Modeling Earth's Ever-Changing Surface Pluto's Moons Nix And
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VOL. 96 NO. 15 15 AUG 2015 Earth & Space Science News Modeling Earth’s Ever-Changing Surface Pluto’s Moons Nix and Hydra Show Their Faces AGU Medalists, Awardees, Prize Recipients, and Fellows Save Money the Right Way Act now to save on registration and housing. Housing and Early Registration Deadline: 12 November 11:59 P.M. EST To get the best rates, join or renew your AGU membership by 14 October fallmeeting.agu.org Earth & Space Science News Contents 15 AUGUST 2015 PROJECT UPDATE VOLUME 96, ISSUE 15 14 On the Rebound: Modeling Earth’s Ever-Changing Shape A new modeling tool easily computes the elastic response of changes in loading on Earth’s surface to high resolution. Scientists test this tool using finely detailed data on glaciers’ mass changes. MEETING REPORT Coping with Future Water 7 Woes in the Western United States RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT 8 27 COVER Gaseous Planets May Have Huge Luminous Rings Caused Dissolved Organic Matter by Lightning What business do elves have in the in the Ocean Carbon Cycle upper atmospheres of gas giants? Plenty, it seems. The enormous ring-shaped Controversy leads to a better understanding of carbon cycling through phenomena triggered by lightning may a massive pool of organic matter dissolved in the Earth’s oceans. occur on Jupiter, Saturn, and exoplanets. Earth & Space Science News Eos.org // 1 Contents DEPARTMENTS Editor in Chief Barbara T. Richman: AGU, Washington, D. C., USA; eos_ [email protected] Editors Christina M. S. Cohen Wendy S. Gordon Carol A. Stein California Institute Ecologia Consulting, Department of Earth and of Technology, Pasadena, Austin, Texas, USA; Environmental Sciences, Calif., USA; wendy@ecologiaconsulting University of Illinois at cohen@srl .caltech.edu .com Chicago, Chicago, Ill., USA; [email protected] José D. Fuentes David Halpern Department of Meteorology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pennsylvania State Pasadena, Calif., USA; University, University davidhalpern29@gmail Park, Pa., USA; .com [email protected] Editorial Advisory Board M. Lee Allison, Earth and Space Xin-Zhong Liang, Global Science Informatics Environmental Change Lora S. Armstrong, Volcanology, Jian Lin, Tectonophysics 23 Geochemistry, and Petrology Figen Mekik, Paleoceanography Michael A. Ellis, Earth and Planetary and Paleoclimatology Surface Processes Jerry L. Miller, Ocean Sciences Arlene M. Fiore, Atmospheric Sciences Michael A. Mischna, Planetary 18–23 AGU News Nicola J. Fox, Space Physics Sciences 2015 AGU Union Medal, Award, and and Aeronomy Thomas H. Painter, Cryosphere Steve Frolking, Biogeosciences Sciences Prize Recipients Announced; 2015 Edward J. Garnero, Study of the Roger A. Pielke Sr., Natural Hazards Class of AGU Fellows Announced; Earth’s Deep Interior Michael Poland, Geodesy 2015 AGU Section and Focus Group Michael N. Gooseff, Hydrology Eric M. Riggs, Education Kristine C. Harper, History Adrian Tuck, Nonlinear Geophysics Awardees and Named Lecturers; of Geophysics Sergio Vinciguerra, Mineral Member Comment Period Open for Keith D. Koper, Seismology and Rock Physics AGU Bylaws Amendments; Share Robert E. Kopp, Geomagnetism Earle Williams, Atmospheric and Paleomagnetism and Space Electricity Your Science with Today’s Teachers, John W. Lane, Near-Surface Mary Lou Zoback, Societal Impacts Tomorrow’s Scientists. Geophysics and Policy Sciences Staff Production: Faith A. Ishii, Production Manager; Melissa A. Tribur, Senior Production 26–27 Research Spotlight Specialist; Liz Castenson, Editor’s Assistant; Yael Fitzpatrick, Manager, Design and Branding; Valerie Bassett and Travis Frazier, Electronic Graphics Specialists Underwater Robot Tracked Ocean Editorial: Peter L. Weiss, Manager/Senior News Editor; Randy Showstack, Senior Sediment During Hurricane Sandy; Writer; Mohi Kumar, Science Writer/Editor; JoAnna Wendel, Writer 22 Urbanization Threatens Drought- Marketing: Angelo Bouselli and Mirelle Moscovitch, Marketing Analysts Reducing Clouds in California; Advertising: Christy Hanson, Manager; Tel: +1-202-777-7536; Email: advertising@ Gaseous Planets May Have Huge agu.org 3–6 News Luminous Rings Caused by Lightning. ©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Material in this issue may Pluto’s Moons Nix and Hydra Show be photocopied by individual scientists for research or classroom use. Permission is also granted to use short quotes, figures, and tables for publication in scientific Their Faces; Weak Shaking Lessened 28–32 Positions Available books and journals. For permission for any other uses, contact the AGU Publications Nepal Earthquake Impact; McNutt Office. Current job openings in the Earth Nominated as President of National Eos (ISSN 0096-3941) is published semi-monthly, on the 1st and 15th of the month and space sciences. except the 1st of January 2015 by the American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Academy of Sciences; Samuel J. Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA. Periodical Class postage paid at Washington, Bame Jr. (1924–2014). D. C., and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Inside Back Cover: Member Service Center, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA. Member Service Center: 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Eastern time; Tel: +1-202-462-6900; 7 Meeting Report Postcards from the Field Fax: +1-202-328-0566; Tel. orders in U.S.: 1-800-966-2481; Email: [email protected]. Coping with Future Water Woes in A view of the stratosphere from a Use AGU’s Geophysical Electronic Manuscript Submissions system to submit a manuscript: http://eos-submit.agu.org. the Western United States. hot air balloon. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect official positions of the American Geophysical Union unless expressly stated. On the Cover Christine W. McEntee, Executive Director/CEO Marine phytoplankton, such those in the Cymbella genus, are a major source of dissolved organic carbon in the ocean. Credit: Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc./Visuals Unlimited, Inc. facebook.com/AmericanGeophysicalUnion @AGU_Eos linkedin.com/company/american-geophysical-union youtube.com/user/AGUvideos 2 // Eos 15 August 2015 NEWS Pluto’s Moons Nix and Hydra Show Their Faces luto’s moons Nix and Hydra appear in (165,000 kilome- unprecedented sharpness in images ters) from Nix and P released on 21 July from NASA’s New 143,000 miles Horizons mission. These images enabled sci- (231,000 kilome- entists for the first to time to estimate the ters) from Hydra. sizes of these tiny natural satellites: Nix (left) Nix and Hydra’s at 26 miles (42 kilometers) by 22 miles debut came on the (36 kilometers) and Hydra (right) at 34 miles heels of other (55 kilometers) by 25 miles (40 kilometers). detailed images of Nix’s portrait, imaged in enhanced colors, Pluto, taken during showed a reddish patch reminiscent of a the spacecraft’s bull’s-eye. In a press release (see: http://bit historic Pluto flyby . ly/NixHydra_PR), scientists said that they (see: http://bit.ly/ suspected the region could be an impact cra- PlutFlyby). ter on the jelly bean–shaped moon but were awaiting additional data from the spacecraft to better understand what they’d observed. The New Horizons spacecraft captured the By JoAnna Wendel, images on 14 July while 102,000 miles Staff Writer APL/SWRI NASA/JHU Earth & Space Science News Eos.org // 3 NEWS Weak Shaking Lessened Nepal Earthquake Impact “People knew how to conduct themselves. That must have been another factor in few lives lost.” along the plate boundary unrelieved of their stress and still capable of generating even stronger quakes. “There are no safe spots,” he said. Training May Have Saved Lives Other session speakers suggested that to a limited degree, improvements in earthquake preparedness and building practices in Nepal helped lessen the number of deaths and amount of destruction from the quake. Harsh Gupta, president of the Geological Society of India and past president of IUGG, Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images told Eos that although the structural damage A woman inspects rubble from a house in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, that was severely damaged by to Nepal was what one would expect from a the 25 April earthquake in Nepal. Despite widespread devastation from the quake, the magnitude 7.8 temblor gener- magnitude 7.8 earthquake, the loss of human ated shaking more typical of a smaller earthquake, scientists said at a June meeting of the International Union of lives was much less than from similar earth- Geodesy and Geophysics. quakes. He partially attributed this decrease to earthquake safety training. he magnitude 7.8 earthquake that from a magnitude 6 or 6.5 quake rather than An earthquake awareness campaign takes struck Nepal on 25 April killed more from almost an 8, symposium convener place in the city every year, so “people knew T than 8800 people, injured another Domenico Giardini told Eos. He serves as how to conduct themselves,” he said. “That 23,000+, and destroyed at least 500,000 chair of seismology and geodynamics at the must have been another factor in few lives buildings. Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich, Swit- lost.” But weak and limited ground shaking for a zerland, and is president of the International Training of engineers and masons in Nepal quake of such large magnitude helped keep Association of Seismology and Physics of the over the past several decades to design and its impact from being a lot worse, said scien- Earth’s Interior (IASPEI), a semiautonomous build more earthquake- resistant structures tists at a special symposium about the earth- association of IUGG. “definitely had an effect,” added Mohsen quake at the International Union of Geodesy Ghafory-Ashtiany, president of the Iranian and Geophysics (IUGG) general assembly in Seismic Risk Remains High Earthquake Engineering Association. “But it Prague, Czech Republic (http://bit.ly/ Giardini, Lay, and other speakers in the was not as effective as we would expect.” IUGGPrague). 27 June session noted that the seismic risk Engineers and scientists have not been The earthquake “wasn’t generating a lot of remains very high in the Kathmandu area, successful in Nepal at translating their ground acceleration,” symposium speaker which lies along the earthquake- prone knowledge into “simple, doable, affordable, Thorne Lay told Eos.