fact that so many nations

are involved plays to the strengths of the

project. This is a very solid fi rst step for the

future of space exploration, which I expect

to be international as well.

Q: What are your thoughts on this being

Atlantis’s fi nal scheduled fl ight?

Sellers: These three surviving shuttles,

they’re pieces of history. I’ve been to the USS

Constitution, to the HMS Victory— these ships

marked the state of technology for their time.

These three shuttles will go down in history,

too. It is a real honor to ride in one of them.

Q: What advice do you have for young AGU

members who would like to go into space?

Sellers: Enjoy your science. Do the sci-

ence that you love, and if the opportunity

will pop up, it will pop up. And if it doesn’t,

you’ll still be doing what you enjoy most.

And that’s where I was when I got picked—I

was loving what I was doing. Getting picked

to go fl y in space was a huge bonus, but if

they’d left me where I was, which was trying

to fi gure out how the Earth system works, I’d

have been quite happy.

G E O P H Y S I C I S T S

Irene K. Fischer (1907–2009)Irene Kaminka Fischer, a prominent

geodesist whose career spanned the years

1952–1977, died on 22 October 2009 at the

age of 102 at an assisted living facility in

Brighton, Mass. Born in Vienna, Austria, on

27 July 1907, Irene grew up there; graduat-

ing with a degree in mathematics from the

Vienna Institute of Technology; and met

and married her husband, Eric, a noted

geographer.

In 1939, the Fischers fl ed Nazi Austria,

fi rst to Palestine, and by 1941 had relo-

cated to the United States. During the next

11 years, Irene worked at various jobs, as

well as playing the role of mother to her

son and daughter. But when her daughter

was ready for college, she began to look

for a position that would fully utilize her

considerable talents in mathematics. She

found a perfect fi t at her husband’s federal

agency, the U.S. Army Map Service (AMS).

Her entire career in geodesy was spent with

that organization and its successors (cur-

rently the National Geospatial-Intelligence

Agency (NGA)). Hired as a mathematician,

she eventually was promoted to chief of the

Geoid Branch in the Geodesy Division. She

retained that position until her retirement

in 1977.

Irene arrived at AMS at a propitious

time, when new technologies were about

to change geodesy and many other sci-

ences. One was electronic digital comput-

ers. Since data analysis and reduction had

always been a major challenge for them,

geodesists were among the fi rst to embrace

these new machines. AMS acquired the fi rst

commercially available one, the Univac I, in

1952. Another breakthrough was the begin-

ning of the space age, in 1957. Previously

the extent of geodetic surveys stopped at

the water’s edge. But now artifi cial satel-

lites could be designed to support world-

wide geodetic programs such as interconti-

nental connections of geodetic datums and

determination of the global gravity fi eld.

In addition, the best obtainable geodetic

information was recognized as essential to

national security, so AMS was a benefi ciary

of increased funding. In no small part due

to Irene’s contributions, the agency soon

became a major center of geodetic activi-

ties in the United States.

Irene’s first notable achievement was

her participation in the revision of the

1924 International Ellipsoid, the reference

model for the figure of the Earth officially

sanctioned by the International Associa-

tion of Geodesy (IAG). Taking advantage

of newly surveyed continental arcs and

exploiting the AMS Univac, she and her

collaborators obtained an appreciably

revised value for the Earth’s semimajor

axis that is compatible with current values.

This result proved sufficiently newsworthy

to appear in the 14 May 1956 issue of Time

magazine.

In the Journal of Geophysical Research

in 1959, Irene published two articles, one

a tour de force extracting a world datum

from presatellite data, the other expand-

ing the scope of geodetic analysis to show

a remarkable correlation between Pleisto-

cene glaciation (2.5 million to 12,000 years

ago) and the geoid in North America and

Fennoscandia. Her subsequent contribu-

tions improved the 1959 world datum by

factoring in the satellite-derived value for

the Earth’s fl attening and refi ned the North

American geoid. Irene’s area of exper-

tise was the derivation of geoidal profi les

from astrogeodetic and gravimetric data,

enabling a three- dimensional approach to

the determination of the geoid. This led

to one of her best known results: the cal-

culation of a reference ellipsoid selected

by NASA for satellite tracking and subse-

quently referred to as the “Fischer 1960

spheroid.”

Among Irene’s other notable accomplish-

ments were her vital role in the development

of the 1960 Department of Defense World

Geodetic System, the construction of the

1969 South American Datum, the analysis of

discrepancies between geodetic and ocean-

ographic leveling, and the defi nition of oce-

anic calibration zones for satellite altimetry.

This last task involved the application of

bathymetric data in areas of sparse geodetic

measurements to infer the effect of gravita-

tional irregularities. A detailed summary of

her work can be found in her autobiographi-

cal memoir, Geodesy? What’s That? My Per-

sonal Involvement in the Age-Old Quest for

the Size and Shape of the Earth (iUniverse,

2005; reviewed in Eos, 90(23), 202, 9 June

2009).

Irene participated fully in the global

geodetic community. She and her hus-

band became familiar fi gures on the inter-

national scene, starting with the 1957 IAG

General Assembly in Toronto. She soon

joined and eventually led several IAG Spe-

cial Study Groups. At the 1963 Assembly

in Berkeley, Calif., she was elected a sec-

tion secretary. Unfortunately, her agency

refused to give her permission to attend the

1971 Assembly in Moscow, so she had to

bypass the possible opportunity of being

elected a section president. The Fischers,

both Irene and Eric, reappeared at the 1975

Grenoble and 1979 Canberra meetings,

to the delight of their many friends and

admirers.

Irene was highly skilled as both a

speaker and a writer, as well as in research.

Her agency took full advantage of those

skills, as well as her reputation in research,

for making numerous presentations to high-

ranking government offi cials. However, not

everything went smoothly for Irene. There

was often resistance to the presence of

even one woman (for wry details, see her

memoir), no matter how talented, in the

previously male-oriented profession. And

sometimes senseless obstructions would

bubble up from the lower levels of the

bureaucracy, for example, the inordinate

delays frequently occurring in clearing sci-

entifi c research papers for presentation or

publication. But in general, she received

strong support from her colleagues, both

civilian and military.

Because of her long life span, Irene’s

work is now part of the history of geod-

esy. Geodetic parameters are still being

refi ned, but presently the stress is on their

variations with time. However, the progress

occurring today depends heavily on the

pioneering work done by Irene and her con-

temporaries. Her contributions and level of

accomplishment are well documented by

more than 120 publications (listed in her

memoir).

Over the years, Irene received consider-

able recognition from her agency and other

sources. She was named to its hall of fame

and was awarded a Department of Defense

Distinguished Civilian Service Award as

well as the U.S. Army Meritorious Civilian

Service Medal twice. Honors coming from

the scientifi c community included selec-

tion as a Fellow of AGU (she was a member

of AGU for more than half a century), elec-

tion to the U.S. National Academy of Engi-

neering, and an honorary doctorate from

the University of Karlsruhe in Germany.

She also received the fi rst Federal Retiree

of the Year Award. The new NGA facility

at Fort Belvoir, Va., scheduled for comple-

tion in 2011, has named its learning center

after her.

When Irene Fischer retired, her agency

lost a unique talent, and perhaps an era

had come to an end. For those of us who

had the pleasure to work with her or enjoy

her acquaintance, she deeply enriched our

personal and professional lives.

—FOSTER MORRISON, Turtle Hollow Associates,

Inc., Gaithersburg, Md.; E-mail: turtlehollowinc@ cs

.com; BERNARD CHOVITZ (Retired), National Geo-

detic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, Silver Spring, Md.; and MICHAEL M. J. FISCHER, Department of Science, Technology

and Society and Department of Anthropology,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

Irene K. Fischer

Newscont. from page 171

NASA astronaut and AGU member Piers Sellers dons a training version of his shuttle launch and entry suit in preparation for prelaunch training sessions at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tex. Sellers and five other crew members are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on space shuttle Atlantis on 14 May. Image courtesy of NASA Johnson Space Center.

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

173

Coastal water hypoxia, where dissolved

oxygen is less than 2 milligrams per liter, is

a global environmental problem [e.g., Diaz

and Rosenberg, 2008]. It is largely associ-

ated with eutrophication, whereby nutri-

ent inputs (nitrogen and phosphorous) to

coastal waters lead to elevated primary

production and accelerated rates of micro-

bial respiration, which results in oxygen

depletion.

Despite more than 25 years of monitor-

ing [Rabalais et al., 2007] (see also Figure S1

in the online supplement to this Eos issue

(http:// www .agu .org/ eos _ elec/)), the relative

importance of the various processes that con-

trol hypoxia in bottom waters of the northern

Gulf of Mexico (GOM)—in particular, those

beyond the direct infl uence of river plumes

[Dagg et al., 2007; Bianchi et al., 2008, 2010,

and references therein]—remains uncer-

tain. For example, a prediction last June pro-

nounced that the 2009 hypoxic area would

be the largest on record (~23,000 square

kilo meters; see http:// www . gulfhypoxia .net/

Research/ Shelfwide % 20Cruises/ 2009/ Files/

2009 _ Hypoxia _ Forecast .pdf). However, the

most recent annual surveys estimated its size

at 8000 square kilometers, only 35% of that

predicted. This occurred in the absence of

a signifi cant hurricane impact on this mar-

gin in 2009— hurricanes tend to dissipate

hypoxia.

Predictions of hypoxic area are largely

based upon nitrate fl ux from the Mississippi

River (MR) [see Scavia et al., 2003; Turner

et al., 2006]. These nutrient- centric predic-

tions have infl uenced proposed hypoxia

remediation policies. However, other fac-

tors, such as vertical density stratifi cation

due to freshwater discharge or the local

wind fi elds, also strongly infl uence hypoxia

potentials. We believe it is risky to base pol-

icy decisions concerning major environmen-

tal problems on a single environmental fac-

tor (or driver) that may not have the same

impact in all regions of the hypoxic zone.

Problems With the Proposed Remediation

In 2001 the MR/GOM Watershed Nutrient

Task Force Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigat-

ing, and Controlling Hypoxia suggested that

the northern GOM hypoxic zone could be

reduced to 5000 square kilometers by 2015

through a 30% reduction in total riverine

nitrate fl ux. More recently, the Science Advi-

sory Board [SAB, 2007] of the U.S. Environ-

mental Protection Agency retained the same

goal but suggested this would require a 45%

reduction in nitrogen and phosphorous fl uxes.

The projected 5000 square kilometers is

purely arbitrary, having no link to any metric

of ecological recovery such as fi sheries pro-

duction. Moreover, the proposed 30% or 45%

reductions in nutrient loading are outside

the historical range during the shelf- wide

survey period that began in 1985. Because

of the nonlinearity of this system, mod-

els calibrated with historical survey data

may not be accurate predictors under such

strongly altered nutrient loading.

Approaches to Modeling Hypoxia

Models based upon nutrient fl ux have

the same predictive ability as a direct cor-

relation between nutrient loading and

hypoxic area [Bianchi et al., 2010]. How-

ever, freshwater inputs and nutrient loading

are tightly linked (with correlation coeffi -

cients of 0.95); these models cannot sepa-

rate the effects of density stratifi cation and

nutrient loading on hypoxia formation.

Stratifi cation strength is a key component

because it affects vertical mixing and oxy-

gen replenishment. For example, a three-

dimensional hydrodynamic model [Hetland

and DiMarco, 2008] suggests that bottom

hypoxia in regions affected by the Atchafa-

laya River plume may be largely controlled

by stratifi cation instead of by nutrient

reductions. Similarly, an ecosystem process

model of the MR delta outfl ow [Green et al.,

2008] suggests that decreases in riverine

nutrient loading do not result in propor-

tional reductions in plume primary produc-

tion or sedimentation. None of the nutrient

fl ux models currently used for management

purposes contain information about how

different processes act in the various shelf

regions.

Managers need models that predict eco-

system responses to actions such as nutri-

ent reductions. More complex mechanis-

tic models [Green et al., 2008; Hetland and

DiMarco, 2008] require more observational

information for calibration than is presently

available, but they are more effective at sce-

nario predictions, which can help managers

understand systemic responses outside of

historically observed conditions. Justic et al.

[2007] compared simple and complex mod-

els and suggested that using several model-

ing techniques would result in the best pre-

dictive ability. Nonetheless, we question the

value of hypoxic area predictions due to

the complexity of the system and the lack of

effective mitigation in the time between pre-

diction and occurrence.

The Paradox of Hypoxia and Ecosystem Effects

Recent analyses from the northern GOM

hypoxia zone show neither declines in

fi sheries productivity nor changes in tro-

phic structure in response to hypoxia or

other environmental stressors [de Mus-

tert et al., 2008]. Although shrimp landings

in Louisiana are indeed decreasing, these

may be due to reductions in fi shing effort

driven by high fuel prices and inexpen-

sive imported shrimp; catch- per- unit- effort

of shrimp is increasing [Caillouet et al.,

2008]. Shrimp fi shing effort reduction also

reduces bycatch, and demersal fi sh biomass

is increasing on the GOM inner shelf above

recently observed levels, making it more dif-

fi cult to establish a link between hypoxia

and fi sheries productivity. Hypoxia and

other declines in habitat quality and quan-

tity can shift the ecological baseline [Jack-

son et al., 2001] such that precipitous and

perhaps irreversible declines in fi sheries

productivity can occur before we recognize

symptoms and identify solutions [Cowan

et al., 2008]. Thus, researchers must deter-

mine the impacts of hypoxia on the coastal

ecosystem of the northern GOM in the con-

text of other known stresses.

Future Directions

We believe it is time to seriously consider

some new directions and additional factors

controlling hypoxia in the GOM.

First, total hypoxic area during 1 week of

the year is not a good metric of hypoxia. The

ephemeral nature of hypoxia in large regions

of the shelf can cause signifi cant shifts in total

hypoxic area on short time scales. Instead,

the considerably smaller and ecologically

distinct regions found to be most frequently

hypoxic (see Figure S1 in the online supple-

ment) should be used as focal areas. Oxygen

levels in such areas should be monitored at

higher spatial and temporal resolution, and

the numerous processes known to be impor-

tant contributors to oxygen dynamics should

be studied in detail. Similarly, examination of

ecosystem consequences should be focused

on these subregions.

Second, target reductions in nutrient load-

ing should be based upon convincing sci-

ence and a much better understanding of

the multiple processes that connect nutri-

ents to hypoxia. Nutrient loadings into this

system are a major stimulus to organic mat-

ter production causing hypoxia, but the

myriad of physical and biological processes

affecting the fates of that organic matter

must be incorporated into quantitative pre-

dictions and recommendations for policy

makers.

Third, coastal land loss needs to be coor-

dinated with coastal hypoxia. Presently,

river diversions are proposed to reduce wet-

land loss in regions west of the MR infl ows.

Coastal wetlands clearly benefi t from sedi-

ment renewal associated with ongoing and

proposed river diversions, but the nutrient

dynamics in these wetlands are complex.

Under some conditions, there is a signifi cant

reduction of nutrients [Lane et al., 2004], but

under other conditions this is not the case.

In addition, at least three large Louisiana

bay systems (Barataria, Terrebonne, and

Atchafalaya) can affect hypoxia by supply-

ing signifi cant quantities of organic matter

to the coast [Morton et al., 2006]. The rate

of wetland loss, which further introduces

stored organic material to the shelf, has

quadrupled during the years 1983–1990 to

65 square kilo meters per year.

There is no doubt that nutrient- driven

hypoxia is detrimental to many ecological

communities and a severe threat to coastal

systems [Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008]. Many

would argue that this is suffi cient reason to

mandate nutrient reductions. We agree that

nutrient reductions need to be made in the

upper watershed of the Mississippi River,

for multiple reasons in addition to hypoxia

(e.g., eutrophication and harmful algal

blooms). However, until scientifi c under-

standing of the quantitative relationships

between nutrient inputs and their ecosys-

tem consequences improves signifi cantly,

mandating a specifi c nutrient reduction tar-

get level is diffi cult to defend.

References

Bianchi, T. S., S. F. Dimarco, M. A. Allison, P. Chap-

man, J. H. Cowan Jr., R. D. Hetland, J. W. Morse,

and G. Rowe (2008), Controlling hypoxia on the

U.S. Louisiana shelf: Beyond the nutrient- centric

view, Eos Trans. AGU, 89(26), 236–237.

Bianchi, T. S., S. F. DiMarco, J. H. Cowan Jr., R. D.

Hetland, P. Chapman, J. W. Day, and M. A. Allison

(2010), The science of hypoxia in the northern

Gulf of Mexico: A review, Sci. Total Environ., 408,

1471–1484.

Caillouet, C. W., Jr., R. A. Hart, and J. M. Nance

(2008), Growth overfi shing in the brown shrimp

fi shery of Texas, Louisiana, and adjoining Gulf of

Mexico EEZ, Fish. Res., 92, 289–302.

Cowan, J. H., Jr., C. B. Grimes, and R. F. Shaw

(2008), Life history, history, hysteresis, and habi-

tat changes in Louisiana’s coastal ecosystem,

Bull. Mar. Sci., 83, 197–215.

Dagg, M. J., J. W. Ammerman, R. M. W. Amon, W. S.

Gardner, R. E. Green, and S. E. Lohrenz (2007),

A review of water column processes infl uencing

hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Estuaries

Coasts, 30, 735–752.

de Mustert, K., J. H. Cowan Jr., T. E. Essington,

and R. Hilborn (2008), Re- analyses of Gulf of

Mexico fi sheries data: Landings can be mislead-

ing in assessments of fi sheries and fi sheries

ecosystems, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 105,

2740–2744.

Diaz, R. J., and R. Rosenberg (2008), Spreading

dead zones and consequences for marine eco-

systems, Science, 321, 926–929.

Green, R. E., G. A. Breed, M. J. Dagg, and S. E.

Lohrenz (2008), Modeling the response of pri-

mary production and sedimentation to variable

nitrate loading in the Mississippi River plume,

Cont. Shelf Res., 28, 1451–146.

Hetland, R. D., and S. F. DiMarco (2008), How does

the character of oxygen demand control the

structure of hypoxia on the Texas- Louisiana con-

tinental shelf?, J. Mar. Syst., 70, 49–62.

Jackson, J. B. C., et al. (2001), Historical over-

fi shing and recent collapse of coastal eco-

systems, Science, 293, 629–638.

Justic, D., V. J. Bierman, D. Scavia, and R. D. Het-

land (2007), Forecasting Gulf’s hypoxia: The next

50 years?, Estuaries, 30(5), 791–801.

Lane, R., J. W. Day, J. Dubravko, E. Reyes, B. Marx,

J. N. Day, and E. Hyfi eld (2004), Changes in stoi-

chiometric Si, N and P ratios of Mississippi River

water diverted through coastal wetlands to the

Gulf of Mexico, Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci., 60,

1–10.

Morton, R., J. Bernier, and J. Barras (2006), Evi-

dence of regional subsidence and associated

interior wetland loss induced by hydrocarbon

production, Gulf coast region, USA, Environ.

Geol., 50, 261–274.

Rabalais, N. N., R. E. Turner, B. K. Sen Gupta, D. F.

Boesch, P. Chapman, and M. C. Murrell (2007),

Characterization and long- term trends of hypoxia

in the northern Gulf of Mexico: Does the science

support the action plan?, Estuaries Coasts, 30,

753–772.

Scavia, D., N. N. Rabalais, R. E. Turner, D. Justic,

W. Wiseman Jr. (2003), Predicting the responses

of the Gulf of Mexico hypoxia to variations in the

Mississippi River nitrogen load, Limnol. Ocean-

ogr., 48, 951–956.

Science Advisory Board (SAB) (2007), Hypoxia in

the northern Gulf of Mexico: An update by the

EPA Science Advisory Board, EPA- SAB- 08- 003,

Environ. Prot. Agency, Washington, D. C.

Turner, R. E., N. N. Rabalais, and D. Justic (2006),

Predicting summer hypoxia in the northern Gulf

of Mexico: Riverine N, P, and Si loading, Mar. Pol-

lut. Bull., 52, 139–148.

—THOMAS S. BIANCHI, Department of Oceanogra-

phy, Texas A&M University, College Station; E-mail:

tbianchi@ tamu .edu; MEAD A. ALLISON, Institute

for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin; PIERS CHAPMAN, Department of Oceanography, Texas

A&M University; JAMES H. COWAN JR., Department

of Oceanography, Louisiana State University, Baton

Rouge; MICHAEL J. DAGG, Louisiana Universi-

ties Marine Consortium, Chauvin; JOHN W. DAY,

Department of Oceanography, Louisiana State

University; STEVE F. DIMARCO and ROBERT D. HET-LAND, Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M

University; and RODNEY POWELL, Louisiana Univer-

sities Marine Consortium

FORUMNew Approaches to the Gulf Hypoxia Problem

174

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

Citation

It gives us great pleasure to see Shin- Chan

Han receive AGU’s 2009 Geodesy Section

Award, presented to a young scientist for

major advances in the fi eld of geodesy.

Shin- Chan burst upon the geodetic scene

just before the launch of the Gravity Recov-

ery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) sat-

ellites, and the timing could not have been

more propitious—both for Shin- Chan and

for the GRACE project. His doctoral the-

sis at Ohio State University dealt with effi -

cient methods for determining gravity

from satellite- to- satellite tracking data, of

the sort GRACE was soon providing. Soon

thereafter a remarkable series of papers

began to appear, as Shin- Chan exploited

the new time- variable gravity measure-

ments for applications ranging from surface

water hydrology, to earthquake deforma-

tion, to ocean tides. All of these used new

and highly original methods for extract-

ing signals from the basic satellite tracking

data. His analysis of the gravity changes

associated with the great 2004 Sumatra

earthquake was a revelation to many, for it

emphasized the power of satellite gravity

data to complement seismology, for exam-

ple, by constraining the long- wavelength

viscoelastic relaxation and subsequent

stress redistribution.

We are impressed by Shin- Chan’s ability, at

his young age, to reach out across disciplines,

to establish new and productive collabora-

tions, and to understand what important prob-

lems are ripe for advancement. He has, for

example, recently applied some of his new

techniques to improving our knowledge of

the Moon’s gravity fi eld. We are sure that Shin-

Chan has many similar advances ahead of him

and is therefore most deserving of this award.

—RICHARD D. RAY, NASA Goddard Space Flight

Center, Greenbelt, Md.; and CHRISTOPHER JEKELI,

Ohio State University, Columbus

Response

Thank you, Richard and Chris, for your

generous remarks. I am thrilled and hon-

ored to accept this award from the Geodesy

section of AGU.

I started to study geodetic science simply

due to my interest in the Global Positioning

System (GPS) right after I graduated from an

Earth science department in South Korea—

at that time, geodesy was very esoteric to me.

While studying at the geodetic science depart-

ment at Ohio State University, I soon learned

the intricate and fascinating relationship

between geometric and gravimetric aspects of

geodesy. I was fortunate to have the opportu-

nity to study geodesy and to participate in the

GRACE science team. The work with GRACE

for applications to climate, hydrology, ocean-

ography, tectonics, and solid Earth is not

only an important interdisciplinary research

agenda that geodesy can uniquely address,

but it is also simply a lot of fun.

During my study and work I have also

been very fortunate to meet people who

encourage my work and are very support-

ive in many ways. I would like to thank col-

leagues I meet every day in Greenbelt, Md.,

including Dave Rowlands, Richard Ray,

Frank Lemoine, Scott Luthcke, and Jeanne

Sauber. I would also like to acknowledge the

folks at Ohio State University, Christopher

Jekeli, C. K. Shum, Mike Bevis, and Doug

Alsdorf. I am delighted to share this honor

with them. They are the ones who give me

confi dence and enjoyment in my research

on geodesy. This award indeed invigorates

me. I hope this event is expanded so that

many other young geodetic scientists are

stimulated and recognized.

Finally, I thank my family and wife, In-

Young, for being with me. I appreciate her

listening to me ramble about satellites and

gravity. I always thank God for being patient

with me.

—SHIN-CHAN HAN, NASA Goddard Space Flight

Center, Greenbelt, Md., and University of Maryland

Baltimore County, Baltimore

ABOUT AGU

Shin- Chan Han received the AGU 2009 Geodesy Section Award at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, held 14–18 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award is given in recognition of major advances in geodesy.

Han Receives 2009 Geodesy Section Award

Shin-Chan Han

EOS_10018

James R. Holton Junior Scientist Award

In 2004, the Atmospheric

Sciences section of AGU

established a section award for

junior atmospheric scientists, the

James R. Holton Junior Scientist

Award. The Holton Award

recognizes outstanding scientific

research and accomplishments of

early-career scientists in the field.

This award is named in honor of

James R. Holton, an outstanding

atmospheric scientist, educator,

and mentor.

Now is the time to submit nominations for the Holton Award!

The deadline is 2 July 2010.

To be eligible, candidates should be members of AGU and be no more than

3 years past the award of the Ph.D. degree. Members of AGU are

encouraged to nominate deserving individuals. The nomination package

should consist of four items, each no longer than two pages in length:

• a nomination letter,

• the candidate's curriculum vitae, and

• two letters of recommendation.

The nomination and supporting letters should clearly state how the nominated

individual's research accomplishments are outstanding for one at his or her stage of career.

Nominations must be submitted by 2 July 2010 preferably as one combined

pdf file to Warren Wiscombe at Warren.J.Wiscombe@nasa.gov.

About AGU cont. on next page

EOS_09023

Check out the latest AGU bookswww.agu.org/pubs/books

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

175

Citation

Thomas Mölg is a truly outstanding

young scientist. Trained initially in gla-

ciology, he has broadened his scientific

background significantly as a postdoc-

toral researcher and, to date, has pub-

lished in fields as diverse as boundary

layer processes over glaciers, mesoscale

meteorology with a focus on mountain-

atmosphere interactions, and large-scale

dynamics of coupled atmosphere-ocean

systems.

Thomas came into my life when he did

his M.S. thesis and skillfully managed to

explain the unusual recession patterns

of glaciers in the Rwenzori Mountains of

East Africa. In 2002 he started his doc-

toral research with the goal of revealing

climate-glacier interactions on Kiliman-

jaro, and it took me a couple of months to

convince him that this would be a great

project, as he had a different life schedule

at that time. From there on, however, he

developed into an independent scientist

and pursued the intelligent approach

of starting with idealized models first

before advancing to technical details

and sophisticated simulations. As time

progressed he perfectly understood that

mass balance studies are not enough to

unravel these interactions, and he did

not hesitate to open toward atmospheric-

and climate-science methods. This

approach—to my mind—can lead cryo-

spheric sciences to a new level of under-

standing, and Thomas demonstrated

impressively how to implement it. His

efforts have produced a major result in

2009: the quantification of high- altitude

climate change from glacier recession on

Kilimanjaro (J. Clim., 22(15), 4162–4181)

and associated complexity of multiscale

linkages in the climate system.

In summary, because of his broad

skills in methods as well as his ability to

approach scientifi c issues in a creative

and systematic way, I deem Thomas an

ideal candidate for the Cryosphere Young

Investigator Award. I hope this is just one

benchmark in a very promising career,

which I hope to accompany further for a

while.

—GEORG KASER, University of Innsbruck, Inns-

bruck, Austria

Response

I want to thank the Cryosphere Focus

Group for this recognition, and the National

Snow and Ice Data Center for sponsoring the

award. I am really honored! There are many

people who have helped me over the past

years, but I would like to emphasize three

of them. Georg Kaser undoubtedly formed

me as a student. I did not anticipate to any

degree that my walk into his offi ce, asking

him to supervise my M.S. thesis, would end

on the world stages of science. His talent

in illuminating creative concepts has been

most inspiring and continues to motivate

me. Douglas R. Hardy (University of Massa-

chusetts) and Nicolas J. Cullen (University of

Otago) are two further key personalities who

have infl uenced my research vitally. I also

want to acknowledge funding from the Aus-

trian Science Foundation; Kurt Cuffey and

Mathias Vuille, who wrote supporting letters

for the award nomination; and my awesome

research group at Innsbruck.

The scientifi c work over the past few

years was truly intense, and sticking my fi n-

gers into new fi elds sometimes created bit-

tersweet experiences. But in the end a feel-

ing of fun always overwhelmed the bitter

elements. This is very important yet cannot

unfold without the joy and love evoked by

the people behind the scenes: my family

(Helena, Harald, Irma, and Sigrid) and my

wonderful friends. I think these two in con-

cert, fun while doing research and warmth

and impulses from outside the scientifi c

world, yield the balance needed for doing

good science and for following clear con-

cepts. I am privileged to build on this bal-

ance, and receiving an AGU award at this

age is fantastic! Thank you very much. I

appreciate it.

—THOMAS MÖLG, University of Innsbruck, Inns-

bruck, Austria

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Atmospheric Sciences

Atmospheric Scientist Positions. The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is soliciting applications of interest for full- time Ph.D. level civil servant scientist positions at both junior and senior levels. Scientists are sought with expertise in the following areas:

Atmospheric Physics Developments for the GEOS Model

We seek atmospheric scientists to work on research and development of the physics compo-nents of the global atmospheric general circula-tion model (AGCM) that forms the heart of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model developed in the GMAO. One position involves development of the physics parameterizations for the GEOS AGCM, in particular for moist pro-cesses and for the representation of clouds and

precipitation. The successful applicant will also help develop corresponding algorithms needed for the associated GEOS Data Assimilation System (DAS). A second position is to develop physics components for aerosol-cloud-climate interac-tions, particularly parameterizations relevant for ice cloud formation to be implemented within the GEOS-5 cloud microphysics component. The applicants should have experience in such devel-opments within global models and with the use of satellite data to formulate, calibrate, and validate the parameterizations.

Earth System Model DevelopmentWe seek an expert climate modeler to con-

tribute to the integration of Earth System Model components for a comprehensive model of the Earth system’s physical, chemical, and biological components to support Integrated Earth System Modeling and Analysis. The work will involve development within the Earth System Modeling Framework and collaboration and coordination with the atmospheric chemistry modeling efforts

within Goddard’s Earth Sciences Division (ESD) and with similar efforts in other agencies.

Experience with High End Computing architec-tures is essential.

Atmospheric Trace Gas Transport Modeling We seek an atmospheric scientist with experi-

ence modeling trace- gas transport in cloud systems and analyzing observations of trace gases in and around clouds. The ability to design and run numerical experiments using general circulation models and mesoscale models and to interpret results of these simulations using NASA’s space-based and in-situ measurements is an essential part of this work. Experience in using models of long-range, intercontinental transport of pollutants and long-lived greenhouse gases is desirable. The work will involve forward and inverse modeling of atmospheric trace constituents in global models and will link the modeling work to atmospheric observations from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory and NASA’s Decadal Survey missions.

A Ph.D. or equivalent experience in atmo-spheric or oceanographic sciences or mathematics, or related discipline is required for all positions. Applicants should send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, statements of research interests and names and contact information for three professional references to Diana . M . Elben@ nasa . gov. Review of applicants will begin May 24, 2010. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications as soon as possible.

Postdoctoral Fellow 10-111. The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University seeks to fill a post-doctoral fellowship position for its collaborative research as a Cooperative Institute with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Information Services (NESDIS) in Camp Springs, Maryland (office will be in Camp Springs). Review of applications began on May 1,

2010 and will continue until the position is filled. For complete position description and qualification requirements, visit http:// www . cira . colostate . edu/ personnel/ employment _ opportunities/ requisition . php ? id = 31. Colorado State University conducts background checks on all final candidates. Apply electronically by sending a resume, cover letter, and the names of three references to the attention of Professor Graeme Stephens at the following email address: humanresources@ cira . colostate . edu. Colorado State University is an EEO/ AA employer.

Post- Doctoral Research Applicants. Appli-cants are sought to join a collaborative research project between the US EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the University of Colorado in Boulder. The post doc will be located at EPA ORD offices in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and served in the Atmo-spheric Modeling and Analysis Division (AMAD) of the National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL). The project is funded through NASA ACMAP for the purpose of investigating in situ and top-down constraints on NH3, focusing on a new bi- directional NH3 air- surface exchange model developed for the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model.

The participant will use inverse modeling tech-niques to improve NH3 emission estimates from agricultural sources and bi- directional air-surface exchange parameters using field- scale and satellite observations. Desired qualifications include experi-ence using chemical transport or air quality mod-els, working knowledge of atmospheric aerosols and chemistry, and strong communication skills. Experience with atmospheric flux measurement and modeling techniques are a plus. We offer a

Classified cont. on page 176

CLASSIFIEDADVERTISING INFORMATION

Eos is published every Tuesday. For a classified or display advertisement to be published in a future issue of

Eos, electronic copy must reach us by 7:00 PM, Eastern Time, 9 days prior (Sunday) to publication. No cancel-

lations accepted after deadline.

Display and in-column advertising specs, pricing, and submission guidelines can be found online at

www.agu.org/pubs/eos-news/advertising.

Email: advertising@agu.org Phone: +1-202-777-7536 Facsimile: +1-202-777-7399

Mölg Receives 2009 Cryosphere Young Investigator Award

Thomas Mölg

About AGUcont. from page 174

Thomas Mölg received the 2009 Cryosphere Young Investigator Award at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, held 14–18 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award is for a significant contribution to cryospheric science and technology.

176

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

20 month post- doctoral position with the possibility of an extension. Applicants should send a cover let-ter describing research experience and interests, a CV, and contact information for three references to Jesse Bash (bash . jesse@ epa . gov). CU Boulder is an equal opportunity employer.

Postdoctoral Research Fellows in Atmospher-ic Chemistry. The Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), invites applications for two postdoctoral research fellows. The research projects will involve using regional and global three- dimensional chemistry and transport mod-els (CTMs) to interpret ground- based and satellite remote sensing measurements. Immediate empha-sis will be on regional carbon cycle modeling with WRF- Chem (coupled with the Vegetation Photosynthesis and Respiration biospheric Model, VPRM) and on investigating the effects of wild-fires on regional air quality. The projects are close collaborations with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Applicants should have a recent Ph.D. in atmo-spheric science or a closely related field. A strong background in atmospheric modeling and data analysis is desirable.

Experience with regional/ global models such as WRF- Chem, CMAQ, and GEOS- Chem is a plus. The appointment is contingent upon completion of the Ph.D. The positions are awarded initially for a one- year period and may be renewed in one- year increments.

Interested candidates should send their curricu-lum vitae and a list of three references to: Qinbin Li, Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 7127 Mathematical Sciences Bldg., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1565. (Email: qli@ atmos . ucla . edu; web: http:// www . atmos . ucla . edu/ ~qli).

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer.

Research Scientist in Carbon Cycle Science & Data Assimilation. The Jet Propulsion Labora-tory, California Institute of Technology, located in Pasadena, California invites applications for a full- time position in the field of data assimilation and carbon cycle science. The applicant will join a broad- based team of researchers in spanning model development and evaluation, analysis of spaceborne observations, and development of new remote sensing techniques.

Emphasis of this position will be on optimizing data assimilation schemes to minimize uncertainties in carbon fluxes estimated from space- based obser-vations of atmospheric CO2, CH4, and CO as well as other greenhouse gases and ancillary tracers.

Applicants at the junior career level are invited, although the successful applicant should have a Ph.D. with at least three years of experience and an established reputation as evidenced by a sig-nificant record of peer- reviewed publications. The incumbent is expected to collaborate with other researchers, analyze and interpret data from an array of instruments, and participate in establishing the science foundation and requirements for future space missions. Familiarity with the NASA Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems and Water Cycle, Climate Variability, and Modeling and Analysis Programs is desirable.

Enjoy a competitive salary and impressive benefits with a renowned leader in Atmospheric Sciences Research. Please apply online at: http:// Careerlaunch . jpl . nasa . gov, (Job ID #9434). Applica-tions will be reviewed as they are received, and should include a curriculum vitae, a career state-ment with research objectives, and contact informa-tion for three professional references. JPL/ Caltech is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer.

Biogeosciences

Lecturer (Geosciences). The position begins Fall 2010, with option for annual renewal. Visit our web-site at https:// jobs . uri . edu to view complete details for job posting #(6000127).

Applications for electronic submission will end on 05/28/10. The University of Rhode Island is an AA/ EEOD employer and values diversity. URI is an E- Verify employer.

Hydrology

Associate University Lecturer in Geohydrologi-cal Modelling and Postdoctoral Researcher on Hydro- Climatic Interactions. The Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology at Stockholm University invites applications for two positions. The first is an Associate University Lecture position in Geohydrological Modelling with a focus on modelling of groundwater flow and solute transport in soil and rock (Reference SU 612-0575-10). The second is a Postdoctoral Researcher position dealing with modelling of regional hydro- climatic interactions, changes and feedbacks (Reference SU 619-0957-10). Applicants for either position must have the ability to collaborate as well as the competence and qualities needed to carry out the work tasks successfully.

Please visit www . ink . su . se for full position descriptions and information regarding application procedures or contact Georgia Destouni (georgia . destouni@ natgeo . su . se) for more information. Applications will be accepted until May 31, 2010.

Hydrologist Opportunities. NIWA is a leading environmental research institute and key provider of atmospheric, freshwater and marine research in New Zealand. We currently have a variety of posi-tion available for Hydrologists in Christchurch.

We are looking for energetic and well organised candidates to consistently work to high profession-al standards and use good time management skills to meet tight deadlines. If you are an enthusiastic,

practical team player, who has the ability to interact and communicate positively with a wide range of people then NIWA could be your next career move.

Hydrologist, Applied Hydrology. This position contributes proactively to freshwater science and commercial work in the area of hydrology, includ-ing the development of novel tools for assessing the impact of irrigation, land- use change, and climate change on water resources, freshwater ecology, and geomorphology and water- related natural hazards.

Hydrologist, Hydrological Processes. This posi-tion supports NIWA in developing new capabilities for hydrological modelling and uncertainty analy-sis, including developing and testing a national hydrological model for New Zealand, that is capable of infusing predictions from a numerical weather model and scenarios of changes in climate and land use.

Surface Water Groundwater Hydrologist. This position assists in developing and applying NIWA’s expertise in surface water- groundwater interactions jointly with other members of our Hydrological Pro-cesses Group. The successful candidate will apply the models in both research and consulting con-texts to assist in interpreting field measurements in the context of hydrological theory.

Position descriptions, online applications and further information about NIWA can be found at careers . niwa . co . nz.

Postdoctoral Position in Hydrology/Soil Sci-ence. The Department of Earth Science at Rice University is accepting applications for a postdoc-toral position to study physical hydrology, biochar, and soils. The candidate will contribute to a project studying how soil hydrologic processes are impacted by physical and chemical interactions between soils, biochar, and fluids. The scope of the project has basic science (e.g., hydrologic proper-ties) and applied science (e.g., carbon sequestra-tion) aspects. The postdoctoral position will also provide opportunities for the candidate to develop independent research activities. A Ph.D. in geology, civil engineering, soil science, or related field is required at the time of appointment. This is a one- year, full- time, benefits- eligible position with future years contingent upon performance and funding.

Rice University is a highly ranked, non- sectarian, private research university located in Houston, Texas, a dynamic, cosmopolitan city that is the 4th largest in the nation.

Rice occupies a 300- acre, tree- shaded campus adjacent to Houston’s Museum District and the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex. Rice has a highly diverse and interna-tional student body and strong culture of cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Interested applicants should send a letter of research interests, a full CV, and the names of three references to Dr. Brandon Dugan, Dept. of Earth Science, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS 126, Houston, TX 77005; Email: dugan@ rice . edu. Applications will be reviewed starting 15 June 2010. Or apply electronically at: http:// jobs . rice . edu/ applicants/ Central ? quickFind = 52145.

Rice University offers staff members a com-prehensive benefit package. Rice is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer

Postgraduate Research Associate in Chemis-try, Soil Science, or Hydrology.

Environmental Sciences DivisionOak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge, TennesseeORNL10-109-ESDProject Description: The Environmental Sci-

ences Division (ESD), http:// www . esd . ornl . gov, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), http:// www . ornl . gov, has an immediate opening for one post- graduate fellowship in chemistry, soil science, or hydrology. The project is currently funded through the Strategic Environmental Research and Develop-ment Program (SERDP). The successful candidate will be responsible for experiments and modeling involving the transport of explosive compounds through soils. Knowledge of the surface chemistry of hydrophobic organic compounds as colloids or particles is particularly needed. Experience in advanced analytical techniques for nitroaromatic compounds, e.g., FTIR or Raman spectroscopy, is desired.

The laboratory scale experiments will involve saturated and unsaturated migration of dissolved and colloidal compounds through soil columns, analysis of influent and effluent solutions using a variety of analytical instruments, determination of mass balance in soils and solutions, interpretation of surficial chemical processes, and modeling of observed data. Responsibilities include data collec-tion and analysis, interpretation, and publication

of experimental and modeling research. Work will be conducted in collaboration with others having expertise in hydrology and environmental chemistry. Annual salary depends on experience. The position will be based at ORNL in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Qualifications: Ph.D. or M.S. required in Chem-istry, Soil Science, Environmental Science, Geology, Hydrology, or related field. Applicants cannot have received the most recent degree more than five years prior to the date of application and must com-plete all degree requirements before starting their appointment.

Technical Questions: Questions regarding the position can be directed to Melanie Mayes at mayesma@ ornl . gov. Please include the requisition number and title when corresponding.

How to Apply: Qualified applicants must apply online at https:// www2 . orau . gov/ ORNL _ POST/. All applicants will need to register before they can begin the online application.

For complete instructions, on how to apply, please see the instructions at http:// www . orau . gov/ orise/ edu/ ornl/ ornl - pdpm/ application . htm.

This appointment is offered through the ORNL Postgraduate Research Participation Program and

Classifiedcont. from page 175

Classified cont. on next page

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

177

is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Sci-ence and Education (ORISE). The program is open to all qualified U.S. and non- U.S. citizens without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental disability, or status as a Vietnam-era veteran or disabled veteran.

Ocean Sciences

Full Time Researcher. The Division of Oceanol-ogy of the Center for Scientific Research and High Education in Ensenada (CICESE) is looking to appoint a full time researcher expected to develop a line of research linking environmental variability and the distributions and abundance of organisms in the California Current System and the Mexican Pacific. The candidate will play an important role in bridging research in the Physical Oceanogra-phy, Biological Oceanography, and Marine Ecol-ogy departments, developing and implementing novel methods for the analysis of historical and new biological and oceanographic data, and mod-eling biological- physical interactions and oceano-graphic ecosystem. The successful applicant will be expected to teach one graduate course a year on modeling of biological- physical interactions.

The candidate must be enthusiastic and highly motivated; should hold a Ph.D. degree, with prefer-ably postdoctoral experience in Physical or Biologi-cal Oceanography. The candidate must show good mathematical skill, a high level of competence in modeling and modern statistics, and at least two first-author peer- reviewed articles.

Documentation:Applications should include: a free format inten-

tion letter, a proposal of research and teaching objectives, curriculum vitae, two reference letters, reprints of recent publications.

Application deadline is June 30, 2010. Selected candidates would be invited to give a

talk at CICESE and to have interviews with research-ers, students and academic authorities. Successful candidate will be expected to take- up his/ her posi-tion this year.

Applications (electronically or otherwise) should be sent to:

Dr. Guido MarinoneDirector of the Oceanology Division Email: marinone@cicese.mxMexican address:Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana No. 3918Zona Playitas22860 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico.US mailing address:PO Box 434944San Diego, CA 92143-4944USA

Post-Doctoral Position Available.Area: Oceanic turbulent flows and coastal mix-

ing processes. Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi (Depart-

ment of Physical & Environmental Sciences) seeks applications for a competitively awarded 12 month postdoctoral fellowship from highly qualified candi-dates interested in any aspect of: small scale phys-ics of coastal flows, mixing processes, and small scale temperature/ salinity field properties.

Qualifications: Ph.D. in Oceanography or a related field such as Physics, Fluid Dynamics, or Atmospheric Sciences is required. Skills in in- situ measurements of microscale flow shear or tem-perature, turbulence simulation are also preferred. Ability to program in Matlab, Fortran, C, or other languages in support of statistical analysis and modeling studies is also required.

Salary: Fellowships will provide 100% salary sup-port for 12 months and a small stipend for computer and miscellaneous expenses. The annual salary rate for this position is $45,000. There will also be oppor-tunities to participate in other funded research.

The position will be available in August, and will remain open until filled.

Contact: Dr. Bogucki, Darek . Bogucki@ tamucc . edu for further information.

Applications: To apply follow the below link: https://islanderjobs.tamucc.eduJob number: #9316

Postdoctoral Position in Physical Ocean-ography/High Resolution Ocean Modeling, University of Michigan. Applicants are sought for a postdoctoral position in a new physical oceanography research group at the University of Michigan. The successful applicant will examine the impact of bottom boundary layer drag and topographic wave drag on the dynamics and energy budget of the low- frequency oceanic general circulation. The main tools for the project are numerical simulations of the global ocean at high horizontal resolution, using models such as HYCOM and POP.

The model output will be compared to in- situ and satellite data of oceanic eddies. The project represents an opportunity for an early- career scien-tist to run cutting edge high resolution global ocean models on the nation’s largest supercomputers.

National Science Foundation funding is avail-able for up to three years of support, depending on the performance of the successful applicant. The project involves collaboration with scientists from MIT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu-tion, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), The University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, the Stennis Space Center branch of the Naval Research Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The successful applicant will be encouraged to visit with collaborators at selected participating institutions, to advance the project as well as to network with scientists around the country. The successful applicant will join another postdoctoral scientist who will be employed on a Climate Pro-cess Team project to be described in a separate advertisement.

The successful applicant will have a Ph.D. in physical oceanography or a related field. Appli-cants should send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, including a list of publications and presentations,

and contact information for three references to Dr. Brian Arbic (arbic@ umich . edu).

Inquiries to this address are also welcomed. Applications will be considered until the position is filled, with a preferred start date of late summer or early autumn 2010.

The University of Michigan offers competitive salary and benefits packages for postdoctoral scientists. The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity Employer and women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

Postdoctoral Research Opportunity. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is seeking a postdoctoral associate in physical oceanography to expand our understanding of ocean dynamics important for increasing the forecast capabilities of the Navy’s state of the art ocean prediction system.

The problems that must be addressed stem from the structure of basic ocean seawater prop-erties and the resulting dynamical balances at meso and sub- mesoscales that are important for modeling global ocean circulation at ever increasing resolutions. This challenging work requires a broad understanding of physical oceanography and we are looking for help partic-ularly with numerically modeling sub- mesoscale circulation.

The Naval Research Laboratory provides an opportunity to work with a large group of highly skilled and internationally recognized physical oceanographic researchers. We have access to excellent supercomputing and general computa-tional resources in addition to extensive historical and real- time regional and global data sources. For an overview of research projects in the Ocean Dynamics and Prediction branch of the Naval Research Laboratory located at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, visit http:// www7320 . nrlssc . navy . mil/ projects . php.

A postdoc will be hired with stipends approxi-mately of $73,100 through the National Research Council (NRC) Research Associateship Programs (RAP; http:// sites . nationalacademies . org/ pga/ rap/), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE; http:// www . asee . org/ fellowships/ nrl) Naval Postdoctoral Programs. NRL is an equal oppor-tunity employer and this position is open to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.

Interested applicants should contact Dr. Robert Helber (robert . helber@ nrlssc . navy . mil).

Solid Earth Geophysics

Visiting Professor/Post-Doc Position. The Earth-quake Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, invites applications for Visiting Professor/ Post- Doctoral Fellow positions in the research fields of earthquakes, volcanoes, and physics of the earth’s interior.

The period of each position will be three through twelve months during the period from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012.

Candidates are requested to submit the follow-ing set of documents.

(1) CV with birth date and detailed account of academic activity.

(2) List of academic publications.(3) Summary of research that the candidate has

conducted (300-500 words).(4) Title of research and research proposal at

ERI (300-500 words).(5) Desired length of stay; from three to twelve

months. Candidates are also requested to nominate a

host researcher of ERI. If you need detailed infor-mation on host researchers, please visit our website at http:// www . eri . u - tokyo . ac . jp/ eng/.

The appointed candidates are expected to carry out research at ERI as an employee of the

University of Tokyo. Monthly salary, ancillary expenses including partial housing costs and com-muting allowance will be paid based on the rules of the University and ERI.

The deadline for this application is July 9 (Fri-day), 2010.

If you need further information regarding this position, please feel free to contact Professor Teru-yuki Kato.

Teruyuki KatoHead, International Research PromotionOffice Earthquake Research InstituteThe University of Tokyo 1-1Yayoi 1, Bunkyo-kuTokyo 113-0032 JAPANPhone: +81-3-5841-5730Fax: +81-3-5802-8644E-mail: teru@eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Space Physics

Laboratory Manager: Shock Compression Laboratory. The Shock Compression Laboratory in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is seeking a laboratory manager to oversee day to day operations. Responsibilities include maintaining and operating shock- wave equipment; overseeing experiments; developing new high- speed measure-ment techniques; participation in design and fabri-cation of impact experiments; enforcing lab safety procedures; preparing rock and mineral samples; ordering supplies; and training students and visiting researchers. Facilities and research programs are described at http:// www . shock . eps . harvard . edu/.

Classifiedcont. from page 176

Classified cont. on page 178

178

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

The candidate should possess at least a Masters degree or equivalent laboratory work experience in engineering, physics, or a related field.

Expertise with machining, electronic, optical, or cryogenic systems is desirable. Background in high- pressure or shock- wave lab work is not required. Duties include occasional heavy lifting and subzero working conditions.

Contact Professor Sarah Stewart (sstewart@ eps . harvard . edu) for more information. Position is available on or about July 1, 2010. Starting sal-ary is commensurate with experience (grade 54). Interested individuals should upload a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to:

http://www.employment.harvard.edu/ (Search for Auto req ID 20731BR)or mail toHarvard UniversityResume Processing CenterReq# 20731BR11 Holyoke StreetCambridge, MA 02138Harvard is an equal opportunity employer.

Interdisciplinary/Other

Career Opportunities-Post Doctoral Fellow-ships 2010. CSIRO is Australia’s national science organisation with over 6,500 staff located across the country. We are one of the largest and most diverse research organisations in the world, with our research delivering solutions for agribusiness, the environment, information and communication technologies, health, advanced materials and man-ufacturing, minerals and energy, services, transport and infrastructure.

CSIRO provides the opportunity for postgradu-ates to undertake postdoctoral research projects within CSIRO. The OCE Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme is currently offering 20 postdoctoral posi-tions for a period of three years across a broad range of disciplines.

CSIRO provides world leading multidisciplinary research team environments offering successful candidates access to exceptional scientific net-works, outstanding science leaders and resources plus excellent career development opportunities and professional support. Competitive salaries are

offered as well as generous assistance with reloca-tion and visa sponsorship.

For further information, selection documenta-tion and details on how to apply, visit the Positions Vacant area of www . csiro . au/ careers.

Alternatively contact CSIRO on 1 300 301 509.

Environmental Sciences/Geology. University of Rochester’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Department invites applicants for a one- year full- time Lecturer position in the general fields of envi-ronmental sciences and geology. Preference is for this 12- month appointment to start in the Fall, 2010 semester, but a January, 2011 start is an option. We seek applicants with, or nearing completion of, a Ph.D. in any aspect of environmental sciences/ geological sciences and with demonstrated excel-lence in teaching. The successful applicant will teach one introductory and one upper level class in their specialty per semester and will be part of a strong research community (www . ees . rochester . edu). The University of Rochester is a top private research university, and the Rochester area con-sistently ranks in the top 10 places to live within the U.S. because of its cultural, educational, and recreational assets. Review of candidates will begin immediately. Applicants should send a cur-riculum vitae, a statement of teaching experience and goals, a summary of research, and at least three letters of reference to:

Ms. Kathy LutzDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences227 Hutchison HallUniversity of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627Ph: (585) 275-5713, FAX (585)244-5689. The University of Rochester, an Equal Opportu-

nity Employer, has a strong commitment to diversity and actively encourages applications from candidates from groups underrepresented in higher education.

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Palaeoclimate Modelling. The Quaternary Research Group in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University seeks to appoint a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Palaeoclimate Modelling, ten-able from September 2010. This appointment is designed to enhance our research standing and reinforce our existing international reputation in the fields of environmental change and Quaternary research. The successful candidate will have a record of research and publication commensurate

with the level of appointment. They will also be expected to make a contribution to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and to undertake super-vision of postgraduate students.

Although we are seeking applications from any-one with expertise in palaeoclimate modelling we particularly welcome applications from candidates with a background in atmospheric or earth sci-ences and with expertise in modelling Quaternary climate change.

For further details and application form please visit our website http:// www . ncl . ac . uk/ vacancies/ jobs/ and search with reference “B315A (GPS)”. Informal enquiries may be made to the Head of Geography, Dr. Stephen Juggins (Stephen . juggins@ ncl . ac . uk), or Prof. Darrel Maddy (darrel . maddy@ ncl . ac . uk).

Post-Doctoral Researchers in Environmental Science. The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is seeking two postdoctor-al researchers: (1) an imaginative individual with quantitative and programming skills to support development and application of spatially explicit ecogeomorphology and biodiversity models of the impacts of global change on coastal ecosystems; and (2) a hydrologist/ watershed scientist to con-tribute to our on- going research on the hydrologi-cal effects of forest disturbance, land use change, and climate change within the Potomac River basin. The first position requires a Ph.D. in coastal ecology, geomorphology, quantitative ecosystem sciences, landscape ecology, or a related field; the second position requires a Ph.D. in hydrology, environmental engineering, or environmental science, plus experience with GIS and water-shed modeling. For application instructions and additional information please visit http:// www . al . umces . edu/ about/ employment . htm.

For full consideration, please submit a cover letter, CV, and the names of three references to search@ al .umces .edu with “ QUANTITATIVE SCIENTIST” listed in the subject line.

Professor (W2) in Structural Geology. The Faculty of Geosciences at Ruhr- University Bochum (Department of Geology, Mineralogy, and Geo-physics) seeks a professor (W2) in Structural Geol-ogy (Struktur geologie) starting by October 1, 2010.

The successful candidate will represent the area of Structural Geology in research and teaching, with emphasis on the deformation and

Classifiedcont. from page 177

Classified cont. on next page

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

179

structural evolution of the upper crust. Her/ his previous experience should cover at least one of the following fields: Exploration of hydrocarbons, mechanics and properties of faults, active tecton-ics and paleoseismology, analogue or numerical modeling. Emphasis in teaching will be particularly on modern field work as well as on related data processing and visualization of results.

A positive evaluation of a junior professor-ship, a habilitation, or an equivalent record of internationally recognized research activities and appropriate teaching experience is expected. Furthermore, she/ he must be able to manage a research team, to successfully apply for external funding, to engage in collaborative research, to develop innovative courses, to advise graduate stu-dents and doctorands, and expresses the willing-ness to actively partake in the administrative duties of the department and the university. Therefore, the ability to communicate in German is important, and the appointee would be expected to develop appropriate language skills within three years.

At Ruhr- University, we are especially keen to promote and foster the careers of women, and we therefore look forward to receiving applications from female candidates. We also welcome applica-tions from qualified academics with disabilities.

Applications should include a statement on cur-rent and planned research activities, detailed cur-riculum vitae, a list of publications, copies of five papers, and an account of teaching experience. The deadline for application is June 1, 2010. Appli-cations should be sent to the Dean of the Faculty of Geoscience (Geowissenschaften), Ruhr- University Bochum, D- 44780 Bochum, Germany (e- mail: geodekanat@ rub . de).

Risk Assessment Specialist/Health Physicist. The Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the Nevada System of Higher Education seeks candidates for a non-tenure track research faculty or research associ-ate position in risk assessment/ health physics. The successful candidate must have expertise in risk assessment pertaining to exposure to radioactivity in groundwater and soils. Other opportunities are for research on risk and human health implications of exposure to depleted uranium, radon, NORM, and organic constituents. The person who fills this posi-tion will work in a strongly interdisciplinary environ-ment with hydrologist, atmospheric scientists, and microbiologist. Due to security requirements associ-ated with some projects, U.S. citizenship is required. The position will be located in the Division of Hydrologist Sciences at DRI’s campus in Las Vegas,

Nevada. Applicants must submit a current resume and vitae, and a cover letter describing research interests and goals. For a complete description of the position and the process for applying, visit our web site at www . jobs . dri . edu. Review of applicants will begin May 21, 2010.

Sr. Computing Consultant. Lehigh University seeks a Sr. Computing Consultant for Library and Technology Services. The position is responsible for providing specialized computing support for the College of Arts and Sciences.The position provides support for multiple computing plat-forms including, Windows, Unix and the Mac OS. Experience working with web based applications such as PHP, XML, or Java/ Tomcat is required. Experience interfacing computers with scientific instruments, or working with data Visualization or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a plus. Qualified candidates should have a Bachelor’s degree (Masters preferred) in a Science related field with 5 years work experience. For more infor-mation, please visit http:// cf . lehigh . edu/ jobs/ index _ exempt . cfm. Successful completion of back-ground checks required. For more information

please visit http:// cf . lehigh . edu/ jobs/ index _ exempt . cfm. Lehigh University offers an equitable & com-petitive benefits package including partner ben-efits. Hiring salary in the low to mid $50’s. Review of applications will begin May 21, 2010. Please send a letter & resume electronically to inasg@ lehigh . edu attention Pamela Steigerwalt. AA/ EOE.

Tenure-Track Cold Regions Hydrology Position. The School of Geography and Earth Sciences (SGES) at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada invites applications for a full- time tenure track posi-tion at the Assistant Professor level or at more senior level under exceptional circumstances beginning January 1 or July 1, 2011 in cold regions hydrology.

McMaster University is among leading Cana-dian universities with 24,000 full time undergradu-ate and 3,000 graduate students. SGES has 29 full time faculty members with more than 1/3 of them focusing on water related research. The Hydrologi-cal Sciences program of SGES has an excellent national and international reputation for research and teaching in cold- regions hydrology. For further

Classifiedcont. from page 178

Classified cont. on page 180

180

EOS VOLUME 91 NUMBER 19 11 MAY 2010

information about SGES please visit: www . science . mcmaster . ca/ geo/.

The successful candidate must have a Ph.D. at time of appointment in hydrology, physical geogra-phy, earth sciences or environmental sciences. We are particularly interested in an individual with a strong background or research experience in physi-cal hydrology and who undertakes field research in snow, ice and/ or frozen ground hydrological pro-cesses. The candidate is expected to develop a well funded, externally recognized, research program. The applicant should have a strong commitment to undergraduate/ graduate teaching and supervision.

All qualified candiates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent resi-dents will be considered first for this position. McMaster University is strongly committed to employment equity within its community, and to recruiting a diverse faculty and staff. The Univer-sity encourages applications from all qualified candidates, including women, members of vis-ible minorities, Aboriginal persons, members of sexual minorities, and persons with disabilities.

Applicants should send a cover letter outlining their research interests, a copy of their curriculum vitae, a brief teaching dossier including a statement of teaching philosophy (max. 2 pp). These materi-als may be sent as hard copy or electronic copy as a pdf file. Hard copies of no more than three published reprints or works in progress may also be sent to the Chair of the Search Committee by the closing date of 15 September 2010. Candidates are required to ensure that three referees send letters of recommendation to the Search Committee Chair by the closing date. Evaluation of files will begin on their receipt.

Dr. John EylesChair, Search CommitteeSchool of Geography and Earth SciencesGeneral Science Building, Room 206McMaster University1280 Main Street WestHamilton, Ontario, Canada - L8S 4K1Te: (905) 525-9140, Ext. 23152Fax: (905) 546-0463Email: eyles @mcmaster.ca

Classifiedcont. from page 179

Rivers rebound as woodlands replace degraded grasslands

The results of a new study suggest that

contrary to previous belief, streamfl ow

can increase when grasslands convert to

woodlands. 

Wilcox and Huang studied trends in the

base fl ow (water supplied by groundwa-

ter and springs) and stormfl ow (water from

fl ood events) components of streamfl ow

of four major rivers in the Edwards Plateau

region of Texas over the past 85 years.

Before 1890 the Edwards Plateau region

was mainly grassland. From the late 1800s

to about 1960, severe overgrazing degraded

the land, resulting in loss of vegetation.

Since about 1960, the land has been recov-

ering and woody plants have been taking

over what had been grasslands.

Because trees and shrubs generally use

deeper water than grasses do, it had been

thought that growth of woody plants would

lead to declining groundwater recharge and

streamfl ow. However, the researchers found

that rivers actually rebounded since 1960

as degraded grasslands converted to wood-

lands because base fl ows have increased

signifi cantly. Base fl ow in all four rivers is

now double what it was prior to 1950. Fur-

thermore, rainfall did not increase over the

time period studied, but streamfl ow did

increase in three of the four rivers studied,

indicating that the conversion of degraded

grasslands to woodlands actually improved

streamfl ow. (Geophysical Research Letters,

doi:10.1029/ 2009GL041929, 2010)

Stratigraphic column could provide insight into Mars’s climate history

A new stratigraphic record of Martian

polar layered deposits could help scientists

shed light on Mars’s climate history. These

stratigraphic layers can give scientists impor-

tant clues about the conditions at the time

the layer of rock formed.

Fishbaugh et al. present the fi rst high-

resolution stratigraphic column of Martian

north polar layered deposits. The research-

ers used a digital elevation model (a rep-

resentation of topography) derived from

images taken by the High Resolution Imag-

ing Science Experiment to identify and clas-

sify layers in the 400- meter stratigraphic

column, including several clearly defi ned

“marker bed” layers. They also observed

that layers get thinner with depth. Further-

more, they found no immediately obvi-

ous cyclic pattern in the stratigraphic lay-

ers that could correspond to cyclic climatic

conditions, indicating that the relationship

between Mars’s polar stratigraphy and cyclic

climate forcing is complex and needs further

investigation.

The new stratigraphic column should

be useful for future studies of Mars’s cli-

mate history. (Geophysical Research Letters,

doi:10.1029/ 2009GL041642, 2010)

Thick water ice observed in lunar craters

Water ice exists in large quantities in

many small craters near the Moon’s north

pole, according to a new study. Spudis et al.

present initial results from the miniature syn-

thetic aperture radar (Mini- SAR) experiment

on board India’s Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft,

which mapped most of the area near the

north pole of the Moon between February

and April 2009. The Mini- SAR instrument

collected data on the polarization of radio

waves refl ected off the lunar surface. These

data give the researchers insight into lunar

surface features. For instance, high values of

the circular polarization ratio (CPR) indicate

either surface roughness or ice.

The observations suggest that water ice

exists in many of the small craters in per-

manent darkness near the north pole of the

Moon. According to the scientists’ analysis,

the CPR values recorded indicate that this

ice must be at least 2–3 meters thick. The

researchers note that the ice is not distrib-

uted evenly over the lunar surface, suggest-

ing that it may have been laid down through

an episodic deposition process such as

comet or asteroid impact. Because these

lunar craters near the north pole are in per-

manent shadow, ice would remain stable

there indefi nitely. The new study supports

and extends other recent discoveries of

water on the Moon. (Geophysical Research

Letters, doi:10.1029/ 2009GL042259, 2010)

—ERNIE TRETKOFF, Staff Writer

A glint of sunlight refl ecting

from the surface of Saturn’s

moon Titan indicates the

presence of a lake fi lled

with liquid. Earlier observa-

tions showed features that

look like terrestrial lakes

and seas in Titan’s north-

ern polar region, but the

presence of liquid had not

been confi rmed. Stephan et al.

report the fi rst detection

of a directly visible glint,

also called a specular

refl ection.

A specular reflec-

tion occurs when sunlight reflects off a

smooth, mirror- like liquid surface. Cas-

sini captured an image of the glint on

8 July 2009, and the research-

ers determined that it came

from Kraken Mare, a large

basin near Titan’s north

pole. Until recently the

northern polar regions

of Titan had been in win-

ter darkness since Cas-

sini’s arrival in 2004; the

recent direct illumination

by sunlight made it possible

to observe these opti-

cal reflections for the

first time. Titan is the

only body other than

Earth in the solar sys-

tem known to have stable liquid on its

surface. (Geophysical Research Letters,

doi:10.1029/ 2009GL042312, 2010)

Sunlight refl ection confi rms liquid lake on Titan

A specular reflection from Titan’s north polar region. The glint indi-cates the presence of a liquid lake.

Circular polarization ratio map of the north polar region of the Moon. Green circles indi-cate the likely presence of water ice in craters.

Recovering grassland in the Edwards Plateau, photographed in 1993. Before around 1960 the land had been severely degraded by over-grazing.