ILLUSTRATING EARLY EARTH - THESE SCIENTISTS USE CREATIVE WAYS TO DIG INTO DEEP TIME - Eos.org
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
VOL. 103 | NO. 3
MARCH 2022
ILLUSTRATING
EARLY
EARTH
THESE SCIENTISTS USE
CREATIVE WAYS TO
DIG INTO DEEP TIME.
A Fumigation Flaw
Biocrust Restorations
Russian Pipelines and
Permafrost Thaw
MATLAB SPE;AKS
I
- MACHrNE
•• •• LEARNING
, • .. With MATLAB ® you can use clustering,
regression, classification, and deep
learning to build predictive models
and put them into production.
mat hworks.com/mach inelea rn i ng
MathWorks·
FROM THE EDITOR
Editor in Chief
Heather Goss, Eos_EIC@agu.org
How to Work in the Dark AGU Staff
Editorial
on Deep Time Managing Editor
Senior Science Editor
Caryl-Sue Micalizio
Timothy Oleson
Associate Editor Alexandra Scammell
“I
News and Features Writer Kimberly M. S. Cartier
n the almost complete absence of early crustal rocks, News and Features Writer Jenessa Duncombe
scientists have thus had to piece together their hypoth-
eses from indirect evidence,” write Anastassia Y. Bor- Production & Design
Assistant Director, Operations Faith A. Ishii
isova and Anne Nédélec in their research update featured in
Production and Analytics Specialist Anaise Aristide
this issue. Much like those investigating exoplanets millions Assistant Director, Design & Branding Beth Bagley
of light years away, scientists who study the interior of Earth Program Manager, Brand Production Valerie Friedman
and how it formed are working largely in the dark. Senior Graphic Designer J. Henry Pereira
Multimedia Graphic Designer Mary Heinrichs
Our March issue highlights the work of these scientists.
Borisova and Nédélec offer “A Simple Recipe for Making the Marketing
First Continental Crust” on page 22, describing the creative Assistant Director, Marketing & Advertising Liz Zipse
approaches they’ve taken to develop a model that explains its
origins—and potentially Mars’s crust as well.
Advertising
Display Advertising Steve West
“The Young Earth Under the Cool Sun” on page 28 looks at steve@mediawestinc.com
another problem of Earth formation—how to explain why the planet didn’t freeze before solar Recruitment Advertising recruitmentsales@wiley.com
fusion was kicking into high gear. Researchers are looking all over the universe for an answer—
from exoplanet cousins with their own faint young stars, to our Mars and Venus neighbors, Science Advisers
Geodesy Surendra Adhikari
and even to Moon rocks that Apollo astronauts collected and brought home. One thing we can
Hydrology José Luis Arumi
tell you: Don’t call it a paradox. Natural Hazards Paula R. Buchanan
Research on deep-time questions often requires very specialized labs with very expensive GeoHealth Helena Chapman
equipment. So what happens when the head of the lab retires or moves on to other opportu- Atmospheric and Space Electricity Kenneth L. Cummins
Space Physics and Aeronomy Jingnan Guo
nities? It’s an issue that most institutions across all disciplines deal with, but we look specif- History of Geophysics Kristine C. Harper
ically at the case of argon-argon labs and how they’re handling questions of succession and Planetary Sciences Sarah M. Hörst
avoiding the loss of productive labs in a relatively small field. See what you might take away Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology Emily R. Johnson
Cryosphere Michalea King
on page 34 in “Long-Term Planning for Deep-Time Labs.” Societal Impacts and Policy Sciences Christine Kirchhoff
Finally, we want to thank Anastassia Y. Borisova for the beautiful artwork on the cover and Seismology Ved Lekic
featured with her article. An innovative scientific thinker who can share her research elo- Mineral and Rock Physics Jie “Jackie” Li
Tectonophysics Jian Lin
quently in writing and painting? Eos is the place for you! Near-Surface Geophysics Juan Lorenzo
Would you like to share your research in Eos, too? Submit a brief proposal telling us what Earth and Space Science Informatics Kirk Martinez
you’d like to write about at eos.org/submit. When we accept proposals, writers work with our Ocean Sciences Jerry L. Miller
Atmospheric Sciences Vaishali Naik
editors, who are experts in science communication techniques that will help you compose an
Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Rita Parai
informative article for colleagues, as well as an engaging lesson for the broader public who Education Eric M. Riggs
come to Eos.org every day to learn about the wide world of Earth and space science from you. Global Environmental Change Hansi Singh
Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism,
See you next month!
and Electromagnetism Nick Swanson-Hysell
Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Kaustubh Thirumalai
Nonlinear Geophysics Adrian Tuck
Biogeosciences Merritt Turetsky
Hydrology Adam S. Ward
Diversity and Inclusion Lisa D. White
Earth and Planetary Surface Processes Andrew C. Wilcox
Heather Goss, Editor in Chief
©2022. AGU. All Rights Reserved. Material in this issue may be photocopied by
individual scientists for research or classroom use. Permission is also granted to use
short quotes, figures, and tables for publication in scientific books and journals. For
permission for any other uses, contact the AGU Publications Office.
Eos: Science News by AGU (ISSN 0096-3941) is published monthly except December
by the American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009,
USA. Periodical Class postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing
offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Eos: Science News by AGU, Member
Service Center, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA
Member Service Center: 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Eastern time; Tel: +1-202-462-6900;
Fax: +1-202-328-0566; Tel. orders in U.S.: 1-800-966-2481; service@agu.org.
Submit your article proposal or suggest a news story to Eos at bit.ly/Eos-proposal.
Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect official positions
of AGU unless expressly stated.
Randy Fiser, Executive Director/CEO
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 1
CONTENT
28
22 34
Features
22 A Simple Recipe for Making 28 The Young Earth
the First Continental Crust Under the Cool Sun
By Anastassia Y. Borisova and Anne Nédélec By Kimberly M.S. Cartier
Just add water to peridotite, then mix with basaltic A problem where astrophysics and deep-time geology
magma at 1,300°C and 0.2 gigapascals—et voilà! collide.
On the Cover 34 Long-Term Planning
During the Hadean, more than 4 billion years ago, a liquid for Deep-Time Labs
water ocean, volcanic activity, and meteorite impacts
By Richard Sima
acted together to fashion the surface of early Earth.
Credit: Anastassia Borisova Can geochronologists prepare today for tomorrow’s
look into the past?
2 Eos // M
ARCH 2022
CONTENT
16 41
17 43
Columns
From the Editor Research Spotlight
1 How to Work in the Dark on Deep Time 41 The Perspective from Space Unlocks the Amazon
Water Cycle | Stratospheric Balloons Listen In
News on Ground Activity
42 Cosmic Dust May Be a Key Source of Phosphorus
5 How Much Did the Moon Heat Young Earth? for Life on Earth | Faults in Oceanic Crust Contribute
6 Biocrust “Probiotics” Can Aid Dryland Restoration to Slow Seismic Waves
Efforts 43 New Theory Connects Tree Uprooting and Sediment
7 Diamond Discovery Unearths Secrets of the Deep Movement | Researchers Zero In on Methane
8 Termite Fumigation in California Is Fueling the Rise Released from Reservoirs
of a Rare Greenhouse Gas 44 Air Pollution Poses Inequitable Health Risks in
9 Clever Wood Use Could Mitigate Wildfires Washington, D.C. | Rock Structure Explains Slow
and Climate Change Seismic Waves
11 Projection: $110 Billion in Repairs for Russian 45 Capturing How Fast the Arctic Ocean Is Gaining
Pipelines on Permafrost Fresh Water | How Fault Surface Features Can Tell Us
12 Diamonds Are a Paleomagnetist’s Best Friend About Future Earthquakes
14 WAMPUM: An Indigenous-Designed Path to Sea Level
Rise Adaptation Editors’ Highlights
15 Drones and Crowdsourced Science Aid Great Lakes
Data Collection 46 Permanence of Nature-Based Climate Solutions at
Risk | Raising Central American Orography Improves
16 Settlement of Rapa Nui May Have Been Doomed
Climate Simulation
by a Dearth of Dust
Opinion Positions Available
47 Current job openings in the Earth and space sciences
17 Training the Next Generation of Physical Data Scientists
GeoFizz Postcards from the Field
49 Sampling gases to measure methane at an
20 Meet Jane the Zircon Grain—Geochronology’s New
experimental rice paddy site in Sri Lanka
Mascot
AmericanGeophysicalUnion @AGU_Eos company/american-geophysical-union AGUvideos americangeophysicalunion americangeophysicalunion
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 3
SMART SOLO
Scientific Measuring & Monitoring
• SP,ace-tirne Monitoring System
• Geotechnical-lnfrastructure
International Sales
NEWS
How Much Did the Moon Heat Young Earth?
T
he Moon used to orbit Earth 10–15
times closer than it does today. Orbit-
ing even closer than geosynchronous
satellites, our only natural satellite exerted
a strong gravitational pull on our planet,
deformed it, and heated its interior.
A recent study published in Paläontologische
Zeitschrift suggested that considerable tidal
heating was generated for about a hundred
million years after the formation of the Moon
(bit.ly/tidal-heating). The heat could have
directly increased the surface temperature of
early Earth by several degrees. Indirectly, the
process may have further heated the surface
by triggering global volcanic activity and thus
enriched the atmosphere with greenhouse
gases.
Never-Ending Dance of a Planet A young Moon looms over Earth in this artist’s rendering. Credit: Dan Durda
and Its Moon
About 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized body
likely collided with Earth. The collision pro-
pelled molten debris into orbit around Earth, leagues have suggested that the period of sig- Heller. “The truth will need to combine all
and over time the wreckage coalesced into nificant heating lasted about a hundred mil- these effects.”
the Moon. Although scientists have largely lion years. Furthermore, tidal heating likely triggered
accepted the giant impact theory of lunar ori- “The energy that would have been dissi- global volcanism. We need only to look at
gin, debates about the timing of the impact pated in the Earth, according to the authors, Jupiter’s moon Io to see the effect playing
and the mechanisms that led to the formation is of the order of magnitude of the heat con- out in real time. Thanks to enormous tidal
of the Moon are ongoing. What is clear is that tent of the Earth,” said Tilman Spohn, a pro- stresses that melt the moon’s interior, Io is
the Moon formed much closer to Earth than fessor and executive director of the Interna- the most volcanically active body in the solar
it is now, and it has been drifting away ever tional Space Science Institute in Switzerland. system. Similar volcanic activity on early
since. Spohn was not involved in the study. “If you Earth would have released greenhouse gases
Paradoxically, the Moon and Earth are release it at once, you would double [Earth’s] into the atmosphere.
growing apart due to gravity. The Moon’s internal temperature.” (Both Spohn and the All studies addressing the faint young Sun
gravity exerts a stronger pull on the part of researchers noted that such a release would paradox have to contend with sparse geological
Earth that faces it (as opposed to the antipo- not be sudden.) records of early Earth, however. “The mineral
des), stretching the planet into a slightly zircon is almost the only record we have for
oblong, bulged shape. These tidal forces are Warming Up Early Earth early Earth,” warned Junjie Dong, a graduate
the primary cause of tides on Earth. That The new research contributes to one of the student at Harvard University who was not
would be the end of the story were it not for most famous problems in astrophysics. Tidal involved with the recent study. “The evidence
the fact that Earth rotates on its axis faster heating could have raised the temperature of for liquid water on the surface is based on iso-
than the Moon orbits the planet. As a result early Earth by a few degrees and therefore topic records in zircons, and there are still peo-
of this discrepancy, the planet puts on the played a minor but not irrelevant role in solv- ple who dispute that interpretation.”
brakes while the Moon speeds up in its orbit, ing the so-called faint young Sun paradox. Regardless, the researchers said the con-
slowly drifting away. (Read more on p. 28.) Evidence has suggested cept of tidal heating of early Earth should not
Tidal forces contribute to heating in Earth’s that Earth harbored liquid water as far back be brushed aside. “I would take [the study]
interior. “The tides generate friction, and as 4.4 billion years ago. That observation is as a reminder or suggestion that maybe we
friction leads to heat,” explained René Heller, difficult to reconcile with our understanding should reconsider the early evolution of the
a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for of the evolution of the Sun, whose energy Earth-Moon system,” said Spohn. The next
Solar System Research and a lecturer at the output at the time was about 30% lower than step would be to construct a more detailed
University of Göttingen in Germany. it is today. For decades, scientists have been model by considering the evolution of the
Tidal heating is not a significant phenom- trying to model various atmospheric condi- Moon’s orbit, tidal heating of the Moon itself,
enon on Earth now, but conditions were dif- tions that would have kept early Earth from and a thorough treatment of Earth’s internal
ferent billions of years ago. Previous works becoming a snowball. “There are theories structure.
found that tidal heating was relevant for a few that try to solve the faint young Sun paradox
million years after the formation of the Moon which ignore tidal heating entirely and just
(bit.ly/tidal-heating-history). Heller and col- focus on the Earth’s atmosphere,” said By Jure Japelj (@JureJapelj), Science Writer
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 5
NEWS
Biocrust “Probiotics” Can Aid
Dryland Restoration Efforts
To produce microbial material suitable
for biocrust restoration (inocula), biologists
c reate environments conducive to faster
cyanobacteria growth. Shading, increased
frequency of watering, and soil stabilizers
at on-site nurseries can create Goldilocks
“[The time investment is]
nothing—it’s overnight
cultures.”
conditions. However, it can still take up to
3 months to obtain sufficient biomass for
inocula. Now Garcia-Pichel’s research sug-
gests that growing heterotrophic bacteria
A comparison of nursery biocrust yields in desert soils illustrates the difference between soils inoculated with with cyanobacteria can further improve
cyanobacteria alone and those with cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria. Credit: Ferran G arcia-Pichel growth in biocrust nurseries.
Soil contains many different heterotrophic
bacteria (those that consume organic matter),
but the bacteria that Garcia-Pichel’s team use
I
n drylands around the world, human activ- established biocrusts, which grow only after are special. They physically attach to the cya-
ity has harmed soil quality, in part by dam- rare rain events that moisten the soil. The nobacteria, establishing a mutualistic rela-
aging biological soil crusts (biocrusts) loss of biocrusts can result in degraded eco- tionship. The heterotrophic bacteria provide
composed of photosynthetic organisms like systems. the cyanobacteria with essential nutrients,
cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, and lichens Scientists are working to restore these while the cyanobacteria feed the heterotro-
that grow as biofilms. Biocrusts make up a damaged biological communities by planting phic bacteria with carbon produced during
biocrust-forming organisms in disturbed photosynthesis.
areas. The challenge lies in biocrusts’ slow
growth; natural recovery can take years to Low Investment, High Returns
decades depending on the environment and Can restoration biologists use such bacte-
Enlisting the help frequency of disturbance. However, recent rial partnerships to aid biocrust restoration?
of beneficial bacteria research published in Applied and Environ- Garcia-Pichel and his team tested this idea by
mental Microbiology suggests that enlisting adding cyanobacteria to desert soils in the lab
may give biocrusts the help of beneficial bacteria may give bio- and in outdoor nurseries. Then they com-
their second wind. crusts their second wind (bit.l y/bacteria pared the amount and speed of cyanobacteria
-biocrusts). growth with and without the heterotrophic
The research, led by Ferran Garcia-Pichel, bacteria.
a professor at Arizona State University, aims The heterotrophic bacteria from dryland
to restore damaged biocrusts in the south- biocrusts improved the speed and amount of
“living skin” that covers around 12% of western United States by growing cyanobac- cyanobacteria growth under laboratory and
Earth’s surface and provide essential eco- teria in nurseries and lab cultures. Garcia- nursery conditions, acting as a probiotic of
system services to drylands. Trampling by P ichel’s team then plants the cultivated sorts. In some soils, adding the heterotrophic
livestock and off-road traffic damages biomass in disturbed ecosystems. bacteria alone was sufficient to increase bio-
crust growth.
The research findings suggest that adding
these probiotic bacteria alone may help rem-
u Read the latest news nant cyanobacteria in disturbed biocrusts
at Eos.org recover in some cases. This could benefit bio-
crust restoration, because the heterotrophic
6 Eos // MARCH 2022
NEWS
Diamond Discovery Unearths
Secrets of the Deep
F
or decades, geologists have thought that the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his
Earth’s deep mantle is composed team were not fully aware of the diamond’s
largely of silicate minerals with a per- scientific value until they analyzed it with
ovskite crystal structure. But mineralogical micro X-ray fluorescence and diffraction tech-
evidence has been very difficult to obtain. niques as part of a larger analysis of inclusions
The elusive calcium and magnesium sili- in deep-Earth diamonds. “The discovery was
cate perovskites, although synthesized in the quite a surprise—we did not expect that this
laboratory decades ago, are not stable below mineral could be conserved, even in a dia-
pressures of 20 gigapascals. That makes them mond,” said Tschauner in an email.
nearly impossible to find in the lithosphere
and rare even in the upper mantle. The high
pressure of the lower mantle starts at about
660 kilometers underground and extends to
about 2,000 kilometers below that.
“We did not expect
Now, in a new report published in Science, that this mineral
researchers identified the presence of a nat-
ural calcium silicate (CaSiO3) perovskite from
could be conserved.”
the deep mantle (bit.ly/perovskite-mantle).
Found in the inclusion of a deep-Earth dia-
mond sourced from Botswana, the perovskite
Biocrusts composed of mosses, lichens, and cyano- was officially confirmed as a new mineral Unearthing Secrets
bacteria help restore degraded dryland ecosystems. by the International Mineralogical Associa- of the Lower Mantle
Credit: Anita Antoninka tion and called davemaoite. The mineral was The discovery helps reveal the composition of
named for geologist Ho-Kwang “Dave” Mao, the lower mantle, where davemaoite, along
in honor of his prolific contributions to d eep- with bridgmanite and ferropericlase, is a
bacteria require much less time and effort to mantle geophysics and petrology. Mao, who major component, making up about 5%–7%,
grow than cyanobacteria. According to was himself not involved in the research, according to Tschauner. The newly identified
Garcia-Pichel, “[the time investment is] responded by remarking on the rarity of the mineral also plays a role in regulating the
nothing—it’s overnight cultures.” And, diamond: “The diamond not only preserved heat budget of our planet. During the team’s
although not always effective in restoring a high-pressure mineral inclusion but also investigation, structural and chemical anal-
biocrusts alone, adding the probiotic bacteria preserved the ‘pressure’ itself,” he said in an ysis showed that davemaoite can host various
with cyanobacteria inocula could give the cya- email. “The inclusion that normally spoils the elements (such as potassium, thorium, and
nobacteria an easier time in more degraded clarity of an otherwise perfect gem diamond uranium) whose isotopes generate heat in the
areas. here makes the diamond uniquely invaluable lower mantle but are not stable in the upper
“For sure, I think this is beneficial,” said with the scientific message it carries.” mantle. These heat fluctuations help drive
Anita Antoninka, a biocrust ecologist at As Mao indicated, the inclusion reduces the processes such as plate tectonics.
Northern Arizona University who was not diamond’s value to a jeweler but for a geosci- Davemaoite also tells us more about how
involved in the research. “[The study shows entist makes it priceless. Oliver Tschauner of diamonds form at depth, Tschauner explained:
that] you can increase the growth of [individ- “The identification of davemaoite in a dia-
ual] strains more quickly by adding hetero- mond proves that diamond formation (and the
trophic bacteria.” recycling of carbon in the mantle) extends to
So far, biocrust probiotics have been used that depth. This had been proposed by some
only under nursery conditions, so further scientists, but here is the evidence.”
assessment of their effectiveness on resto- Tschauner said the discovery is an encour-
ration in nature will be an important next aging sign that more deep-mantle minerals
step. According to Antoninka, whole biocrust are waiting to be found. “Already, a few have
inocula obtained from more pristine sites been discovered, including breyite, jeffbenite,
could already have sufficient heterotrophic and ringwoodite. Diamonds from the deep
bacteria present. So the effectiveness of pro- mantle are quite uncommon, but it seems only
biotics in biocrust restoration is likely depen- a matter of time until we hit an inclusion of
dent on the inoculum and the extent of deg- bridgmanite,” he added.
radation. This deep-Earth diamond found in Botswana carries
an inclusion of a new mineral, named davemaoite.
Credit: Aaron Celestian, Natural History Museum of By Clarissa Wright (@ClarissaWrights), Science
By Derek Smith (@djsmitty156), Science Writer Los Angeles Writer
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 7
NEWS
Termite Fumigation in California Is Fueling
the Rise of a Rare Greenhouse Gas
N
ew research has suggested that the account for 99% of
nationwide rise of the potent green- sulfuryl fluoride
house gas sulfuryl fluoride comes use.
almost entirely from termite fumigations in The study ana-
the greater Los Angeles area. lyzed the concen-
Sulfuryl fluoride is a common treatment tration of sulfuryl
for drywood termites, bedbugs, cockroaches, fluoride in the air
and other pests. Dow Chemical Company between 2015 and
developed the gas, also known by its brand 2017 measured by
name Vikane, in 1959. NOAA’s Global
Concentrations of sulfuryl fluoride have Monitoring Labo-
grown exponentially worldwide: In 1978, it ratory. The agen-
was 0.3 part per trillion. Today it’s more than cy’s scientists reg-
2.5 parts per trillion. ularly gather flasks
The latest research has found that one hot of air from across
spot in the United States—the greater Los the country using A multicolored tent in Los Angeles covers a residential building for fumigation.
Angeles area—has the highest emissions of aircraft, towers, and Credit: Matthew Field, CC BY-SA 3.0 (bit.ly/ccbysa3-0)
sulfuryl fluoride. In the region, sulfuryl fluo- surface collectors.
ride concentrations have topped 400 parts per NOAA scientists in
trillion at times between 2015 and 2017, said Boulder, Colo., then
graduate student Dylan Gaeta of Johns Hop- test the flasks for minute traces of gas. “We expected to see little splotches of
kins University. The s econd-highest emis- Gaeta and his collaborators used these emissions throughout at least some other
sions came from California’s Bay Area. The measurements to estimate the rate of emis- parts of the country,” Gaeta said. “The fact
rest of the country releases barely any emis- sions nationwide. They fed a statistical model that we are seeing almost all of it from Cali-
sions. sulfuryl fluoride concentration measure- fornia? That was the shocking part.”
According to the state’s Department of ments at different sites, along with other rel- NOAA’s monitoring network does not
Pesticide Regulation, the source of emissions evant data, and asked the model to infer extend to Florida, however, and the state does
in California is clear: Structural fumigations where the emissions came from. not track sulfuryl fluoride use. “It is possible
that Florida is also emitting, and then it’s just
not being detected by the NOAA network,”
said Gaeta. He presented the research, which
had not yet been peer reviewed, at AGU’s Fall
Meeting 2021 (bit.ly/sulfuryl-fluoride).
A Surprise Greenhouse Gas
For years, the insecticide was thought to be
relatively harmless when it came to global
warming.
To use the substance, fumigators first cover
a building with an airtight tent. They fill the
building with gas and let it do its work. After-
ward, workers open windows to air out the
building, releasing the gas to the atmosphere,
where it was believed to break down relatively
quickly.
The method rose in popularity after the
Montreal Protocol phased out another com-
mon fumigant, methyl bromide, that was
found to erode the ozone layer.
But research in 2008 and 2009 revealed
that sulfuryl fluoride has a relatively high
global warming potential and sticks around
longer than initially thought. The gas has a
Compared with other states, California has unusually high rates of sulfuryl fluoride (SO2 F2 ) emissions. Credit: global warming potential of more than 4,000
Dylan Gaeta times that of carbon dioxide over 100 years
8 Eos // MARCH 2022NEWS
and remains in the atmosphere for about
36 years.
Clever Wood Use Could Mitigate
“When something stays in the atmosphere
this long, you cannot lessen the climate
Wildfires and Climate Change
effects overnight by just turning off the emis-
sions,” said atmospheric chemist Mads Sul-
baek Andersen of California State University
Northridge, who has studied the gas’s char-
acteristics but was not involved in the new
research.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB)
recently added the insecticide to its list of
short-lived climate pollutants. California is
the only state to track its use, with records
stretching back to the 1990s. Yet the state’s
progressive emissions goals don’t include
sulfuryl fluoride because the rules were writ-
ten before scientists knew it was a green-
house gas.
“CARB staff continue to monitor the scien-
tific literature to better understand the green-
house gas emissions and effects of sulfuryl
fluoride and other pesticides,” said CARB
public information officer Dave Clegern.
Fumigation Alternatives
A house can be rid of pests without fumiga-
tion, but other methods may not work as
well, said urban pest researcher Andrew
Sutherland at University of California Agri-
culture and Natural Resources (UC ANR). Innovative products made from wood harvested during forest thinning treatments in California could displace
Other techniques to target drywood termites, materials that are less carbon friendly. Credit: Daniel Sanchez
bedbugs, and wood-boring beetles include
heat treatments and local insecticide appli-
cation. Both require advanced monitoring,
W
detection, and delimitation methods, said ildfire risk reduction in California atmosphere, and the harvested smaller, low-
Sutherland. is a climate conundrum. value trees are typically burned or left to
But when infestations are widespread, In early 2021, the state set a goal decay, which releases even more carbon.
nothing can equal sulfuryl fluoride’s “efficacy of reducing wildfire risk on 1 million acres In a study published in the Proceedings of
and cost-effectiveness,” Sutherland said. (405,000 hectares) of forest per year through the National Academy of Sciences of the United
Los Angeles County integrated pest man- States of America, researchers from the Uni-
agement adviser Siavash Taravati of UC ANR versity of California, Berkeley provide a pos-
said that sulfuryl fluoride comes in handy sible path to limiting both carbon emissions
when an infestation is inaccessible to techni- and wildfires by turning the low-value wood
cians. “If [sulfuryl fluoride is] banned, pest
“There’s this unique role of harvested during forest thinning into new
control operators will have to switch to local emerging and innovative products (bit.ly/innovative-wood).
treatment methods.” “There’s this unique role of emerging and
The change could reverberate around the
wood products in achieving innovative wood products in achieving for-
world: According to recent work from the forest management that est management that reduces wildfire risk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, struc- and also preserves forests as carbon sinks,”
tural fumigation in North America was the
reduces wildfire risk and said the study’s senior author, Daniel San-
leading global source of sulfuryl fluoride also preserves forests as chez.
emissions in 2019.
If California fumigations stopped, said carbon sinks.” Modeling Forest Management
Gaeta, “almost all the emissions coming from For the analysis, Sanchez and his colleagues
the U.S. would go away.” used forest inventory data from the U.S. For-
est Service for more than 33 million acres
prescribed burning and forest thinning. How- (13.4 million hectares) of California forests
By Jenessa Duncombe (@jrdscience), Staff ever, thinning treatments lower a forest’s and applied several forest management mod-
Writer capacity to remove carbon dioxide from the els to simulate forest growth, forest treat-
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 9NEWS
ments, wildfire risks, and revenue potential “We find that in these innovative wood Can California Make It Happen?
over the next 40 years. product scenarios, we do reduce the amount of Sanchez acknowledged that unforeseen chal-
They ran simulations of three scenarios net carbon. Then by putting it into products, lenges could arise from variables they didn’t
and then estimated the carbon impacts we get all these other benefits,” said Sanchez. include in the simulations. For example, the
of each scenario. Two scenarios modeled Another benefit is that the new wood products models did not predict the potential impacts
business-as-usual forest management in market could generate enough money to treat of innovative wood products on forest soils or
California with variations in how much wood 12 million acres (4.9 million hectares) of addi- belowground forest biomass and economic
is sold. The third introduced a value to the tional forest over the next 40 years. considerations such as the impact of biofuel
low-value wood generated from forest thin- prices on the demand for petroleum products.
ning, allowing it to be used for new prod- “There are second- and third- and fourth-or-
ucts. Smaller trees can be turned into a der effects that we probably don’t count,”
construction-grade wood product called ori- Sanchez said.
ented strand board, which retains the wood
“I think that [this paper] Field sees potential issues getting forest
as a carbon store. A mixture of forest resi- does point in the direction sector professionals and conservationists on
dues, including leaves and bark, can be used the same page to move forest management
to make l ow-carbon fuels, such as hydrogen.
where there are real toward innovative wood products. “I think
opportunities for it’s a direction that we can go, but it’s not
Benefits of Innovative Wood Products
The study found that the “innovative wood
California.” entirely straightforward,” he said.
But the markets for fuel and wood products
product” scenario lowered both the wildfire are already large in California, Sanchez said,
risk and carbon emissions from wildfires and several existing state policies incentivize
and postfire decay compared with the other industries to use products that are more cli-
two scenarios. On top of that, turning low- “It’s a really interesting paper,” said Chris mate friendly, which might make these wood
value wood into l ow-carbon fuels and wood Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute products enticing. Sanchez is eager to deter-
products displaced products that are less for the Environment, who has worked with mine which technologies have viable busi-
carbon friendly, like gasoline or steel and Sanchez in the past but was not involved in ness opportunities.
concrete. So even though the amount of the new study. “I think that it does point in “I think that in a lot of ways, this provides
carbon stored in living trees decreased, the the direction where there are real opportuni- the motivation for what people are going to
new wood market prevented the equivalent ties for California.” have to do within California, which is not only
of as much as 16 million metric tons of car- He added that in addition to the forest and ramp up things on the forest management
bon dioxide per year from entering the climate benefits, the innovative wood prod- side but also ramp up things on the wood
atmosphere when compared with the other ucts industry could also help rural economies products infrastructure side to get this done,”
two scenarios. The researchers estimated in California. “We’ve lost thousands of jobs said Sanchez.
that the climate benefit could be improved in the forest products industry over the last
even further with state incentives to build 15 years. The industry that you would get this
affordable housing with innovative wood result from [would be] very different, but it By Andrew Chapman (@Andrew7Chapman),
products. would still be based in those communities.” Science Writer
Students! Apply for the
AGU Bridge Program
The AGU Bridge Program provides students from historically marginalized
populations a free common geosciences graduate school application
that is shared with our 40+ partner departments across the U.S
Apply by 31 March!
agu.org/bridge-program
10 Eos // MARCH 2022NEWS
Projection: $110 Billion in Repairs for Russian Pipelines
on Permafrost
O
ne of the world’s biggest producers
of oil and gas may face billions in
upgrades as permafrost thaw desta-
bilizes pipelines in the Arctic, according to
new research.
Russia produces 80% of its natural gas in
the Arctic, where rising temperatures are
thawing ground that has been frozen for tens
of thousands and even hundreds of thousands
of years.
“Natural gas pipelines appear to be partic-
ularly vulnerable,” said Meredydd Evans, an
Earth scientist with the Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, because natural gas
extraction occurs a little farther north—and
more into permafrost territory—than oil
extraction.
Evans and a team of scientists at national
laboratories in the United States compared
Russian oil and gas pipeline routes with pro-
jected ground subsidence from permafrost
thaw. When permafrost melts, the ground
level sinks, sometimes by several centimeters Russia produces 80% of its natural gas in the Arctic, including the Zapolyarnoye. Credit: Russian Federation Gov-
per year and sometimes by more than a dozen. ernment, CC BY 3.0 (bit.ly/ccby3-0)
Most Russian pipelines are underground,
making them particularly vulnerable to shift-
ing soil. Soil settling unevenly deflects and
deforms pipelines, and water pooling around The ground beneath gas pipelines may hold 100 years’ worth of natural gas reserves,
the pipes corrodes them. subside up to half a meter in places over is a hot spot for subsidence. The permafrost
the next 20 years, there contains more ice than in other areas,
according to the making the soil particularly vulnerable to
group’s perma- warming, said Evans. She presented the
frost projections. A work, which had not been peer reviewed,
soil slump of even at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2021 (b it. l y/arctic
10 centimeters can -pipelines).
be enough to inflict
damage on pipe-
lines.
The costs add up:
If emissions stay A soil slump of even
the same, cumula- 10 centimeters can be
tive costs will reach
US$110 billion
enough to inflict damage.
(8.1 trillion rubles)
by 2040. Repairs to
natural gas pipe-
lines during that Previous research found that permafrost
time could rival thaw may cost the Russian Arctic $183 mil-
the revenue of nat- lion–$365 million in annual road repair
This graph shows the relationship between repair costs and the revenue from oil ural gas gained in between 2020 and 2050 (b it. l y/russian
and gas. The subsidence threshold (horizontal axis) represents the amount of 1 year. “We were -permafrost).
ground subsidence that triggers a repair (a smaller number means that slight just struck by Oil and gas are key economic revenue
change to the soil height will require fixing pipelines). For natural gas, the repair that,” said Evans. sources for Russia, the world’s t hird-largest
costs over 20 years surpass 1 year of revenue for certain subsidence thresholds. The Yamal Pen- producer of oil and second-largest producer
Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory insula, which may of natural gas. Costly repairs could hamper
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 11NEWS
economic development in the region, but
state support may buoy the industries.
Diamonds Are a Paleomagnetist’s
High costs could change how oil and gas
are transported in the future, said Evans.
Best Friend
Rather than building more pipeline, the
country could ship reserves. Shipping in the
Arctic gives off soot, or black carbon, that
darkens snow and quickens melting.
“Sixty-five percent of Russia’s territory is
located in the permafrost zone, but this is not
mentioned in a single federal program docu-
ment, despite the fact that the permafrost area
“Sixty-five percent of
Russia’s territory is located
in the permafrost zone,
but this is not mentioned
in a single federal program
document.”
is a vital component in the natural environ-
ment, of which the landscape, vegetation and Yiming Zhang, a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley, works at a computer to examine data
coastline is dependent,” Aleksander Kozlov, collected by the quantum diamond microscope, on the table to his left. Credit: John Grimsich
Russian minister of natural resources and the
environment, said in a statement (translated
by the Barents Observer). More than 40% of
T
Russia’s northern buildings are starting to col- he Earth’s geodynamo—the magnetic The relatively nascent quantum diamond
lapse, he said (bit.ly/minister-statement). field created by the roiling inner microscope, or QDM, helps scientists like
Kozlov announced that the country is core—protects our planet from solar
launching a new state system for monitoring radiation and may be integral to Earth’s hab-
permafrost. Regional initiatives are picking itability. The magnetic field leaves its mark
up steam, too: A lab dedicated to permafrost
studies—the first of its kind in Russia—will
in the rock record by forcing iron-bearing
minerals to align their magnetic fields, for
The quantum diamond
open in the Yamalo-Nenets region in 2022. example, as they precipitate in the pore microscope helps scientists
Newly constructed pipelines in Russia have space of a sedimentary rock or as igneous
more modern features, such as thermal rocks solidify. These often minuscule mag-
read the complicated
siphons around the pilings that hold the pipes nets, which find north no matter where it chapters of a rock’s history.
aboveground. In one state-owned gas field, might have been, have helped scientists dis-
pipes circulating refrigerant cool the soil cover seafloor spreading, trace the path of
underground. continents past, and explore just how old the
But these interventions are expensive, said geodynamo is. Tikoo read these complicated chapters of a
Evans. Bulk rock paleomagnetic measurements, rock’s history.
Because permafrost is likely subsiding ear- typically collected from samples the size of Originally developed to image magnetic
lier in Russia than in other Arctic areas (such a soda bottle cap, should tell scientists the fields at high resolution, these instruments
as Alaska), pipeline damage may be a bell- direction and intensity of Earth’s magnetic enable micrometer-scale imaging of either
wether for other regions, she said. “Just field when the rock formed, said Sonia Tikoo, thin sections—slivers of rock mounted on
understanding what’s happening in Russia an assistant professor at Stanford Univer- glass—or individual crystals that contain
could be helpful and informative.” sity. But some rocks have heterogeneous magnetic inclusions. By discerning exactly
magnetic signatures at fine scales, and oth- which part of a sample is magnetic, said
ers may no longer record the original mag- Tikoo, scientists have used this tool to address
By Jenessa Duncombe (@jrdscience), Staff netic imprint because of weathering, ero- a host of questions, from the Hadean to the
Writer sion, or some other alteration, she explained. Holocene.
12 Eos // MARCH 2022NEWS
Lasers, Diamonds, and Microwaves sample. Software
“This is our QDM lab,” said University of designed by Fu con-
California, Berkeley doctoral student Yiming verts these mea-
Zhang as he unlocked a door posted with surements into a
a laser hazard warning sign. Upon entrance magnetic field map,
to the laboratory, a list of safety protocols which can be inter-
greeted Zhang, along with a floor-to-ceiling rogated for where
black curtain shielding the makeshift foyer north was when
from the rest of the room. The curtain, said each magnetic car-
Zhang, protects people as they don r ed- rier or group of car-
t inted safety goggles designed to protect riers internalized
their eyes from a laser that produces green its signature.
light.
Zhang ducked behind the curtain and Solar System to
headed to a long table with a microscope in Rainstorms
the middle. The microscope was surrounded When magnetic
by small copper-colored circles that look like minerals document
hula hoops designed for dolls. These, he said, differing north
are Helmholtz coils, arranged in different directions within a
orientations in part to cancel Earth’s mag- sample, interpre-
netic field in the region where the sample tations can be
sits. tricky. Meteorites
A square-shaped diamond, machined to in particular record
have a flat face, is mounted on the microscope multiple magnetic
lens. Zhang must load his thin section onto directions at the
the microscope’s stage, ensuring that the scale of millime- A ball-and-stick model within a transparent blue cube shows the atomic structure
diamond and sample sit flush. Too close, and ters, said Fu, in part of a diamond. Green balls indicate carbon atoms. The yellow nitrogen ball, labeled
the diamond could scratch or crack the care- because they’re N, and the purple vacancy ball, labeled V, show a nitrogen-vacancy center. Credit:
fully polished thin section. Too far, and the amalgams of dis- National Institute of Standards and Technology
magnetic signal dies away. parate parts of the
The synthetic diamond is designed with a early solar system.
specific defect comprising a nitrogen atom and Dating each mag-
a void space, or vacancy, in the crystal struc- netic event with geochronological methods using the quantum diamond microscope, help
ture. Each nitrogen-vacancy center swaps out can help detangle the first 5 million years of scientists track rainfall and reconstruct
two carbon atoms, said Roger Fu, an assistant our solar system’s history, he said. paleoclimate, he said.
professor at Harvard University and a pro- In zircon, magnetism ideally comes from
genitor of using the quantum diamond inclusions like magnetite, said Tikoo, and this
microscope for paleomagnetic work. method is “a good way to test whether your
Once the sample is properly positioned, magnetic carriers could be secondary.” “It’s a powerful tool for
analysis begins by shining the green laser’s Paleomagnetic studies of zircons older
light on the diamond as a horseshoe-shaped than about 3 billion years hinted that the looking at very small things.”
loop emits microwaves near the sample. The geodynamo could have formed with the zir-
diamond will fluoresce, emitting a reddish cons themselves. However, using the quan-
light. The intensity of that fluorescence tum diamond microscope, Fu and his col-
changes as the microwave energy changes. leagues found that when similarly old With an eye toward extraterrestrial craters
“By looking at how the intensity of the fluo- zircons contained magnetic minerals, those that could have harbored life, Tikoo is using
rescence changes with the microwave you put paleomagnetic indicators formed later. Any Berkeley’s quantum diamond microscope to
in, you can convert that to the magnetic original magnetic signature from when the explore the longevity of hydrothermal systems
field,” said Fu. zircons crystallized, he said, appears to be in the Chicxulub impact crater, associated with
A camera mounted atop the microscope lost. The debate is ongoing. the demise of the dinosaurs. The rocks in
captures this fluorescence information At the opposite end of the age spectrum, question—made from broken bits of other
across the entire viewing area, which is said Fu, are actively forming cave deposits. rock—have complex magnetic signatures.
about 2 square millimeters, said Fu. Each Each layer—as thin as a single sheet of With the quantum diamond microscope, Tikoo
1- × 1-micrometer pixel is a single measure- paper—has a distinct magnetic signature as can pinpoint from where the dominant mag-
ment of that field, he said, which means the floods, winds, and drip waters bring different netic signal comes. “It’s a powerful tool for
camera captures 2 million separate measure- material into the cave, said Fu. In some envi- looking at very small things.”
ments of the magnetic field at once. ronments, extreme rainfall events tend to
Accumulating sufficient information from mobilize magnetite, whereas in others, dry
a single field of view can take anywhere from spells bring more soil in, he explained. These By Alka Tripathy-Lang (@DrAlkaTrip), Science
20 minutes to several hours, depending on the fine-scale changes in magnetite, identified Writer
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 13NEWS
WAMPUM: An Indigenous-Designed Path
to Sea Level Rise Adaptation
F
or centuries, Indigenous Peoples living Each letter of WAMPUM highlights a differ-
along the North Atlantic coast have ent principle of the framework. The “witness-
carved wampum beads from quahog or ing” principle emphasizes the Indigenous
whelk shells and strung them together to cre- Knowledges approach of careful observation
ate belts and ceremonial gifts. As European and cooperation with natural systems for a
settlers arrived, tribal nations used the beads sustainable future. “The natural world is really
to form treaty relationships, and over time, smart, keen, and adaptive,” Leonard said.
the wampum bead came to represent sustain- “The witness principle encourages us to be
ability for these communities, which have humble and learn how to adapt from the nat-
long-standing experiences of adapting to ural world.”
environmental changes and colonization. The “acknowledge” principle stresses the
Consequently, when it came to designing a need to acknowledge traditional teachings,
framework to help coastal communities adapt conservation, and stewardship practices and
to sea level rise in the Northeast and M id- empower tribal nations to restore these prac-
Atlantic coastal regions, Kelsey Leonard, an tices to care for the land and water. The related
assistant professor in the Faculty of Environ- “mend” principle addresses the reality that
ment at the University of Waterloo in Canada humans have inflicted trauma on the envi-
and an enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock ronment since the advent of colonization and
Nation, named her strategy after the small the necessity for adaptation measures to
but mighty wampum bead. Leonard was an mend shoreline and coastal areas through
invited speaker at “Native Science to Action: cultural and ceremonial practices that pro-
How Indigenous Worldviews Inform, Diver- mote healing and ecosystem rehabilitation.
sify, and Build Capacity in Environmental Sci- Before European contact, tribal nations used strings Tribal nations, such as the Shinnecock, are
ence and Policy” at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2021 of wampum for exchange, storytelling, ceremonial working to protect their ancestors as rising
(bit.ly/native-science-action). gifts, and recording important treaties and historical ocean levels are encroaching on burial sites.
Leonard’s goal in crafting the WAMPUM events. Credit: Frank Speck, The Eastern Algonkian The “protect” principle recognizes that the
framework was to propose a culturally tai- Wabanaki Confederacy protection of such cultural sites advances
lored approach to assist impacted tribal Indigenous water justice and cultural and cer-
nations in adapting to sea level rise. Her emonial practices for future generations.
guidelines also aim to highlight the adapta- Adapting to sea level rise and climate
tion strategies that Indigenous Peoples in ronment and ecosystem over human benefits change will require communities to “unite,”
Northeast communities are already deploy- and use, Leonard said. Western strategies the fifth principle, Leonard said. “Planning
ing—strategies from which all concerned “center on what humans need to adapt rather for adaptation is something that can’t happen
communities could learn. “Current strate- than the responsibility that humans have to in isolation, whether you’re Indigenous or
gies don’t take into consideration the vast nature to ensure that it can adapt, thrive, and
amounts of knowledge that we [as Indigenous flourish,” Leonard said.
Peoples] have and scientific practice that we Current approaches neither include tribal
have in adapting to sea level rise over millen- nations’ perspectives nor consider the cul-
nia,” Leonard said. tural, social, political, or spiritual effects of “Through scaling up
sea level rise on Indigenous communities. As collective resources,
The Necessity of Indigenous Input such, they often fail to accurately assess the
In the past century, sea level crept up more than effects on Indigenous communities and, con- we can build adaptive
a third of a meter along the northeastern coast- sequently, fall short of outlining effective capacity.”
line of the United States. Some predictions esti- adaptation options, Leonard said.
mate that it could rise by the same amount “Moving forward, it’s imperative to have
again in the next 30 years, with severe conse- new sea level rise adaptation strategies that
quences for coastal ecosystems and communi- are not only inclusive of Indigenous Peoples
ties. For coastal tribal nations, the expected sea but designed by them,” Leonard said. on-Indigenous,” she continued. “We are
n
level rise will threaten water security and their small, but mighty together, and through scal-
ability to survive on lands where they have Adaptation with Dignity ing up collective resources, we can build
thrived since the glaciers receded. Leonard’s WAMPUM framework presents a adaptive capacity.”
Existing sea level rise adaptation strate- set of guidelines for sea level rise adaptation Historically, eastern coastal tribal nations
gies, which use militarized and combative centered on Indigenous Knowledge systems had several village sites across large areas of
language, represent the antithesis of the and the historical experiences of northeast- land, allowing them to adapt to seasonal
Indigenous approach of prioritizing the envi- ern and m id-Atlantic coastal tribal nations. changes and move when needed. The final
14 Eos // MARCH 2022NEWS
principle, “move,” addresses how tribal
nations can migrate to new places with cul-
Drones and Crowdsourced Science
tural connections and rebuild their lives. “But
right now, due to colonialism, that principle is
Aid Great Lakes Data Collection
impossible,” Leonard said.
C
The answer to the move principle lies in fed- ities along the shores of Lake Michigan
eral legislation and funding that would support are dealing with increasingly problem-
tribal nations moving to areas on the eastern atic shoreline erosion that has already
Atlantic coast where they could preserve their caused millions of dollars in damage. Technol-
cultural connection to the land and ocean and ogies including aerial photographs and bathy-
continue stewardship practices, Leonard said. metric lidar have helped experts track coastal
“As a Shinnecock person, you can’t just plop changes. Yet high-resolution data sets along
us in the middle of Arkansas and imagine that the lakes’ shores are lacking, and there is little
we’ll be able to maintain our culture,” Leonard understanding about how changes to the
said. “We are people of the shore, and if the coastlines have lasting impacts. Gathering
shores cease to exist, we cease to exist.” data and revealing changes can help with Ice can be broken up by waves and can contribute
coastal monitoring and management. to erosion, as seen here along the southwestern
A Sustainable Path Using drones and crowdsourced data, shores of Illinois Beach State Park on Lake Michi-
The WAMPUM framework provides a path for- researchers are expanding studies to include gan. Credit: C. Robin Mattheus
ward for tribal nations to help guide them in ecological and physical changes to the lakes’
adapting to sea level rise using cultural knowl- shorelines. Data from two projects were pre-
edge and skills. “Tribal governments and com- sented at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2021 (bit.ly/great
munities have to get on the same page in -lakes-coast). Cue the Volunteers!
terms of what strategies are realistic and seem The first project focuses on collecting data The second project—Interdisciplinary
feasible,” said geographer Casey Thornbrugh, on the Great Lakes during the winter so Citizen-based Coastal Remote Sensing for
a citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe experts can better understand the physical Adaptive Management (I C- C REAM)—
and the tribal climate science liaison at United features and chemical properties of sedimen- involved the local community. Through the
South and Eastern Tribes. “The strategies laid tary rock in the nearshore system. “The project, community members were trained to
out in the WAMPUM framework, with tribal monitor shoreline change and infrastructure
nations and communities leading the way, damage. This project is “the first of its kind
offer a sustainable path to adaptation.” within the region to put drones in the hands
Existing adaptation strategies present Community members of people to collect coastal imagery,” said
humans as battling the coast, using milita- Erin Bunting, an assistant professor of geog-
ristic terms such as “hardening the coast- were trained to monitor raphy, environment, and spatial sciences at
line” and “coastline defense,” according to shoreline change and Michigan State University. I C-CREAM’s
geoscientist Jon Woodruff of the University of crowdsourced data create “constant informa-
Massachusetts Amherst, who is also the infrastructure damage. tion with the high spatial resolution needed
codirector of the Northeast Climate Adapta- to better understand beach erosion, vegeta-
tion Science Center. “But the W AMPUM tion loss, and other physical changes hap-
framework brings the perspective of mending pening along the lakes’ coasts,” said Bunting.
the shoreline, rather than taking a hard-line goal is to see what the cumulative impacts Dan Laskey, a volunteer involved with
militant approach,” Woodruff said. “And I of i ce-nearshore and i ce-shoreline interac- IC-CREAM who has been based in Manistee,
think people are starting to appreciate the tions are,” said C. Robin Mattheus, a coastal Mich., for the past 40 years, said, “the devel-
value of these long-term sustainable prac- geologist with the Illinois State Geologi- opment and movement of the shoreline is
tices rather than the short-term fixes that set cal Survey. Once formed, ice affects beaches something that’s pretty important to us, as we
communities up for failure once the hard and sandbars, which interact with waves and spend so much time here.”
defenses are compromised.” sediment. This interplay can change the The research team members have incorpo-
For Leonard, the approach also serves as a shape of a shoreline in as little as a year. rated themselves into local communities by
call to action to reject oppressive adaptation Data were collected with drones flown over attending town council meetings and speaking
strategies and develop frameworks that cap- beaches. Images taken by the drones were to city and project managers about what these
ture Indigenous Knowledges in building resil- then merged into one orthophoto, allow- data mean and their impact. “Given the large
ience to climate change. “If we’re to build a ing the scale of the photographs to be uni- expanse of the Great Lakes, it’s really hard to
sustainable future and ensure our shared form. Using the orthophotos, the team cre- have a direct and constant connection within
planetary health, we have to mobilize our ated topographic models illustrated in ArcGIS these communities, and that’s something
diverse knowledge systems together,” Leon- StoryMaps to document the dynamism of we’re trying to establish with community sci-
ard said. the shoreline. “This is at a very high resolu- ence,” said Bunting.
tion, counted at a centimeter scale,” said
J. Elmo Rawling III, a geomorphologist at the
By Jane Palmer (@JanePalmerComms), Science Wisconsin Geological and Natural History By Iris Crawford (@IrisMCrawford), Science
Writer Survey. Writer
SCIENCE NEWS BY AGU // Eos.org 15You can also read
