Does the last month of school seem to drag on for ages? Does it feel like an entire year? How about the last 30 minutes? I’m sure it feels like you have half a day left until you’re out. To you and I, 30 minutes might seem like a long time but to the earth, that is nothing. Actually, there is really no comparison that I could make because 30 minutes is absolutely nothing when it comes to the Geologic Time Scale.

WTF is the GTS?

So, what exactly is the Geologic Time Scale (GTS)? Well, it was developed so there could be a time reference for rocks and fossils. This was before the development of absolute dating techniques, which includes using radiometric dating. Through these methods, it has been estimated that our planet is roughly 4.5 billion years old! The GTS is actually quite useful; it’s used to shed light on the times on the planet and their relationship with the events that have occurred on our planet, such as the KT Boundary which indicates the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event which was a mass extinction that occurred in a short amount of time, with respect to the GTS.

The idea behind the GTS has been around for many years (with respect to non-geologic time) and has been continued to be perfected. However, Nicolas Steno developed the principles behind the GTS: the strata are laid down one after another with each layer being a kind of slice of time. Additionally, he proposed the law of superposition, which was that you could pick a stratum, any stratum, and the stratum below it would be older and the one above would be younger. Although they were simple concepts, they were revolutionary to earth science and they were difficult to apply to it to the real rocks. Naturally, as both human and geologic time wore on, we began to realize more and more about the strata and it’s relationship with the GTS. The strata sequence were often eroded or distorted in some manner once it was deposited which did make it difficult to connect time and strata together. Geologists also realized that even though a particular stratum had been laid down at the same time around the world, it could look completely different from other parts of the stratum. Also, the strata represent the different parts of the planet’s history. Anyways, enough of this, I am going to list the different parts of the GTS (I will write other articles going over the various parts in a more in depth manner. I’m just trying to give an overview of the GTS right now).

I guess I will go ahead and introduce/briefly describe the different parts of the GTS. There is a lot of material within the GTS so I’ll try my best to keep it short, sweet, and to the point.

Supereon

The GTS is broken up into different units of time, the largest being the supereon. There is one supereon: Precambrian, which lasted from the creation of Earth until about 4500 million years ago (mya). For the record, I will write more articles that describe the specific time units.

Eons

This is the Geologic Time Scale. Image courtesy of WIkimedia Commons

Next we have eons. They make up the supereon. There are 4 different eons: Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic. The Hadean was the first eon and began when the Earth was created and ended roughly 3.8 billion years ago (bya). Next came the Archean eon, which started 3.8 bya and ended 2.5 bya. The Proterozoic followed the Archean and started 2.5 bya and ended 543 mya. This is followed by the current, the Phanerozoic eon, which started 543 mya and continues to this day. So, we are chilling in the Phanerozoic eon. When might this change to another eon? I’m not sure but something that would cause a change in the way the Earth is would have to occur. This is usually what prompts the transition to a new eon.

Eras

After eons, we have eras. Eras are what make up the eons. I won’t go into the dates of the eras because there are so many eras in the GTS. In the Hadean eon, we have the Cryptic era, Basin Groups, the Nectarian era, and the Early Imbrian era. After these eras, we have the eras found in the Archean eon: Eoarchean era, Paleoarchean era, Mesoarchean era, and the Neoarchean era. The eras found in the Proterozoic eon are: Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, and the Neoproterozoic. Although there are not a lot of eras in this eon, the eras last for a long time, even with respect to the GTS. Also, if you have not noticed, there is a general pattern about these eras: they are usually able to be divided into paleo-, meso-, and neo-. Paleo- is the oldest, meso- is the middle (you will find the prefix meso- comes up a lot in meteorology), and neo- is new. Anyways, back to the eras. The final set of eras come from the Phanerozoic eon, they are as follows: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic. We are currently living in the Cenozoic era. The reason this is not called the Neozoic era is because the said era is the era of “New Life,” seeing that this is the era with the highest amount of animal, plant, fungi, etc activity and with the most diversity. Additionally, there is more life being created each day.

Periods

After eras, we have periods. Now, there are a lot of periods in the GTS and they actually begin not during the Hadean or the Archean eons but instead in the Proterozoic eon. So, let’s begin. In the Paleoproterozoic era there are four periods: Siderian, Rhyacin, Orosirian, and Statherian. In the Mesoproterozoic era there are three periods: Calymmian, Ectasian, and Stenian. Like the Mesoproterozoic era, the Neoproterozoic era has three periods: Tonian, Cryogenian (this name comes from the possibility that Earth was essentially a giant snowball at the time), and Ediacaran. These are all of the periods found in the Proterzoic eon. In the Phanerozoic eon, there are a total of 13 periods. It starts with the Cambrian period. This is found in the Paleozoic era, which has seven periods: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous/Mississippian, Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian, and Permian. Now we enter the periods found in the Mesozoic era, which there are three: Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. These are commonly known as the time of the dinosaurs. After the Mesozoic era, there is the Cenozoic era which has three periods as well: Paleogene, Neogene, and the Quaternary. We are currently living in the Quaternary period. It’s a pretty nice period if I say so myself.

Epochs

Okay, so I know this is getting a bit ridiculous, but I have two more GTS units of time left. The first is the epoch, which makes up an era. Epochs begin in the Cambrian period, which if you remember, begins in the Paleozoic era which begins in the Phanerozoic eon (sorry but consider it a little bit of a review). So the Cambrian period is made up the Early epoch, Middle epoch, and you guessed it, the Furongian epoch (tricked you there). You know what, I’m just going to do this in a list form from now on because there are way too many epochs.

Cambrian period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, ad the Furongian epoch.
Ordovician period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, and Late epoch.
Silurian period: Llandovery/Alexandrian epoch, Wenlock epoch, Ludlow/Cayugan epoch, and Pridoli epoch.
Devonian period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, and Late epoch.
Carboniferous/Mississippian period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, and Late epoch.
Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, and Late epoch (Are you beginning to see a trend?).
Permian period: Cisuralian epoch, Guadalupian epoch, and Lopingian epoch (Yeah, about that trend…).
Triassic period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, and Late epoch (Okay, the trend is back).
Jurassic period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, and Late epoch.
Cretaceous period: Early epoch, Middle epoch, and Late epoch.
Paleogene period: Paleocene epoch, Eocene epoch, and Oligocene epoch.
Neogene period: Miocene epoch and Pliocene epoch.
Quaternary period: Pleistocene epoch and Holocene epoch (We’re currently living in the Holocene epoch).

Okay, so the ages are a bit ridiculous, no joke. So, we are not going to worry about them right now. Just know that you are currently living in the Atlantic/Subboreal/Subatlantic age. There you go. Did you catch all of that?

Okay, so sorry about there being no “Cloud of the Month” in May. Things got a bit hectic, i.e., finals and the sort. So here is my “Cloud of the Month” for June: Altocumulus clouds!!!! I chose this cloud because when I left work, I looked up in the sky (no surprise there) and the sky was full of them. I couldn’t believe my eyes because the shear beauty of the clouds and how vivid they were was just overwhelming. They didn’t even seem real! I wish I had had my camera with me but alas, luck was not on my side. Actually, I seem to have lost it as well as my iPod. But that’s neither here nor there.

When these clouds fill the sky, it is sometimes called “Mackerel Sky.” Here’s why: When the clouds appear in the sky, they occur in patches which gives off the impression of fish scales. They kind of look like a puzzle where the pieces are spread out.

Altocumulus clouds. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

It’s all about looks… and location

Altocumulus clouds. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

These clouds have a globular shape about them; they look like spots that an artist painted on. They are found in clusters, whether that be in patches or layers. They are found anywhere 1,200 to 6,100 m (6,500 to 20,000 ft.). As a result, they are a part of Family B which means they are a medium-level cloud. These clouds have a white or gray color about them but despite this, they are darker than cirrocumulus clouds. Additionally, they are larger than the stratocumulus clouds.

Reading these babies

Altocumulus clouds in the morning can sometimes indicate that thunderstorms will develop later in the day. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

As is the case for cumulus clouds, altocumulus clouds are a result of convection. In terms of meteorology, convection is the pocket of instability, i.e., a temperature gradient. These clouds usually occur in the leading edge of a cold front. Additionally, they are indicators that a thunderstorm will occur, especially when they form in the morning on a warm and humid summer. In that instance, altocumulus clouds are indicating that there could be thunderstorm activity later in the afternoon. Although it is not that common, these clouds can produce a trace amount of rainfall if they are high enough in the atmosphere.

Until next time

I think I will end my article here because we are getting a new roof (we had hail damage) and the contractors are hammering away. They woke me up this morning just hammering as loud as they could and they broke some stuff of mine. I can’t begin to express how livid I am about the situation. Now they are back from lunch and they have started hammering again. Some of my stuff has fallen already and it has only been 5 minutes! So, until next time, keep an eye on the sky.

Altocumulus clouds and a sun pillar. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Sacre Coeur was the oldest church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It was destroyed in the earthquake. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Introduction

If you have been living in a cave over the past few months, then you would have no idea that there were several major earthquakes that occurred in the world, two of which flooded the news. The first one occurred on January 12, 2010 in Haiti. It was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the highest the country has seen in 200 years, give or take a couple of years. The second earthquake occurred in Chile on February 27, 2010. It was a magnitude 8.8, making it the seventh largest earthquake by magnitude! Obviously, there are some major differences between the two earthquakes. Their impacts were substantially different from each other and you would be surprised by difference. Let’s start with Haiti.

Haitian Earthquake

As I mentioned, Haiti was affected by a 7.0 magnitude (roughly equivalent to 476 kilotons of TNT) earthquake on January 12, 2010. Haiti is not a country that you hear about in news when it comes to earthquakes, nevertheless, the country is very seismically active and destructive earthquakes have occurred their. The earthquake occurred in the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone (EPGFZ) with the hypercenter located about 8.0 miles beneath the surface of the earth. The hypercenter is the point where the earthquake, or rupture in the fault occurred. It is different from epicenter in that the hypercenter is characterized by depth. Anyways, the EPGFZ is a strike-slip fault (I’ll explain it in another article so don’t worry about it) and is between the North American and the Caribbean plates. So, why did an earthquake of this magnitude happen? The reason is because it has been a long time since the last major earthquake and so the stress and tension has built up over the years until finally there is a rupture which causes an earthquake. So basically, the longer you go without a major earthquake, the more intense the earthquake will be when it does occur.

This is a map depicting the earthquake intensity based on shaking in Haiti. Map courtesy of the United States Geological Survey.

Additionally, the areas affected, such as Port-au-Prince, were located in Modified Mercalli Intensity zones of IX and X, meaning they would suffer extreme damage (IX = ruinous and X = disastrous). I’ll explain the MMI scale in another article as well. All in all, the earthquake in Haiti resulted in numerous losses.
Here are the numbers:
Dead: 222,570 estimated (This makes the 2010 Haitian earthquake the sixth deadliest earthquake in history)
Injured: 300,000 estimated
People displaced/homeless: 1.3 million
Houses destroyed: 97,294
Houses damaged: 188,383
Destroyed or damaged commercial buildings: 30,000

Volunteer helps with the damaged hospital after the Chilean Earthquake. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Chilean Earthquake

On February 27, 2010, Chile was affected by an 8.8 magnitude (238 megatons of TNT) earthquake. Chile frequently experiences earthquakes and is no stranger to intense earthquakes. In fact, Chile experienced the largest earthquake by magnitude in recorded history: 9.5 magnitude! It occurred in 1960 in Valdivia, Chile. Anyways, the earthquake came from the fault that is nestled between the Nazca plate and the South American plate. This was caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate. Subduction is where one plate is moving beneath another. The hypercenter was at a depth of 22 miles and the epicenter was roughly 65 miles off the coast of Concepción, Chile. The earthquake generated a tsunami for which much of the Pacific was warned of. Actually, my friend had to get to higher ground in Hawaii because they were expecting a large tsunami to hit the state. However, the tsunami that was forecasted did not occur but instead, a smaller wave came and the highest wave was five to six feet rather than the 10 feet that was forecasted. The earthquake was so powerful that it caused seiches (singular: seiche. pronounced: saysh. They are standing waves that occur in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water) to occur in Lake Pontchartrain just north of North Orleans! That’s over 4,500 miles away from the epicenter! Scientists also said that the earthquake could have shortened Earth’s day by 1.26 millionths of a second and shifted Earth’s axis by 8 cm! The earthquake caused the South American plate to suddenly move toward the west: Santiago moved 11 inches westward and Concepción moved 10 feet to the west!

This is a map depicting the intensity of the effected area based on the shaking experienced by the Chilean earthquake. Map courtesy of the United States Geological Survey.

But why did this earthquake occur even though a far more powerful earthquake occurred in the same region within the last 50 years? Research is indicating that these two earthquakes, the 1960 and the 2010 earthquakes, could be related to each other. It’s odd that the length of time between the two earthquakes was 50 years but it is not that uncommon for this to occur. Much of the affected areas were in the MMI zone VIII and below.
Here are the numbers:
Dead: At least 507 people killed
Injured: No number given
People displaced/homeless: No number given
Houses destroyed: No number given
Houses damaged: 200,000+ in the Concepción-Valparaiso area.
Destroyed or damaged commercial buildings: No number given

Difference Between the Haitian Earthquake and the Chilean Earthquake

So what makes these two earthquakes very different from one another? Why did the Haitian earthquake result in far more fatalities when the Chilean earthquake was 500 times more forceful than the Haitian earthquake? Well, the hypercenter of the Chilean earthquake was deeper than the hypercenter of the Haitian earthquake. The deeper the hypercenter, the less powerful it is on the surface. Additionally, the epicenter of the Chilean earthquake was about 65 miles off shore from one of the country’s most populated city whereas the epicenter of the Haitian earthquake was a few miles away from its most densely populated city, Port-au-Prince. Another issue dealt more with earthquake mitigation and preparation as well as the economy of the two countries rather than the actual earthquake itself. Chile, like I mentioned earlier, is no stranger to earthquakes, including powerful ones. As a result, it has developed policies that require things such as earthquake building codes to be enforced. However, in Haiti, there are very little policies requiring the building codes to be enforced, which allowed for so much damage and destruction to occur. In respect to the economy of the two countries, Chile has a far stronger economy than Haiti. In fact, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and as a result, the country is not able to build structures that are virtually earthquake-proof unlike Chile. I actually wrote a policy paper that details the issues in Haiti as a result of the earthquake and I developed several policies in order to establish earthquake mitigation policies (redesigning the infrastructure, sewage system, etc) as well as controlling disease outbreaks. I plan to post it to the site.

Anyways, these are the two earthquakes and their differences in a nutshell. I hope I was able to help everyone out! Look out for more posts.

Anyways, this is the other portion of weather journals for the severe weather outbreak that occurred on 04/30/2010 and 05/01/2010, this entry of course, is for the latter of the two dates. I am assuming that you all read my previous weather journal entry, yes? Since that is the case, and I am assuming it is, then I do not need to set-up the scenes leading up to the events of 05/01/2010. I’ve posted photos below! I’m going to post video link(s) later.

Like I do every day, I looked at the convective outlooks that the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and I found that they had issued a high risk for severe weather for the state of Arkansas. This was the second day in a row that the SPC had issued a high risk for severe weather for Arkansas (seen below). At the time that I had checked the convective outlooks, about 10:30 am, there were no watches for the Arkansas area. I decided I would go outside and rollerblade, which I do when I do my running cross-training. As soon as I rolled outside, I felt like I had been swimming! The humidity outside was extreme! I decided to keep my rollerblading short and I returned to my dorm room as soon as possible. Upon my return, I turned on The Weather Channel (TWC) right as Dr. Greg Forbes was giving his TOR:CON Forecast; Arkansas received a 9/10, which was the highest rating that he has ever given since he developed the TOR:CON Forecast! Prior to seeing the TOR:CON Forecast, I knew that today was going to be a busy day in terms of severe weather, but the forecast just reinforced my beliefs.

Convective outlook for 05/01/2010. Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Storm Prediction Center (SPC).

Fast-forward to the early afternoon. The SPC issued a Tornado Watch for Arkansas but this was a different watch. It is called a Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS). This is not commonly issued by the SPC but in the event that one is issued, you can expect a lot of tornadic activity. By the mid to late afternoon, supercells began to explode across western portions of Arkansas! The atmosphere was perfect for supercell and tornadogenesis! Well, it was in the late afternoon and the early evening when the storms began to strengthen and affect Conway, which is where I was at the time. I was watching the radar and looking out the window, when I noticed that there was a supercell that was headed right for Conway! To make matters worse, (worse for everyone else. I was loving it!) the supercell had a tornado warning on it! As it moved into Faulkner county,  one of my roommates was about to leave to do something with his fraternity, when I stopped him and told him that he should probably take cover. As soon as I mentioned that, the tornado sirens started to sound! I ran downstairs and outside to see what I could see. I do not advise you doing this! It is very dangerous and I do so because I am a trained storm spotter and I relay the information in to the National Weather Service (NWS).

With the first supercell, there was loads of rain that came with the storm and this is where the storm became problematic. There was a reported funnel cloud between Mayflower and Conway and it was headed toward downtown Conway, which was where I was at! I told my friends who were around me to take cover and I texted my other friends the same message. I continued to stay outside, trying to see if I could catch anything on my camera and tell the NWS. (Un)Fortunately, there was no tornado and we were safe.

After the supercell passed, I went to look at the radar and saw that there was another supercell that was headed toward Conway. I estimated that it would be here in roughly 30 to 40 minutes (I was right by the way). My friend Ryan Parker called me and told me that he was going to head over to my dorm before the next storm hit. By the time he had arrived, you could see three different supercells! The first was the one that had already passed over Conway. The second was a beautiful one that looked like it was headed to Conway but wasn’t. The third one was the second storm that hit Conway and I watched it compose itself right before my eyes! As I watched the storm form, I began to see what is called a mesocyclone develop within the storm! As the storm became more organized, I told Ryan as well as some other friends, that the NWS is going to put a warning on this one in the next few minutes. Lo and behold, the tornado sirens started to go off as soon as the NWS issued the warning! I told my friends to go inside because the weather was getting very ominous. They decided to stay because their logic was that they will know it is time for them to take cover whenever I decide to run and take cover. This was not the best logic since it takes a lot of me to run when it comes to the weather. Some people decided to go inside when two cloud to ground lightning strikes struck close to us. As the mesocyclone passed over us, we all watched in awe while standing close to the doors in the event that something were to happen where we needed to go indoors and take cover. Once the mesocyclone passed, Ryan and I went up to one of my friends rooms on the fourth floor and were able to look out the window and watch the mesocyclone go off into the distance. Basically, it was amazing!

That was the last tornadic cell that passed over Conway. There was another severe thunderstorm that passed over Conway, which produced pea-sized hail! It only lasted for two minutes but it was awesome! And that was pretty much my weather journal for the 05/01/2010 severe weather event. I have some photos that I took down below! I’m going to post video link(s) later. Enjoy!

This was the first supercell that affected Conway. It was tornadic!

This was the second supercell that affected Conway. It was tornadic as well!

This was the second supercell. It looked like it was headed to Conway but it wasn't. It was still in the process of developing.

This might have been a thunderstorm that was backbuilding but I'm not entirely sure. If so, it really did not amount to much.

This was the start of the mesocyclone formation. If you look closely, you might be able to see the wall cloud down toward the tree tops.

The mesocyclone is becoming more organized!

The mesocyclone continues to become more organized!

The mesocyclone has really organized itself. If there was a wall cloud at this time, it would be located below the tree tops.

This is the base of the supercell.

Now, you will have to pardon my grammar in this post. It is finals week and so I am more or less a bit rushed. But that’s alright, I enjoy talking about the weather! Also, I have pictures that I took at the bottom of the page as well as a link to one of the videos that I shot that night.

Cloud-to-Ground lightning strike at the University of Arkansas. My friend Danielle happened to capture this photo.

Now we can begin.

Like all systems, this one started out in the Western portions of the United States and began to make its way across the country. Now, I check the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Storm Prediction Center (SPC) website every day, many times a day. The SPC issued what is called a convective outlook, which is a categorical as well as probability forecast for convective severe storms in the continental United States for the next eight days (it gets much more specific for the nearest three days). Well, the SPC had issued a slight risk for severe weather for Arkansas on that Friday. I decided I would keep an eye on it and see if something would develop. The next day, I check the convective outlooks again and saw that the SPC had issued a moderate risk for severe weather for that Friday as well as a slight risk for severe weather on that Saturday. At this point I really began to check out the convective outlooks. Obviously, the SPC issues more slight risks rather than moderate risks so naturally this peaked my attention. I continued to monitor the SPC as the day wore on.

By the time Friday arrived, the SPC had continued to issue a moderate risk for severe weather for Friday but they also added Saturday to that moderate risk for severe weather in Arkansas. I turned on The Weather Channel, which is probably one of my favorite channels of all time, and decided to see what Dr. Greg Forbes was saying. Dr. Forbes worked with Dr. Fujita on developing the Fujita Scale, which is used to determine the intensity of a tornado. He also worked on developing the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which is a major improvement of the Fujita Scale. I explain in a later post. Anyways, I need to get back to the story at hand. I was checking out what Dr. Forbes was saying and he gave a TOR:CON prediction of 6/10, or 60%. TOR:CON, or Tornado Condition Index,  “is a prediction, on a scale of zero to ten, of the likelihood of a tornado occurring within 50 miles of a location. It is exclusive to The Weather Channel” (The Weather Channel). Now, these values were relatively high, so I decided that I should definitely keep an eye on the sky and keep everyone informed about the possibility of danger. At about 2:15 pm, I had to run to another building on campus to turn a paper in. As soon as I stepped outside, it felt like I had been swimming! It was extremely humid outside! And worse yet, it was sunny so the air was heated around me. Heat and humidity = not comfortable. As I trudged on, I remembered that the sunlight is only making the potential for severe weather increase. This is because the heat is soaked into the surroundings, such as the ground, and it is radiated back off which allows for more dynamic lifting and the such to occur, increasing the instability, i.e. storms will be more severe. When I check the convective outlooks for again, the SPC had increased the severe threat: now there was a high risk for severe weather today for Arkansas. The moderate risk for severe weather still remained in effect for Saturday. At this point, I really began to check out the radars and I began to see some cells forming as well as a line of storms that marked the start of the front. As the day wore on, the National Weather Service began to issue watches and warnings. Faulkner county, which is where I was, was under a tornado watch. Around 6:00 pm, the National Weather Service began to issue tornado warnings but none of the warnings were for Faulkner. Instead, they were up northwest of me, about a county over. There was a report of a tornado. With me being a super crazy weather geek, I really wanted to go and chase this storm but I decided against it because it was going to be dark soon and it is not wise to do a night chase for obvious reasons. Anyways, I let this one go but I kept an eye on the rest of the system. More tornado warnings were issued, including Pulaski county, which is where I am from. By the way, the university I attend is in Conway. There was a reports of a funnel cloud as well as a tornado that was clipping the southern edge of Little Rock! I decided to text some of my friends who would be in the path of this storm so they would know. The storm passed by Little Rock but another one was on the way. It was actually following the exact same path! So, I did the same thing. Like the previous storm, this one passed. I can’t remember which of the two storms it was, but on one of them, you could see the debris cloud on the radar! Once these two storms passed, the National Weather Service placed Faulkner county under a severe thunderstorm watch! I was really happy but at the same time I was upset because I realized that this was going to be the only action that I personally saw, at least for today (foreshadowing? I think so!). With the severe thunderstorm warning freshly issued by the National Weather Service, I decided to run outside to try to take some pictures and film.

Pause for a second and let me say my Public Safety Announcement for the day: Do not go outside during a severe thunderstorm. You can get hurt easily or even die. Dangerous lighting, large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes, and flooding are all possible during a severe thunderstorm. Each one of these can seriously hurt or even kill you. I went outside, foolishly I might add, to film for my records, for television stations, and to relay information back to the National Weather Service. I am a trained spotter and so I know what I am doing.Anyways, back to the story.

I went outside and started to film. The lightning was amazing and the thunder was just as impressive. It wasn’t raining hard but I still had my umbrella. The winds were fluctuating but you could still feel them and it was a bit of a nuisance because it was trying to knock my umbrella out of my hands. As I was filming, there was a beautiful cloud-to-ground lightning strike! And it was roughly 500 meters away! Then the thunder boomed across campus! It was another 20 to 30 minutes before I decided to go back inside because the storm had moved on. I could still see the flashes of lightning off in the distance as the storms moved away. For the rest of the night, the weather had calmed down, well, for the most part. There were still a few severe thunderstorms in the state. I went to my friend’s dorm and we watched “Jurassic Park.” I finally got back to my dorm at around 3 am but while I was walking back, I noticed some more lightning off in the distance and I knew that it was going to be an active weekend.

This concludes my weather journal entry for 04/30/2010. It is the first part of two entries about the severe weather outbreak in Arkansas on 04/30/2010 and 05/01/2010

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A6XMeIlo4Q

This was another cloud-to-ground lightning strike at UofA. My friend Danielle took this one.

Lightning flashes through the clouds

Lightning illuminates the sky and it almost looks like it's daytime.

Basically, the set-up is as follows: The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) at the National Weather Center on the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma does what is called a convective outlook. It basically tells the probability of severe weather in given locations. You can get further into the details but I will not do so given that it is almost 2 am! Anyways, the convective outlooks for 04/23/2010 for Arkansas have been set as moderate risk for severe weather. Usually, when it comes to severe weather, the SPC issues slight risks, so this is a big deal to me. We shall see how this goes tomorrow. I will go more into detail about the mechanics of the system after I have had some sleep. It’s been a long day and I have to present something over earthquakes tomorrow. But be prepared for an active day as well as evening tomorrow, or today if you want to get technical here. Good night!

So, I have started a new series of articles called “Josh Bregy’s Cloud of the Month!” I might change is to “Josh Bregy’s Cloud of the Week!” or “Josh Bregy’s Cloud of the Fortnight!” It really just depend on time and things of that nature. But anyways I do believe it’s time to introduce this month’s, or week or fortnight.

And the winner is…

Can I get a drumroll please? My cloud choice is…. CIRRUS CLOUDS!!!!

Cirrus unicus. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Wow! What a great choice! These clouds are very pretty and can be quite relaxing. Believe me, if I had a nickel for every time I felt relaxed when lying underneath a sky full of cirrus clouds I would be a rich man. Well, maybe not in this economy but that’s an entirely different story. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, cirrus clouds! Some might imagine these clouds as the brushstrokes of a painter while others would think of them as similar to a horse’s tail. Fun fact: Another name for cirrus clouds is “Mare Tails” or “Mare Tail Clouds.” Pretty nifty, right? Well, let’s move on down to the next section in the article.

Dude, you got some cirrus height!

These thin and wispy clouds are a part of a group of high-level clouds. Just as the name implies, the clouds form and are found high in the sky. In order to be a part of this exclusive group, one I like to refer to as classy clouds, the clouds must form above 6,000-7,000m (20,000-23,000ft) in the atmosphere. If you have already read my article over the layers of the atmosphere, then you should know that at an altitude such as this, the temperatures are very cold! If you haven’t read my article over the layers of the atmosphere, then I suggest you do so immediately. Since they do so much for you like protecting you from solar winds and the like, the least you could do is get to know each layer personally. Believe me, each of them are wonderful. Anyways, back to cirrus clouds. So, since they form at really high altitudes you can reason that they are made up of what? If you aren’t sure, then you should continue reading.

Made of what?

Okay, so I didn’t mean to be a meteorological tease but it keeps the ratings high. But the correct answer is ice crystals! I’m glad you all knew that. At the altitudes that cirrus clouds form at, the temperatures are really low which leads the supercooled water to freeze almost every time. That’s pretty cool, wouldn’t you say? Additionally, they can stem from other clouds only if the clouds have gone through glaciation (water droplets turn into ice crystals. It’s like magic, except it’s one of the wonders of weather).

Hooked On Phonics never prepared you for this

So, what do cirrus clouds indicate? Great question! When seen individually, or when very few are in the sky, it just means that it’s a lovely day today. Likewise, when seen in large amounts, or a herd as I like to call it (don’t call them that because people will look at you in a funny way), they can indicate that a storm system is approaching along with cool and fair weather. I know, it’s really counterintuitive to think of fair weather and a storm in the same system but consider it the calm a day or two before the storm. As I write this article, I am able to glance outside of my window and can see that cirrus clouds are littering the sky and have increased as the day moves on, indicating that a system is going to move through.

Types

Like a lot of things in the world, there are different types of cirrus clouds variations which I shall list for you to enjoy.
Cirrus castellanus – Basically, they are a bunch of cirrus cloud lumps that are all connected by a thinner base.
Cirrus duplicatus – These are sheets of cirrus clouds that are distributed over different altitudes and are connected by one or more points. There are some of these outside of my window right now.
Cirrus fibratus – These are you traditional cirrus clouds i.e., mare’s tail. They are longer, fibrous, and curved. There are a few of these outside of my window but they have moved on since they are further ahead of the system.
Cirrus floccus – These are curved and rather fibrous but they are also rounded on the top. To me, they look similar to a fan (the hand-powered kind). There are quite a lot of cirrus floccus outside of my window as well.
Cirrus intortus – These are clouds in which the filaments are tangled in one another or have odd curves. I can’t really see much of the cirrus intortus clouds outside of my window.
Cirrus     kelvin-helmholtz – These cirrus clouds are amazing! And very rare. They have a spiral and lie horizontally. These clouds are indicators that there is severe turbulence in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, do not last very long and as you can guess, there are none outside of my window.
Cirrus radiatus – These are long horizontal bands of cirrus clouds that cover a large area. Some of the ones that I have seen look similar to the rows of a plowed field. There are a few outside of my window.

Conclusion and Music Recommendation

Well, I hope you enjoyed Cirrus clouds. I know I did. I did not list all types of cirrus clouds but instead I listed the main ones as well as the really odd clouds. And while I wrote this article, I was listening to Badi Assad. I would highly recommend this artist, especially if you like Latin music or like music that you can just relax to. The song that really got me started on this article was “Escadão.” You should check it out. Thanks for reading and remember, keep an eye on the sky!  

Picture!!!!!

I would love to add more but this is the only photo I could find on Wikiemedia Commons (it’s free and doesn’t violate any copyright laws) and the photo is small enough too. Do an image search for the different types.

Cirrus castellanus. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Volcano photograph from the National Parks Service of the United States. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Ahhh volcanoes. I’m sure you either get one of two images when thinking about these explosive beasts: Dinosaurs or lovely, peaceful, tourist filled Hawai’i. Lovely isn’t it? Well, that’s only half of the picture when it comes to volcanoes. In reality, there are loads of active volcanoes today as there were say 1000 years ago, and they are not just in Hawai’i. Actually, there is an immensely volcanically active region in the world known as the Ring of Fire. Sounds threatening right? Well, this region is littered with volcanoes, some of which are the most powerful on record (Ahem… Krakatoa anyone). Anyways, like I said, the Ring of Fire is one of the most active volcanic sites in the world, but that does not mean that volcanoes do not occur elsewhere. Any boundary between tectonic plates is a potential site for a volcano as is any part of a plate that is sitting (I should probably say moving because the plates are always moving but we will leave it as is for the time being) on a hot spot (Yellowstone but I will go into more detail with that caldera later in the article). I’m going to be straightforward with you, the main purpose for this article is to describe the different types of volcanoes as well as point out volcanically active regions in the world. I also will do a volcano record section in this article in addition to an impending doom section for those who are reading from the United States (please note that my impeding doom-cast is not a forecast from a professional, it is merely pointing out the potential for such an event to occur). For the mechanics behind a volcano, you will have to wait a little while longer for me to write an article over that but it shall come.

North side of Hualalai. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Now comes the daunting task of choosing which volcano to begin with. Why don’t we start with the type of volcanoes found on Hawai’i, or shield volcanoes. A shield volcano looks exactly as it sounds, like a shield lying on the ground. It is characterized by its shallow-sloping sides and the low viscosity of the lava flow. They are relatively flat, only having an incline of a few degrees, in most cases, as you trek to the top of the volcano. Additionally, the volcano can span for large distances with some volcanoes being considered mountain ranges, such as the Rainbow Range in Canada. All of the volcanoes on Hawai’i are shield volcanoes as well as some in Iceland, Canada, and other locations in the world. The eruption of the shield volcano are usually not violent, especially when compared to a stratovolcano. Kilauea volcano in Hawai’i has continuously erupted since 1983. It hasn’t been anything really to worry about except for a few times where the lava did flow down toward some of the areas that humans had inhabited. A lot of the times, a shield volcano is formed by two factors: hotspots and the lava. The hotspots allow for the ground to soften up which thus permits the magma to pass. Once the magma passes to the surface, it then becomes lava and this continues to build the shield volcano as the lava spreads out.

Lava domes are basically what they sound like: volcanoes that are created as lava slowly erupts, but instead of there being a lava flow, the lava builds up on top of it and creates a dome.

Mount St. Helens dome growth schematic. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

This is called exogenic dome growth. Now, the dome volcano can also build up by internal expansion, or endogenic dome growth. This expansion is so the volcano can accommodate more lava in the interior. Because of the the structure of a lava dome volcano does not permit much lava flow, gas and pressure build-up can be intense which can lead to very explosive eruptions. If in the event, the lava dome collapses in on itself while still molten, it can lead to the formation of pyroclastic flows (very very bad. Like, you seriously do not want to be caught in this. You will die). Pyroclastic flows are rapidly moving (roughly 450 mph) walls of hot gas and rocks. I will go more into detail about pyroclastic flows when I write about the dangers of volcanoes (although, it might be self-explanatory but I still want to tell you all the wonders of the dangers of volcanoes). Cryptodomes can be classified in the lava dome category. One example of a cryptodome volcano is Mount St. Helens.

Volcanic cones are the next volcano type that we will deal with. These volcanoes are the clichéd volcanoes that most people imagine when they are asked to picture a volcano (I will actually take about these particular volcanoes in the next paragraph). Now, just in case you do not know what I am talking about then imagine a giant cone or better yet, look at the photo right next to this paragraph. So, how are these cones created? Well, the ejecta (the material that is ejected from the volcano) builds up around the vent of the volcano and creates what is called a central crater. Depending on the size as well as nature of the ejecta, you can have different types of volcanic cones: spatter cones, ash cones, tuff cones, and cinder cones. Spatter cones are formed when the gases found within the lava cause the lava to form or morph into odd globs that fall back onto the volcano. This in turn, forms a heap of sorts around the vent of the volcano. This lava that falls back to the vent is called spatter hence the name. Ash volcanoes are very similar to tuff volcanoes. They are made up of extremely tiny particles that can range from the size of a silt particle to a grain of sand. A combination of phreatic (steam produced by magma and groundwater, or any other source for that matter, are mingling with one another) and various other volcanic gases produce the ash. If the ash is not fully together, the the volcano is called an ash cone. Likewise, if the ash has become completely consolidated, then it is called a tuff cone. Cinder cones are another type of cone volcano. It is mainly composed of loose fragments from the volcano called cinders, hence the name. They form when these globs of lava are blown out of the volcano, usually violently, and as they fall back to the surface of the Earth, they harden and create what we call cinders. Unfortunately, because they are composed of the loose volcanic fragments, they erode quickly (quickly is in respect to geologic time not our concept of time because that would be absolutely insane!). I want to mention one last volcanic cone before I move on to a new, and quite frankly one of my favorite types of volcanoes (you will have to wait for the next paragraph to find out what that is! hahaha). A rootless cone, sometimes called a pseudocrater, is fed by this flow of lava rather than having a direct connection to the magma in Earth’s interior. This can happen when the lava flows over wet sediment, which can result in a violent explosion of cinder and tuff.

Okay, here is where you get to find out about one of my favorite volcanoes. It is called the stratovolcano. I’m not going to lie, that name sounds really cool.

Popocatopetl stratovolcano in Mexico. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Stratovolcanoes can be classified in the conic volcano section above but they really deserve their own paragraph because they are still a very unique structure. These are the clichéd volcanoes I mentioned in the above paragraph. I am assuming that you all know what they look like so I am going to move into why they are called stratovolcano. If you don’t know what they look like then look at the picture that accompanies this paragraph. These volcanoes get their name from the different layers of hardened lava, tephra (I think that this should be some sort of brand of tupperware too but that’s just me), and volcanic ash. Another well-known characteristic about stratovolcanoes are their violent and explosive eruptions. Like, no joke. They are intense. Krakatoa is a stratovolcano that erupted in 1883. When it erupted, and I am talking about the big eruption, not the activity leading up to the eruption, the explosion could be heard as far as 3000 miles away! And barographs from around the world could feel the pressure wave, which reverberated around the world seven times, five days after the explosion! Talk about intense. To make things more impressive, the volcano had many different long-term effects which includes altering the global climate. The next year was known as the Year without Summer. Anyways, I don’t mean to stray from the topic but I get really excited about these things (I think I’ll write an article over that to)! Stratovolcanoes are very common in subduction zones (oceanic plate is going beneath a continental plate or another oceanic plate) which can lead to chains of these volcanoes to form. I won’t go into the specifics of how the explosion occurs (I am planning on writing an article over explosions which should be an awesome and interesting article. I mean come on, who doesn’t like explosions?) but I want you to keep in mind that there has to be a build-up of gas, magma, etc where the volcano reaches its critical point and cannot contain it any longer causing it to explode. These volcanoes can cause a change in climate because of the amount of ash the is exploded into the atmosphere which blocks out the solar radiation that causes the planet to warm up. On a side note, there has been talk of placing particles in the atmosphere to reduce the effects of global climate change, particularly the warming trend, but I would not recommend this. Nature has a way of getting us back whenever we do something like that. The amount of ash that is produced is also very hazardous to human health as well as other fauna and flora. Mudflows and pyroclastic flows are two more dangers that come with this type of volcano especially since they move quickly and are extremely hot, and I can’t stress either one of these enough. If you are caught in one of these then you will die. It is inevitable.

My other favorite type of volcano is called a supervolcano. I’m not sure if you can tell by now but I am really into the extreme part of nature. Supervolcanoes are exactly as they sound, super. They result in super volcanic eruptions, which are constituted as an eruption with ejecta that is greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers, or 240 cubic miles! You are going to have to bear with me because I might be using the word super a lot during this paragraph. They result from magma build-up on a hot spot beneath the Earth’s surface that is not able to break through. Not much is known about supervolcanoes because they are relatively new to science. What is known is that they cover large areas, such as the Yellowstone Caldera! Yeah, that’s right, that entire park is right on top of a caldera, actually it is over three overlapping calderas!

Aniakchak caldera in Alaska. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Anyways, supervolcanoes are definitely great at what they do, such as causing the extinction of an entire species or changing the climate. Oh, I figure I probably tell you that a caldera is more like a cauldron. It forms this way because when it explodes the ground actually caves in on itself because it is occupying the space where the magma was once held, which there is a lot of. Whenever they erupt, survival is not likely for a large area (it depends on the size of the volcano). I hate to be a downer but it’s true. But, on the bright side, these eruptions are not common because they are so massive and so their frequency is much lower (you can apply that to anything. For example, tornadoes: the likelihood of an EF5 tornado occurring is far less than an EF0 tornado occurring). The last time the Yellowstone Caldera erupted though was ~70,000 years ago so it is possible that we will need to keep an watchful eye on it.

So this pretty much concludes my article over the different types of volcanoes, or at leas the main types. Look forward to more articles over some crazy cool stuff! Actually, I am going to be posting an article over clouds soon as well as one addressing the recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Turkey, and Japan. Thanks for reading. Remember to respect Mother Nature.