Datun volcanic eruption without endangering the Taipei

Earth a researcher at the Academia Sinica, Chen Zhonghua, said yesterday that the Datun volcano group activities like "sleeping volcano may erupt, currently in a dormant state.

Academia Sinica host the first World Research Conference, the Chen Zhonghua study volcanic ash deposited in the Taipei area, found Datun volcanic eruption in the past two million years, a total of four, and last about six thousand years ago, in line with the definition of internationally active volcano .

He said that the extinct volcano, the active volcano defined the volcanic easily misunderstood volcanic characteristics to the "active" and "inactive" distinction is more accurate. Active volcano eruption might, but that does not mean the danger of an immediate eruption, should strengthen monitoring and prepare for Disaster Reduction ".

Chen Zhonghua said, to volcanic magma activity status and past record of view, even if Datun volcano eruption, the affected area should also not be extended to the entire Taipei.

Researcher at the Academia Sinica Institute of Earth Sciences, Cheng-Horng Lin said, the volcano is divided into an active volcano, an extinct volcano, dormant volcano. Active volcanoes on behalf of eruptions or magma activities under a million years; extinct volcano magma or heat is no longer there, dormant volcano is quiet for a long time, but there are likely eruption.

He said that the the Datun volcano academia multi dormant active volcanoes. The National Science Council and other units established Datun Volcano Observatory, add inclinometer, crustal uplift changes can be detected.

Faster GPS predict tsunami

German researchers today quoted earthquake data in Japan last year, compared to the current alarm system, global positioning system (GPS) can provide more rapid tsunami warning.

Germany Earth Science Research Center (GFZ) in Potsdam (Potsdam) scientists Barbados Kou (Andrey Babeyko) statement: "Fukushima earthquake events, we analyzed over 500 GPS tracking stations and proposed seismic scale numerical 9, and after the earthquake, only 3-4 minutes to accurately predict the earthquake could trigger tsunami. "

He added, "once again shows the GPS has the potential tsunami early warning.

Scientists meeting in Vienna, the European Geosciences Union (EGU) for one week on the findings.

The researchers said that, near the coast of the earthquake, tsunami accompanied attacks on land in a short period after 20-30 minutes, but the GPS in the earthquake measured near-zero-day, so you can more quickly assess the seismic scale.

They pointed out that the traditional measurement methods require a long time to come to the correct data, and often underestimate earthquake scale outset.

Antarctic ice melting: warm ocean currents to melt the ice below

Multinational research team study concluded that warm ocean currents, flowing through Antarctic ice shelf is the main cause of the Antarctic ice ice loss, this discovery will enable scientists to make more accurate predictions of future sea level rise on the 25th.

With the U.S. Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of ice, clouds, senior terrestrial satellite (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite, ICESat) to obtain information on auxiliary accompanied by a computer model, the researchers were able to distinguish by the melting ice shelf two major forces: the warm current from the sea, under the lead under the ice to melt, and the other is due to the result of warm air above the ice shelf to melt.

Moderator of the research project, the British Antarctic Survey, (British Antarctic Survey) Hamish Pritchard said: "no melting glaciers at the top of the snow by the summer sun, warm ocean currents from the next, near a very large number of ice in order to melt away." He pointed out, "The real interesting glacier sensitivity of this phenomenon some ice shelf thinning of the year a few meters, causing glaciers year discharge billions of tons of ice to the sea this phenomenon proves the importance of the ice shelf on the slow glacial speed; Glacier ice ice bed to be able to control the loss of Antarctic ice bed. "

Researchers collected by instruments installed in ICESat laser light 4.5 million pen laser ranging data, drawn out to cover almost the entire thickness of the floating ice shelf of Antarctica change, showing the trend of the entire continent of ice shelf melting.

54 ice shelf map data the 20 ice shelf (the majority located in West Antarctica) ice beneath the warm ocean current flows through the melt, recharge these thin ice shed further accelerate the inland glaciers flow to the sea, so that accelerated sea level rise more ice into the sea.

In the last 5 years of the study period (October 2003 - October), the study found that this causes in marine ice thinning the driving force, to become the largest and most rapidly the main reason for the loss of the West Antarctic ice.

This study was conducted by belonging to the British Antarctic Survey, (located at the University of Cambridge), the Netherlands, Utrecht University, University of California, San Diego, and Oregon non-profit organization "Earth and Space Research (Earth and Space Research) scientists have jointly completed and the results published in the journal Nature.

Scientists use time series to draw 4.5 million pen space telemetry data collected by ICESat covering almost the entire Antarctic continent floating ice shelf thickness variation map. They measure the change in the height of the ice shelf over time, and the use of a computer model to remove the image of snowfall and other natural factors on changes in ice height. The researchers also used the tidal patterns to estimate the impact of tidal height variation of the ice.

"This study presents a space telemetry is a powerful tool to study Earth phenomena." Tom Wagner, NASA's cryosphere program (cryosphere program) scientist, said: "Together with other NASA gravity backtracking and Climate Experiment (GRACE ) land ice data from satellite radar and aircraft come, we change the ice bed will get more comprehensive information, this information will help to estimate sea level rise. "

The past, most of the use of satellite radar data to estimate the changes in ice shelves and glaciers, but laser ranging will be more precise detection of the thickness of the ice shelf changes over time. This will be more true rendering of the topography of the coastal area. Is difficult to the sense measured floating ice shelf and the boundaries of land ice Baseline (grounding line) because of the low resolution radar.

ICESat is the first one designed to study the Earth's polar regions, and the use of laser ranging technology satellite. Its service constitutes for 2003 to 2009; successor ICESat-2 satellite is scheduled to launch in 2016. This study uncovered ICESat-2 satellite launch an urgent need; limited knowledge we impact of global climate change in the polar, no other scientist Jay Zwally of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Goddard Space Flight Center) things like satellite telemetry to monitor these changes.

The study will also occur during the ice bottom, ice shelves and glaciers accelerated change caused by the operation of the regional wind, ice melting phenomenon observed link. Pritchard said, "Studies show that the Antarctic wind change due to climate change, which affects the strength and direction of ocean currents, and thus render the funnel-like warm water in the bottom of the ice floes. These studies and our findings are presented Antarctic glacier response to climate change and rapid change. "

Example of the Antarctic Peninsula to explain the impact of the wind. Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica on a strip of land mass, a land mass orientation Chaoxiangna United States. This study shows that the Peninsula's largest ice shelf thinning snowmelt explain summer warm air through the surface of the ice shelf. To explain the change in the trend of melting ice melting ice phenomenon and summer of the Antarctic Peninsula sea-borne wind trend.

This study is part of the international community in order to further understand the interaction between ice and climate, sea level rise and more reliable sources of information.

The host David Vaughan of the EU-funded research projects of ice into the sea "(ice2sea program), the main contribution of this study is that a clear presentation of the bed of ice in Antarctica losing ice because in recent years. But more importantly, the future, the key is to understand the oceans to predict changes in the ice bed. Perhaps we should not only seek answers from the air of the Antarctic continent, should know more about surround sea.

IBEX Finds No Bow ‘Shock’ Outside our Solar System

For many years, scientists thought, when the entire solar system through interstellar space, which moves in front of the circle of the sun, like jet breaking the sound barrier, a sonic boom, most front-end by a layer of bow type shock wave banner head array. Unexpectedly the NASA IBEX No. detection satellites latest discovery turned out to be the moving speed of the solar circle in interstellar space is probably too slow, not form a bow wave, instead it would be better to say - more like amplitude and force more gentle many to wake (wake).
The chair relevant research researcher said, many observations in the past we have seen stellar travels, most front-end has a bow-type shock wave, the team's latest discovery, however, is placed under the entire interaction seems, did not reach the speed of the sun the formation of the bow shock wave threshold required threshold, sculptors, such as boats glide in the water in bow position will wake, but it seems more vividly depicted in the scene in front of the sun circle!

Help researchers find more solar system near the strength of the interplanetary magnetic field data from the IBEX return information. IBEX data show, the sun circle is actually about 83,000 kilometers per hour moving through the local interstellar cloud, more than originally estimated hour slower, about 11,000 km are insufficient because such speed and force called the "bow shock" So, in other words, the bow wave disappeared.

On the other hand, the magnetic pressure of the interstellar medium have some effect. Whether spacecraft the IBEX data or the early explorers, both observations need more speed to the strength of the magnetic field of the interstellar medium near term, in order to produce a bow shock wave. Under the combination of the two factors, the conclusion is: the bow wave in the extremely unlikely form.

Conclusion consistent with the results of this observation, and previous ESA CLUSTER plan obtained that the bow-type shock wave should be "quite superficial" (see related news http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index . cfm? fobjectid = 49637). IBEX research team in addition to analysis calculated according to the observations of the return, and these data combined with the model and numerical simulation to infer that draw the necessary conditions for a bow-type shock wave which, currently, two independent teams of ball type model analysis results coincide with each other.

These new findings make us bring significantly improved understanding of the circle of the sun? The IBEX staff now What is the significance of that latest information for the solar system circle the sun still too early to say, as long as several decades, scientists have been a the various assumptions scene with bow-type shock wave conditions, including research, must new data sets into study redo the job. So far, we already know how cosmic rays surrounds the solar system, the solar system, how to move forward in the interstellar universe, and how the interaction between human space travel are crucial knowledge message.