EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Four Seasons of Wisteria

September 21, 2021


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Photographer: Marcella Botti

Summary Author: Marcella Botti

In September 2019, I noticed this beautiful wisteria in the
Park of Villa Finzi, Milan, Italy, and so for fun I photographed it
over and over again, noticing the change from one month to the next. I
managed to take the first two photos shown above (autumn and winter),
when I was working in Milan, then I changed jobs, then the pandemic
arrived. Intent on completing the project, I went back to Milan in
March 2021 to immortalize spring, and finally, in June 2021, I finally
completed by little swing through the seasons.
Wisteria, a genus in the legume family of flowering plants
( Fabaceae or Leguminosae), is a vigorous and cold hardy climbing
vine. Different species are found throughout the mid latitudes of the
Northern Hemisphere, including China, Korea, Japan, Southern Canada,
and the eastern United States. The woody vines of the wisteria climb by
twining their stems (notice the huge vine of this wisteria) around any
available support. All four photos featured above were taken between
9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., local solar time, using my IPhone XR.


* Villa Finzi, Milan, Italy Coordinates: 45.5053, 9.2200

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Four Seasons of Wisteria White-mouth Dayflower in Bloom The
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Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 2 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


The Law of the (Colorado) River

October 21, 2021


EPODa.LakeMeadeMay2019 (004)

Photographer: Thomas McGuire
Summary Author: Thomas McGuire

In 1922 seven states met to establish the Colorado River Compact.
Since then, there have been hundreds of changes, bitterly fought court
cases, and even a military confrontation. This has resulted in gigantic
mass of convoluted regulations collectively called “The Law of the
River.“ With changing needs, drought and a warming climate, it still
grows.

As the 20-year mega-drought in the southwestern U.S. continues,
Lake Mead (shown above), the nation’s largest reservoir, has
dropped below the critical level of 1,075 ( m) feet above sea level. As
of September 15, 2021, it’s at 1,068 ft (326 m) and still
declining. Lake Meade’s storage is only about 35% of capacity. This
shortage is unwelcome, but long anticipated. Uses of river water have
been prioritized. The first major reductions will occur in
agricultural irrigation; by far, the greatest water use. Municipal
water has a much higher priority, as do the rights of certain Native
American tribes.

The goal is a sustainable balance between supplies and needs as our
population grows and climate changes. Most experts think it can
probably be done, but major innovations and perhaps even new water
sources will be required. Photo taken in late summer 2019.


* Boulder City, Nevada Coordinates: 36.020998, -114.770214

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Hydrology Links

* Current Sea Surface Temperature
* NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery
* Ocean Color
* What is hydrology?
* Tides and Currents
* Water Resources of the United States
* World Waterfall Database
* The USGS Water Science School
* World Water Database
* The World’s Water
* USGS Surface Water Information Pages

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 6 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Archive - Bountiful Autumn

November 20, 2021

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Every weekend we present a notable item from our archives.

This EPOD was originally published November 28, 2013.

Photographer: Jeanette Stafford
Summary Author: Jeanette Stafford
Folklore suggests that a bountiful crop of hawthorn berries
( haws) in the autumn predicts a severe winter ahead. However, this
year’s glut of berries and soft fruits is the result of unusually
cold weather in the first half of the year. Thus, spring arrived
several weeks late. Temperatures in the UK during March 2013 were about
6 F (3.3 C) below average, making it colder than the preceding three
winter months and the coldest March in 50 years. The unusually cold air
inhibited plant growth and delayed blossoming by around six weeks for
some trees and plants, such as hawthorns ( Crataegus monogyna).
Hawthorne Hawthorn or “ may” usually flowers during the month of
May, at least here in Scotland (at left). This year the hawthorn didn’t
bloom until June, the latest I’ve ever observed. Once the risk of
frost damage passed, blossoms were quite abundant. Now that the
leaves have dropped, hawthorn trees are laden with crimson berries, a
plentiful harvest for birds and other wildlife.
Unusually cold spells in the British Isles often occur when a
climatic pattern called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
experiences an extreme negative phase. March 2013 as well as the cold
winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 all had acutely negative NAOs. Time
will tell if cold conditions prevail during the coming winter. Should
this in fact happen, those who espouse folklore may well feel
vindicated. Top photo taken on October 14, 2013.

Photo details: Top - Camera Model: PENTAX K-5; Focal Length: 42.5mm
(35mm equivalent: 64mm); Aperture: f/4.5; Exposure Time: 0.0080 s
(1/125); ISO equiv: 100. Inset - same except: Aperture: f/8.0; Exposure
Time: 0.0016 s (1/640); ISO equiv: 200.
* Mugdock Country Park, Scotland Coordinates: 55.973306, -4.330566

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Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 1 week, 2 days, 16 hours, 24 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Slickrock: A Rock Surface, A Town, and A Geological Unit

December 21, 2021

Tom_EPOD.SlickrockGlenCanyonDamLakePowell (003)

Tom_EPOD.SlickRockMember (002)


Photographer: Thomas McGuire

Summary Author: Thomas McGuire

The word slickrock has several meanings; all of them can be associated
with the American Southwest. Slickrock is a name applied to places
where the early settlers found it difficult to travel because of the
sandstone rock surfaces where horses and the metal-rimmed wheels
couldn’t get safe traction. But hikers and vehicles with rubber tires
find them anything but “slick. In fact, the slickrock area above Moab,
Utah, is world renowned for its challenging and sinuous,
roller-coaster mountain bike trails over the Navajo Formation
slickrock surface.

Slick Rock is also a community in southwestern Colorado. That
community has given its name to the lowest member of the Entrada
Sandstone formation.

The photo above shows the photographer looking out over slickrock
sandstone country, approximately 0.5 mile (0.8 km) west of the Glen
Canyon Dam, near Page, Arizona. The stratigraphic positions of the
photograph and of the Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone are
shown on the stratigraphic diagram (below), which gives the relative
ages of mapable geologic formations. These sandstone formations
resulted from geologic history’s greatest erg (sea of sand), created
during the Jurassic Period, some 200 million years ago.
* Glen Canyon (0.5 miles west), Arizona Coordinates: 36.932167,
-111.499872

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Geology Links

* Earthquakes
* Geologic Time
* Geomagnetism
* General Dictionary of Geology
* Mineral and Locality Database
* Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness
* This Dynamic Earth
* USGS
* USGS Ask a Geologist
* USGS/NPS Geologic Glossary
* USGS Volcano Hazards Program

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 2 weeks, 2 days, 20 hours, 43 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)