A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The strong quake was centered 104 miles (168 km) east of Thimphu, Bhutan, at a depth of 4.5 miles (7.2 km), USGS said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
THE first complete map of the lakes beneath Antarctica’s ice sheets reveals the continent’s secret water network is far more dynamic than we thought. This could be acting as a powerful lubricant beneath glaciers, contributing to sea level rise. Unlike previous lake maps, which are confined to small regions, Ian Joughin at the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues mapped 124 subglacial lakes across Antarctica using lasers on NASA’s ICESat satellite .
The team also observed the lakes draining and filling. While interior lakes tended to be static, many coastal lakes changed significantly. Some even appear to be connected by channels under the ice hundreds of kilometres long. For instance, when upstream lakes under the Recovery glacier drained 3 cubic kilometres of water, lakes downstream gained a similar amount (Journal of Glaciology, vol 55, p 573).
Water flowing under glaciers can act as a lubricant, causing land ice to accelerate into the sea and add to rising sea levels. “The implications for the flow of ice are potentially quite significant,” says Andy Smith of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK. Those lakes with no clear drainage channels are of particular interest, he says, because they could be spreading a thin film of lubricating water under glaciers.
A gilded mask, found affixed to the front of a coffin, was among the treasures recently uncovered at San Jose de Moro, a site in Peru that once served as a cemetery for the pre-Inca Moche society, archaeologists announced this week.
The wooden coffin was unearthed earlier this year in the second room of a unique double-chambered tomb, which dates back to A.D. 850. Inside the coffin, the excavation team found a skeleton of a rattle-wielding elite male, a rare discovery at a site famous as the resting place for several powerful priestesses.
The underground water supplies that 1.5 million Palestinians depend upon for drinking and agricultural uses are in danger of collapse, finds a new report by the UN Environment Programme’s Post-Conflict Assessment Branch on the environmental condition of the Gaza Strip.The report calls for the aquifer to be “rested” and alternative water sources found.”Unless the trend is reversed now, damage could take centuries to reverse. Since the aquifer is a continuum with Egypt and Israel, any such action must be coordinated with these countries,” the report states.The report says pollution levels are so high that infants in the Gaza Strip are at risk from nitrate poisoning. High levels of nitrates can cause a form of anemia in infants known as blue baby syndrome.
The report says pollution levels are so high that infants in the Gaza Strip are at risk from nitrate poisoning. High levels of nitrates can cause a form of anemia in infants known as blue baby syndrome.read more
