Jackson School People & Science Featured in the Media:
July 2007 - June 2008

• Current In the News
• July 2007-June 2008
• July 2006-June 2007
• January-June 2006
• 2005

Opinion: Oil Windfall Taxes a Bad Idea

National Public Radio, June 20, 2008
Windfall profits in the oil industry have led some to suggest a windfall profits tax on oil to help explore new forms of energy and lessen the impact of high prices for consumers. Energy economist Michelle Michot Foss, chief energy economist and head of the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas at Austin, says a windfall profits tax is a terrible idea that stems from misconceptions about how the oil industry works. "Overall, something like 90 percent of what the industry makes gets reinvested in its core businesses," she says. A windfall profits tax, says Foss, "would not help at all, and it could have a negative effect and be very detrimental."

Sun Cycles Not Key to Recent Warming

Reuters, April 23, 2008
Climate-change skeptics have suggested solar cycles may be more responsible than human activity for increasing global temperature. At the 2008 convention of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Judith Lean of the Naval Research Laboratory said findings showed "the sun is a factor of 10 less than the anthropogenic." Eric Barron, former dean of the Jackson School, argued that casual factors in climate change may be interacting in ways not yet imagined, calling for deeper study of the geologic record to better calibrate computer models predicting the future. He said Earth's geologic history has an important climate story to tell: "It shows the climate is very sensitive to small changes.”

Seeing the Light

The Economist, April 10, 2008
Paleontologists can now look inside fossils without damaging them, using the new synchrotron machine, which accelerates subatomic particles in a circle. A side effect of all these digital data is that they encourage the sharing of specimens, albeit virtual ones. The University of Texas's digital library, known as Digimorph, for example, contains hundreds of specimens and nearly a terabyte of data. Virtual paleontology thus promises to shake up a profession that once jealously hoarded items that were too precious or fragile to share, or were too rare to sacrifice to destructive techniques.

Tiny Trembler a Big Deal in Texas

Houston Chronicle, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 7 & 9, 2008
Everything's bigger in Texas, except earthquakes. At a magnitude of 3.7 on the Richter scale, a quake Monday near San Antonio was a relative wimp, though it was the largest event in Texas in more than a decade. Seismologists say the recent quake probably occurred because of oil and gas extraction. "That would be my first guess," said Cliff Frohlich, a seismologist at the Jackson School, and the foremost expert on Texas earthquakes. Texas has had about 100 earthquakes during the past century that could be felt. Residents of south-central Texas may experience small earthquakes from time to time, largely because of oil and gas extraction—nothing the public should be too worried about, according to Frohlich.

Electric Cars to Die by Dehydration?

The McGill Daily, April 7, 2008
Electric cars are set to come into their own, but a report in the June issue of Environmental Science & Technology reveals a hidden cost: electric cars use a lot of water. Every electric mile would require about 20 times more water than a gasoline mile. Carey King, a postdoctorate fellow at the Bureau of Economic Geology, and Michael Webber, associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, both from the University of Texas at Austin, say the increase in water use may not seem like much, but for areas with water scarcity it’s likely to pose a problem. “If we are worried about water, we need to go to electricity systems that don’t need water, or we need to go to cooling systems that don’t need water,” said Webber.

Solomons Quake Barrier Is Weak

Science Daily, April 7, 2008
On the anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands, geoscientists from the Jackson School, including Fred Taylor, Cliff Frohlich, and Matt Hornbach, are revising their understanding of the potential for similar giant earthquakes in other parts of the globe. As part of the Jackson School’s new rapid response capability, Taylor was able to travel to the Solomons just 10 days after the earthquake to make observations. The scientists report the rupture broke through a geological province previously thought to form a barrier to earthquakes, which could mean similar barriers, like the Cascadia Subduction Zone in northwestern North America, have the potential for more severe quakes than once thought. "If such boundaries are not a barrier to rupture in the Solomons, there's no reason to believe they are in Cascadia either,” says Taylor.

Texas ‘Playgrounds’ Attract Attention

AAPG Explorer, April 2008
For plays and forays, there’s no place quite like Texas. Recent rig counts have shown 840 to 870 drilling rigs operating weekly in the state, 80 percent with natural gas primary objectives. While the vast bulk of oil and gas produced in the state isn’t coming from recent exploration wells, new concepts are being tested in old plays all the time. Eric Potter, associate director of the Jackson School’s Bureau of Economic Geology, provided detailed information about the various areas of play throughout Texas.

Geology Key to Climate Models

AAPG Explorer, April 2008
You could sum up Eric Barron’s response to the climate change/global warming issue in four words: Less controversy, more science. The dean of the Jackson School will discuss “The Changing Debate on Global Warming” as the speaker for the upcoming Division of Environmental Geology luncheon on April 23 at the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in San Antonio. Geology provides the roadmap to past climatic conditions, so Barron believes in using known geologic data to access climate model effectiveness. “I think there’s a lot of mystery to climate models, and there doesn’t have to be.”

AAPG Honors Jackson School’s Ratcliff and Brown

AAPG Explorer, April 2008
The American Association of Petroleum 34 honorees for 2008 include the Jackson School’s Douglas C. Ratcliff and Leonard Frank Brown Jr. Ratcliff, director of outreach and international programs for the school, will receive the Public Service Award, presented to recognize contributions of AAPG members to public affairs. Brown, a research professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and the Bureau of Economic Geology, will be honored with the Pioneer Award, presented to long-standing members who have contributed to the Association and made meaningful contributions to the science of geology.

Gibbs a leader among leaders

AAPG Explorer, April 2008
Independent geologist James A. Gibbs, secretary of the AAPG Foundation Trustees, was chosen to receive the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award, presented to individuals who have provided excellence in leadership in the association. A third generation prospector-geologist residing in Wichita Falls, Texas, Gibbs received his master’s in geology from Oklahoma University. He serves as chairman of Five States Energy, which he began in 1984, and has served on a host of councils and committees throughout his 50 years in the AAPG. Gibbs said, “It’s a challenging field, one in which people can find ways to get a lot of satisfaction.” Gibbs is a member of the Jackson School Advisory Council.

Paleoseismology team ventures to the Caribbean

Jamaica Daily Gleaner, March 21, 2008
Paleoseismology is the science of finding past earthquakes, the art of literally uncovering when and where ancient earthquakes occurred and the likely magnitudes of the events. A team of earth scientists ventured to Jamaica in January, including researchers from the Universities of Texas, Wisconsin and the West Indies, the United States Geological Survey and the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica. The team included the Jackson School’s Paul Mann, a senior research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics, and Will King, an undergraduate research assistant. Conducting the first paleoseismic studies along Jamaica’s South Coast and Plantain Garden Faults, the scientists explored the faults that are probable sources of Jamaica’s earliest and largest known earthquake, that of June 7, 1692, that wrecked the city of Port Royal, which was never to be rebuilt. However, because of its wet season, trenching in Jamaica remains a study to be continued as the paleoseismologists were forced to shift their focus to St. Thomas.

Hybrids Save Gas But Not Water

New York Times, March 18, 2008
One way to reduce the world’s dependence on oil is to produce more cars that get power from the electrical grid rather than the gas pump. But Carey W. King and Michael E. Webber of the Jackson School of Geosciences found the shift would result in a significant increase in water use. With every mile driven by an electric car instead of a gas-powered one, about three times as much water is consumed (lost to evaporation) and 17 times as much withdrawn (used and returned to its source). While they do not think it would be bad to transition into electric vehicles, King and Webber say the impact would be severe enough to merit much more serious consideration in policy planning.

Alternative Energy: Is There Enough Water?

Canadian Business, March 17, 2008
The promise of the hydrogen economy may prove more difficult to realize if research by Michael Webber, associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, bears out. The hiccup? There isn’t enough water. Webber took the National Research Council’s estimates that the United States will consume 60 billion kilograms of hydrogen a year and calculated that producing that much H2 would require 19 to 69 trillion gallons of water. “If all of a sudden we raise our water use, that would have a dramatic impact on what is available for other uses – agriculture, namely.”

Water and Energy – Is There Enough?

Detroit Free Press, March 16, 2008
It takes a lot of water to produce energy and a lot of energy to provide water. The two are inextricably linked, and claims on each are rising. "The water supply is as critical as oil," said Charles Groat, director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the Jackson School. Water is consumed in countless facets of life, with no higher-level authority to control consumption. "No one is in charge," said Groat, a former director of the U.S. Geological Survey in Washington. "Energy planners assume we will have enough water. Water planners assume we will have enough energy." According to Michael Webber, associate director of the center, the problem is going to get worse since future alternative fuels are likely to be water-intensive.

Carbon Capture Faces Future in U.S.

Energy Tribune, March 13, 2008
When the Department of Energy canceled funding for FutureGen—the project to build the world’s first coal-fired power plant with zero carbon dioxide emissions—the decision was viewed as a setback for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Despite the disappointment, a team of geologists and oilfield engineers at the Jackson School’s Bureau of Economic Geology are forging ahead with DOE-sponsored projects to test and pioneer CCS. The team has spent the last four years injecting 1,850 tons of carbon dioxide into the Frio formation, about 30 miles east of Houston, and are scaling up for a much more ambitious project near Natchez, Miss., at a plant owned by Denbury Resources, Inc. Scheduled for 10 years, with $38 million in D.O.E. funding, this second phase will be the first long-term project in the U.S. to study the feasibility of injecting commercial volumes of CO2 into underground storage.

Supercomputer Marks New Era

Austin American-Statesman, HPC Wire, Feb. 18 & 22, 2008
Marking the beginning of the Petascale Era in high-performance computing, "Ranger," the most powerful computing system in the world for open scientific research, entered full production Feb. 4 at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at The University of Texas at Austin. "The computational science community has been advocating for petascale machines for a decade," said Omar Ghattas, a professor at the Jackson School and director of the Center for Computational Geosciences. Ghattas leads an early user team that will produce the highest resolution models of convection in the Earth's mantle to date, enabling a better understanding of the evolution of tectonic deformation. Their work is emblematic of how larger high performance computing systems allow for better statistical analysis and higher-resolution visualization.

Hovorka One of the 35 Shaping Future

Texas Monthly, Feb. 2008
Here’s a convenient truth: Many greenhouse gases polluting the atmosphere can simply go back where they came from, and the environment will be better and cleaner for it. That’s the theory behind the work of Susan Hovorka, a research scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, who pioneered testing of carbon sequestration. Her research team just received a $38 million, ten-year federal grant to test the process on its largest scale yet in the U.S. “Texas has a mix of viable energy sources: hydroelectric, biofuels, solar, wind, hydrothermal, oil, natural gas, uranium, and coal,” said Hovorka. “Texas needs to take a lead role in guiding energy policy so that this diversity can be best used.”

UT Continues Carbon Sequestration Research with LS Power Development

Energy Central, Feb. 29, 2008
LS Power Development, LLC is providing funding as a strategic partner for the "LS Power Pilot Plant Initiative" under the University of Texas at Austin’s existing carbon capture research program. The goal of the research is to advance scientific knowledge of carbon dioxide capture technology so it can be demonstrated on a commercial scale at existing coal-fired power plants. Previously sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the research program will build upon the five-year investigation completed by UT researchers, which resulted in the development of an alternative solvent process to capture carbon dioxide while reducing costs and demands on our nation’s energy supply.

Opinion: Stimulate Americans to Go Green

Houston Chronicle, Feb. 12, 2008
"Congress missed a major opportunity with the stimulus package," writes Scott Tinker, state geologist of Texas and director of the Jackson School's Bureau of Economic Geology. Tinker belives the stimulus package should have included much stronger incentives for energy efficiency. Instead of flat cash payments to consumers, he suggests payments tied to green behavior: credits for purchasing more efficent light bulbs and cars or improving your home's insulation. "If they want to help us now, lawmakers should stimulate energy efficiency — not more profligate consumer spending — while keeping their eyes on the prize of our long-term energy future," writes Tinker.

Climate Change’s Effects on Oceans Debated

ScienceNOW Daily News, Feb. 11, 2008
Ocean circulation patterns well be shifting due to climate change, but one researcher argues those alterations remain well beyond the capabilities of scientists to detect. Ever since scientists began worrying about the effects of global warming, they have planted sensing equipment all over the planet. Researchers feed the incoming data into computer models, which churn out predictions about future climate developments. Oceanographer Carl Wunsch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported the data aren’t nearly comprehensive enough to permit researchers to draw even a preliminary conclusion about how or if climate change is affecting ocean currents. Physical oceanographer Brian Arbic of the Institute for Geophysics says the data is important because it takes the first "quantitative look at a large potential source of error" in the database of ocean currents. Terrence Joyce of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution adds that the results are bound to be bad news for "government end users and popular media wanting quick, simple answers" on global warming's impact.

Coal's Carbon Capture in Question

National Public Radio, Feb. 8, 2008
Half the country's electricity comes from burning coal, but the process pumps a lot of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The coal industry says it can curb greenhouse gases with technology called carbon capture and storage—grabbing the CO2 and putting it in the ground. But does it work? Yes, according to Susan Hovorka of the Jackson School's Bureau of Economic Geology, where she leads the country's largest carbon sequestration test program. "Sequestration is absolutely doable," says Hovorka. "If I got to say one thing to people out there it would be that if you want power that reduces your guilt of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, you can have it. The question is, do people want it? Because it's not free."

Shell Donates to Benefit GeoForce

Austin American-Statesman, Feb. 8, 2008
Shell Oil Co. gave $225,500 to the University of Texas to support programs at the Jackson School of Geosciences, the McCombs School of Business, the Cockrell School of Engineering, and the College of Natural Sciences. Of that amount, $40,000 will go to the GeoForce Texas Program, which helps prepare low-income students for college study and careers in the earth sciences. The summer program gives low-income high school students from South Texas and Houston schools the opportunity to travel and learn about geosciences careers.

Africa’s Potential Oil and Gas Frontier

Geotimes, Feb. 2008
Michelle Foss, chief energy economist at the Jackson School’s Center for Energy Economics, believes Africa can be a new frontier in oil and gas exploration. “Africa’s resources have been both a blessing and a curse,” she writes. Today, Africa enters a new phase in the history of global oil and gas development as the continent’s industries and businesses slowly realign around increased self-determination.” The drive to use some of the energy sought by foreign interests for internal domestic markets will set the tone for the foreseeable future. “The first priority across most of Africa is to utilize the continent’s natural resources to improve local standards of living,” notes Foss.

Texans Optimistic about Clean Coal

Associated Press, Jan. 29, 2008
Officials who had been pushing for Texas to be selected as the home for a prototype near-zero emissions coal powered plant weren't surprised when the U.S. Department of Energy wanted out of the project, which was to be in Matoon, Ill. Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the Jackson School, which helped coordinator the state's effort to nab the project, said, "There is zero surprise in my voice." Meanwhile, officials in Odessa and Jewett remained optimistic about clean coal technology having a future in Texas. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s spokesman Matt Mackowiak said, "The state of Texas and our private industry have a lot to offer if DOE decides to competitively bid this project.”

AEP Joins Team of GeoFORCE Sponsors

The Uvalde-Leader News, Jan. 23, 2008
AEP Texas, a division of American Electric Power, recently joined the GeoFORCE Texas program, adding to other corporate sponsors’ and the Jackson School’s efforts to inspire students to explore math and science, promoting an interest in the geosciences. Beginning the summer following their eighth-grade year, program participants are exposed to the geosciences through four years of field trips to sites of geological interest across Texas and the United States.

Dinosaur-Killing Meteor Made Bigger Splash

Various, January 23-25, 2008
Several news outlets picked up on research published in the journal Nature Geoscience by Sean Gulick and Gail Christeson at the Institute for Geophysics and others regarding the Chicxulub crater. The researchers reported that the asteroid that blasted out the crater landed in deeper water than previously assumed and therefore released about 6.5 times more water vapor into the atmosphere. This could help explain why the impact, thought to have been a major cause of the KT Mass Extinction, was so deadly. News of the research was carried by Discovery Channel Canada, Quirks & Quarks (CBC Radio), USA Today/Space.com/LiveScience, and ScienceDaily.
Read the Discovery Channel Canada article.
Read the USAToday/LiveScience/Space.com article.

Platypus Much Older Than Thought

National Geographic News, January 22, 2008
Australia's duck-billed platypus has been around much longer than previously thought, according to a new fossil study that found its origin traces back to the dinosaur days. The international team, led by Timothy Rowe, professor in the Jackson School, used a CT scanner to image the internal structure of a 112.5- to 122-million-year-old Teinolophos jawbone. The scientists found that the platypus ancestor had already developed features of modern platypuses, including an electro-sensitive "bill" for finding aquatic prey. "This pushes the platypus back across the K-T boundary," Rowe said, referring to the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. "Now it looks like [platypuses] crossed the boundary without any problem."
Read the National Geographic News article.

Nanotechnology May Boost Energy Production

Daily Texan, January 17, 2008
In any given petroleum reservoir, as much as two-thirds of the oil can remain out of reach with today’s technology. Sean Murphy, Manager of the Advanced Energy Consortium, said it’s like trying to extract all of the water out of a sponge by sucking on it with a straw. The consortium, which is led by the Bureau of Economic Geology, seeks to use nanotechnology to extract more oil and gas from reservoirs. Nanoparticles could help reduce the thickness of oil mixtures and filter the petroleum from the reservoir mix, allowing more oil to be extracted. The consortium will also work to develop nanosensors that could be injected into reservoirs to provide more information about how to obtain more oil.
Read the Daily Texan article.

Using Nanotechnology to Harvest Oil

Austin American-Statesman, January 17, 2008
The University of Texas at Austin is managing a new research consortium that aims to find ways to use nanotechnology to recover more oil and gas from existing oil fields. The Advanced Energy Consortium will be backed by seven major oil-related companies. Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and a managing director of the consortium, said it will conduct a series of technical forums this year to develop a technology road map and narrow the focus for soliciting research proposals.
Read the Austin American-Statesman article.

Nano Group Seeks Oil from Existing Fields

Austin American-Statesman, Jan. 16, 2008
The Jackson School’s Bureau of Economic Geology is managing a new research consortium to use nanotechnology to recover more oil and gas from existing oil fields. The Advanced Energy Consortium will be backed by seven companies that have agreed to invest $1 million a year each for the first three years of the program, including BP America Inc., Baker Hughes Inc., ConocoPhillips Co., Halliburton Energy Services Inc., Marathon Oil Corp., Occidental Oil and Gas, and Schlumberger Ltd. The Jackson School’s Bureau of Economic Geology will coordinate the international research effort.

2007

Climate Satellite Group Defines Earth's Water Changes

Environment News Service, December 21, 2007
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission operated by the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin has been recognized for outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth through remote sensing. Aerospace Engineering Professor Byron Tapley, who directs the center and GRACE, accepted the award from the U.S. Department of the Interior and NASA "for improving scientific understanding of water changes throughout the world." Data from GRACE has established the rapid loss of ice mass in recent years from Greenland and Antarctica, and major changes in water storage in China's Yangtze River and other water sources, sometimes as a result of human use.
Read the Environment News Service article.

What’s Under Europa’s Ice?

Science Daily, December 14, 2007
Jupiter’s moon Europa is just as far away as ever, but new research is bringing scientists closer to being able to explore its tantalizing ice-covered ocean and determine its potential for harboring life. New ice-penetrating radar techniques will be a key component for exploring Europa. “There have been theories about whether the ice above the ocean is thick or thin, and now we have the ability to determine this with radar,” says Don Blankenship, a researcher at the Institute for Geophysics. Radar will also be able to locate liquid water both within and beneath the shell, he continues, just as it can spot water within crevasses and lakes beneath the ice of Antarctica. "Free water within the icy shell and its relationship to the underlying ocean will be a critical factor in determining the habitability of Europa."
Read the Science Daily article.

Warmer Weather Poses Threat to Western Aquifers

Greenwire, December 11, 2007
Many geologists fear climate change will impair the ability of groundwater aquifers in the West to recharge as a result of diminished snowpack in the region. Even if a warming climate does not reduce precipitation, aquifers and other subsurface water systems can drastically change. One study, by Brad Wolaver of the Jackson School of Geosciences, showed that a temperature rise of 5.8 degrees Celsius in the Cuatrocienegas Basin of Mexico could bring about a "worst case scenario" characterized by a near total depletion of groundwater recharging. The long-term effects could be decreased availability of water for irrigation in an area known for cattle and alfalfa production.
Read the Greenwire article.

High School Science Center Joins Geoscience Pipeline Program

East Texas Review Newspaper (Longview), December 5, 2007
The Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (T-STEM) Center, located on the campus of the University of Texas at Tyler (UTT), will be offering high school students a new learning experience in geosciences during the summer 2008 semester. The T-STEM Center will collaborate with the Jackson School of Geosciences to select high school juniors to participate in a program called GeoFORCE. Involved scholars will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Austin to visit several of Central Texas’ famous geologic formations where UT-Austin faculty members will instruct them, through hands-on methods and activities, on the intriguing geologic processes that formed these natural wonders.
Read the East Texas Review article.

Teen Wins Regional Science Prize

News 8 Austin, November 26, 2007
Ayon Sen, a central Texas high school student, just returned from California where he won the regional finals of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. "I don't think it's going to be easy to find another student that good," said Brian Arbic, a scientist at the Institute for Geophysics and one of Sen’s mentors. It's an understatement for a high school student who's done groundbreaking research on the oceans and Earth's climate.
Read the News 8 Austin piece. (Video also available)

Geological Cores are 'Open Book' to Geoscientists, Students

Midland Reporter-Telegram, Nov. 25, 2007
“Cores are irreplaceable,” said George Bush, who manages the Bureau of Economic Geology’s Midland Core Research Center. "The Earth doesn't change, but the technology of how we study the Earth is constantly improving," observed Bush, who has transformed the Midland center into an easily accessible resource for those looking to analyze cores and cuttings from oil and gas wells, which are viewed as essential in the search for more oil. Andrew Faigle, a geological materials specialist with the Bureau who staffs the center, said he has noticed an increase in requests for samples as the price of oil has risen, fueling an increase in drilling activity. Bush said, “It's so expensive to drill a well now and not know what's there; you can look at a core and know where you need to drill.”
Read the Midland Reporter-Telegram article.

Barron: What Scientists are Saying About Global Warming

Earth & Sky Radio, Nov. 21, 2007
Eric Barron, climate expert and dean of the Jackson School, spoke with Earth & Sky Radio about the way scientists are now speaking about global warming. He said, “I think it’s left behind, the notion of whether it’s happening and whether or not humans play a role.” The real debate, he said, is on how fast changes will occur, how big they’ll be, and what impacts they’ll have. He predicted that cities will feel global warming’s impact most in their water resources, using drought-prone Denver, Colorado, as an example. “And so nature’s storage device of putting a lot of snow in the Rocky Mountains and then melting it through the year and providing water for Denver starts to change,” he said. “It melts faster if you have warmer springs and summers, and it may not still be there by the time midsummer comes.“
Hear/Read the Earth & Sky segment.

Myths and Truths about Climate Change

The Daily Texan, Nov. 19, 2007
Eric Barron, dean of the Jackson School, spoke at Welch Hall on Nov. 16, 2007 to address the pertinent issue of global warming. He admitted that “there’s an awful lot of misinformation out, and that makes discussing global warming difficult” in such an argumentative climate that has experts, politicians and celebrities crusading for their opposing ideas and projections. Barron’s talk was the 51st installment of the Hot Science/Cool Talk outreach lecture series, hosted by the Environmental Science Institute (ESI). ESI Director Jay Banner said, “We wanted to have a way that scientists at the university could disseminate their results to the public in a way that was understandable, fun and interesting.”
Read the Daily Texan article.

Why Some Areas are More Tsunami Prone

Asian News International, Nov. 16, 2007
Geoscientists have long wondered why the Nankai Trough, a region of the Pacific seafloor off the coast of Japan, is so good at generating devastating tsunamis. A new study published in the journal Science just might answer that question. Nathan Bangs, a senior research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics, collected 3D seismic data from within the trough and found two possible contributing factors. “By understanding places like Nankai, we'll have more information and a better approach to looking at other places to determine whether they have potential to generate tsunamis.”
Read the Asian News International article.

UT Gains Access to Country’s Most Advanced Research Vessel

Daily Texan, November 13, 2007
The National Science Foundation has launched the country’s most advanced seismic research vessel, available for use by the University of Texas at Austin and other universities. "It's a premier ship for exploring the Earth and understanding parts of the Earth we still know very little about,” said J.B. Bird, spokesman for the Jackson School of Geosciences. The new vessel, called the R/V Marcus G. Langseth, replaces the R/V Maurice Ewing. In early 2008, UT scientists will board the vessel for its first scientific voyage to explore an earthquake zone off the shore of Costa Rica.
Read the Daily Texan article.

Teen Wins Science Prize

Austin American-Statesman, November 12, 2007
A study of the balance of energy in Earth's oceans has netted a Round Rock high school senior a college scholarship and a shot at $100,000. Ayon Sen, son of Institute for Geophysics researcher Mrinal Sen, won the top individual prize at a regional Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology in Pasadena, California. For his performance at one of the country's most esteemed high school science competitions, Sen was awarded a $3,000 college scholarship. He will proceed to the national finals held in New York, where the winners of six regional competitions will vie for scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. "I've been following the whole climate issue for a while, and I thought it would be an interesting application of math and science to something I'm interested in," Sen said. Sen's mentors were Institute researchers Brian Arbic and Robert Scott.
Read the Austin American-Statesman article.

East Texas Producers On Right Track

Tyler Morning Telegraph, November 4, 2007
A University of Texas at Austin pilot study shows many operators are already doing the right thing when it comes to extracting oil from the East Texas Oil Field. The study, funded by the State of Texas Advance Resource Recovery (STARR) program, took about 14 months to complete, said Eric Potter, associate director of the Bureau of Economic Geology. "We wanted to take a brand new look at some small areas of the field and apply modern concepts of geologic thinking, and say, 'What does the reservoir architecture look like? How would we view that in modern times and would that make an impact on how the operators produce the field?'" Potter said. "In many cases, it was affirming what operators are already doing," Potter said. "In a couple of instances we made some suggestions for things that might be done better."
Read the Tyler Morning Telegraph article.

Study: East Texas Oil Field Likely to Produce Through 2030

Longview News-Journal, October 31, 2007
The East Texas Oil Field is still producing about 11,000 barrels of crude a day, and should be around at present production rates for another generation, according to a year-long study by the Bureau of Economic Geology. Eric Potter, assistant director for the Bureau, said while 11,000 barrels of oil being pumped daily may sound like a lot, the volume is a fraction of what it once was. "The field is just a ghost of its former self," Potter said. "At current rates, it's producing only about 2 percent of its peak in 1940." The oil remaining in the field is harder and more costly to produce than it has been, he said. "But at current oil prices, producing here can still be very attractive," Potter said. "Using current production approaches, we can expect the field to continue producing until about 2030," he said.
Read the Longview News-Journal article.

Researchers Face 'Perfect Storm'

VNUNet United Kingdom, October 29, 2007
Scientific researchers are facing a revolution caused by increases in computational power and methods, according to leading academics. Omar Ghattas, professor and Jackson Chair in Computational Geosciences at the Jackson School of Geosciences, said that historic opportunities have arisen to solve some of the world's biggest problems using new computational power. "There is a coming golden age of computational science in which the 21st century will witness solutions to grand challenges in society," he said at the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (Kaust) IT summit in Dharha, Saudi Arabia. Ghattas explained that the academic community is building a " perfect storm" of low-cost computer hardware, better software and improved mathematical algorithms.
Read the VNUNet article.

UT Gets Grant to Test Carbon Dioxide Storage

Austin American-Statesman, October 26, 2007
A 10-year, $38 million project to study the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide (CO2) underground to combat global warming has been awarded to the University of Texas at Austin. The university's Bureau of Economic Geology will inject CO2 into brine formations deep underground about 15 miles east of Natchez, Mississippi. Sequestering major greenhouse gases emitted by power plants and other sources could reduce atmospheric emissions that contribute to global warming. "This is the next step in a series of Bureau-led experiments to test much-needed carbon capture and storage technologies," said Scott Tinker, the state geologist and director of the Bureau, a unit of the Jackson School of Geosciences.
Read the Austin American-Statesman article.

Barron Speaks on Climate Shifts and the Value of Nature

Corpus Christi Caller-Times, October 23, 2007
At the 57th annual convention of geologists held on Oct. 23, 2007, organized by the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies/Gulf Coast Section of Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, the theme of “Exploring the Third Coast,” brought presentations on global climate change, preservation and rising sea levels. Speaker Eric Barron, dean of the Jackson School, posed a question to the audience: “If one received a contract to cut all the trees in your community, would that be a good thing or bad thing?” He explained that even though jobs and goods would be provided to the community, the beauty and beneficial services of an ecosystem could be affected. He said, “The reality is, the next generation won’t miss (the trees). We need to see the value of our resources before they're gone. The next generation won't miss what they don't know was there."
Read the Corpus Christi Caller-Times article.

Platypuses Older Than Once Thought

Hindustan Times, October 23, 2007
A new study by a University of Texas at Austin vertebrate paleontologist revealed the duck-billed, otter-footed platypus first emerged 120 million years ago, possibly even earlier than the Early Cretaceous Era, a time when many dinosaur groups first appeared. Timothy Rowe said the key to the platypus puzzle was an ancient egg-laying mammal relative called Teinolophos trusleri. Rowe and his team used a high-resolution X-ray CT scanner to examine fossil remains of the ancient relative and found a large internal canal in the animal's lower jaw. Modern platypuses also have this canal, which is involved in electrical signal detection. They use it to pick up signals that prey, such as tadpoles, shellfish and bugs, emit as they swim. Scientists were surprised to find that this “high tech” skill evolved much earlier than once thought.
Read the Hindustan Times article. (Lexis Nexis Subscription required)

Brookings Scholar Speaks of America’s Oil Addiction

The Daily Texan, October 23, 2007
David Sandalow, a Brookings Institution scholar, spoke Oct. 22, 2007 at the University of Texas at Austin during a panel discussion hosted by the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy about the country's oil addiction, global warming and the impact of energy policies. Sandalow spoke on how to end America's oil addiction, citing a switch to plug-in hybrid cars as at the top of his list of solutions. Michael Webber, associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the Jackson School, joined Sandalow in the panel discussion and disagreed with his assertion. Webber said he believes Americans should focus more on cultural shifts, such as telecommuting and driving less, rather than plug-in hybrid transportation, and acknowledged that America’s oil dependence problem is not a new political dialogue, but is an issue that needs a solution.
Read the Daily Texan article.

Science Lovers Poke Fun at Reckoning of Earth’s Age

Austin American-Statesman, October 22, 2007
The Austin chapter of the Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit organization aiming to promote science and reason, gathered at BookPeople on the satirical birthday of the Earth, Oct. 23, marking the day some creationists believe the Earth was created in 4004 B.C. They drank a blue-green concoction called Noah's Floodwaters Punch, ate a “Flat Earth Cake,” and listened to scientific talks about the age of the Earth, one of which was given by Jackson School professor Leon Long.
Read the Austin American-Statesman article.

Blog: Newt Gingrich’s Passion for Dinosaurs

Austin American-Statesman Online, October 22, 2007
On Oct. 17, 2007, former Speaker of the House (and, surprise, paleontology enthusiast), Newt Gingrich spoke on “Dinosaurs, Birds and the Challenge of Science in the 21st Century” at the Austin Convention Center. Before the Jackson School-sponsored event, he said, “Knowledge evolves over time, and we should be cautious about what we know—the centrality of science to the future of America, and what we can do to get young people excited about science.” Timothy Rowe, a paleontologist at the Jackson School, said the university brought Gingrich in to educate paleontologists about how they can influence public policy. He said, “A lot of people wanted to take ownership [of his talk], but he’s ours. The Jackson School is paying the expenses.”
Read the Austin American-Statesman blog.

Texas Governor’s Views on Climate Change Criticized

Austin American-Statesman, October 21, 2007
Texas Governor Rick Perry has recently been criticized for his comments that he personally doubts humans contribute to global warming and that he believes that any Texas actions to regulate greenhouse gases would be premature, potentially wreaking havoc in the state that leads the nation in such emissions. In a Sept. 7, 2007 speech to California Republicans, Perry criticized Al Gore’s fervent global warming stance. Critics urged the governor to convene a study of climate change and how it would affect Texas. Eric Barron, dean of the Jackson School, said scientists agree that the climate is warming and that humans contribute to it. “Where consensus becomes more difficult is about how fast warming will occur and how significant it will be,” he said.
Read the Austin American-Statesman article.

Jackson School Graduate Kick-Starts Texas Vodka Industry

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 21, 2007
Bert Butler Beveridge II, a University of Texas graduate with degrees in geology and geophysics and experience in the oil patch, launched Tito’s Handmade Vodka in 1997. As the granddaddy of the Texas vodka distilleries, Beveridge’s label is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, producing about 200,000 cases of vodka this year. Texas’ vodka distillers, all three of which are located in the Austin area, hope to tap into the global thirst for vodka, the world’s most popular alcoholic spirit.
Read the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article.

Fears About Rising Sea Levels Surface in South Padre Island

The Brownsville Herald, October 1, 2007
Some scientists say that over the next 100 years, seas heated by the greenhouse effect could rise by a foot and a half to three feet. The nonprofit group Environmental Defense’s May 2006 report warned that South Padre would be lost if sea level rises by three feet. Charles Jackson, a climate modeler at the Institute for Geophysics, said, “Now that we’re learning how climate change can affect the environment, we want to be cautious about it. Glaciologists are keen on understanding what changes may occur, but they’re starting from zero.” Still, Jackson is hopeful. “I’m an optimistic person. I accept the climate may be changing, but I tend to think our society can rally to find solutions,” he said.
Read the Brownsville Herald article.

UT global affairs research center gets $7.5 million

Austin American-Statesman, September 25, 2007
A research center focusing on global affairs—everything from energy and health care to security and environmental sustainability—has been established at the University of Texas at Austin, with a former ambassador and his law firm contributing $7.5 million toward a $25 million capital campaign for the unit. The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, named for the UT graduate and former ambassador, is intended to expand the university's educational and research footprint on global affairs in order to make a global impact. The Strauss Center will have an interdisciplinary flavor, collaborating with other schools in the university, drawing on specialists from the Jackson School.
Read the Austin American-Statesman article.

Rock of Ages

Smithsonian, September 22, 2007
Elizabeth Catlos is taking leave this year from Oklahoma State University, where she is an associate professor of geology, to come to the Jackson School to analyze the garnet-laden rocks she brought back from Menderes Massif in western Turkey. She hopes to dispel some of the mystery of this rugged range’s formation. Throughout her geologic expeditions, from the Himalayas to Nepal, Catlos started collecting garnet-bearing rocks, which are exquisite recorders of geologic data. While at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she attended graduate school, Catlos sliced the garnets and recorded data that contradicts the prevailing picture of how the Himalayas were formed. She found that when India slammed into Asia around 55 million years ago, a massive crumpling of the earth’s crust occurred, which contradicts popular thought that this crumpling occurred in a rather orderly fashion. Sorena Sorensen, a geologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, said, “Liz basically rewrote the geological time frame for one of earth’s major features, meaning that a lot of people's work got reexamined very quickly."
Read the Smithsonian article.

High U.S. Energy Taxes

Dow Jones Energy Service, Sept. 4, 2007
A Congressional bill that seeks to reduce subsidies and increase taxes for major energy companies in a bid to encourage efficiency will likely have “unintended consequences,” according to Gürcan Gülen, senior energy analyst at the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. Supporters say oil companies enjoy subsidies they don't deserve at a time when oil prices have boosted profits, but Gülen said, “Ultimately, the costs associated with taxes will be borne by the consumer.” The proposed taxes that both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate will start discussing this week could cost the oil industry $25 billion to $30 billion over 10 years. Chevron and ConocoPhillips said the proposed tax increases will hinder their ability to compete for energy resources, ultimately increasing U.S. dependency on exports.

Swimming to Europa

IEEE Spectrum, September 1, 2007
On a hot late-spring Friday at Rancho La Azufrosa, Mexico, a group of scientists, engineers and students all shared the same goal: to field-test one of the most intelligent and agile underwater robots ever crafted. A possible predecessor of a machine that might someday swim the ice-crusted ocean of Jupiter’s mysterious moon Europa, DEPTHX is the creation of a team led by Bill Stone, who received his Ph.D. in structural engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. The 1.3-metric-ton machine can maneuver freely, draw detailed maps of its watery surroundings and collect biological samples as it senses changing conditions in its environment—all without human operators—a factor that is key in the potential exploration of Europa. But even exploring the world’s deepest water-filled sinkhole of El Zacatón seemed a long way off as the team waited for the Mexican government to approve their permit, which was tangled up in diplomatic grandstanding. Just as the team began packing up to head back to Austin, the permit was approved and they eagerly delved into their work, which was led by project manager Marcus Gary, who is a geology Ph.D. candidate at the Jackson School.
Read the IEEE Spectrum article.

Bureau Teams Up with Big Oil on Nanosensors

Houston Chronicle, Aug. 23, 2007
A consortium of energy companies, working with The University of Texas at Austin, plans to research the use of nanotechnology to help produce oil and gas. The Advanced Energy Consortium is working on developing subsurface nanosensors that could be injected into oil and gas well bores, collecting information to evaluate the oil and gas potential of a reservoir. The Jackson School’s Bureau of Economic Geology will lead the collaborative research. Resulting inventions will be owned by the university, while the right to make and sell any patented technology belongs to the seven major companies funding the multimillion dollar venture.
Read the Houston Chronicle article.

Concerns Voiced Over NASA Earth Science Funding

American Institute of Physics, SpaceRef.com, Aug. 17, 2007
“We will enter the next decade with an [Earth] observing system that is substantially less capable than we had at the start of the 21st century,” testified Eric Barron, dean of the Jackson School, during a June 28 hearing of the House Science and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. The hearing explored whether NASA’s 2008 budget request of $1.497 billion for earth science and applications programs would enable the space agency to implement the recommendations of the National Academies’ decadal survey. “It strikes me,” Barron said, that the nation “is in worse shape, not better,” in terms of designing an effective observing system without gaps in data continuity.
Read the AIP article.

LNG Developers Meet Resistance in Northeast

Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 7, 2007
On the Pleasant Point Indian Reservation on Passamaquoddy Bay, with a view of forested Canadian islands on the far shore, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developers are clashing with Canadians eager to preserve a pristine wilderness. The dispute highlights the challenge of finding places to build safe LNG facilities without meeting local resistance. Critics question whether any of the new terminals are needed. But building excess capacity helps respond to unexpected demand, says Mariano Gurfinkel of the Center for Energy Economics at The University of Texas at Austin. “Terminals can cost upwards of $500 million. I doubt that their proponents are going to do this if they don’t think they would make money.”
Read the Christian Science Monitor article.

Affording Climate Change

Geotimes, July 2007
Taking immediate action to mitigate climate change is not only necessary, but affordable, according to the third summary report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). By spending portions of global domestic product, it is possible to curtail growing global greenhouse gas emissions, predicted to rise 25 to 90 percent in the next 25 years. “The fastest gains are going to be seen from behavioral changes. Efficiency and conservation can save a lot of energy immediately,” said Michael Webber, associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the Jackson School. Mitigation measures can come at relatively little economic cost, compared to the estimated $1.8 trillion required to initiate the most aggressive scenarios. Webber theorizes that economic growth can occur along with mitigation strategies, looking to California and Denmark’s combination of green policies and economic vitality.
Read the Geotimes article.

Can the World Bury Carbon Dioxide?

Christian Science Monitor, July 31, 2007
Can nations bury their greenhouse gases? If so, they may buy a decades-long respite as they search for less carbon-intensive energy sources. Scientists working on carbon sequestration are cautiously optimistic. “I grew up near Love Canal, so I know the problems of putting stuff underground,” says Sue Hovorka, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin tracking the movement of carbon dioxide underground in the nation’s first deep sequestration experiment, in the old Liberty oil field south of Houston. Perhaps America’s best hopes for geologic sequestration lie with the sandstone formations holding super-salty groundwater on the Texas coast—as well as the dwindling oil fields across its vast breadth, says Ian Duncan, associate director of the Bureau of Economic Geology. Together, these two geological assets could hold all of America’s CO2 emissions for at least the next 40 years, he estimates.
Read the Christian Science Monitor article.

Opinion: Support America’s Oil Companies

Houston Chronicle, July 29, 2007
As we wait for emerging energy forms to develop, we should create policies that support oil companies, wrote Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, in an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle. Tinker debunked a number of energy myths, such as the ideas that American energy independence is possible and “Big Oil” companies control gasoline prices. “While emerging energy forms take shape, we still need to run the planes, trains and automobiles of the modern era,” wrote Tinker. “Until we define and can produce at scale the next major transportation fuel, we owe it to ourselves to develop national energy policy with a mind toward supporting the major oil companies that provide the energy required for a healthy economy, which is in turn required for a healthy environment.”
Read the Houston Chronicle op-ed.

Clues to Rising Seas Hidden in Polar Ice

Washington Post, July 16, 2007
Few consequences of global warming pose as severe a threat to human society as sea-level rise, but scientists have yet to figure out how to predict it, and much less, how to prevent it. With so much at stake, ice sheet modelers are working furiously to try to unravel the mystery of how these sheets accumulate and lose mass. Scientists from around the world are now collaborating to develop more sophisticated models to inform policymakers about potential sea-level rise from ice sheets. The researchers have convened two major meetings this year, at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School and Princeton University, in an effort to generate a new generation of ice sheet models.
Read the Washington Post article.

Barron Offers Overview of Climate Modeling

The Oil and Gas Journal, July 9, 2007
As industries and governments pay greater attention to climate change, interest in climate models has been on the rise. Eric Barron, dean of the Jackson School, offered a wide-ranging perspective on the state of climate modeling. For oil and gas exploration, climate modeling has recently regained currency, with scientists reporting great strides in their ability to generate simulations that accurately examine specific time periods and basins. In general, climate models can be applied to geological information in two ways: studying Earth’s history and improving knowledge of climate change so scientists can better project the future. “If you have confidence that these models can predict the past, it starts to give you more confidence that they can predict the future,” said Barron.
Read the Oil and Gas Journal article. (Subscription required)

Also see: July 2006-June 2007: Jackson School in the News

For more information, contact J.B. Bird, Jackson School of Geosciences, jbird@jsg.utexas.edu, 512-232-9623.