Geology.com | News - November 4, 2009

ICRF Maps for GPS Systems, Astronomy, Spacecraft Navigation Posted: 03 Nov 2009 11:10 PM PST What landmarks can be used when traveling in space? The GPS reference satellite constellation uses a map quasars to determine their location. That same map can guide spacecraft and be used to aim telescopes.

El Misti Volcano Posted: 03 Nov 2009 10:20 PM PST The city center of Arequipa, Peru is only 11 miles away from the summit of El Misti. Arequipa has nearly 1 million residents and much of the building stone for Arequipa was quarried from pyroclastic flow deposits produced by El Misti.

Memory Problems for Spirit Rover Posted: 03 Nov 2009 10:11 PM PST The Spirit Rover on Mars has been failing to store its daily data before powering down. This memory problem may slow plans to dislodge the craft from the soils of Troy, where it has been stuck since April.

Sea Level Rising in North Carolina Posted: 03 Nov 2009 09:45 PM PST In North Carolina, sea level is rising three times more rapidly now than in the past 5 centuries. The Tump Point and Sand Point salt marshes were analyzed for this study.

Beginnings of New Ocean in Ethiopia Posted: 03 Nov 2009 09:40 PM PST A large rift in Ethiopia’s Afar desert may be the beginnings of a new ocean. An eruption from the Dabbahu volcano triggered the rift’s formation, when the ground split about 6 meters (20 feet) in the course of a few days. Related: East Africa’s Great Rift Valley: A Complex Rift System

Preteen T. Rex was a Fighter Posted: 03 Nov 2009 09:35 PM PST Marks on a Tyrannosaurus rex skull indicate that the creature may have been fighting with its peers. The young dinosaur, “Jane”, was apparently bitten on the snout, causing the bones to heal asymmetrically.

The Great Oxidation Event Posted: 03 Nov 2009 08:25 PM PST The Great Oxidation Event is thought to have occurred about 2.4 billion years ago, when large amounts of oxygen became present in our planet’s atmosphere. A study of Australian shale samples indicates that the oceans were producing oxygen millions of years before this.