Jessica Colotl fights back!


They just f _ _ _ ed with the wrong Mexican!

3.2 M Earthquake in TN, GA

A minor earthquake with a 3.2 moment magnitude occurred about 11 AM this Saturday, August 1st in the mountains of Tennessee and Georgia. The epicenter was near Ducktown, Tennessee, about 55 miles east of Chattanooga. Although I did not feel any effects down here in south Georgia, an intensity map prepared by the USGS shows light to moderate shaking in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.

Atlanta loses Lake Lanier

Last Friday, July 17th, Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been improperly tapping Lake Lanier as a municipal water source for Atlanta. I have yet to read the entire decision, but according to newspaper accounts it hinged on the idea that current use of the reservoir deviates from the initial purpose of impounding federally protected waters of the Chattahoochee River.

The Lake Lanier case involved the state governments of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It was tried before a judge from the federal district of Minnesota, presumably to insure impartiality. Judge Magnuson's decision has implications for many other localities where lakes originally constructed for flood control or irrigation have been converted to municipal water supplies or some other purpose than that for which the waters were originally impounded.

Many environmentalists are already applauding this decision, particularly in Alabama and Florida. However, it is likely that Georgia will now instead move forward on new dam construction. New dams, particularly if built within the "ACF" (Appalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint) system, could have even more deleterious impacts on both local Georgia environments and downstream fisheries and hydrology.

Tragedy Strikes the Atlanta Botanical Garden

Saxby smacks the camera

Senator Saxby Chambliss had something to do with that sugar storage silo that blew up in Savannah. I guess that he was keeping the federal inspectors away. At any rate, he clearly does not want attention paid to the lawsuits while he is in the final days of his reelection bid.

Valdosta is TitleTown, USA! ! !

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Vote Valdosta TitleTown, USA! ! !

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FIRE in Action: Valdosta State University

Natural Gas in the Conasauga shale

For several years now, I have been taking students to collect trilobites and other fossils from the Conasauga shale at outcrops near Dalton, Georgia. Around two weeks ago, I was contacted by two different people asking for information about the Conasauga formation that might be useful in fossil fuel exploration. Their calls caught be by surprise because I had not read the recent stories in both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Birmingham News about the discovery of natural gas along Big Canoe Creek in St. Clair County, Alabama.

Evidently the Conasauga shale contains natural gas in sufficient quantities that several wells are already producing. The area around Ashville, Alabama is being flooded with drillers and speculators buying up mineral rights for energy companies such as Dominion Resources and Energen Company, Inc. As the website StClairGas.com indicates, all of this attention is focused on a 40-square-mile, 500,000 acre area referred as The Big Canoe Creek Field. There is a discussion forum "blog" set up on the site, and there has also been a lively discussion of the Conasauga shale play at the Topix Science blog.

As the above map shows, the same Cambrian rocks currently producing natural gas in St. Clair County, Alabama extend eastward into Georgia although they have been folded and faulted in a complex history. The oil and gas potential of Paleozoic rocks of the eastern Appalachians has been recognized in a general sense for decades, and it was one primary justification for the extensive COCORP seismic investigations of the late 1970's. There are now exciting opportunities here in the Southeast for exploration geologists, venture capitalists, and anyone with a knack for making land deals.

R.I.P. Don Herbert ("Mr. Wizard")

Don Herbert ("Mr. Wizard") died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89.

While convalescing at home in May with the multiple myeloma which killed him, Mr Wizard gave one final interview to Wired News. Here are some of my favorite parts of the interview:

WN: What was the highlight of your career?

Herbert: One of the many highlights was realizing the tremendous effect the Watch Mr. Wizard show had on the mass national audience. After all, we did not tape in front of an audience and the early years were live, kinescope, shows. We didn't get instant feedback.

WN: What advice would you give to the makers of science television programming?

Herbert: Science is about the real world around us and it's filled with fascinating wonders...

Wired News: What advice would you give to the next generation of science educators?

Herbert: To keep a hands-on approach to teaching science and always keep the student involved.

Speaking of science educators, the state of Georgia today announced an action plan to increase the numbers of both students pursuing an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and teachers prepared to teach courses in these fields in the public schools. In 2006, the 19 teacher-preparation institutions in the University System of Georgia (USG) produced a total of three high-school physics teachers. University System officials are not satisfied with this low number in view of the rapid economic development in the state and projected needs for scientists, engineers, and doctors.

The Georgia GOP: Champions of Ecology

Georgia's senators Johnny Isakson and Saxy Chambliss, shown above with our governor Sonny Perdue on the right, took up the cause today of the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Did they win?

What appears to have transpired here is political gamesmanship all the way around, beginning with the Department of Energy which is trying to employ its own scientists and private sector contractors at the expense of the regional experts and graduate students on SREL staff. In a letter received today by congressmen Brad Miller (D-NC) and Nick Lampson (D-TX), the DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management writes that DOE concluded nearly two years ago that "basic science missions did not warrant continued funding of the University for (SREL)." According to DOE assistant secretary James A. Rispoli, the "leadership" of SREL responded to the DOE review with a plan to make SREL "self-sustaining by seeking specific research assignments from the entire DOE complex, not just the Office of Science or the Office of Environmental Management, and by actively responding to solicitations from other Federal entities (or from state and private entities)."

Reading between the lines, the present appeal by the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory to legislators and to the general public may mean that the above proposed solution did not work out. I think it highly likely that the University of Georgia was never comfortable with the plan outlined by Rispoli in the first place. Aiken, South Carolina would be a difficult location to establish a competitive scientific enterprise such as DOE and SREL leadership are supposed to have had in mind. As noted in the SREL statement on their funding situation, those who will suffer the most if the laboratory closes will be university graduate students and the local community. The politicians win either way.

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) is currently scheduled to close when funding from the U.S. Department of Energy is exhausted at the end of this month. The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) is a research unit of the University of Georgia located on the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. For more than 50 years ecologists and other scientists here have been doing research on the 803 km² (310 mi²) SRS, a National Environmental Research Park (NERP).

The SREL has provided a unique opportunity for scientists to conduct studies in both near-pristine and contaminated areas, and more than 2,800 papers have been published in the scientific literature by the research faculty and staff at SREL. The subjects have included such varied topics as soil and water remediation, reptile and amphibian conservation, natural attenuation, and much more. It will be a tragedy not only for the University of Georgia but also for the Department of Energy and for the world scientific community if this laboratory in fact closes. Tasks important to long-term environmental stewardship of the Savannah River Site will not be completed. About 100 people will lose their jobs, hundreds affiliated with or dependent upon SREL research will be affected significantly, and tens of thousands of teachers, students, and members of the public who are touched by SREL education and outreach programs will lose out. SREL employees and programs funded by non-DOE grants will also be forced to move due to lack of funding to meet DOE mandated safety and security requirements. Presentations to regional schools, libraries, civic groups, and other organizations will end as will the independent, oversight studies SREL conducts and publishes on radiation effects, chemical releases, and environmental health.

(Text abbreviated from University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory statement - for a more timely blog posting on the projected closure see De Rerum Natura. Today there is news that Republican senators from both Georgia and South Carolina have signed a letter to the Secretary of Energy, Samuel Bodman, requesting that SREL funding be restored.)

Stone Mountain Concept Cache

My concept cache of Stone Mountain is up. Concept caching promotes spatial awareness by relating specific features on the Earth's surface with their visual character and GPS coordinates. Photographs and GPS coordinates are "cached" for viewing by core concept and by region. Stone Mountain is cached under "igneous processes" amd also under "mass wasting and slope processes," perhaps more.

Earthquake in Georgia!

Late in the evening on Tuesday, March 14th, a small earthquake shook parts of east Georgia. According to Pam Tucker, the Emergency Services Director for the county which includes most of Augusta, citizens reported hearing a loud boom and feeling vibrations at around 11:20 PM.

The star on the above map shows the epicenter located by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) using seismographs in the surrounding region. While the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a 1.8 Richter magnitude, the USGS has a 2.1 magnitude. The USGS also estimates a 5 km depth for the focus, the point in the crust where the seismic energy originated. There are old thrust faults in this area, mostly inactive although they do sometimes produce minor tremors as apparently occurred Tuesday night.

BIODIESEL 3

I teach in Gwinnett County and consider it to be quite conservative, particularly in terms of national politics. Nonetheless, the small town of Loganville on US 78 between Athens and Atlanta may now hold the record as the first city to run all its vehicles on fuel made right on its own doorstep. A young local businessman, Dan Maher, started a small biodiesel factory tucked inside a back room at his car wash. In March, 2006 Dan incorporated his business as Georgia Biofuels Corporation and the plant has expanded into space at the East Gwinnett Business Park.

Georgia Biofuels now fuels up vehicles for Gwinnett County, Eastside Towing, the Loganville Fire Department, Walton County School System and Excel Foundations. The business plan includes setting up turnkey operations in other communities and franchising them out. It is also planning to set up a pump, first at Dan’s Dirty Car Wash in Loganville, which is owned by Maher, and then possibly at several other locations.

BIODIESEL 1

Georgia appears to be pushing ahead on the production of biodiesel, in spite of our generally conservative and Republican political machine. The first commercial plant I found mentioned in a Google search this morning is the U.S. Biofuels plant in Rome, Georgia. Agriculture commissioner Tommy Irvin, a Democrat, is quoted in the article promoting a long-term commitment to biofuels here in Georgia. Jimmy Carter has also been actively promoting biofuels, and a new plant is scheduled to open today in Plains, Georgia. Alterra Bioenergy, the company opening the new plant in Plains, is headed by Macon businessman Wayne Johnson and listed on the official website of the National Biodiesel Board.

My next post is a video about Rob Del Bueno, an alternative technology entrepreneur who is also a rock 'n roll musician. I would love to hear Rob's views on the corporate takeover of alternative energy. Will the "sustainability" mission be neglected as businesses develop the technology and focus on the bottom line?

Soil Erosion in West Africa

Given our erosion problems here in the Piedmont of the southeastern United States, I am not surprised to learn that the problems are at least as serious in West Africa. The problems are being studied, particularly by the geologist Frank Simpson of the University of Windsor in Canada. However, most African governments are too poor and too understaffed to do much about them. I am not aware of any large American or United Nations projects to address soil erosion at present.

As I learned when I worked in southern Mexico, the underlying geology very often plays a role in the location and pattern of soil erosion. In Nigeria's Enugu state, major gullies are concentrated in areas with highly friable sandstones while about 65 per cent of the entire state is affected by sheet erosion. Climate and land use play the largest roles in triggering erosion, and the latter is something that human societies can control and hopefully also remedy the effects of. Our history here in the southeastern United States probably represents an extreme as far as intensive row-crop agriculture which has not been equaled elsewhere in the world. On the other hand, our climate is subtropical with somewhat lighter downpours compared to those in the tropical rainy season.

An article in "The Earth Times" summarizes soil erosion in sub-Saharan Africa and recommends an interesting means of controlling it which has been used in southern Africa. Vetiveria zizanoides, a grass native to tropical parts of India, holds the soil in place with its strong roots and also retains moisture that normally gushes off the land in flash floods. In addition to its proven value for erosion control, the grass is thought to have medicinal properties by Ayurvedic herbalists. It has also been used as a famine food in northern Nigeria, where it apparently already grows wild. I would love the opportunity to try making use of it somewhere in tropical Africa in an experimental study. It cannot possibly turn out as badly as our experience with the notorious kudzu vine here in the southeastern United States, also initially thought to be useful for controlling soil erosion.

Protection of Georgia's Coastal Marshes
The Georgia coast is "mesotidal," meaning that it has a relatively large "tidal range" between the mean high tide and the mean low tide. In other words, there is a great expanse of brackish to saline marsh, bog, wetland, or however you wish to refer to it. The delicate balance of physical and chemical conditions in these coastal marshes supports extremely diverse assemblages of plants and animals.
As shown in the above figure¹, plants in Georgia's coastal marshes are distributed in zones determined by elevation, substrate, water chemistry, and tidal dynamics. In view of their considerable research value^2,3,4 to biologists, chemists, and geologists as well as their value in maintaining the chemical and biological health of Georgia's coastal environments, the marshes definitely deserve protection from the rapid development of our coast for tourism, recreation, and other commercial purposes. The Coastal Marshes Protection Act ( O.C.G.A. 12-5-280, et seq.) does just that, providing the Coastal Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) with the authority to protect tidal wetlands. A permit from the DNR Marshlands Protection Committee is required to dredge, fill, or build on any coastal marsh.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, the DNR Coastal Resources Division is currently proposing amended rules for protecting coastal marshes. The state legislature is supposed to be voting sometime this week on these rules, which propose a 25 foot buffer "between the upland component of the project as measured horizontally inland from the coastal marshland-upland interface." The "buffer" appears to be adapted from an approach that has been taken for floodplains of inland waterways. Tidal marshes are considerably more complex. The Sierra Club is claiming that these rules will weaken the protection of the coastal marshes, because lawsuits they are pursuing against developers have yet to be decided in the courts. Similar comments have also been submitted by Jim Stokes, president of the Georgia Conservancy. Stokes notes that recommendations solicited from the Georgia Coastal Research Council, funded by the DNR itself, have not been followed in the amended rules. Hopefully the rules will be rewritten so that they are clear enough to be implemented but strong enough to ensure protection of the coastal marshes.

¹Teal, John M., 1962, Energy flow in the salt marsh ecosystem of Georgia. Ecology 43: 614-624.
²Odum, Eugene P., and Smalley, Alfred E., 1959, Population energy flow of two invertebrate species in a salt marsh ecosystem. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 45: 617-622.
³Sherr, Evelyn B., 1982, Carbon isotope composition of organic seston and sediments in a Georgia salt marsh estuary. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 46(7): 1227-1232.
⁴Alber, Merryl, and Hollibaugh, James T., 2003, Why is the Coastal Marsh Dying? The Network Newsletter 16(2).

Financial Aid Fraud, Student Attendance, and Foreign Students

This morning's news about Dolores Cross, the former president of Morris Brown College here in Atlanta, got me thinking about recent changes in federal student aid policy. Dr. Cross was sentenced to five years of probation and a year of home confinement for her role in fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in federal student aid. That seems like a light sentence, given that she was actually convicted of embezzlement, so perhaps the judge felt some sympathy with her. He did note in justifying the light sentence that Dr. Cross did not profit personally from the crime. It also seems as though the federal prosecutors made a bargain with the real devil in this case, something that they do all too frequently these days. The prosecutors had already arranged a similarly light sentence for Parvesh Singh, who was the college’s financial-aid director when the fraud was committed and testified against Dr. Cross.

While I know that there has been a great deal of regional attention to the Morris Brown scandal, it does not seem to have garnered much national press or played any major role in federal financial aid policy. The reforms of federal law designed to take care of fraud in financial aid were put through in 1998 when the Higher Education Act of 1965 was amended. Those reforms were advocated on the basis of several key incidents which occurred prior to 1997, summarized by Inspector General Thomas Bloom in a speech to the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

As a recently minted college teacher the most burdensome change in federal policy affecting me has been the ritual of "no-show" reporting. I did not have to report "no-shows" when I first started teaching college classes in 2003, and it was not yet in force in Spring, 2004, when I taught some large lecture sections in which it would have been really painful to do so. The "no-show" reporting evidently came down from the federal government between the 1998 reforms and the more recent "reauthorization" of the Higher Education Act this past spring. A quick Google search brought up references to the "Student and Exchange Visitor Information System" of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. There was a particularly detailed explanation of this system given to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims of the House Judiciary Committee by Johnny N. Williams of the Department of Homeland Security. So "no-show" reporting is apparently a response to the events of September 11, 2001.

The responses to financial aid fraud do include detailed rules for the amount of student aid that may be awarded to a student if they withdraw before the end of the semester. The recent revisions were prompted in part by the disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina. Congress also allocated more money to the Pell Grant rather than to loans. This seems odd since many of the cases of fraud were actually in the Pell Grant program, and that is also what is directly affected when a student is reported as a "no-show."

Spaceship Earth

A sculpture titled "Spaceship Earth" by the Italian sculptor Eino has apparently fallen to pieces only three months after it was installed on the campus of Kennesaw State University on the outskirts of Altanta, Georgia. The sculpture was dedicated to the memory of the renowned California environmentalist David Brower and made of 175 tons of blue quartzite quarried from Brazil.

According to an article by Aixa Paschal in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Eino's original intention was for the sculpture to be installed in Brower's hometown, Berkeley, California. Berkeley refused the sculpture, however, claiming that it could find no land for it. Members of a local arts committee also apparently found the sculpture aesthetically substandard. I can see why it was considered an appropriate addition to the campus at Kennesaw State, which has an excellent program in life science with an environmental emphasis. Hopefully, the demise of the Spaceship Earth sculpture is not an omen of things to come for the real thing.