DRT 2009 conference in Liverpool

As it has been communicated in the Geo-Tectonics mailing list, the “Deformation, rheology and tectonics” conference in Liverpool will take place this September, between the 7^th and the 9^th.

In their own words, “In 2009, DRT is a joint venture between the universities of Liverpool and Manchester, and is to be held in the contemporary cityscape of the rejuvenated Liverpool Docklands.

As many of you are aware, 2008 was shrouded by the untimely loss of Dr. Martin Casey.  This meeting is dedicated to Martin, and events and sessions will be organised in his memory.”

The conference includes two fieldtrips: A pre-conference trip to the Mam Tor Landslide (Derbysire, England) on the 6^th of September 2009 and a post-conference trip to the Isle of Anglesey (north Wales) from the 9^th to the 11^th of September of 2009.  (http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/PDMearth_sciences/dept/drt2009/fieldtrips.html)

The site is www.liverpool.ac.uk/earth/drt2009, and you can see the programme in here: www.liverpool.ac.uk/earth/drt2009/programme.

M6.3 earthquake in Taiwan

If you have been listening to the news in the last hours, you probably know already that a M6.3 earthquake has struck offshore Taiwan. As usual, the best information comes from the USGS.

The event happend at 18.05 UTC, and we don't yet have a focal mechanism solution for it. Anyway, in the attached figure you can have an idea of what is going on in there.

Taiwan is located in the boundary between the Phillipine Sea and the Eurasian plates. There is an approximated convergence rate of 80 mm/yr to the SE. What is really especial about this island is the presence of two subduction zones: One, where the South China Sea subducts beneath Eurasia, and another one, where Eurasia subducts beneath the South China Sea, forming both zones approximately a right angle.

You can see a great introduction (including the previous explanation) to the geology of Taiwan in the dedicated website of the California Institute of Technology:

http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/taiwan/regional.htm


Sources:

- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009jabu.php
- http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/taiwan/regional.htm

Comments available again!

In the last days I have been trying to fix the problem we had with the comments, which now they work again!

The problem was fairly simple: although we have our own domain, the blog is enginereed by www.blogger.com, and it seems they don't fit as nicely as we expected.

Probably, if you have been visiting this website in the few days, you have been we have been trying some fancy designs... I promise the final one will have a geological look, just give me a couple of days!!

So... post your comments, they are more than welcome!

Download ASTER GDEM

On Monday 29^th of June of 2009, NASA and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, released the Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) created from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data. That has involved the processing of more than a million ASTER scenes, in order to cover Earth’s land surface between 83 degrees North and 83 degrees South.

The result is a 30-m resolution digital elevation model available from the following URL: ASTER GDEM . In this website the GDEM can be downloaded selecting by tiles, by polygon, by shapefile and of course, by coordinates.

So far the standard DEM was the SRTM data, obtained during a flight of the Space Shuttle in 2000. Its resolution is approximately 90 m (30 for USA), and has proven to be a very valuable resource in structural geology, hydrocarbon exploration, geohazard analyses, etc. GDEM will predictably become a new standard, with a commercial resolution and global availability.

Important links:

http://www.gdem.aster.ersdac.or.jp/index.jsp

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/20090629.html