Professor, students collect seafloor data in Arctic Ocean
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 26, 2011
CONTACT: Amy Hartley, Geophysical Institute information officer, 907-474-5823, amy [dot] hartley [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu
PDF DownloadThe experiment that never ends
A plastic disc from an experiment 30 years ago, found by Paul Boots on Alaska’s North Slope in late July 2011.
Photo by Paul Boots.
Some experiments never end. Especially ones involving plastic objects released in the far north.
In late July 2011, Paul Boots, a supervisor at an
oilfield on Alaska’s North Slope, found a small, yellow plastic disc on a
creekbed. Scientists 30 years ago tossed the disc into the sea as part
of a study on arctic oil spills.
Boots, who works at the large gravel pad that hosts the
Badami oil field, was with his coworkers on an annual cleanup day along
a nameless creek just west of the gravel pad.
GI Professor Bernard Coakley blogs for The New York Times on research cruise
Professor Bernard Coakley is aboard the research vessel Marcus G. Langseth with aims to collect multi-channel seismic reflection data across the transition from the Chukchi Shelf to the Chukchi Borderland. Coakley and the crew will conduct research in the Chukchi Sea until early October and hope the data they collect will provide insight on how the Amerasia Basin formed during the Mesozoic era, the age of the dinosaurs.
Follow Coakley and the crew as he posts to The New York Times blog Scientist at Work here: http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/.
Recreating the world of Alaska's dinosaurs
For Immediate Release
Students participating in a geology field camp with University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty found the fossilized footprint from a small meat-eating dinosaur in Denali National Park in June 2005. That fossilized footprint is the first concrete evidence that dinosaurs once roamed Alaska's Interior. What did the Interior and the rest of Alaska look like eons ago when dinosaurs covered the landscape? The answer lies within fossilized plants and the characteristics of rocks that contain fossil footprints.
Recreating the world of Alaska's dinosaurs
For Immediate Release
Students participating in a geology field camp with University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty found the fossilized footprint from a small meat-eating dinosaur in Denali National Park in June 2005. That fossilized footprint is the first concrete evidence that dinosaurs once roamed Alaska's Interior. What did the Interior and the rest of Alaska look like eons ago when dinosaurs covered the landscape? The answer lies within fossilized plants and the characteristics of rocks that contain fossil footprints.
UAF geologist studies Chicxulub impact crater
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
About 65 million years ago, a massive disruption led to worldwide extinction of dinosaurs. The impact of a giant asteroid created massive tsunamis and spewed forth a global cloud of carbon gases that altered Earth’s atmosphere and blocked the light for weeks, possibly years. In recent years, that impact event has been linked to a 112-mile-wide crater, dubbed Chicxulub, on the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Mapping the Arctic ocean floor
For Immediate Release
FAIRBANKS, Alaska—An ice-free Arctic has the potential to unlock a wealth of resources that have long been inaccessible, buried beneath the ocean floor. This year, Russia nabbed a slew of attention for its claim that the Lomonosov Ridge is simply an extension of the Siberian continental shelf, an area believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves.
Scientists conclude asteroid ended the age of dinosaurs
CONTACT: Brian Keenan, Geophysical Institute Outreach Office, 907-474-5229, info [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu
Fairbanks, Alaska— University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist Michael Whalen is part of a team of distinguished scientists who recently compiled a wide swath of evidence striking a definitive blow in the ongoing battle over what killed the dinosaurs.
