"Detecting Earthquakes: A View From Outer Space"
7:30 PM Friday
September 16, 2011
In
this talk I will highlight a few technologies that enable scientists to
measure ground motions from space. The most commonly known technology is
Global Positioning System (GPS), which can provide accuracy levels of
relative displacements of order 1 mm or better. This provides scientists
with the ability to monitor the Earth for changes associated with
earthquakes, volcano deformation and the slow and steady movement of the
Earth’s plates. I will highlight how measurements from space have
revealed new findings about plate tectonics and the recent devastating
earthquakes of the past few years. Moreover, this technology offers the
very real possibility of early detection of earthquakes, thereby
providing an invaluable means for saving lives through early warning
systems.
William Holt is a Professor
of Geophysics in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook
University. Using a variety of techniques he has studied the active
deformation of the Earth for more than 20 years. He has served on the
EarthScope steering committee (an NSF funded project voted by Popular
Science Magazine as #1 on the list for ‘The Universe’s Ten Most Epic
Projects’). Holt was also a founding member on the Board of Directors
for UNAVCO, Inc., a non-profit university-governed consortium that
facilitates geoscience research and education using geodesy, and he now
serves as the Chairman of the Board. Holt was elected Fellow of AGU in
2004 for contributions to kinematics and dynamics of the Earth’s
lithosphere. In 2002 he was awarded a distinguished Alumni award from
Geosciences at the University of Arizona. In 1991 he received the New
Zealand Ministerial award for contributions toward understanding
continental deformation.
"Solving the Mystery of Lunar Swirls"
Prof. Timothy Glotch
7:30 PM Friday
October 28 , 2011
The “lunar swirls” are mysterious albedo markings on the Moon’s surface
that were first recognized during the Apollo era. These bright, loopy
features occur both in the anorthositic highlands and the basaltic mare
terrain, and many of them are associated with anomalously high magnetic
fields. Three mechanisms have been proposed for their formation: (1)
magnetic fields inhibit solar wind interaction with the lunar surface,
reducing space weathering, (2) swarms of micro-comets or meteors
impacted the lunar surface, disturbing the regolith, and exposing
unweathered lunar soil, and (3) feldspathic dust is levitated by the
magnetic fields, causing the high-albedo markings. The Diviner Lunar
Radiometer Experiment, currently orbiting the Moon, allows us to
investigate these features at thermal infrared wavelengths for the first
time. This talk will focus on how we have used Diviner data to examine
the lunar swirls and place additional constraints on their formation.
Timothy Glotch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Geosciences. His research utilizes visible/near-infrared reflectance and
thermal infrared emission spectroscopy, both on remote sensing platforms
and in the laboratory, to determine the composition of geologic
materials. He has received NASA group achievement awards for his work
with the Odyssey THEMIS and MER Mini-TES instruments that have flown to
Mars. He is a Co-Investigator on the Diviner Lunar Radiometer
Experiment, which has been orbiting the Moon aboard the Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter since 2009.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/26jun_lunarswirls/
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/decadal/leag/GeorgianaYKramer.pdf
Mineral as
inspiration for some
modern functional materials
Prof. John Parise 7:30 PM Friday
December 2, 2011Nature takes about 8
elements commonly found on Earth and produces the common rock-forming
minerals. Many thousands more minerals, some occurring as specks,
encrustations and smudges in nature, are formed from all 90 naturally
occurring elements. As in ancient times, advances in our technology, and
living standards, depends on finding, mining, crushing and processing
large volumes of rock to provide raw materials for our increasingly
complex technologies. Studying minerals is fascinating, and studies of
the crystal structures and conditions under which uncommon minerals form
can prove inspirational to whole new technologies.
Every gallon of gasoline has “seen” a catalytic cracking catalyst
(“cat” cracker). All modern cat crackers are chemically and structurally
related to the rare aluminosilicate mineral faujasite, a member of the
zeolite family of minerals. Apart from catalysis, this mineral family is
ubiquitous in industries including gas separation, water purification,
aqua-culture (zeoponics in space) agriculture (in animal feed)
environmental clean-up (the zeolite clinoptilolite used at Fukushima,
Japan) and cat litter. Industrial methods of zeolites synthesis closely
follow those adopted by nature. In this talk we’ll explore the
relationship between the atomic arrangements in these materials and the
unique properties they possess. |
