We Will Rock You -- Geologic Map Day plus 1 more |
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We Will Rock You -- Geologic Map Day Posted: 18 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT The U.S. Geological Survey is partnering with the American Geosciences Institute, the Association of American State Geologists and others to promote the importance of geologic mapping to society.Celebrate the second annual Geologic Map Day! On October 18, as a part of the Earth Science Week 2013 activities, join leading geoscience organizations in promoting awareness of the importance of geologic mapping to society. Geologic maps are vital to education, science, business, and public policy concerns. Geologic Map Day will focus the attention of students, teachers, and the general public on the study, uses, and significance of these tools, by engaging audiences through educational activities, print materials, online resources, and public outreach opportunities.
In conjunction with Geologic Map Day, the USGS is promoting several new events. The first "Best Student Geologic Map Competition" will be held at the annual Geological Society of America meeting. Students in university (either undergraduates or graduate students) from around the world who have completed a geologic map are eligible to compete and we will be posting short videos of university students who have mapping in the field this summer. We hope these videos will inspire younger students in high school to consider the Earth Sciences as their future major. Be sure to check out the Geologic Map Day poster included in this year's Earth Science Week Toolkit. The poster and other materials in the kit show how geologic maps can be used to understand natural hazards as well as providing step-by-step instructions for a related classroom activity. Additional resources for learning about geologic maps can be found on the Geologic Map Day web page. Geologic Map Day partners include the American Geosciences Institute (AGI), the Association of American State Geologists, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, the Geological Society of America, and Esri. Focusing on the theme of "Mapping Our World," Earth Science Week 2013 will be celebrated October 13-19. To learn more, please visit www.earthsciweek.org/. To order your Toolkits, please visit www.earthsciweek.org/materials/. You may also call AGI Publications to place your order at 703-379-2480. For more information, go to: http://www.earthsciweek.org/geologicmap/ |
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Colombian and US Officials Meet to Save Lives through Exchange Posted: 17 Sep 2013 03:30 PM PDT Note to Editors: Dr. Marta Calvache, Deputy Director of the Geological Survey of Colombia, will give a public presentation about “Volcano Hazards Preparedness: Lessons from Colombia” on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7:00 p.m. Sponsored by the City of Puyallup, Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, and the U.S. Geological Survey, it will take place at Puyallup City Hall, 333 S. Meridian, Puyallup, Wash. VANCOUVER, Wash. — Officials from South America are helping to save lives in communities around Cascade Range volcanoes by sharing their expertise in a bi-national exchange that brings Colombian emergency managers and scientists to the Pacific Northwest, following a recent visit to Colombia by U.S. counterparts. Ten scientists, emergency managers, and first responders from communities near Colombia's Nevado del Ruiz volcano will visit Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens this week. While in the U.S., the Colombian officials will work with their counterparts in the Washington Emergency Management Division, Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, Orting Valley Fire and Rescue, Mount Rainier National Park, U.S. Forest Service Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Whatcom County Department of Emergency Management, and the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory. They will learn how U.S. officials and scientists here prepare for and manage disasters, and along the way share their own hard-earned advice about volcanic disasters, including the importance of monitoring volcanoes carefully, the necessity of clear communication between scientists and officials, and community preparedness. Colombia suffered one of the worst volcanic disasters of the 20th century in November 1985 when ice-clad Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted and communities at its base were destroyed by large lahars (volcanic debris flows) that swept down the valleys draining the summit area. More than 23,000 fatalities occurred in the once thriving city of Armero and in smaller communities. The disaster had a profound and constructive effect on scientific and disaster management in Colombia and around the world. After the tragic event in Colombia, the USGS and the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, joined forces to create an international volcano response team, the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program that aids volcano monitoring and eruption response in other countries when requested. Since 1985 the group, stationed at CVO in Vancouver, Wash., has responded to more than 25 volcano crises and eruptions, built volcano monitoring infrastructure in 12 countries and helped save tens of thousands of lives. USGS scientists who witnessed the aftermath of the Armero disaster, returned to the United States and redoubled their efforts to educate local officials and populations at risk. Many of the same VDAP volcanologists who work in Colombia also work to monitor and study Mount Rainier from CVO. "There is nothing hypothetical or exotic about the hazards from Mount Rainier. It is an active volcano with about a cubic mile of ice on its flanks that is available to fuel lahars in the next eruption," said USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Scientist-in-Charge, John Ewert. "Many lahars from Mount Rainier have inundated valleys all the way to Puget Sound, areas that are now densely populated and important to the economy of Washington state" In Washington state, five glacier-clad volcanoes, similar in many respects to Nevado del Ruiz, threaten populated areas near the volcanoes. At Mount Rainier, the threat of lahars to populations on valley floors tens of kilometers distant has long been considered akin to the situation at Nevado del Ruiz. Mount Rainier is potentially one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the U.S. owing to its eruptive style and frequency, coupled with the more than 100,000 people and greater than $10 billion of developed property in the areas potentially subject to lahars, as well as a vast amount of people, infrastructure, and economic activity farther away in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area that are subject to volcanic ash fall. Participants will also visit Mount St. Helens to discuss its 2004 eruption, evacuation and role as a model for volcano tourism, science education and multiagency collaboration. "Our exchange with the Colombians will have a very positive effect on future preparedness for Washington state," said John Schelling, Earthquake/Tsunami/Volcano Program Manager for Washington Emergency Management Division. "While we cannot play catch-up on monitoring nor with preparedness, this exchange is jumpstarting our next level of preparedness efforts." Organized by the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory and the Washington Military Department's Emergency Management Division with support from the USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, the exchange allows the Colombian officials to observe and learn from U.S. emergency response systems, and for U.S. personnel to absorb best practices from the Colombians’ recent experiences with volcanic crises. A full listing of Cascade Range volcano hazard assessments, simplified hazard maps, volcanic activity updates, information to sign up for the USGS Volcano Notification Service, and more are available at the USGS Volcano Hazards Program websites. |
