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1500 questions
22
votes
2 answers

What is the origin of the ocean's salt?

We know we cannot live without salt, but an investigation into the origins of ocean's salt leads one to believe that this issue is not fully resolved yet. What geological phenomenon caused the earth to contain so much of salt? I see questions on SE…
user1066
22
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1 answer

Placement of crustal thickness estimation from 1D inversion of surface wave dispersion curves

Seismic surface waves present a characteristic dispersion behavior in which different frequencies travel at different speeds. This characteristic dispersion curve depends on the shear and compressional wave velocity structure of the crust and upper…
Leo Uieda
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22
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3 answers

Where can obsidian be found?

Where is obsidian found? Is it typically found on the surface or underground? If underground, how far under (meters or feet would be perfect)? Also, is it found everywhere on Earth, or just in areas where volcanic activity is (or was recently)…
Kultid_Games
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22
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1 answer

Significant difference between averaged wind speeds and averaged wind power density, for wind generation modelling?

Climate models outputs, particularly the reanalysis datasets, output wind speeds as zonal and meridional averages for the modelled time period (typically 1, 3 or 6 hours). So we get a 2-dimensional vector, the U and V values, each of which is…
410 gone
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How is ocean salinity measured from space?

Since 2009, two satellites (SMOS from ESA and Aquarius from NASA) are providing global salinity measurements. While ocean temperature is easily derived from infrared radiation for instance, what parameter is measured by those satellites to estimate…
arkaia
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22
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5 answers

Why is the Arctic melting, but the Antarctic doing great?

Why is the Arctic melting, but the Antarctic doing great? That's what the latest IPCC report says (p. 2-192 of the Physical Science Basis provides a time series), but it says nothing, unless I missed it, on the causes of such a discrepancy. It's…
Sergey Zolotarev
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22
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Is there still a hole in the ozone layer?

In the 90's, there was a hole in the ozone layer as big as Antarctica. After the Montreal protocol was created, harmful CFCs were no longer emitted and the ozone layer problem subsided. I was just looking at the NASA data about the ozone layer and…
usernumber
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22
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6 answers

How does global-warming-triggered ice melting cause global sea levels to rise?

Apologies for asking a silly question like this. But I want to offer some points which I could not counter, as follows: Ice is less dense than water, that is why it floats. For the same unit mass, if density is lowered, the volume increases, thus…
lousycoder
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Is there geological evidence that the moon once collided with the Earth?

I've seen models in astronomy that show how the Earth-Moon system must have come together after a collision. However, I have not heard whether there is any actual physical evidence on Earth that points to a prior collision. Is there geological (or…
f.thorpe
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What are the major differences between weather models and climate models?

Some weather models include GFS (Global Forecast System) and NAM (North American Mesoscale Model). Some climate models include CCSM (Community Climate System Model) and the NASA GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) model. What are the…
InquilineKea
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22
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4 answers

What causes bottom water to rise?

The water close to the deep ocean floor is called bottom water. It may be located in deep valleys or trenches. I understand that water flowing to the Arctic will sink there, because it's saltier and therefore heavier than the surrounding water. …
gerrit
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22
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What tools allow a quick comparison of NetCDF output from ocean models?

I am writing my own MATLAB scripts to do most of the visualization and data analysis of model results. I wonder if there is a quicker way for visual comparison of simulation results gained from different ocean modeling systems. Is there a…
ZZZ
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22
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1 answer

Is Earth getting heavier or lighter?

There is meteoric material falling on the Earth constantly, as well as some protons and other light nuclei from the solar wind as well as from cosmic rays. At the same time Earth's atmosphere looses gas to space, especially the lightest elements…
uhoh
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22
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6 answers

Is there a difference between rock and stone?

I couldn't find the definitions from either source: Geology Dictionary Glossary of Geologic Terms
Armadillo
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21
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4 answers

What would be the effect of bringing seawater pipes to the Sahara desert?

This is a childhood dream. What would happen if pipes were installed (similar in principle to the Great Man-Made River, but for seawater) to continuously pump seawater into the Sahara desert. Let's say that a precise desert location, with no known…
ZakC
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