VOL. 98 NO. 1 JAN 2017 Antarctic Trek for Space Weather Partnering Academia and the Military Earth & Space Science News Whisker-like New Mineral Discovered A NEW EYE ON COASTS Celebrating 2 Award-Winning Years of Eos Magazine and Eos.org Nearly 1 Million Online Readers An International Readership Spanning 196 Countries Multiple Awards from Association TRENDS and Association Media & Publishing VOL. 97 NO. 23 1 DEC 2016 VOL. 96 NO. 4 1 MAR 2015 VOL. 96 NO. 13 15 JUL 2015 Earth & Space Science News Earth & Space Science News HowHowHow Ready ReadyReady is Isis Los Los Angeles Angeles LEARNING Sonar Data forfor thethe NextNext “ GEOSCIENCE from the Water Column “Big OneOne”? Tracking Global ? BY DOING Landslide Hazards ”? Students Launch High-Altitude Balloons Monitoring Colombia’s GEOSCIENCE Slumbering Volcanoes Seismic Hazard Assessment Lab Simulates Science Fares Well in U.S. Solar Eruptions Gender Parity Proposed Federal Budget Magnetic Islands Caterpillar-Like Motion in Space of the Greenland Ice Sheet New for 2017: You’ll receive Eos magazine once a month, and now you’ll enjoy More Content: More features, news, and Research Spotlights More Depth: Special issues on important and emerging topics The satisfaction of a reduced carbon footprint And, as always, you can read articles free online as soon as they are published on Eos.org or by adding Eos.org to mobile apps like SmartNews and Flipboard. Earth & Space Science News Contents JANUARY 2017 PROJECT UPDATE VOLUME 98, ISSUE 1 14 Space Weather from a Southern Point of View A recently completed instrument array monitors geospace from the Antarctic end of Earth’s magnetic field lines. FEATURE 27 How Did Energy and Environmental Issues Fare on Five State Ballots? From banning plastic bags to regulating solar power, states across the country asked voters to make important decisions 20 on energy and the environment. COVER RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Coastal Observations Mapping Geoelectric 45Hazards Across the from a New Vantage Point United States Variations in Earth’s magnetic field can The NASA Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events satellite induce electric fields in the ground, driving mission plans to keep an eye on short-term processes that affect damaging currents through our power coastal communities and ecosystems. grids. Earth & Space Science News Eos.org // 1 Contents DEPARTMENTS 31–39 AGU News Editor in Chief Medalists Honored at 2016 AGU Barbara T. Richman: AGU, Washington, D. C., USA; eos_ [email protected] Fall Meeting; Devendra Lal Medal Editors Fosters Diversity and Inclusion in Christina M. S. Cohen Wendy S. Gordon Carol A. Stein AGU Honors. 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., 40–45 Research Spotlight USA; [email protected] José D. Fuentes David Halpern Ancient Ocean Floor Seashells Department of Meteorology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Improve Model of Past Glaciers; Pennsylvania State Pasadena, Calif., USA; University, University davidhalpern29@gmail 6 Switching to Drought- Tolerant Park, Pa., USA; .com Plants Could Alter Urban Climates; [email protected] Modeling Rainfall Runoff; Mars’s Editorial Advisory Board 3–8 News Atmosphere Matches Earth’s Mark G. Flanner, Atmospheric Jian Lin, Tectonophysics Turbulent Nature; Eliminating Sciences Figen Mekik, Paleoceanography Whiskers on Familiar Crystal Nicola J. Fox, Space Physics and Paleoclimatology Uncertainty One Cloud at a Time; and Aeronomy Ocean Sciences Revealed to Be New Mineral; Jerry L. Miller, Isotopes Track Carbon Cycle in Steve Frolking, Biogeosciences Michael A. Mischna, Planetary Sciences Former U.S. Science Academy Northern Wisconsin Wilderness; Edward J. Garnero, Study of the Thomas H. Painter, Cryosphere Sciences President Ralph Cicerone Dies Earth’s Deep Interior Philip J. Rasch, Global Environmental Michael N. Gooseff, Hydrology Change at 73; New NASA Science Head Brian C. Gunter, Geodesy Eric M. Riggs, Education Foresees Progress in Search Kristine C. Harper, History Adrian Tuck, Nonlinear Geophysics for Alien Life; Scientists Offer of Geophysics Sergio Vinciguerra, Mineral Susan E. Hough, Natural Hazards and Rock Physics New Explanation for Island’s Emily R. Johnson, Volcanology, Andrew C. Wilcox, Earth and Planetary Unexpected Uplift; Science Is Geochemistry, and Petrology Surface Processes Seismology Atmospheric Bipartisan Issue, White House Keith D. Koper, Earle Williams, Robert E. Kopp, Geomagnetism and Space Electricity Science Adviser Says. and Paleomagnetism Mary Lou Zoback, Societal Impacts John W. Lane, Near-Surface Geophysics and Policy Sciences 9–10 Meeting Reports 43 Staff Production and Design: Faith A. Ishii, Production Manager; Melissa A. Tribur, Senior Challenges of Climate Change Production Specialist; Elizabeth Jacobsen, Production and Editorial Assistant; Yael Gulf Stream Destabilization Point Is Adaptation; Joint Aerosol Research Fitzpatrick, Manager, Design and Branding; Travis Frazier and Valerie Friedman, on the Move; Corals Reveal Ancient Electronic Graphics Specialists Between Cuba and Spain Proves Ocean Temperatures in Great Barrier Editorial: Peter L. Weiss, Manager/Senior News Editor; Mohi Kumar, Scientific Fruitful. Content Editor; Randy Showstack, Senior News Writer; JoAnna Wendel, News Writer; Reef; High- Resolution Ocean Liz Castenson, Editorial and Production Coordinator Model Captures Large- Scale Heat Marketing: Jamie R. Liu, Manager, Marketing; Angelo Bouselli and Tyjen Conley, Transport; Mapping Geoelectric Marketing Program Managers Hazards Across the United States. Advertising: Jeff Borchardt, Development Director; Tel: +1-202-777-7536; Email: [email protected] ©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Material in this issue may 47–51 Positions Available 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 books Current job openings in the Earth and journals. For permission for any other uses, contact the AGU Publications Office. and space sciences. Eos (ISSN 0096-3941) is published monthly 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 52 Postcards from the Field changes to Member Service Center, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA. Surveying dunes and grasses using Member Service Center: 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Eastern time; Tel: +1-202-462-6900; kite aerial photography in Virginia’s Fax: +1-202-328-0566; Tel. orders in U.S.: 1-800-966-2481; Email: [email protected]. False Cape State Park. Use AGU’s Geophysical Electronic Manuscript Submissions system 11 to submit a manuscript: http://eos-submit.agu.org. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect official On the Cover positions of the American Geophysical Union unless expressly stated. Turquoise swirls of phytoplankton Christine W. McEntee, Executive Director/CEO 11–13 Opinion bloom in the Pacific Ocean off the Academia and the Military Can Be coast of Chile. Credit: Aqua/MODIS, Valuable Partners. Suomi-NPP/VIIRS. facebook.com/AmericanGeophysicalUnion @AGU_Eos linkedin.com/company/american-geophysical-union youtube.com/user/AGUvideos 2 // Eos January 2017 NEWS Association’s (IMA) Commission on New Min- Whiskers on Familiar Crystal erals, Nomenclature, and Classification ( CNMNC). Scientists submit their candidate Revealed to Be New Mineral material to a battery of tests and build a case for its novelty. To do so for merelaniite, Jaszczak sought help from scientists all over the world to determine the mineral’s crystal structure and properties such as density, opacity, and reflectiveness, among others. The CNMNC receives about 120 new mineral proposals each year, of which it approves about 100, said Peter Burns, IMA president and an environmental chemist at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind. Currently, IMA lists 5179 unique minerals, but only a few boast a curved structure like merelaniite’s, said Burns, including one called cylindrite. As they investigated the new material, Jaszczak and his colleagues learned that its oddly curving shape resulted from a pattern of alternating layers: one of mostly molybdenum disulfide, then two layers of predominantly lead sulfide, then molybdenum disulfide again, and so on. A mismatch of bonding lengths between atoms across layers causes the curvature as atoms try to match up, warp- ing the mineral structure, Jaszczak said. After 4 years of testing and several months waiting for the CNMNC to deliberate, Jasz- czak’s team heard the news: Merelaniite was John Jaszczak approved. The new mineral merelaniite, which to the naked eye looks like incredibly fine hairs. This particular sample stretches “I really wish that I had been given the less than 2 millimeters tall. A chance discovery by a junior mineral enthusiast led to a new entry in the International opportunity to get in on the research,” said Mineralogical Association’s list of minerals. now 18- year- old Jessica Simonoff, because she was studying the original sample of tanzanite on which the merelaniite was first spotted, oftware engineer Bob Simonoff didn’t own lab at Michigan Technological University albeit for different purposes. These days, she’s realize that he was looking