Welcome!

Benvenuti in queste pagine dedicate a scienza, storia ed arte. Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, Torino

Showing posts with label Geophysics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geophysics. Show all posts

Friday, January 11, 2019

North magnetic pole is moving

Of course the magnetic poles of the Earth are moving, and the magnetic declination is changing too. However, it seems that the poles are moving faster than before.

09 JANUARY 2019 - Earth’s magnetic field is acting up and geologists don’t know why.
Erratic motion of north magnetic pole forces experts to update model that aids global navigation.
"Something strange is going on at the top of the world. Earth’s north magnetic pole has been skittering away from Canada and towards Siberia, driven by liquid iron sloshing within the planet’s core. The magnetic pole is moving so quickly that it has forced the world’s geomagnetism experts into a rare move."
From https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00007-1


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Geoglyphs of Titicaca - 1



Earthworks near Titicaca Lake create "geoglyphs"
These earthworks are known as "raised fields" and "waru-warus".

The image, obtained from Google Maps, shows the network of earthworks separated by canals - near the Titicaca Lake (Huata, Puno, Peru). This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. Note that the structure of the network is created after a careful planning. Each raised field is approximately 10 meters large and more than one hundred long.


More on Titicaca

arXiv:1009.4602 [pdf] Geoglyphs of Titicaca as an ancient example of graphic design,
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
arXiv:1009.2231 [pdf] Symbolic landforms created by ancient earthworks near Lake Titicaca, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

A.C. Sparavigna (2012) 
Image Processing for the Enhancement of Satellite Imagery. In: Image Processing: Methods, Applications and Challenges / Vítor Hugo Carvalho. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. (USA), pp. 149-161. ISBN 9781620818442 

A.C. Sparavigna, R. Marazzato (2011)
Using Geographic Information Systems to Increment the Knowledge of Cultural Landscapes. In: Smart Tech & Smart Innovation, La strada per costruire il futuro, Torino, 15-17 Novembre 2011. 
[img] [img]
A.C. Sparavigna (2010)
The geoglyphs of Titicaca. In: ARCHAEOGATE n. 13-10-. - ISSN 1973-2953 
[img] [img]


Friday, September 28, 2012

Mombracco e Leonardo da Vinci

"Monbracho sopra saluzo sopra la certosa un miglio a piè di Monviso, a una miniera di petra faldata la quale e biancha come marmo di carrara, senza machule che è della durezza del porfido o più, delle quali il compare mio Maestro Benedetto scultore a impromesso donarmene una tabuletta per li colori.
 Adì 5 di genaro 1511", Leonardo da Vinci, manoscritto “B” Archive National Paris

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Bracco


Here in the satellite map, the quartzite quarry on the top of Mombracco, a mountain near Saluzzo.
Leonardo da Vinci, as we can read from his words,
knew the white marble-like stone coming from this quarry.
Mombracco is a  is over Rifreddo, Sanfront and Barge.


Amianto

« C'era amianto dappertutto, come una neve cenerina: se si lasciava per qualche ora un libro su di un tavolo, e poi lo si toglieva, se ne trovava il profilo in negativo; i tetti erano coperti da uno spesso strato di polverino, che nei giorni di pioggia si imbeveva come una spugna, e ad un tratto franava violentemente a terra. »
(Primo Levi, Il sistema periodico)


L'Amiantifera di Balangero è una cava di amianto situata in provincia di Torino, non più attiva. Fu la più grande cava di amianto in Europa e una tra le prime nel mondo; copriva una buona parte dei territori comunali di Balangero e di Corio.
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiantifera_di_Balangero

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Is it forming a new tectonic plate?

(CBS News) "A new study suggests that two recent earthquakes may indicate a literal seismic shift in our understanding of tectonic plate movements. Massive earthquakes under the Indian Ocean that took place last spring are the largest of their kind ever recorded. The 8.7 magnitude quake, followed by a 8.2 magnitude aftershock, could signal the formation of a new plate boundary under the Earth."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57521633/earthquakes-suggest-new-tectonic-plate-is-forming/

Monday, February 27, 2012

Uturuncu

"Uturuncu, or Uturunku, the highest summit in southwestern Bolivia, is a stratovolcano. ...Researchers have determined that a large, roughly circular "disc" of land surrounding the volcano, approximately 70 km across, has been rising at a rate of 1 to 2 cm per year since at least the early 1990s, making it "one of the fastest uplifting volcanic areas on the Earth"." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uturuncu
and also: Temen que supervolcán Uturuncu se prepare para explotar en Bolivia
http://www.connuestroperu.com/mundo/32/24804-temen-que-supervolcan-uturuncu-se-prepare-para-explotar-en-bolivia


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Volcanoes under Antarctic waters

"Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have discovered previously unknown volcanoes in the ocean waters around the remote South Sandwich Islands. Using ship-borne sea-floor mapping technology during research cruises onboard the RRSJames Clark Ross, the scientists found 12 volcanoes beneath the sea surface — some up to 3km high. They found 5km diameter craters left by collapsing volcanoes and 7 active volcanoes visible above the sea as a chain of islands."
More http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/press/press_releases/press_release.php?id=1541

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The origin of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

In 1912 Thomas Jaggar left MIT to start an observatory on the remote Kilauea volcano. The move was the culmination of a tortuous chain of events.
The origin of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory - Physics Today May 2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Bofedales - wetlands

Wiki  is reporting that "Bofedal es un humedal de altura y se considera una pradera nativa poco extensa con permanente humedad. Los vegetales o plantas que habitan el bofedal reciben el nombre de vegetales hidrofíticos. Los bofedales se forman en zonas como las de los macizos andinos ubicadas sobre los 3.800 metros de altura, en donde las planicies almacenan aguas provenientes de precipitaciones pluviales, deshielo de glaciares y principalmente afloramientos superficiales de aguas subterráneas." 
From the article, Los camellones alrededor del lago Titicaca, by Pierre Morlon, 2006, a bofedal is an artificial wet area used for cultivation, such as the qochas.
The site Atlantisbolivia.org is reporting an interesting image from Google Maps of  bofedales near Lake Poopo, Bolivia. The site is telling "...it may not be realised on the ground, but these satellite images show that these ponds were at one time artificially constructed in rows, with interlinking small channels in the Pampa Aullagas region of the Altiplano. On the Altiplano there are many such examples of this type of landscape, some natural, some artificial as above, which are known asbofedales (wetlands)."
http://www.atlantisbolivia.org/corrientes.htm
I have searched the place and processed the images.

Bolivia, Bofedales near Lake Poopo