of subduction and superplumes

Wordsmith.org

Sounds sexy, doesn't it? Nope...it's geology, folks! The AP reported today that a new study released in the current journal, Science, demonstrates how superplumes of magma rumble deep within in the earth. There is also mentioned a geologic plate movement called subduction. Both of these words caught my eye, especially subduction.

Here's an excerpt from the article that uses both words:

Researcher Barbara Romanowicz said earthquake studies until now have emphasized the dynamics of collisions between the planet's massive surface plates. When two of them crash together, one slips beneath the other in a process called subduction, and earthquakes and volcanoes can follow. "We think the superplumes play an important role as well," Romanowicz said.

And here's the article url:

http://www.newsday.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-superplumes0418apr18.story?coll=sns-ap-science-headlines

I was wondering what the board thought of both these words, and their potential for breaking out into general usage.

The geological theory is pretty interesting, too!

And, stales, report in any time you're ready!

The Only WO'N!

And if you find stales, please send him over to WW's thread "Coriolis Effect". I have a question there for him as well. Funny how we were writing about related items in different threads, Juan

Subduction is familiar to me, and I've got huge scars in my brain where the surface plates collided. Subduction in the brain causes a reduction in ability to process information. Dendrites disappear, and one is often reduced to reptilian thinking from the inward pressure on both the limbic system and brain stem. I think that's why the T-Rex footprint appeared in my dream the other night, certainly a consequence of subduction.

Now, superplumes are news here, and fascinating to consider. I think of drum majors in the brain with superplumes flaring from their hats. I also think about how Whoopie Goldberg was dressed for the Academy Awards...and, well, who wouldn't, D. H. Lawrence.

In the spirit of psychogeology,
DubDub

WO'N and wordwind

We done this one guys - under the auspices of Hot (Not G) Spots

http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=44410

I think "subduction" is a capital word and could be applied easily to a range of murky situations where titanic forces overwhelm and "push down" seemingly immovable persons or points of view.

"Superplumes" didn't get a mention per se in that post, but we went close when discussing the extinction of species elsewhere. The cataclysmic vulcanism (+/- asteroid impact) that some schools cite as causing the 9 major extinctions shown in the geological record was a result of superplume action. (Keiva - the book IS still on its way - I promise, just been slack)

stales

We had an earthquake here and I didn't even feel it ....

So. My question is: where are the fault lines and how come I didn't know there was one in NY?

reading about your subductions of the brain, Dubya, I am wondering -- have you considered trepanation?

there are enought doctors about, maybe we could do it as fun science project some time when we get together..

I understand there are lots of instructions and web sited devoted to home trepanation.. in some circles its more popular than high colonics!

AS'p - If you go to the following web page (your friendly local state museum), you can download a zipped map of the geological faults of NYS.

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/gis.html#state

I reckon the on-line version would've turned up if I looked a bit longer.

stales

Shucks!
Thanks, stales.

reading about your subductions of the brain, Dubya, I am wondering -- have you considered trepanation? - of troy

No! No! -of troy, don't commit trepanation on Dubya Dubya yet. For the moment, the current setting of her mind is generating fine-honed wit and sparkling humor.

Perhaps later?

but who knows? given a new pathway, she might have superplumes: knowledge, creativity, images, words, songs, and endless fountain..hidden deep, waiting only for an outlet..

isn't it like the deep structures, that give rise to diamonds? (just to tie back to the geologoly thread a bit..)

couldn't we just make a little hole and see? once we are past the skin, drilling into the cranium is resonable painless... let me go look up some instructions.. ..as i recall, you can use a variable speed drill or even a rotary tool. (have a squirt bottle handy, drilling can be hot work..)

EDITA quote and url to two trepanation sites. just type trepanation into Google..
A sketch of how traditional and modern societies have used entheogens and trepanation as a means to enhance ognitive functioning and improve health.
from:
http://www.trepanation.com/master1.htm

This weekend I had a hole drilled through my skull. (warning-- full color photo's included)
a quote from this site
http://www.bmezine.com/people/trepan/

n general, the entire earth's surface is criss-crossed by fault lines. Not all of them are detected unless they move - an earthquake. In 1990, the map of faultlines in the area of Wellington, New Zealand, looked orderly, two big faultlines and a few offshoots. Now you should see it - lines in all directions, all just waiting to suck you dooooooooown!

Not my area of speciality and I would defer to Stalesy. However, most Zilders are familiar with the mechanics of earthquakes and plate tectonics in general terms, and discuss them in much the same way as people in other countries discuss the weather.

Go ahead, Helen...drill away...but I'm promising you all you're gonna find is fool's gold and the appetitite of a hungry T. Rex Theresa Rex. Could be like opening Pandora's Box, come to think of it if I can still cogitate. Now where did I last see that lazy ol' pterydactyl sleepin' in a candleberry tree?

Brainless regards,
WWMM

Dear WO'N: I couldn't find anything on superplumes, but here is a good bit of information on basic earth science, plate tectonics, and subduction zones with diagrams:

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/phiggins/Lecture8.html

From Dr. Bill's link: Faults can be divided into two major categories: Strike-slip and Dip-slip, which describes the displacement of rock across the fault. There are also oblique-slip faults that are in-between strike-slip and dip-slip.

I know a few dip-slips myself! nobody on this board, just a joke in general, couldn't resist the wordplay

Thanks for the great link, Dr. Bill. Good illustrations.

And thanks for referring me back to that thread, stales. I missed that one (actually I missed all of October, and couldn't catch up with it all when I got back). Your first post there is a fine study of subduction.

superplumes

I guess this is the kind of word you can bequeath a variety of extended meanings to...which ones stick, and which go away?

The Only WO'N!

Oh my god Helen, I can't belive the guy did that to himself. What an idiot!

Did you read all the way to the end? He got kinda worried when he felt a squirt in the brain-hole when he was taking a bong hit. Kinda says a lot don't it.

I am in awe at this. I can't believe people do this to themselves. This isn't cosmetic, like piercing or tatooing. This can be a) fatal while the procedure is being done, b) fatal because of the risk of infection, c) eventually fatal if you hit that exposed spot ... and did I mention FATAL. Sheesh.

Yes, i know the site.. did you notice the date? over 2 years old. and some sites with instructions are older.

but you know, people have been doing it since the ancient times.. there are ancient egyptian skulls with healed trepantions scars, some with more than one..and they didn't have hardened steel bits to drill.. they used hand tools, and no sterile water, or sterile anything..

i just think trepantions is a fun word, and have, suggest to rude, dislikeable people, they should find a hobby--have they thought of trepantions?...

since most people aren't aware of what it is.. and it doesn't sound like anything else.. it's a good line.

home trepanation became popuar (if that is the word,) about 10 years ago.. even TV shows have commented on it. (ER had an episode, for sure)

In today's news:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two superplumes of molten rock appear to be powering through the boundary between the Earth's upper and lower mantle, perhaps feeding volcanoes and affecting movement of the planet's crust.
New evidence of the superplumes - located beneath the south central Pacific Ocean and southern Africa - comes from studies of seismic waves conducted by scientists at the University of California at Berkeley and reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Smaller regions of magma rising to the Earth's crust power volcanoes and other hot spots.

But the superplumes come from far deeper, crossing the boundary between the upper and lower mantle about 400 miles deep, an area that had been thought by some scientists to impede the flow of material.

Researcher Barbara Romanowicz said earthquake studies until now have emphasized the dynamics of collisions between the planet's massive surface plates. When two of them crash together, one slips beneath the other in a process called subduction, and earthquakes and volcanoes can follow. "We think the superplumes play an important role as well," Romanowicz said.

The study seeks to focus attention on the hot material rising upward from the base of the mantle - the partially molten region that extends about 1,740 miles from the Earth's core to its crust, or lithosphere.

"The hot material brought under the lithosphere by the superplumes then spreads out horizontally toward mid-ocean ridges," Romanowicz explained. The ridges are often active volcanic areas.