You've got to be kidding me.

So our local news station has a poll:



As of 7pm, with 471 responses, it was 89.2% yes. Unbe-freakin'-lievable.

There are many things wrong with this poll. First and foremost is that OIL IS NOT TRAPPED UNDERGROUND IN WISCONSIN. Sure, if you drill in Wisconsin, then steer the drill underground some 3,000 miles into the gulf of mexico - you may strike oil. But not here. The other important connection is that drilling does not have an immediate impact on gas prices. The well has to produce oil, which must be shipped to a refinery, the gasoline then shipped to distributors. And other stuff, too.

There was a great post about why being a geologist is important over at NewsObserver.com. I'm going to have to use both of these items in my class this semester. If you're interested, go on over and crash the poll if you're interested.

Here's a more direct link to the poll itself. With 507 responses, it appears that only 1 in 10 respondents understand anything about geology.

Hawaiian Activitiy

It looks like there's a bit of activity over on the big island. The Eruptions Blog has some great synopses. Watching the movies, it made me long to go back. My wife and I were there just 14 months ago.

Here's an image taken from the Mauna Ulu overlook, looking east. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (hope the glottal stops format correctly here) is the most distant peak visible in the image. The activity appears to be between the intermediate peak and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. In this image, you can also see the line of steam emanating from the eastern rift zone.



I hope I can get back there someday in the not too distant future.

Thanks for the link!

I was looking at this blog's statistics - apparently I was one of the AGU's "external blogs of the week." Cool - thanks for the traffic :)

Also, there appears to be big things afoot at Kilauea right now. Very cool - just 14 months after I was there...

Neato stuff!

Some cool video of a rim collapse at Halema'uma'u. So, for those that know, is it pronounced "halay mau mau" or "halay mah ooh mah ooh" I haven't been able to get a definitive answer yet...

Meme-icry?

Two great internet events, together on stage for the first time:












For those of you not familiar, Charlie Sheen has been making quite a name for himself making bizarre comments about stuff. I was watching the movie Wall Street the other day and thought the issues facing both Wisconsin and Sheen made a good match. Although these would be improved by geting other pictures of teh guv.

AW #32

I guess the next Accretionary Wedge is coming due.

So here's one of my favorite pictures - Haleakala crater. Technically, this isn't the actual crater, it's the eroded summit, widened by erosion. The smaller hills are cinder cones that erupted after most of the shield volcano was eroded away.

Click to embiggen.