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Mineral Mining: The rise in electronic devices being equiped with Lithium-Ion batteries has a downside. The following investigative report looked closely at where some of the cobalt used in those batteries comes from. Earth Science students just finished a unit on Minerals and Rocks, and we focused on mineral ores like the ones mined in Congo. These ores are driving our modern economy and gadget filled lives. This report proves the world needs to organize this process and demand 1st world country working conditions for these mines.Western New York companies helping NASANASA has a new webpage map showing all the companies that are contributing to current NASA missions including the Artemis mission sending humans back to the Moon. Click on New York and scroll down to look for companies across Western New York that are designing equipment, parts, space flight control systems, and life support systems to help aid in these missions!!!One of the reasons I love Earth Science, is that it is always having a direct effect on people globally. And due to population increases and our expanding footprint on where humans live, the problem will only get worse in the coming decades. Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, blizzards, floods, tornadoes, and asteroid impacts happen. I do not need to look very far or regrettably, wait very long, for one of these events to be in the news. My hope is that some of my students will eventually become problem solvers for society that can help alleviate some human suffering by engineering defenses, organizing relief efforts, or predicting these events more accurately. We must understand Earth Science better for this to happen!!July 2019 California Earthquakes!These maps below of ground changes due to the two strong earthquakes in southern California were produced using satellite imagery. We have found that some of the best maps are actually produced from space, getting a birds eye view of Earth's surface. The biggest advances the last few years are how fast after an event these images are produced and how sensitive the images are, known as resolution.This map shows the total displacement (ground movement) from the rupture.Notice the west side of the fault moved upwards and the east side dropped.These are mountain building processes in action!
The following is an exerpt of an article written by Merrit Kennedy. Read the full article here.
Curious how much the ground shifted after the two large earthquakes last week in Southern California? NASA has just the map for that question — and it happens to look like beautiful, psychedelic art.
On July 4, a 6.4 magnitude quake hit the town of Ridgecrest, north of Los Angeles. The next evening, the area was jolted again by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Luckily, there were no serious injuries or major infrastructure damage.
The map was created by the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It shows rippling rainbows forming a circular pattern around the faults of the two quakes.
Each rainbow stripes means that the ground has been displaced there by some 4.8 inches. It's the same logic as a topographic map, where lines that are closer together indicate steeper slopes. In this case, the closer together the rainbow stripes are, the more the ground was displaced by the temblor.
Explore my page for more detailed information about Earth Science, Environmental Science, and Astronomy for the 2018-19 school year.Ryan B. Keem652-3000 ext. 7120rkeem@iroquoiscsd.orgDegrees: Bachelor of Science, Earth Science - SUNY FredoniaMaster of Arts, Multidisciplinary Studies - Buffalo State CollegeMaster's Certificate in Earth Science- Penn State University (in progress, expected Fall 2019)New York State Certifications: Earth Science 7-12General Science 7-12-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thanks for visiting my page. I love all of the Earth Science disciplines, and am fascinated by our daily changes in weather and slow changes in geomorphology. I feel blessed to have chosen a career in something that I love to do. I also love Buffalo and Western New York, and their rich history from Native American settlement through the Holland Land Company survey to the explosion of industry and now the cleanup and resurgence in the wake of it. I graduated from St. Mary's HS in Lancaster, earned my BS in Earth Science from SUNY Fredonia, and my MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Buffalo State College. I've taught Earth Science, Middle School Science and Environmental Science for 12 years, and now have been a part of the Science Department at Iroquois High School for 3 years. I have high moral and academic expectations, and I hope that shows through in my students.How neat and how beautiful is this? Can you find Buffalo? It's down there!!
In the News.....What a massive change to our part of the world from February 14th (drammatically shown by ice cover in Lake Erie) to May 8th shown in the 3rd picture of Lake Erie from space. What big change to this photo should we expect from mid April through the first weeks of May? What do you notice about the land, especially the forested areas to the east of Lake Erie? Why do you think the farmland throughout Ohio and Canada (North and South, southwest of the Lake) is still mostly brown in early May?Lake Erie and surrounding frozen land Feb. 14th, 2018
Lake Erie all thawed out by April 22 2018
Land around Lake Erie greening up for spring (finally!) by May 8th 2018
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF NOAA COASTWATCH SATELLITE. 3 PHOTOS ARE TAKEN DAILY AND POSTED HERE
