h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Mo!

I really have to apologise for reacting like I did at the Atelier. Your phrasing and overall command of the English language led me to believe that you had a college education, and your lack of understanding was willful instead of circumstantial. Can we let bygones be bygones?

It must have been a while since you had science. So many neat things have happened, not only the O18 ratios! There's plate tectonics, where the continents smash into each other to build mountain ranges, and new oceans open and close over millions of years, some never leaving a trace except for some odd basalt complexes that don't look anything like the surrounding rock. There's the Burgess Shale in British Columbia, where they have found real organisms that look like things out of nightmares and science fiction novels- the pretty ones look like a cross between a fish, a scorpion, and a tank! The discovery of early hominids in the Olduvai Gorge proves that not only are we all related, but that we're all Ethiopian anyway. My personal favorite are the magnetotactic bacteria, little one-celled critters that build an internal compass which they use to navigate and find food.



*ahem* Sorry for waxing poetic back there... they say if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life, and I guess I've hit upon a lifestyle of playing in the dirt!

Anyway, I've got a couple of geologically related entries in and coming up. If you'd like to read a little about the river that birthed the Clean Water Act, take a look at the Cuyahoga River entry I put together A2966772

I've got one on the phylum corals are in soon to be on the front page, and a Yellowstone geology entry that I've just navigated through Peer Review.

Thank you for the compliment. I guess it is all the reading I do that helps give the impression of being educated. I actually was a lousy student. The other part of that is if I am reading a genere such as westerns alot or some other section of the globe I start talking as if I were in the book and possibly my writing might be that way.

I am going to print out the page for now and will look them up later as I am going to hit the sack early tonight. I am interested in the Cuyahoga River. I went to the Columbus zoo I think it was and went on the Cuyahoga River within the past five years. I thought it to be a beautiful river. Hopefully it is because of the Clean Water Act. I saw a sign today outside of Waterville, OH saying something about the Clean Water Act. I didn't read it all. I was traveling along SR 24 which follows the Maumee River. I often take my bride on that route for a couple of hours as I love the river and she loves to ride.

I agree whole heartedly that to do what you love you really never work. For me that works up and until we get down to closing the month. While it does not change my feelings for my work the pressure can be hard on the body. People who are physical in their labors do not realize how taxing it is being a pencil pusher.

We start fresh. Think of me as your student. I need a lot of coaching and while I may be taking your class it may not be my major. Actually for the life of me I do not have any idea what my major would be. I hated history and I am reading books on the history of the USA. Maybe because I don't have to remember dates for tests.

When you read that through and if you are so inclined, be sure to visit the Cuyahoga Valley National Park website that I believe is linked at the bottom of the page. There is a nice scenic route through the Park that would be good for a change of scenery, and a scenic railway that is very attractively priced running through the heart of the park.

Right now, I'm working on a project on the Cuyahoga River. There's a dam near where I'm going to school in a small town called Munroe Falls. It's over 100 years old, but unfortunately hasn't been maintained very well, and it's causing some huge problems. The spillway and sluice pond have stopped working, making it impossible for fish to clear the 12 feet of brick and mortar. Not only that, but the dam works so well, it slows the water behind it to a crawl in the summer. This leads to algae blooms and some unusual smells. The dam itself is crumbling, and no one seems to be willing to put up the money to keep it standing- I mean, I was out there last week, and the abuttments were leaking! Still, the Village of Munroe Falls wants it as a symbol of their city, so the EPA is paying to have it lowered by 6 feet to improve the water quality, and fix the spillway and fish passages. I know- taxpayers money, but the only other alternative to meet water quality standards was to completely overhaul all the sewage treatment plants upstream, leaving some very unhappy customers in Summit, Portage, and Geauga County. Besides, by a lot of the EPA scientists estimates, that stretch of the river will become suitable for game fish such as trout within months of the dam modification.

What I'm doing is studying how the river might change when the dam is lowered. The water level in the resevoir will go down within a few hours of the modification, and velocity will increase- you've got to fit the same amount of water through a narrow channel in the same amount of time. Because there's a lot of fine grained stuff in the river, things will start to erode, maybe all the way down to bedrock. It will take about 8 years for the riverbanks to completely stabilize, but we'll reap the benefits in increased wetlands area, healthier fish populations, and a better smell in the summer.

Incidentally, I looked into my copy of the ODNR wetlands regulations. Something smells fishy about the whole thing. All the developer has to do is build a wetland somewhere else (no net loss rule- gotta love it), or buy one with a conservation easement. It's a booming industry in well-regulated states like Ohio. A developer buys a cornfield, breaks the tile to flood it again, lets it go, and sells it to the wetland bank for an obscene profit. It sounds like the man either has the personality of a mule, or has his own agenda for making such a stink.

Hope you don't mind!

Not me!

Come on in....

I understand why you like your work. I am lucky that I have been the kind that finds a way to enjoy what I am doing whether working in plant running machines, doing security in 10 below in a parking lot, wiring jets, doing oil changes in a gas station, or selling books door to door.

Had I any sense when I was a kid or if the school could have recognized I might have some potential I could have gotten into something similar to your work. But the milk is spilt, life goes on.

You were right about one thing. The developer was an annoying SOB which pushed buttons everywhere in the government offices. Luckily, the courts even recognized that but told the officials that were hounding the case that is still no excuse for what they were doing to him.

Eh, I'll take an annoyed developer any day of the week over the extinction of these guys:

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/narcam/idguide/atigrin.htm

You have the Eastern Tiger Salamander in your neck of the woods (fourth one down the page). They live in small, isolated forested wetlands that aren't quite deep enough for fish to live in. Those are getting pretty hard to find, anymore, with people clearing these forested areas, putting up housing developments, and giving it some pretty name that describes what it used to be, like Hale's Farm or Piney Forests. If there was any justice, they would all be called "Bunch of ugly boxes put up shoddily where something interesting used to be."

Sorry, feeling a bit bitter about urban sprawl today...

Actually I had never seen a salamander live until my oldest son raised some as pets. Quite interesting little guys. I liked the blotched tiger salamander picture.

I worked in Wolf's Creek something or other. I have never seen a wolf in these parts nor have I heard they are still around here. I saw a couple in Paldale, California and I saw a roadrunner. I loved the desert. I hear so many people and new industry has moved on the desert it is just as smoggy as the other side of the mountain. Some areas are causing ecological damage by the planting of grass and flowers. Grass takes water and the desert is not known for its abundance. Flowers can iritate sinuses of those who moved to the desert to get away from pollen. And I loved the Wilamette Valley in Oregon. A lady out there sold me a book. She wrote me that all the lumber industry around Eugene had to move on. It was Tujunga Canyon wasn't half bad if you didn't mind the smog in California. If you go through Grant, New Mexico be sure to adhere to the speed limit. Well 40 years ago anyway. Olando, Florida was beautiful before Walt's World. I haven't been there since before.

I really like Ohio. I was raised in Michigan and that's a fine state also, but it is a bit warmer here. You going to be around here long or will your work take you to new destinations and adventures?

To be honest, I don't know where I'm going to end up! I may come back to Ohio, but I kind of got bitten by the Mountain Bug when I was in the Black Hills.

Planting grass and flowers in the desert is the worst thing you can do- like stripping the ground bare around here. They take far too much water, and the groundwater supplies (aquifer- a rock that you can drill to get a water well) are already overtaxed. Check these pictures for an idea of what happens when you take too much out.

http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/changes/anthropogenic/subside/

Wolves used to live around here; now, the closest you'll find them in the wild is in Minnesota. It's really a shame, because now that we've got no large predators left except us during hunting season, we've got a severe population problem with whitetail deer. They're eating a lot of small mammals and ground-nesting bird species litterally out of house and home.

But there's good news- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7259552/ -in case you missed the evening NBC news, it has been 10 years since the wolf packs were introduced back into Yellowstone, and they have been (pardon the pun) wildly successful! The system has worked exactly as conservationists said it would. Problem wolves- mercifully few- have been shot, and the comparatively few livestock taken by wolves have been replaced by Defenders of Wildlife. I'm daring to hope that if they could bounce back in Yellowstone, they could bounce back in Maine, or Upstate New York, or the Appalacian Trail area of Pennsylvania, or, hoping against hope, in one of the remaining contiguous forests of Ohio.

I saw salamanders for the first time last summer, visiting America.. I was in Penna. and they were orange critters!

I think they're trying to re-introduce wild boars in Scotland.

I heard rumors to that effect. I also heard someone wanted to put wolves on his property to reduce the deer population.

What do you think of the Kyoto Protocol?

I think it might have been a good first step- it is for the rest of the world! I think it's a shame the US didn't sign it, but with gas prices so high, I think we're getting what we deserve for it.

I can understand wanting the Black Hills. My favorite place was the high desert of California. The Mojave to me was beautiful. I drove one night outside of the city and realized I hadn't had my lights on. I could see fine by moonlight. You drive to the top of a hill and look out and you could see cities miles upon miles away. The stars especially on a moonless night was at least 10 times or more visible than here. At least that is what I remember. That was 40 years ago. I think if you get away from the cities it may still be like that.


What reasoning is our government using not to sign?

They don't want to hurt the economy.

Personally, I can't wait to see this line of thought bite them in the behind after a few more years of increased global temperatures. Sea levels rise due to thermal expansion of water, and melting of polar ice caps. Weather patterns will change, and extreme heat and cold will become far more common, as will more powerful storms. Most importantly, there is something called thermohaline ocean circulation- basically, differences in water temperature and salinity cause the ocean to circulate, which brings heat to colder parts of the globe and nutrients to ocean fisheries. It's why the British Isles have mild winters, and why we've got fisheries where they are. Unfortunately, incoming cold freshwater from melting glaciers can upset this- it has in the past. The most recent one caused a climate upset called the Younger Dryas A760240. The tail end of that article tells what the economy would be like when that happens- invest in european de-icing companies.

I was wondering. If all the nations did get together, Including USA, would it be possible to reverse the global warming trend? Not just slow it down but actually stop it?

What was the cause of the last ice age? Is this what we are facing as a possibility for our future generations?

As I was growing up I heard and read tales of the dust bowl. What cause the long termed drought? Can it happen again?

If there was a severe enough an earthquake could part of California seperate and become a peninsula or island?


What would happen if a hole about a mile wide were put into the mountains seperating the coast from the desert. Would the smog lessen on the coastal side? Would it destroy the desert? Would it lessen the rains on one side but increase the rains in the desert?

Answers to your questions in order:

1)I don't think so. There's a possiblity we could lessen its effects, but we've already heated up the ocean temperatures- in this case, you have to think of the ocean as a giant hot water bottle. It takes a lot of energy to heat up, but it stays warm for a good long time. So, by heating up the ocean, we've pretty much caused an alteration in climate that we can't really stop in my opinion. I don't know everything, and I'll have to ask the prof that specializes in climate change after he gets back from California, and of course I could just be flat out wrong. If we do something, it might not get better, but if we do nothing, it will most certainly get worse.

2)The last ice age was actually caused by variations in the earth's orbit over tens of thousands of years- it's called the Milankovich cycle, and it's been repeating since... oh... before the dinosaurs, at least. We will see it again, if the human race survives that long. The way we're going, I'd be surprised.

3) Poor farming practices combined with an unusually dry year caused the dust bowl. It can happen again. It is happening again, in poor countries stricken by drought- see subsaharan Africa.

4)I don't think a single earthquake would split California in a single blow from the rest of the US- but don't get me wrong, it is separating. It all has to do with plate tectonics.

California is on a plate boundary between the North American continental plate and the Pacific plate. It used to be on a subduction zone, where the American plate overrode an ancient plate called the Farallan plate, which got sucked down into the hot interior of the earth and is now at least partially melted. Remanents of the Farallan plate still exist up by the Cascade mountains, and that's why there are volcanoes there.

Anyway, the American plate actually overrode the boundary between the Pacific and Farallan plate- a spreading center. Granted, it has slowed somewhat since it got subducted, but rest assured it is still going. Death Valley is testament to that- it gets a few inches wider every year. If the spreading center keeps its power over the next couple of million years, we will eventually see a new ocean between parts of California and the rest of the US.

5) What do you mean by a hole? The mountains form a barrier between the coast and the desert in the West, yes, and if they weren't there, it would be much more like the East coast- the rain would just be more evenly spread.

Whew!

Scandrea,


Thank you, I have lots of questions but can never remember to look them up but somehow talking to you they kind of spilled out.

I have a theory and I don't know where to go but I suspect you might be able to let me know. Over the years I believe that the most common death of Hollylwood stars has been cancer. While I know a lot of these persons are into tans and the sun could account for skin cancers which I've heard is on the rise nationwide the types of cancers that caused the majority of deaths I find difficult to perceive as sun related. I was wondering if flying could be involved. Is the radiation level higher the higher you are flying. That was the one common denominator amongst actors and actresses. They fly alot. Just a thought.

Hope you have a pleasant Easter.

They also tend to have unhealthy lifestyles- smoking, excessive drinking, drugs... if you really wanted to test that theory, you'd look at a group like pilots or stewardesses. I can't be sure- I think the radiation you get from a three hour flight is about the same as you would get standing next to a microwave.

Happy Easter! I celebrate Orthodox Easter myself, and that's in May, but have a good one!

I once helped a man, who with a partner ran a petshop in the front of the building and a reupholstering business in the back, take a tank set up to a Catholic Church. Cliff introduced me to the Father and in turn the Father introduced us to his wife and children. Having grown up Catholic I did not understand having a family. He explained that they were an Eastern Orthodox sect and not recognized by the Catholic Church that I had grown up in. Do you know if this is one of the churches that recognize the Orthodox Easter? Is this your church or are there others that relate to the Orthodox Easter.

I guess I thought you just worked and currently schooled here in Ohio. I am glad to hear you are a native Ohioan. I love our state. And when I take Bonnie for long drives I take a direction, more or less and just go. I never was much on knowing which way I was driving but since I need to get back I use time and NEWS. So if my trip away was mostly S and W then getting howm is going to be N and E. When I decide it is time to head home I basically check my milage and time and pretty much can tell Bonnie when we will get home. Actually I use 60 miles and one hour and throw in a few extra minutes. We travel roads less known and get to pass through a lot of small towns. Bonnie loves it when we come across Amish people in their buggys or thier roadside stands.

Maybe if I promise her a long ride today I can get her to shower. I still haven't made it to Youngstown or Franklin Furnace, but have gone inbetween to Wheeling. My oldest son married a young lady from Orville not far from Wooster where they were married. They live in Toledo. She is a home visit nurse. He works at a major mail-in survey compiler company. He keeps their main frame up and running.

Not too bad when you consider he only took one year of music in college and flunked out. Not the music part; he just didn't attend the other classes. He is one of those lucky people who can play just about anything, well at least guitar, bass fiddle or viola, or piano and doesn't have to practice to play with first chairs that do have to practice. He has a fairly good voice which his HS coach said he had perfect pitch, which means if you hear a police car coming down your hallway it might just be Chris doing his thing.

You are a very logical person. I didn't think about the people who fly almost every day. That would be interesting to check out.