Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal...Points of view.

   

     The Nuclear Deal being hammered out between many countries of the world and Iran has captivated the populations around the globe since the process started.  We are now at a point where our government has to either approve or reject it.  The entire process has centered around blocking Iran's ability to make a nuclear bomb and pose a threat to world peace.

     

     There has been a lot of questions and concerns about this deal, and I wanted to get to some sort of understanding.  Notice I did not say "Truth".  As I see it, the truth will only be arrived at in the years to come no matter which way the government decides to go.

     So wanting to know what the deal entails, I started reading articles on both sides of the issue at hand.  Some have asked about the details.  From what I have read, not all the details are known to the general public and maybe not even congress.  So here my search started.  I began with the article by (Noah Pollak :The Weekly Standard. "The Iran Deal, Explained") 

What we get:
                 Iran reduces by about half the number of centrifuges actively enriching uranium.  Right now they have 16,000 centrifuges of which 9,000 are currently working with the others on standby. (H.A. Feiveson of the magazine Truthout)  On the (whitehouse.gov) website officials say there are 20,000 centrifuges and after the deal goes into effect there would be 6,104 for the next ten years.
                      Iran reduces its stockpile of enriched uranium from five tons to 300 kilograms. (Noah Pollak: Weekly Standard).  The White House reports that right now Iran has enough in the stockpile to make from eight to ten nuclear bombs.  This deal, if approved, would reduce the stockpile by 98 percent not allowing them to make a nuclear bomb. (whitehouse.gov)

                      Iran would repurpose its heavy water reactor in Arak so it does not produce plutonium. (Noah Pollak: Weekly Standard)  The White House explains that this reactor would be redesigned so it could not produce any weapons-grade plutonium.  Iran can not build another reactor for at least 15 years.  Spent fuel rods will be sent out of the country.  This part of the deal means Iran will no longer have a source for weapons grade plutonium for 15 years. (whitehouse.gov)

                     An unspecified increase in inspections by the 
IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). (Noah Pollak: Weekly Standard)   For this the White House explains that Iran has "committed to extraordinary and robust monitoring, verification, and inspection".  (Sam Jones and Alex Barker wrote in an article entitled "Five key points of the Iran nuclear deal explained") that there is a big sticking point.  Requests for inspections are subject to conditions and follow a complex request and approval process.  Quoting the authors "If concerns have not been resolved within two weeks of an IAEA request to visit a suspected site, the matter will be taken to the joint commission.  This body has a week to attempt to find a solution or vote to require an inspection.  Iran will then have three days to comply.  In total the process can take 24 days." (www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f7dab4ae-2491-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c.html#axzz3mg8BKDtK)   I am think that would be enough time to move equipment to a new location secretly.

What Iran gets:

    Sanctions:

•                   Almost every type of U.S., EU, and UN sanctions lifted.
•                   Repeal of six UN Security Council resolutions declaring the                           Iranian nuclear program illegal.
•                   Top IRGC and Quds Force terrorists removed  from the                                 sanctions list, including Qassem Suleimani, leader of Iran's                             campaign against U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and Ahmad Vahidi,                             mastermind of the 1994 Jewish community center bombing in                       Argentina that killed 85 people.
•                   The removal from the sanctions list of approximately 800                               people and legal entitles, including 23 out of 24 Iranian banks.
•                  One hundred to one hundred fifty billion dollars to be unfrozen                      and given to Iran with no restrictions on its use to purchase arms                    and fund terrorism, including funding for Hezbollah, and the                          Assad regime in Syria. (Noah Pollak: Weekly Standard)

     The White House website did not comment on the lifting of sanctions. (whitehouse.gov) did post that you can read all 159 pages of the Iran nuclear agreement on Medium at (https://medium.com/the-iran-deal/introduction-fcb13560dfd9)

Nuclear Program:

• Iran keeps every one of its nuclear centrifuges (20,000)
• Iran keeps its entire physical nuclear infrastructure, including the enrichment facilities at Fordow and Natanz and the nuclear reactor at Bushehr.
• Iran permitted to continue research and development on all of its advanced centrifuge designs, reducing nuclear breakout time at the end of the deal to weeks.
• Iran permitted to transition its allowed enrichment of uranium from older centrifuge designs to advanced designs.
• No "anywhere, anytimes" inspections.  Iran can delay inspection of any site for at least 24 days.
• No requirement that Iran fully disclose past nuclear weapons research and development (known as the PMD issue>
• The P5+1 western powers pledge to collaborate with Iran on nuclear technology.
• Restriction on enrichment--part of the "sunset" of the deal--are lifted after eight years.
• If Iran is thought to have violated the deal, in order to "snap back" sanctions a dispute resolution process must be undertaken that can last two and a half months, after which the matter can be referred to the UN Security Council. At the UNSC, the re-imposition of sanctions can be vetoed by Russia, which stands to earn billions of dollars from arms sales to a non-sanctioned Iran. (Noah Pollak: Weekly Standard)

The White House stated "And should Iran violate any aspect of this deal, the U.N., U.S., and E.U. can snap the sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy back into place. (https://whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal) The White House made no mention of what could happen in the U.N. Security Council with a Russian veto.

Concessions unrelated to nuclear program:  (Noah Pollak: Weekly Standard)

• Ballistic missile embargo lifted after eight years.
• Conventional arms embargo lifted after five years.
• Iran keeps U.S. hostages.

     An interesting point of view or opinion from Andrew C. McCarthy, a policy fellow at the National Review Institute wrote an article entitled "How the GOP Pretends Not to Authorize Obama's Agenda", goes as far as to say that the GOP is pretending to be against Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal but really being for it.  Read his article.  It is interesting and food for thought. (www.nationalreview.com/article/423679/corker-cardin-congress-obama-iran-nuclear-deal)

      As for how the citizens of the United States feel about this deal; it is subject to bias.  We are being told how the people feel based on a small sampling of people.  "The CNN/ORC poll was conducted by telephone September 4-8 among a random national sample of 1,012 adults.  Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points." (Jennifer Agiesta: CNN Polling Director)

       There are some 300 million people in the United States of which 1,012 were sampled.  So if my math is correct that is a 0.003 percent sampling.  I am not sure letting 1,012 people out of 300,000,000 to be used as to how I see this situation.  As a former science teacher, I find this sample to be way too small to have any validity.   The rule of thumb for any experience is:  the larger the amount of test results/data, the more accurate your findings will be.  Another rule of thumb is about numbers is:  you can get numbers to say anything you want.

     Final thoughts.  If this deal is approved, how we will know if Iran nefarious intentions of not following the parameters of the negotiated agreement.  To address repeated failures of the U.S. intelligence abilities Pulitzer Prize winner (George F. Will of the Washington Post) has stated his opinion in a July 29th edition of the paper and I quote "Verification depends on U.S. intelligence capabilities, which failed in 2003 (Iraq's supposed possession of WMDs...(Weapons of mass destruction), in 1968 (North Vietnam's Tet offensive, and in 1941 (Pearl Harbor).  As  Reuel Marc Gerecht says in "How Will We Know? The coming Iran intelligence failure" [the Weekly Standard, July 27], "The CIA has a nearly flawless record of failing to predict foreign countries' going nuclear(Great Britain and France don't count)."  

     Now to be fair, we do not know of all what they have found out over the years that have spared us many unfortunate situations.

     The voters and citizens of the United States feel they are in the vacuum of not knowing about decisions made by our elected government officials.  I have heard others express that they are not being represented nor told all of what is known by our government.   Many have expressed that they do not know what is involved in this possible Iran Nuclear Deal, but now we have information about the deal.  Again go to (https://medium.com/the-iran-deal/introduction-fcb13560dfb9) and after you read through the BLAH, BLAH, BLAH part you can read the details.  Freedom and representative government is maintained by an involved and knowledgeable citizenry.  Complacency towards the functionings of the government by a country's citizens will only lead  to decisions and laws that limit the people's freedoms in the end.

Sources:

[Why the Iran Deal Makes Obama's Critics So Angry] 

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/putting-ukraine-in-its-place/361627/

Gary Langer:[Majority Favors Iran  Nuclear Deal Despite Doubts That It'll Work (POLL)]

abcnews.go.com/politics/majority-favors-iran-nuclear-deal-doults-work-poll/story?id=32568609

Jennifer Agiesta: CNN Polling Director: [Poll: Americans skeptical Iran will stick to nuclear deal]

www.cnn.com/2015/09/13/politics/iran-nuclear-deal-poll/

H.A. Feiveson: [The Iran Deal Explained]

www.truth-out.org/news/item/32345-the-iran-deal-explained

Sam Jones and Alex Barker: [Five key points of the Iran nuclear deal explained]

www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f7dab4ae-2491-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c.html#axzz3mg8BKDtK

Andrew C. McCarthy: [How the GOP Pretends Not to Authorize Obama's Agenda]

www.nationalreview.com/article/423679/corker-cardin-congress-obama-iran-nuclear-deal

Brakkton Booker: [Vote to Reject Iran Nuclear Deal Fails, Handing Victory to Obama]

www.nor.org/sections.thetwo-way/2015/09/1043924083/vote-to-down-iran-nuclear-deal-details-senate-democrats-hand-victory-to-obama

Scott Clement: [56 percent of people support Obama's Iran deal.  But they don't think it will work.]

www.washingtonpost.com/news/thefix/wp/2015/07/20/56-percent-of-people-support-obamas-iran-deal-but-they-don't-think-it-will-work/

George F. Will: [With Iran deal, Obama makes bad history]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/with-iran-deal-obama-makes-bad-history/2015/07/29/642fcdc2a-3553-11e5-adf6-7227f338_story.html

Noah Pollak: [The Iran Deal, Explained]

http://www.weeklystandard.com

[The Historic Deal that Will Prevent Iran from Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon]

https://whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal

       

  

Microbeads could be BIG problem for our Environment.

     The next time you are scrubbing your face or brushing your teeth, think that you might be hurting the ocean environment.  Research reports started coming out last year that there are what is called microbeads going into our waters around the world.  These microbeads are said to soak up pesticides and chemicals after they are washed down the drain. (Bigad Shaban/CBS news)  The news story came out in May of 2014, and Shaban quoted scientist Marcus Eriksen, executive director of 5 Gyres: "By the time the plastic gets downstream towards the ocean, they become these toxic pills.  Even a small microbead, as it tumbles down stream, is picking up all kinds of industrial chemicals."

     In Lake Michigan there is the same concern.  Jennifer Caddick, of the Alliance for the Great Lakes: microbeads, says that these microbeads are "a bigger problem than we initially had thought". (Cheryl Corley NPR  news)

(Carolyn Box/AP/Courtesy 5gyres.org)

     In an article by (Clare Milliken Greatist.com) these microbeads are in more than 100 personal care products on U.S. stores shelves.  These beads are smaller than one millimeter and can get through the filter system in sewage treatment plants.  If not filtered out of the the treated water they go right into the waterways.

      (Bianca Nogrady of ABC Environment Australian) reported in 2014 that  microplastics, particles or fibres are measured at five milliliters or less in size, have been found around the world on breaches and marine sediments.

       These pieces of microplastics  are looked for by citizen scientists around the world.  (Galen Koch of NPR news) reported in September of this year that people around the world are collecting sample of water and sending them to research facilities such as Abby Barrow's lab in Stonington, Maine.  Here the samples are processed for these microplastics.  In these news report Abby Barrows said that of the 798 samples, 751 of them contained plastic.  

Where these Microbeads Found?

     Bianca Nogrady NPR news says these microbeads are part of toothpastes, exfoliating body scrubs, and deep facial cleaners.   When reading ingredients in these products you might see:

(www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com)

     From (weather.com) Ada Carr writes that these microbeads are made of polymers such as polyethylene, polylactic acid and polypropylene.  These are put in personal care products to replace natural exfoliation materials like oatmeal and pumice.  The bad thing about these microbeads is that they never disappear; they only get smaller and smaller.  (Phys.org) reports that researchers estimate 8 trillion microbeads go into the aquatic habitats in the United States.  As for the land, it is reported that an estimated 800 trillion microbeads end up in the sewage treatment plants sludge.  This sludge is then spread over areas of land.  Then through runoff from rains and snow these microbeads move into streams, rivers, and oceans.

(marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/crop925x350/public/field/image/microplastic.jpg?itok=jx4StcC9)

      On September 18-19 of this year, writer (Hilary Hanson Huffington Post) reported that the 8 trillion microbeads going into our aquatic habitats daily would cover 300 tennis courts.  Her information came from an article in the September issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology.  So how big is a tennis court?  A single tennis court measures 2,106 square feet.  Three hundred courts cover 631,800 square feet.  Converting this to acres (www.the calculatorsite.com/conversions/area/square-feet-to-acres.php) it is 14.5 acres covered by these microbeads each day.  This becomes 5,292.5 acres in a year or 8.3 square miles. (www.asknumbers.com/square-mile-to-acres.aspx)  Imagine the affects of 800 trillion microbeads!

How do these microbeads or microplastics affect our environment?

     Sherri Mason, as associate professor of chemistry at the State University of New York, says from her research in the Great Lakes that these particles "They are about the same size as fish eggs, which means that, essentially they look like food.  So our concern is that, essentially, they are making their way into the food web."  (Cheryl Corley NPR News)  So if fish eat these microbeads and microplastics, which soak up toxins like a sponge.  These pollutants stay in the bodies of the fish which might become a toxic food source for humans and wildlife.  Quoting scientist Marcus Eriksen from (Bigad Shaban of CBS News) "By the time the plastic gets downstream towards the ocean, they become these toxic pills.  Even a small microbead, as it tumbles down stream, is picking up all kinds of industrial chemicals."  "Big fish eat little fish, eventually the fish is on your dinner plate.  And you're eating that fish, along with all the toxins it consumed along the way."  (Ada Carr of Weather.com) states that NOAA reported that plastics can last for decades of time as these microbeads just get smaller and smaller.  Where are these microplastics?  NOAA said even in Arctic sea ice.  

     (In Hilary Hanson's article "Microbeads Entering Our Water Daily Could Cover 300 Tennis Courts") states that "The beads look like tasty snacks to fish, amphibians, and other aquatic life, but due to some of the chemicals used to manufacture them, as well as the pollutants they absorb in the water, they are toxic to consume."  There are concerns for our dying coral reefs around the Earth.  A study showed that coral polyps take in the beads, but the plastic can obstruct their digestive system reducing the polyps's ability to get enough nutrients.  (John F. Calvelli of the Wildfire Conservation Society)  

www.scince.codex.com/files/Corals%20Great%Barrier%%20Reef%20microplastic.jpg

The concerns over these microbeads continues in an article by (Bianca Nogrady of ABC News Australia) where Professor Emma Johnston of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science in Australia states that "when things get that small, it opens it up for 96 per cent of the world's biodiversity which are invertebrates (those animals without backbones) to potentially ingesting them.  They can enter the bloodstream through the gut, and then they can circulate in the bloodstream, they can directly enter cells and tissues of these animals." (Professor Richard Thompson of marine biology at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom) summed up what the research is showing "I don't think at this stage there's any cause for concern from the point of view of human consumption of fish stocks and shellfish but it's very clear that a wide range of organisms--a wide range of invertebrates as well as vertebrates such as fish--are encountering and definitely microplastics."  

      I would like to add that from my knowledge of the food web that if base of the food web is destroyed or reduced all populations of animals that feed on the lower levels of the food web will suffer the same fate.

      Here is another warning shot across our bow.  In july of this year an article by (Lis Henderson was posted by Oceanbites from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography)  In this article microplastics are also formed by the continued fragmentation of larger piece of plastic...plastic bottles etc.  As other studies have concluded filter feeding marine animals including bivalves (oysters and clams etc) and plankton eating fish.  Plankton are in two groups: plant plankton  and animal plankton.  (Lis Henderson) went on to point out that larger filter feeder such as whales namely the baleen whale.  This baleen whale, a vertebrate, feeds on prey that ranges in size from the small plankton to small fish.  So the microplastic, meso-plastics, and macro-plastics have bonded with toxic chemicals are taken in by plankton which is fed upon the fish which ends up filtered out of the seas water by the baleen whale.  Scientists think that these different sized plastic pieces will interfere with the whale's ability to filter out only food it needs.  They also think that these plastic pieces may clog the filters needed in the feeding process.  As for microplastics...there is no evidence that they affect baleen whales.  What is known is that larger pieces of plastic in whales have caused starvation and death.  Expand on this idea and you will be asking..."How are the other organisms in the marine biome affected?"  Good question that will be answered one day by scientists and others are working on this right now.

(elitzgermanov.wordpress.com)

     How do We Solve this Problem?

     There is much discussion going into how do we go about solving these problems.  Some say clean up the shores and the oceans.  Other say stop producing the things that create the plastic problem.  Still others say that the problem is too big to solve.  Progress is being made to educate the public on their choices of personal care items that do not contain the microbeads and using natural skin and teeth products.  There are companies, who produce these products, saying that they are working to stop using the microbeads in their products.  Others worry about if they really will use loopholes in laws that are passed or will be passed and keep using microbeads.  I expect they cost less than the natural cleaning substances.  

      What about recycling plastic we use?  Research has shown that for recycling to happen it must be convenient for people to do.  Problem is that some organization have started charging to recycle where once it was free.  People think they must make a dollar for everything instead of doing what is right for our planet.  People have stopped recycling when they have to pay to recycle. Where is the logic in that?  People do all the work of organizing the recyclable materials and so even haul them to the place for recycling at their own expense. Doing this gladly.  But someone wants to make money on the concern citizen's efforts.  Those who make decisions have got to get out of the money-making mentality and realize they play a key role in keeping our lands, waterways and oceans from becoming total cesspool.   Profit has to stop being the measuring stick for our planet.  Simple...we screw this one up, where are we going to go? Folks we are in a fishbowl.

Sources:

Bianca Nogrady: 

www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2014/9/10/4084109.htm

Galen Koch: 

www.npr.org/2015/09/20/441936782/citizen-adventures-sample-                     seawater-to-count-tiny-pieces-of-plastic

Bigad Shaban: 

www.cbsnews/news/microbeads-could-be-harming-the-                                          environment-scientists-say/

Hilary Hanson: 

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/microbeads-8-trillion-                                             55fc7771e4b00310edf70fc7

www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/area/feet/square/feet-to-acres.php

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?gid=1006021504567

Cheryl Corley 

www.npr.org/2014/05/21/313157701/why-those-tiny-microbeads-                         in-soaps-may-pose-problem-for-great-lakes

Coral Reef picture: www.sciencecodex.com/files/corals%20Great%20Barrier%20Reef%20microplastic.jpg

Lis Henderson:

oceanbites.org/tiny-plastic-pieces-accumulate-in-a-huge-marine-filter-feeder

Feeding Filter Feeder picture:

elitzagermanov.wordpress.com

Ada Carr:

www.weather.com/science/environment/news/microbeads-microplastic-ocean-lake-river-aquatic-habitat-pollution

Microbead on thumb picture:

marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/crop925x350/public/field/image/microplastic.jpg?itok=jx4StcC9

Microbeads on penny picture:

Carolyn Box/AP/Courtesy 5gyres.org

Ingredients on tube picture:

www.bigbeackeywaterfilter.com

Chilean Earthquake…Wednesday September 16, 2015

The west coast of the United States main land and Hawaii had tsunami alerts posted after the quake near Coquimbo, Chile Wednesday morning.  This quake was determined to be an 8.3 on the Richter Scale.  In an article from the (Tsunami Alarm System) web site it was stated that the quake’s energy had to be at least 7.0 on the Richter Scale.  From Australian Geographic in an article entitled (“Tsunamis: how they form”)  Professor Dale Dominey-Howes, co-director of the Australian Tsunami Research and Natural Hazards Research Centre at UNSW stated “ Broadly speaking earthquakes have to be a magnitude 6 or above to trigger a tsunami, and the closer to the sea floor an earthquake is the more likely it is to generate a tsunami.”   Professor also said that while regular ocean waves have a wavelength (distance from wave crest to wave crest) of 30 to 40 meters, tsunami wavelengths can be from 100 to 200 kilometers.  These waves could arrive on shore anywhere from ten minutes to nearly an hour apart.  In miles this is from 62 miles to 124 miles. (Fact Monster)

Now how is a tsunami formed?  On the ocean floor where fault lines form at plate boundaries you will have two types of boundaries.  A convergent boundary is when plates move toward each other.  The older and denser crust will be subducted (go under) the other plate where they meet.  This is called a subduction zone.  At the subduction zone the older denser plate will slowly bend the leading edge of the younger, less dense plate.  Crustal rock (rock in the crust of the Earth) has a property called elastic rebound.  Which means the crustal rock is like a stretched rubber band.  It wants to snap back to its original shape.  At the fault line after a very long period of time the friction between the two plates, grinding past each other, will no longer be able to stop the younger, less dense plate from rising back up to its original position.  This is when an earthquake happens.  As the sea floor rises up to its original position the water above the quake will be pushed up.  Remember unlike gases, liquids cannot be compressed.  As in the earthquake off Indonesia in 2004, the water rose by 10 meters/ 30 feet.  Next the raised dome of water creates waves that started moving away from each other in opposite directions.  In Lindsey Springer’s (springle@uwec.edu) article the tsunami wave in deep ocean moves at speeds from 450-650 mph and the wave is only 20 inches tall.  In other words boats would not even noticed it passed by.  As the wave approaches a coastline the leading edge slows down due to friction with the rising sea floor.  As the leading edge slows the rest of the wave behind still moving at speeds of 30 to 200 mph.  Thus the large waves are formed.  Lindsey also reported that the waves can be as high as 100 feet or more, and the wave from front to back could be from 5,000 to 10, 000 feet.  Imagine a wave 100 feet high and nearly two miles size from the front of the wave to the back of the wave.  This wave just does not wave up on the shore and recede quickly.  The tsunami wave will continue to push in land for miles taking everything with it.

http://observe.arc.nasa/exhibits/tsunami/tsun_physics.html

http://observe.arc.nasa/exhibits/tsunami/tsu_physics.html

            Other ways tsunamis can be formed are: volcanic eruptions, huge landslides into the ocean, and even meteor or asteroid impacts.  In 1883 the Krakatoa Volcano off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia blew itself apart in a massive explosion that created a tsunami wave that was 120 feet tall when it struck the surrounding islands.  Over 33,000 people died. 

There is a volcanic mountain in Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa.  Scientists are stating that one day a massive chunk of rock, some 220 square miles, in an eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma Island will crash into the Atlantic Ocean creating a tsunami wave that would be the biggest ever. (Steve Connor: The Independent-London)  In Connor’s article “Scientists Warn of Massive Tidal Wave from Canary Island Volcano”, he writes that the resulting wave could be as high as 169 feet as it crashes into eastern seaboard of America, Brazil, and inundate much of southern Britain.  (Rense.com/general13/tidal.htm)   (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?)  

But other geologists are even saying that this 220 square mile chunk of the volcano will slide into the ocean as a result water erosion in the mountain and the force of gravity. 

There is also disagreement of whether or not a tsunami wave of such great size would even reach the east coast of the United States.  These scientists say that a tsunami created by a landslide from an exploding volcano would be short-lived with there being little or no waves that reach the east coast.  The tsunami wave created by the explosion of Krakatoa Volcano in 1883 was over 100 feet high but there were no reports of damage outside areas of Indonesia.  While the 2004 earthquake-created tsunami in Indonesia affected large areas as far away as Africa; killing nearly 300,000 people along the coastlines of nearby countries. 

So only time will tell who is correct.  But all do agree it will happen, but no one knows when.  Scientists are calling for better monitoring the volcano’s activity to warn of possible danger, and give countries enough time to get people out of the way of the tsunami.

Sources, Follow-up links:

Information about terms, causes, characteristics, occurrences, prevention and list of past tsunamis  (www.en.wikipedia.org)  

(www.ess.washington.edu)

(http://www.tsunami.org/index.html)

www.teachervision.fen.com

Behavior in case of a tsunami (http://gfz-potsdam.de/index-en.html

(www.tsunami-alarm-system.com/en/phenomenon-tsunami-formation.html)

(http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/on-this-day-in-history-boxing-day-tsunami)

Academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/springle

Rense.com/general13/tidal.htm

(http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp)

(http://www.thisislondon.com)

Finding the Density of an regular shaped object.

The Density of an Object Method

            Density of an object is more important than you might think.  Have you ever seen how some people can float in a pool without even having to move a muscle while others have to move to stay afloat?  Have you been able to float in the ocean better than you can float in the pool?  This is all about density.  Why is it that most rocks sink in water while pumice rock floats very well in water?  How can a silver dollar coin float on liquid mercury?  Again, it is all about density.  Why does cold air sink and warm air move up?  Why does granite rock carry seismic waves better than sandstone?  Why will salt water remain at the bottom of a beaker below freshwater in the same beaker?  Why does cold water sink and warm water rise.  Guess what?  It is all density!

            In my years of teaching sixth grade science, students had a hard time of understanding density.  So they were introduced to it in my classes.  There are two ways to find density: for objects that you can measure with a metric ruler.  These were regularly shaped objects that have a length, width, and height; and the other was using a graduated cylinder and water as part of the process to find the density.

            Now density is described as the relationship of an object’s mass in grams to it volume in milliliter or cubic centimeters.  This above named mass and volume units would be larger for big objects.   Such as kilograms or liters.  Now rereading the definition of density, you may have a questioning look on your face.  I know my sixth graders did.  So we discussed it a lot.  In this case what we were trying to understand was this.  So if I have 1 cubic centimeter piece of something; that 1 cubic centimeter of that something would have a certain mass.  In other words…say you have an object that has a volume of 1 cubic centimeters and its mass is 2 grams. 

            Here is where the math comes in.  The equation for calculating density is: density is equal to the mass of the object divided by its volume.

D= mass divided by volume

D= M/V

So density is equal to 2 grams divided by 1 cubic centimeter

D= 2 grams/1 cubic centimeter

D= 2g/1 cm³

D= 2g/cm³  (2 grams per cubic centimeter)

Therefore each cubic centimeter of that object will have a mass of 2 grams.

The object’s density is 2 grams per cubic centimeter.

1.                   If an object has a mass of 10 grams and a volume of 5 cubic centimeter, what is its density?  Remember to divide the mass by the volume and the units in the answer are grams per cubic centimeter.

D= 10g divided by 5 cm³.  10 divided by 5 = 2   D= 2 g/cm³

2.                  If a rock has a mass 25 grams and a volume of 5 milliliters, what is its density?  Remember to divide the mass by the volume.  Your answer will have the units of grams per milliliter.

3.                  This object has a volume of 50 mL and a mass of 400 g.  What is its density?   Remember your units will g/mL.

Finding Volume of a block of wood

1.                  You will use a metric ruler that is correct for what you are going to measure.  In this case a 30 cm metric rulers works very well.

2.                  You will be measuring the block’s length (longest side), them width (next longest side), and finally the block’s height or thickness.

3.                  You will measure to the tenth of a centimeter also known as 0.1 centimeters.  Be sure to record what you  have written down what you measure on a data chart to a tenth of a centimeter.

4.                  First measure the length.  Refer to the picture below.

a.      This measurement is 14.8 cm

5.         Now measure the width of the block in centimeters.  

Refer to the picture below.

            a.         This measurement is 4.4 cm.

6.         Finally you will measure the height or thickness of the block.  

Refer to the picture below.

            a.         The measurement is 1.8 cm.

7.         Now you are ready to use the math formula of Volume is equal to the                   length times the width times the height.  It can be written this way:
           V=LxWxH.

            a.         First multiply 14.8 times 4.4

                                                               14.8

                                                              X4.4  

                                                                582

                                                            +582 

                                                              6512

            b.         Now multiply 6512 by 1.8.

                                                              6512

                                                              X1.8 

                                                            52096

                                                          +6512

                                                         117.216   cubic centimeters       

c.         But for a scientist this is not the final answer.  For scientific                                    accuracy the answer can only be as accurate as the measurements                          which in this case are only accurate to one decimal place or 0.1                              cm.

d.         Using your math skills in rounding, you will round the above answer                     to one decimal place or 0.1 cm.

                    i.          Looking at the answer: 117.216 the 6 digit is greater than 5                                   so the 1 to the left is rounded up to a 2.  But since the 2 is                                       less than 5 the .2 digit is not affected and stays a 2.

e.         Therefore the final answer for a scientist is 117.2 cm³   
            This answer tells other scientists that the measurements to find the
            volume of the block were only made to a tenth (0.10 of a centimeter.

8.         The next part is the measure the mass of the block of wood in grams 
            using a balance or digital weight device.  Again the mass is measured to a
            tenth (0.1) of a gram.  Hopefully you already have been trained to use
            that equipment.

            a.         The mass of the block is 58.8 grams.

9.         The formula for calculating density is:  Density is equal to the mass of the
            object divided by its volume.

            a.         D=M/V

10.       In this problem you will be dividing a larger number (divisor) into a
            smaller number (dividend).  This means you will have a zero point (0.)
            some number answer (quotient).

a.         In this math process you will divide 117.2 cm³ (divisor) into 58.8 g (dividend).  Remember your quotient will be less than 1.  Meaning you will start with a 0. then a number.

b.         When 58.8 g (dividend) is divided by 117.2 cm³ (divisor), your answer will be:

            0.5017064846 g/cm³

c.         This answer is not yet finalized.  Look at the number of decimal places your measurements were made to.  As you can see it was only 0.1.  This means your answer can only be accurate to a tenth or 0.

d.         So you round your answer to 0.5 g/cm³.

11.       Your final answer for the density of this block of wood is 0.5 g/cm³.

QUESTION:

If the density of distilled water is 1.0 g/ml, and 1 cm³ is equal to 1 mL; will this block of wood sink or float in distilled water?

The Stuff under Our Feet

           On you stand on solid ground the next time give some thought to what geologists theorize is happening under us.  Of course theories are based on a lot of collected information and data from years of research and experimentation.  With the earth's interior structure much of this information and data is called "second-hand" due to the fact that what they are stating has never been tested or seem directly.  So geologists use this information to formulate a theory about what is happening under our feet.  A theory is the best explanation for what is happen inside the Earth.

REMEMBER THIS IS THE STUFF THAT THEORIES ARE MADE OF.

NOT ALL GEOLOGISTS AGREE ON THE INFORMATION BELOW.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION MAY NOT BE IN TOTAL AGREEMENT.


(From EnchantedLearning.com)

The layers:

1.  Lithosphere

     a. Crust

          i. Continental crust

         ii. Oceanic crust

        iii. Mohorovicic Discontinuity...marks the lower boundary of the crust[i]

     b. Uppermost solid rock mantle is included in the lithosphere.

2.  Asthenosphere...upper mantle which is made up of weaker, plastics rocks

3.  Lower mantle

4.  D" layer (dee double prime)[ii]

5.  Outer core

6.  Inner core   

Layer Details

 1.  Lithosphere: 

      a.     It contains the continental crust.  This topmost layer contains the least dense                       rock.

          i. The thickness of this layer is from 35 km.[iii]   The continental crust will be                         thicker under mountain ranges sometimes as thick as 60 km.

         ii. This layer is made of lighter volcanic granitic rock with a density of 2.6                               gm/cm^3.[iv]

      b.     On the ocean floors is the oceanic crust.  This volcanic rock is basaltic and the                    thickness averages 5-10 km.  This layer has a higher density about 
               3 gm/cm³. [v]

      c.       This part of the lithosphere is the upper area of the upper mantle.  It is thought                    to be solid, rigid and somewhat cool.  Scientists also think the rock to be even                     denser.[vi]

      d.       The entire lithosphere has a thickness of 100 to 20 km.[vii]

---

[i] Geology.com

[ii] D’’ Layer Demystified

[iii] Lithosphere: World of Earth Science

[iv] Structure of the Earth-HyperPhysics

[v] Structure of the Earth-HyperPhysics

[vi] Lithosphere: World of Earth Science

[vii] Inside the Earth-Enchanted Learning

2.  Mohorovicic Discontinuty

     a.        The word discontinuity means that at this surface is where the speed of                           seismic waves from earthquakes change speed and sometimes direction.

     b.        This layer is found 32 km below the surface.[i]

---

[i] Geology.com

3.  Asthenosphere: Upper Mantle

     a.       This layer, which most areas are in solid rock form, also contains regions                        of hot bendable rock that can slowly flow.  The asthenosphere is found                          anywhere between 80 to 200 km beneath the surface and can extend up                          to 700 km down.   The asthenosphere thickness is affected by the                          b.         This means some regions of hard and rigid rock can become bendable 

                       and plastic-like as heat and pressure increases in that region 

                       of the asthenosphere.[ii]

     c.         Since some regions of the asthenosphere contain hot, slow flowing 

                        rock and this slowly flowing rock is called convection currents that 

                        circulate between the outer core and the lithosphere.

(from joidesresolution.org/node/1897)

     d.        The upper mantle has a thickness of about 410 km stretching 

                       from the crust down into the Earth's interior.

     e.        The transition zone is an area from 410 km to 660 km where there 

                       is no melting of rock, but instead the rocks undergo changes 

                       in their crystalline structure becoming a lot denser.[iii]  In other words                            the rock crystals are put under great heat and pressure and the crystals 

                       change into new and denser crystals.

4.  Lower Mantle:

     a.         The composition of the rock in this layer is in dispute among geologists.                         Some think the subducted slabs of lithosphere slowly sink into the lower                        mantle.  This means that they see the rock as hot and bendable.  Others                          feel that the lower mantle is not moving nor transferring heat through 

                       the process of convection.[iv]

     b.        The rock in this layer is hotter and denser than the layers above it.

     c.        This layer is at a depth of 650 to 2890 km.

           

5.  D’’ (Dee double prime)

     a.        Found a location from 2,700-2890 km below the earth’s surface and 

                      is often included in the lower mantle..[v]

     b.       This region can be very thin in some places, have large build-ups of 

                      iron and silicates, and even areas of large melts which maybe form a 

                      mantle plume. [vi]

6.  Outer core:

     a.           Located at 2890 to 5,150 km.

     b.          This layer is melted iron with other elements mixed in to make it 

                       less dense than the inner core.

     c.           Convection currents move about the outer core created the Earth’s                                  magnetic field.  NOTE: a, b, and c.[vii]

7.   Inner core:

      a.             At a depth of 5,150 to 6,370 km.

      b.            Thought to be solid iron and nickel.

---

[i] 10 Facts About Asthenosphere: Fact File

[ii] 10 Facts About Asthenosphere: Fact File

[iii] The third rock from the sun-restless earth

[iv] The third rock from the sun-restless earth

[v] Earth’s Interior & Plate Tectonics

[vi] The third rock from the sun-restless earth

[vii] Earth’s Interior and Plate Tectonics

Bibliography:

D'' Layer Demystified

news.sciencemag.org/2004/03/d-layer-demystified

Earth's Interior & Plate Tectonics by Rosanna L. Hamilton

www.if.ufrgs.br/ast/solar/earthint.htm

Inside the Earth-Enchanted Learning

www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/inside.html

Lithosphere-World of Earth Science

www.encyclopedia.com/topic/lithosphere.aspx

Mohorovicic Discontinuity-  The Moho

geology.com/articles/mohorovicic-discontinuity.shtml

Structure of the Earth-HyperPhysics

hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geophys/earthstruct.html

10 Facts About Asthenosphere-Fact File

factfile.org/10facts-about-asthenosphere

The third rock from the sun-restless earth

education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/media