Walter Pitman: Discovered a Key to Plate Tectonics
Walter Pitman, a seagoing geophysicist who spent his entire career at Columbia University and spotted a crucial piece of a huge puzzle that revolutionized the earth sciences, has died.
Drilling the Seabed Below Earth’s Most Powerful Ocean Current
Starting this month, scientists aim to study the Antarctic Circumpolar Current’s past dynamics by drilling into the seabed in some of the planet’s remotest marine regions.
Seismologist Göran Ekström Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Ekström’s work spans many facets of global earthquake seismology, from the nature of individual earthquakes and other seismic sources to the large-scale structure of the Earth.
MESSENGER Data Reveal That Mercury’s Inner Core Is Solid
Scientists have found evidence that Mercury’s inner core is indeed solid, and that it is nearly the same size as Earth’s inner core. The new findings offer clues about how the solar system formed and how rocky planets change over time.
Changes in Ocean ‘Conveyor Belt’ Foretold Abrupt Climate Changes by Four Centuries
A new study led by scientists at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is the first to measure the time lags between changing ocean currents and major climate shifts.