Arctic May Boost Oil and Gas Reserves

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

Trans-Alaska Pipeline (background). It could be in business for years to come carrying the oil predicted to exist off Alaska's coast.

The first-ever comprehensive assessment of Arctic oil and gas deposits reveals that 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its undiscovered natural gas could be trapped beneath the far north’s barren land and icy waters. The potential resources are unlikely to alter world trends in oil and gas trade, however, and will probably keep Russia the king of natural gas for years to come.

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Because of the Arctic’s remote location and harsh environment, oil and gas exploration has been limited to just a few areas off the coasts of northern countries, such as the United States and Russia. But dwindling oil reserves (expected to peak in production by about 2020), waning opportunities for exploration elsewhere, and the melting of sea ice have recently made the Arctic a more attractive option. But just how much does the Arctic have to offer?
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Ancient Volcanic Eruptions Caused Global Mass Extinction

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

A previously unknown giant volcanic eruption that led to global mass extinction 260 million years ago has been uncovered by scientists at the University of Leeds.A previously unknown giant volcanic eruption that led to global mass extinction 260 million years ago has been uncovered by scientists at the University of Leeds.

The eruption in the Emeishan province of south-west China unleashed around half a million cubic kilometres of lava, covering an area 5 times the size of Wales, and wiping out marine life around the world.

Unusually, scientists were able to pinpoint the exact timing of the eruption and directly link it to a mass extinction event in the study published in Science. This is because the eruptions occurred in a shallow sea – meaning that the lava appears today as a distinctive layer of igneous rock sandwiched between layers of sedimentary rock containing easily datable fossilised marine life.The layer of fossilised rock directly after the eruption shows mass extinction of different life forms, clearly linking the onset of the eruptions with a major environmental catastrophe.The global effect of the eruption is also due to the proximity of the volcano to a shallow sea. The collision of fast flowing lava with shallow sea water caused a violent explosion at the start of the eruptions – throwing huge quantities of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere.

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Jupiter-like Planet Found Orbiting One Of Smallest Stars

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

A long-proposed tool for hunting planets has netted its first catch — a Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of the smallest stars known.

The technique, called astrometry, was first attempted 50 years ago to search for planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets. It involves measuring the precise motions of a star on the sky as an unseen planet tugs the star back and forth. But the method requires very precise measurements over long periods of time, and until now, has failed to turn up any exoplanets.

A team of two astronomers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has, for the past 12 years, been mounting an astrometry instrument to a telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego. After careful, intermittent observations of 30 stars, the team has identified a new exoplanet around one of them — the first ever to be discovered around a star using astrometry.

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Astronomers Take Close Look into Black Hole’s Edge

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Rashid Faridi

Using new data from ESA’s XMM-Newton spaceborne observatory, astronomers have probed closer than ever to a supermassive black hole lying deep at the core of a distant active galaxy.

The galaxy – known as 1H0707-495 – was observed during four 48-hr-long orbits of XMM-Newton around Earth, starting in January 2008. The black hole at its centre was thought to be partially obscured from view by intervening clouds of gas and dust, but these current observations have revealed the innermost depths of the galaxy.

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