YEAR IN REVIEW 2001: EARTH-AND-SPACE-SCIENCES

Earth Sciences Geology and Geochemistry In 2000 J.L. Kirschvink (California Institute of Technology) published a novel report (with six coauthors from the U.S. and South Africa) relating the end of the 2.4 billion-year "Snowball Earth" to global geochemistry and major episodes in the history of life. He had originated the Snowball Earth concept about a decade earlier and by 2000 had evidence for two periods when the Earth was completely glaciated, covered with ice like a snowball, at about 2.4 billion and 600 million to 800 million years ago. The evidence includes measurements of the Earth's ancient magnetic field preserved in old rocks, which indicate the near-equatorial latitude of rock formations known to indicate the presence of ice. There is a 45-m (147.6-ft)-thick layer of manganese ore in the Kalahari Desert with an age corresponding to the end of the 2.4 billion-year Snowball Earth period, and the report proposed that its deposition was caused by the rapid and massive change in global climate as the snowball melted. Most primitive organisms had been wiped out as the freeze developed on a global scale. The ice-covered oceans, separated from oxygen by thick sea ice, became reducing agents and therefore dissolved more metals. Carbon dioxide from increased volcanic activity is a candidate for cause of the eventual global warming, creating a greenhouse effect by preventing much of the Sun's radiation from escaping into space. As the ice melted, the dissolved metals and most other essential nutrients for photosynthesis were available for the hungry blue-green algae that had escaped extinction, and the algae bloom released enough oxygen to cause a cascade of chemical reactions. The global warming associated with oxidizing conditions led to the precipitation from seawater of iron and carbonates, producing characteristic rock masses known as banded iron formations and postglacial cap carbonates (limestones deposited above glacial rock deposits). The oxygen spike, in effect, led to a "rusting" of the iron and manganese. The manganese precipitation involved large quantities of oxygen, and these geochemical changes may have forced the organisms to mutate in such a way that they were protected from the changing chemical environment. Kirschvink suggested that the organisms may have adapted the enzyme known as superoxide dismutase to compensate for the changes. The enzyme and its evolutionary history were well known to biologists, but this was the first time a global climatic change had been suggested as a cause of the enzyme's diversification. Much attention had been devoted to tracking the history of continental migration, with evidence for the formation of supercontinent Pangaea being firmly based on ocean-floor magnetic anomalies. Information about the assembly of the previous supercontinent of Rodinia was more speculative. I.W.D. Dalziel at the University of Texas at Austin and two coauthors in 2000 presented testable evidence for the hypothesis that Rodinia formed by the amalgamation of four separate continental entities along three boundaries, which are belts of mountain formation between 1.2 billion and 1 billion years ago. C.R. Scotese at the University of Texas at Arlington and his colleagues had devoted 20 years to the PALEOMAP Project, with the goal of illustrating the plate tectonic development of oceans and continents and their changing distribution during the past 1.1 billion years. The project also generated maps showing plate tectonics in the far future, illustrating the formation of the next supercontinent of "Pangea Ultima." The results were made available on a World Wide Web site, , in an atlas of full-colour paleogeographic maps showing ancient mountain ranges, active plate boundaries, and the extent of paleoclimatic belts. In addition, the site provided many animations, including how the continental configuration could change over the next 250 million years. Development of plate tectonic theory after the 1960s demonstrated with precision how the continental masses drifted across the Earth during the past 250 million years, but understanding the origin and evolution of the continents remained a major objective. Several reports published during 2000 demonstrated the power of geochemical data produced by the measurement of isotope ratios by mass spectrometers to advance the understanding of the structure and evolution of continents. Three examples outlined below are the continental growth of southern Africa and the current collision between India and Asia as generators of major fault systems, and huge sedimentary fans accumulated from the erosion products of the Himalayas. Evidence about continental origins involving the birth and death and erosion of successive mountain ranges is found in the oldest, stabilized parts of the continents, called cratons. The origin and history of the craton in South Africa was recently described in considerable detail in a report by R.W. Carlson (Carnegie Institution of Washington) and 16 coauthors from the U.S., Great Britain, and South Africa. This integrated investigation illustrated the necessity for a multidisciplinary approach involving geology, geochemistry, and geophysics for the comprehension of processes in the Earth sciences. The geology of the shallow crust of the craton was very well known. Hundreds of kimberlites (a rare, deep-seated kind of volcanic eruption) brought rock samples of upper mantle and lower crust (xenoliths) through cylindrical pipes to the Earth's surface. High-resolution measurements of isotopes of uranium-lead and rhenium-osmium systems on many samples revealed a long, complex history. Rocks of the upper mantle have ages of 3.5 billion to 3.3 billion years, and the craton was stabilized about 3 billion years ago. Mantle rocks formed during that time interval included subducted materials from plate margins around the continent, and these became attached to the continent through time, creating a stable block of lithosphere. The craton consists of crust and a thick section of the underlying mantle. The Indian subcontinent collided with Asia about 50 million years ago, and the continued convergence of these masses at a rate of about five centimetres (two inches) per year has elevated the huge area to an average height of about five kilometres (three miles). This continental collision provided a natural laboratory for the study of the plate tectonic forces that generate continents. An example is a series of huge strike-slip faults in northern Tibet where blocks of the Earth's crust slide past one another. There are two competing models: Do these faults define major discontinuities to depths of 100 km (60 mi), through the crust and into the upper mantle, or are they relatively shallow features playing a secondary role to displacements in a more fluid (but solid) lithosphere? Geophysicists Rick Ryerson, Jerome Van der Woerd, Bob Finkel, and Marc Caffee at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif., with collaborators from Los Angeles, Paris, and Beijing, made the first-ever measurements of the rates of long-term movement along these large faults in order to characterize their large-scale behaviour. Specific fault breaks (tectonic offsets) were first identified from satellite images with a resolution of 10 m (33 ft). Sensitive accelerator mass spectrometry made it possible to measure very low levels of the nuclides Be10 and Al26, which provided dates for the surfaces exposed by faulting. Slip rates can be calculated from those ages. The first stage of the research suggested that the northern portion of the Tibetan plateau had been uplifted by successive episodes of eastward fault propagation coupled with the uplift of young mountain ranges. The Livermore data indicated that the models representing the lithosphere as fluid might be flawed. The Himalayan mountains are being eroded rapidly. The products of erosion have been deposited into the huge submarine sedimentary fans on either side of India-the eastern Bengal Fan and the western Indus Fan. The Bengal Fan is fed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, which deliver sediments derived from the high Himalayas along much of the mountain range. This fan is swamped by material from the rapidly unroofing Himalayas, which has occurred during the past 20 million years. The material and structure of the Indus Fan had been investigated by deep-ocean drilling. Its age had been debated for a decade, with one view being that the fan was formed as a response to the high Himalayan uplift and unroofing starting about 20 million years ago. The sequence of sediments deposited on the Indus Fan yields information on the uplift and erosion of the western Himalayas, as described in a 2000 report by Peter D. Clift (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) and six coauthors from the U.S., Germany, and Pakistan. The erosion sequence is more readily isolated than for the sediments of the Bengal Fan. Modern microbeam mass spectrometry is capable of measuring the very small amounts of lead occurring in feldspars eroded and transported from the mountains. Clift and his colleagues characterized various parts of the Himalayas in terms of their lead isotope ratios and then measured the lead isotopes in feldspars from sediment cores drilled from the Indus Fan. The significant observation was that the mineral grains were derived from the northwestern regions, and none were derived from the Indian plate. These results, together with new seismic studies of fan structure, suggested that the Indus River and fan system were initiated soon after the India-Asia collision, about 55 million years ago. These results demonstrated that different sedimentary fans may provide quite different images of evolving mountain ranges, which is important when determining the history of ancient deposits that are contemporaneous with mountain-building episodes. Geophysics During 2000 scientists reported on several societally relevant strong earthquakes that took place late in the previous year. On Sept. 21, 1999, a magnitude-7.6 quake occurred on the Chelungpu thrust fault in central Taiwan, killing more than 2,300 people. The earthquake produced tremendous surface slip, offsetting man-made structures vertically as much as 10 m (33 ft). Because the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau had recently completed installation of the most densely instrumented strong-ground-motion network in the world, scientists were able to determine the location and magnitude of the earthquake less than two minutes after it happened. Indeed, the network provided a wealth of digital data on the quake for seismology and earthquake engineering studies. On Oct. 16, 1999, an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 occurred within the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) in a sparsely populated area (Hector Mine) of the Mojave Desert east-southeast of Barstow, rupturing 45 km (28 mi) of faults. Twelve minor foreshocks were recorded in the 12 hours preceding the main shock, and 2,500 aftershocks were recorded in the succeeding two weeks. Although people in Los Angeles felt the earthquake, damage and disruption were minimal. In a preliminary report, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Southern California Earthquake Center, and California Division of Mines and Geology observed that the Hector Mine earthquake involved rupture on two previously studied faults, the Bullion and Lavic Lake faults. Much of the fault zone had been buried by young stream deposits and had not experienced significant offset during the past 10,000 years. As was the case for other parts of the ECSZ, the rate of movement along these faults was slow (less than one millimetre per year), which explained its long period of inactivity during the Holocene Epoch (the past 10,000 years). By analyzing satellite imagery data of the Mojave Desert before and after the Hector Mine earthquake, scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the USGS mapped the surface deformation. They found that the locations of the aftershocks delineated the entire rupture zone and that maximum slip (offset) along the main rupture was as high as 7 m (23 ft), compared with 5.2 m (17 ft) estimated from ground-based observations. Two strong earthquakes near Istanbul-one of magnitude 7.4 on Aug. 17, 1999, and the other of magnitude 7.1 on Nov. 12, 1999-together killed 18,000 people, destroyed 15,400 buildings and structures, and resulted in $10 billion-$25 billion in damage. The first event, with an epicentre southwest of the city of Izmit, was the most recent manifestation of a westerly progression of major earthquakes along the North Anatolian Fault that had begun in 1939. The Istanbul region had been struck and heavily damaged by 12 major earthquakes in the past 15 centuries, which attested to the significant earthquake hazard there. Stress-induced triggering and rupturing was considered to be the mechanism for the westerly propagation of these earthquakes. Seismologists at the USGS studied the time-dependent effect of stress transfer to adjacent faults following the Izmit event. From this they estimated that the next large quake or quakes in the region had a 62% (15%) probability of occurring during the next 30 years and a 32% (12%) probability during the next decade. The Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP), involving an international team of scientists from dozens of universities and institutions, was focused on drilling into the buried lava flows constituting Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii. Begun in 1999, the first phase of drilling, to a depth of 3,109 m (10,201 ft), was accomplished. The goal of the second phase was to reach 5,500-6,100 m (18,000-20,000 ft). Temperature measurements in the borehole revealed that temperature decreases with depth and that variations in temperature are affected by hydrologic factors. From analyses of drill core samples, in conjunction with geophysical well-logging and downhole measurements, HSDP scientists expected to learn more about mantle plumes-upwellings of hot, solid mantle material, perhaps originating from the thermal boundary layer at the mantle-core boundary (3,000 km [1,860 mi] deep)-that accounted for the creation of the Hawaiian Islands volcanic chain. Other objectives of the HSDP were to investigate variations in mantle geochemistry and the intensity and polarity of Earth's magnetic field during the formation of the Hawaiian volcanoes. Geodetic measurements making use of the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) continued to aid in geophysical studies of earthquakes, volcanoes, tectonic plate motion, and related dynamic phenomena at the Earth's surface (for example, vertical movements of the crust caused by the growth or shrinkage of large ice sheets) and in its interior (for example, in subduction zones). Using GPS observations made before and after the Izmit earthquake of 1999, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley, and their collaborators from Turkey and France estimated the distribution of coseismic and postseismic slip along the earthquake rupture, which led to a better understanding of the seismogenic zone. Such studies could also help assess the potential for neighbouring faults to generate future earthquakes. Volcanic activity, magma transport, and seismic tremors under and around volcanoes are interrelated. Volcanoes often deform prior to eruption. Studies of volcanoes continued to be enhanced by seismological techniques in conjunction with the use of tiltmeters, leveling instruments, and the GPS. Using GPS measurements and seismic data from earthquake swarms, scientists from Stanford University and the University of Tokyo estimated the space-time evolution of a magma-filled crack off the Izu Peninsula, Japan, and provided improved understanding of magma transport through the brittle crust and of the cause of volcanic seismicity. Results from continuous GPS monitoring of the eruptive event of Jan. 30, 1997, on the east rift zone of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano by scientists from Stanford University, the USGS, and the University of Hawaii provided unprecedented insight into the spatial and temporal behaviour of a volcanic eruption. Models based on GPS data showed the rift opening eight hours prior to the eruption. Absence of precursory inflation of the summit led the investigators to reject magma storage in favour of pressurization as the cause of the eruption. Other, non-GPS types of studies involving simultaneous measurements of deformation and gravity also can be used to identify magma-chamber processes prior to the onset of the conventional precursors of eruptions. Collaborating scientists from France, Spain, and Italy produced detailed internal imagery of Italy's Mt. Etna volcano through the use of a set of arrival times of seismic waves from local earthquakes. The data were collected by a dense array of temporarily emplaced three-component seismographs. The study revealed a body of intrusive material of magmatic origin under the southern part of Valle del Bove, on Etna's eastern flank, above the basement rock 6 km (3.7 mi) below sea level. Velocity changes in the seismic waves passing through the body signified the presence of magmatic melt and partial melt. Sandwiched between Earth's crust and molten outer core is the mantle, which continued to be a major topic of debate in geophysics. The mantle makes up 83% of Earth's volume and consists of solid ferromagnesian silicate rock, heated by the outer core and its own radioactive decay. Circulation of the mantle is the driving force for the motion of the tectonic plates, which causes mountain building and earthquakes. Several seismic and geochemical-petrologic modeling studies of the mantle indicated that the mantle circulates in two layers rather than in one, as had formerly been thought. On the basis of results from recent seismological studies, researchers at the University of Arizona and the University of California, Berkeley, reported highly anomalous structures-modeled as "fuzzy" patches roughly 5-50 km (3-30 mi) thick-at the base of the mantle (about 2,900 km [1,800 mi] deep). The patches, which appeared to exhibit a wide range of increased density (as much as 60%), were inferred as being contamination of the deep mantle by the outer core. Such patches may represent zones of intense chemical and physical interaction at the mantle-core boundary. Murli H. Manghnani Meteorology and Climate Many of the unusual climate and weather events during 2000 were influenced by the ongoing La Nia over the Pacific Ocean, characterized by below-normal sea-surface temperatures over the eastern and central equatorial Pacific and somewhat warmer-than- normal temperatures over much of the western Pacific. Although La Nia began to weaken noticeably during the spring and summer, its impact was felt over many areas throughout much of the year into the early fall. Greater-than-usual rainfall occurred over much of the western Pacific and Indian Ocean basins, with enhanced tropical storm activity affecting Australia, southeastern Africa, and the southern Indian Ocean during the first several months of the year. With the advent of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the area of heavy monsoon rains and tropical storm activity shifted northward, and numerous tropical storms and typhoons produced periods of torrential rains and flooding over southeastern Asia, China, the Korean peninsula, and Japan. One of the effects of La Nia on the United States was relatively wet weather over the western part of the country during the first three months of the year as the jet stream repeatedly steered Pacific storms into northern California and Oregon. Except for a brief period of cold and snow over the southern and middle Atlantic states in late January and early February, storms avoided much of the remainder of the country. The winter and early spring period was the warmest on record in many areas. Drought continuing from 1999 affected inland areas of the Northeast and much of the Midwest early in the year, but as the La Nia-influenced circulation steered most storms across southern Canada and the northern U.S., the driest areas shifted southward to the southeast and Gulf Coast regions. Later in the summer the extreme drought conditions and record heat had a severe impact on agriculture and water supplies in Texas and the southern Great Plains. Areas to the west of the Continental Divide became progressively drier throughout the summer, and, although the southwestern U.S. monsoon started earlier than usual in June, it yielded little rainfall during July and much of August. Its circulation pattern steered mid-level moisture northward and caused numerous "dry" thunderstorms. These storms produced little rainfall but much lightning over the western part of the country and led to many wildfires that contributed to the worst fire season in 50 years over a large area expanding northward and westward from New Mexico in May to Montana and the West Coast states by the end of the summer. The late summer drought and heat set many new all-time records over Texas, Oklahoma, and some adjacent states. Some areas of northern Texas went nearly three months without measurable rain, the longest such period on record for more than 100 years. Maximum temperatures in the triple-digit range were observed nearly every day in August over parts of Texas and Oklahoma, and drought and heat matched or exceeded records set in 1913 and in 1934 and 1936 during the Dust Bowl era. Records were set in several locations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas in late August and early September, with values exceeding 43.3 C (110 F) at several locations. To the north and east of the areas of heat and drought, temperatures were cooler than normal, and rainfall was normal or greater, which produced a good year for crops in parts of the nation's important Midwestern agricultural areas. Nebraska, however, suffered drought-induced economic losses totaling more than $1 billion. Over much of the Northeast, it was one of the coolest summers in many years. As in most recent years, the Atlantic hurricane season (June- November) got off to a late start, with the first storm not developing until early August. As had been forecast because of the lingering effects of La Nia, the season became somewhat more active than normal, with 14 named tropical storms, of which eight became hurricanes. Most remained away from the U.S.; three attained major (category 3 or higher) intensity. None caused significant damage to the U.S., and two of the storms brought welcome rains to parts of the southeastern drought area. The first several months of the year were stormy and wet over much of western and northern Europe, but abnormally warm and dry weather developed over much of northern Africa, southeastern Europe, and the Middle East in the spring and continued throughout most of the summer. Temperatures soared to well over 40 C (104 F) over those areas during the summer months, with severe adverse impacts on agriculture and health. A maximum of 40.8 C (105 F) in Jerusalem recorded in late July was the highest there in more than 100 years. Several damaging storms brought strong winds and floods to parts of western and southern Europe in October and November. The weather was abnormally wet over southeastern Africa during the first several months of the year, partly from the effects of tropical storms from the Indian Ocean. In February an intense cyclone brought disastrous flooding rains to Mozambique and parts of neighbouring countries, killing hundreds and leaving thousands, including entire villages, homeless. Abnormally wet conditions, some due to tropical cyclones and at times accompanied by unseasonably cool weather, also prevailed over much of Australia during the first half of the year, especially in the northern and western portions of the island continent. In South America the first three months of the year were unusually wet over much of Colombia and western Venezuela. Abnormal summer heat developed over central and southeastern parts of the continent during January. Periods of abnormally heavy rainfall occurred over central and southern parts of South America during much of the first seven months of the year, augmented by strong storms from the Pacific affecting Chile during the winter season. Unusually cold weather developed during July and brought subfreezing temperatures to much of the southern part of the continent. John J. Kelly, Jr. Eckbo, Garrett American landscape architect (b. Nov. 28, 1910, Cooperstown, N.Y.-d. May 15, 2000, Oakland, Calif.), was a pioneer of modern landscape architecture. Eckbo was best known for his innovative designs for public settings, which often incorporated asymmetrical gardens and abstract sculptures. Educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University, he designed houses for the Farm Security Administration in the 1940s. After World War II he helped found EDAW, Inc., a landscape design firm. Among Eckbo's prominent works were the Alcoa Forecast Garden in Los Angeles and the Ladera residential community near Palo Alto, Calif. He served as chairman of the landscape department at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1963 to 1969. He also wrote a number of influential books, including Landscape for Living (1950) and The Art of Home Landscaping (1956). Eckbo's last book, People in a Landscape, appeared in 1998.