My old office

In what seems like another lifetime, I used to be a geologist for an environmental consulting company here in the Bay Area. One of my biggest fears was drilling through a gas line.

We were often in the field, supervising remediation projects or gathering data in preparation for a remediation project. This often involved gathering soil and rock samples while drilling a series of boreholes that ranged anywhere from 3 feet in depth to around 100 feet in depth.

Before we ever drilled on a site, we consulted numerous maps and hired a company to carry out a USA (underground service alert) survey. The objective of a USA survey was to detect any utilities (gas, water, electricity) and mark them on the ground so that any drilling or excavation work wouldn't impact said utilities.

This is what all the crazy markings you see all over a sidewalk or on a street mean.

While working on a project in Ukiah a few years ago, we marked a series of spots to drill and had a survey company make sure our spots were clear of any subsurface obstructions. Then we had a drill rig come out and start putting down boreholes.

Midway through the first day of drilling, we were sitting at our logging table when we heard a loud rushing sounds followed by frantic shouts. We looked up in time to see a 30 foot geyser of water shoot up through the top of rig's tower and the workers scrambling away from the site.

We promptly contacted one of the property owners who turned off the water. After surveying the mess (a lot of muddy ground and a very wet drill rig), it turns out we had drilled right through the middle of an old asbestos cement water main about 6 feet below the surface. It never appeared on any site maps nor did the company conducting the USA survey detect it.

Since the pipe contained asbestos, special care had to be taken to clean up and repair the main, which involved masks for air filtration and disposable Tyvek suits.

Fortunately, it was only a water main (and not a very big one, at that), but it's something that I was extremely paranoid about in future drilling operations that we conducted.

What if, through sloppy work, unmarked maps, or some other coincidence, it was a gas main? It's a thought that still scares me today.

I'm sure Corona's marketing department is thrilled about this.

[H]e returned to his residence in Kabul to find it had been burgled. The intruder took money from a drawer and left behind a bottle of Corona beer. The Corona bottle sat on his counter for the next two weeks Yeager says, because Corona is one of his least favorite beers. He finally opened it during a going away party as the other drinks began to run low.

"I pulled it out and when I popped it there was no fizz and the cap was loose," says Yeager. "Because this one didn't have fizz you wonder if it went rancid or not, and I just kind of sniffed it and I went 'Oh, that doesn't smell like beer.' "

Yeager, a geochemist familiar with acids, realized it smelled like sulfuric acid - otherwise known as battery acid. He called a friend over who had the same reaction to the smell. Yeager poured the "beer" into the toilet and it foamed and fizzed, leaving "no question" in his mind it was sulfuric acid.

Incredible footage from Eyjafjallajökull.

Incredible video of a jökulhlaup (volcanic induced flood by melting of a glacier) from the eruption beneath the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in Iceland.

[Via Brian Romans]

Just saw this absolutely ridiculous article posted on Digg, by way of the Guardian: "Water vapour caused one-third of global warming in 1990s, study reveals."

That's gotta be one of the more sensationalist titles ever written in the climate change debate, which will help fuel and legitimize claims made by climate change deniers. Anyway, the article does have some interesting nuggets and things that should be discussed.

Scientists have underestimated the role that water vapour plays in determining global temperature changes, according to a new study that could fuel further attacks on the science of climate change. The research, led by one of the world's top climate scientists, suggests that almost one-third of the global warming recorded during the 1990s was due to an increase in water vapour in the high atmosphere, not human emissions of greenhouse gases. A subsequent decline in water vapour after 2000 could explain a recent slowdown in global temperature rise, the scientists add.

Basically, scientists need to do a better job modeling how water vapor plays a role in climate change. That said, there are few interesting things to consider, that this article fails to mention:

• Examples of common greenhouse gases are CH₄ (methane), CO₂ (carbon dioxide), N₂O (nitrous oxide), and H₂O (water!).
• The atmospheric concentration of CO₂ and CH₄ *is* increasing, mainly due to anthropogenic causes (burning coal, oil, and natural gas).
• In general, the concentration of H₂O in the atmosphere varies (but is dependent on atmospheric temperature), however there is a complex relationship between increased H₂O -> increased cloud cover -> increased albedo.

The second thing to consider is the relative impact each of these gases have on trapping heat. In general, all greenhouse gases are compared to CO₂ (which has a value of 1.0). This is called the global warming potential.

Methane is 25x stronger at trapping heat than carbon dioxide! Again, the atmospheric concentration of both of these gases is increasing. What is water vapor's effect on trapping heat?

A GWP is not usually calculated for water vapour. Water vapour has a significant influence with regard to absorbing infrared radiation (which is the green house effect); however its concentration in the atmosphere mainly depends on air temperature. As there is no possibility to directly influence atmospheric water vapour concentration, the GWP-level for water vapour is not calculated.

Anyway, how do we know that concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are increasing? I wrote an article about that on the Geology News Blog awhile ago. Check it out.

Over on the Geology News blog, I posted two videos I recorded yesterday playing with the new version of Google Earth.

The first video examines Monterey Canyon, an underwater canyon near Monterey, California. The second video is the area that Spirit, a Mars Exploration Rover, landed at in January 2004.

Back in the States and jumping right back into school.

Anyway, I went ahead and created a photo gallery with pics from our stay on the North Island. Check it out!

North Island Photos

Alright, it's my last full day in New Zealand! How quickly the last 6 weeks have gone by. I'm quite sad to be leaving actually. Though at the same time, I'm anxious to get home, see my friends and share stories. We're in Rotorua all day today and will be trying to catch the Super Bowl somewhere in town. My flight leaves here tomorrow at 7pm!

I arrive back in San Francisco on Tuesday at 10:15AM! (Interestingly enough, while I was having lunch on Mt. Ngauruhoe, another couple came by who were also from San Francisco. Small world!)

Anyway... internet use here is incredibly expensive! Time to go.

So long New Zealand.

About after about 9 and a half hours of hiking today, we completed the Tongiriro Crossing. It's the best hike I've ever done. I took *200* pictures today and have no way to upload them. Grr!

Anyway, I am quite wiped out. It's currently 10:43 PM and we got back about an hour ago. Time for bed.

(3 more days in New Zealand!!)

Alright, we're currently staying outside of Tongariro National Park at the backpackers hostel located there. It is quite an awesome place. We played volleyball with a few people earlier this evening and then did some rock climbing (this place has it's own rock climbing gym! Awesome!).

Tomorrow we are going to hike the world famous Tongariro Crossing, which is roughly 20 kilometers in length. Among the highlights will be climbing Mount Ngauruhoe (famously known as Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings movies). Apparently, we actually have a beautiful shot of it from our bedroom window. Unfortunately, it's been cloudy! (Supposed to be cloudy tomorrow too! Grrr!).

Also, I haven't been able to upload photographs I've taken lately due to the fact that most computers I've encountered have lacked the proper USB connections. So I might just have to wait until I get home next week.

Anyway, things are going swell! I'll write more soon.