Tulalip News

Petroglyphs the oldest in North America

Source: Associated Press

PYRAMID LAKE, Nev. — Ancient rock etchings along a dried-up lake bed in Nevada have been confirmed to be the oldest recorded petroglyphs in North America, dating back at least 10,000 years.

The petroglyphs found on limestone boulders near Pyramid Lake in northern Nevada’s high desert are similar in design to etchings found at a lake in Oregon that are believed to be at least 7,600 years old. Unlike later drawings that sometimes depict a spear or antelope, the carvings are abstract with tightly clustered geometric designs — some are diamond patterns, others have short parallel lines on top of a longer line.

Scientists can’t tell for sure who carved them, but they were found on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s reservation land.

“We initially thought people 12,000 or 10,000 years ago were primitive, but their artistic expressions and technological expertise associated with these paints a much different picture,” said Eugene Hattori, the curator of anthropology at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City who co-wrote a paper on the findings earlier this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science

The petroglyphs could be as much as 14,800 years old, said Larry Benson, a geochemist who used radiocarbon testing to date the etchings and was the lead author of the research paper.

Radiocarbon testing dated the carbonate layer underlying the petroglyphs to roughly 14,800 years ago. Geochemical data and sediment and rock samples from adjacent Pyramid Lake show they were exposed to air from 13,200 to 14,800 years ago, and again from 10,500 to 11,300 years ago.

“Whether they turn out to be as old as 14,800 years ago or as recent as 10,500 years ago, they are still the oldest petroglyphs that have been dated in North America,” said Benson, a former research scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey and current curator of anthropology at the University of Colorado Natural History Museum in Boulder.

Dennis Jenkins, an archaeologist with the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History, called it a significant discovery. He led recent excavations of obsidian spear points near Paisley, Ore., that he dated back 13,200 years, and noted that the bigger challenge is identifying who created the petroglyphs.

“When you get back into this time period, if you speak with Native Americans they will tell you they were made (created) there and that is obviously their people and their artwork,” Jenkins said. “But approaching it from a scientific point of view — what we can prove — at this point, it is impossible to connect these to any tribal group.”

William Cannon, a longtime archaeologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management who found the petroglyphs at Long Lake in Oregon, brought the Nevada site to Hattori’s attention years ago. He said they bore similarities to petroglyphs at nearby Winnemucca Lake, and Hattori began connecting the dots after Benson spotted the carbonate coating on the rocks.

The etchings in Nevada and Oregon have relatively deep, carved lines dominated by linear, curved and circular geometrical designs. Some feature “tree-form designs” with a series of evenly spaced, vertically oriented ‘V’ shapes bisected by a vertical line.

Researchers have suggested the etchings represent various meteorological symbols, such as clouds and lightning, perhaps the Milky Way.

“But we really have nothing to go on for these particular petroglyphs that go back 10,000 or more years,” Hattori said Wednesday.

Benson has no idea what they mean. “When I looked at it, I said, ‘These things are incredibly beautiful.’ We have so much beautiful, old Native American stuff in the United States, but this shows it didn’t necessarily get more interesting or more pretty with time,” he said.

See dazzling dahlias at Everett show

Sean Ryan / The HeraldBernie Wilson of Snohomish won the Stanley Johnson Medal, a national award, for his dahlia called Lakeview Glow. — Sean Ryan / The Herald
Bernie Wilson of Snohomish won the Stanley Johnson Medal, a national award, for his dahlia called Lakeview Glow.

Andrea Brown, The Herald

If fireworks were flowers they’d be dahlias.

The big bursts of color light up a garden like a July 4th celebration.

And they stay lit until the first frost.

Dahlias are colossal flowers. Some are the size of pumpkins

Growers will show off their blooms at this weekend’s Snohomish County Dahlia Show in Everett. It is the club’s 104th consecutive year to have a show.

“We’ve had as many as 2,200 or 2,300 blooms,” said Hills Collins, show spokesman.

The judging is done before the doors open to the public.

“We have a head table with all the different winners,” Collins said. “The head table is judged to pick the best flower in the show. All different types are judged against each other, and one bloom is picked.”

Club members will be on hand to answer questions and talk about their blooms.

Longtime member Bernie Wilson, 68, a retired Snohomish firefighter, won the prestigious national Stanley Johnson Medal in 2012 for Lakeview Glow, an incurved cactus dahlia he originated.

The lake part is named after Blackmans Lake that is the backdrop to his 5-acre Snohomish property.

“The ‘glow’ came from if you stand up there by the house and look over the garden down it kind of glows up from all the rest of them,” he said.

His yard is aglow with about 100 varieties of dahlias.

“It’s just a fun hobby. It’s a challenge to show them. I enjoy being outside and in the garden, so it kind of comes natural,” he said.

He started growing dahlias in the 1970s after a neighbor gave him a tuber. Dahlia plants grow from tubers planted in the ground like potatoes.

From the ugly duckling roots come gorgeous blooms.

On show days, Wilson takes the best blooms he cuts to competitions and leaves the rest out for his neighbors to fill their vases. “Saturday morning they’re on the carport. And anybody who wants them can come get them,” he said.

Allison Richards also likes to spread the dahlia love around, in various forms.

“I give people at my work a bunch of tubers, and they just go nuts,” said Richards, 42, IT and general services manager at Maple Systems.

She started out growing a few dahlias and now has about 60 to 70 varieties and 200 plants.

“I threw myself into it; let’s put it that way,” she said. “I tie it in with my photography hobby. I put together a dahlia calendar for family and friends. The colors are so vibrant. There are so many different varieties and shapes and sizes.”

Dahlias are her tonic.

“I work with computers. Things break. Things don’t always go the way they should,” she said.

“I go home and go out there and there’re pretty flowers.”

See the show

The Snohomish County Dahlia Show is from 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, at Floral Hall at Forest Park, 802 Mukilteo Blvd., Everett.

Cost: Free.

For more information, visit www.scdahlias.org or call 360-659-8687.

Snohomish County Dahlia Society meetings are 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month at Legion Park Hall, 145 Alverson Blvd., in Everett. The club has a tuber sale in April.

Caring for dahlias

In summer:

Remove old or spent flowers.
Water deeply every four or five days during the summer heat.
As the blooms develop, fertilize with a low or no nitrogen fertilizer, such as one labeled 0-20-20, to encourage flower and tuber development.
Control for slugs, snails and other pests.
Remove two side buds at each budding tip to encourage better blooms.

Digging dahlias:

Enjoy the flowers until the first frost kills the foliage.
If you have good drainage, leave the tubers in the ground, cut off any dead foliage, and cover with 3 to 4 inches of mulch. Clumps should be divided every third year for bigger, better flowers and stronger stems.
If you choose to dig the tubers, cut off the stalks to 3 or 4 inches above the ground and leave in the ground for a week or two to allow eyes to set before digging. Begin cutting down and digging by November even if no killing frost has taken place.
Dig around each tuber clump with a shovel or garden fork and lift gently. Hose off the dirt from the tuber, clip off the feeder roots with garden scissors and let dry overnight.

Dividing and storing:

Divide clumps in half by splitting with pruning shears.
Cut off tubers using hand pruners, garden scissors and a sharp knife. Wear protective gloves. Each tuber should have an eye you can see. The tuber eyes are located at the swell of the crown near the stem.
Soak tubers in a solution of 1 cup of bleach and 3 gallons of water for 15 or 20 minutes to kill bacteria. Allow tubers to dry several days on newspaper in a cool, dark place.
Label the tubers before storing with a permanent marker or no-blot pencil. If you don’t know the name, just list the flower color.
Store cut tubers in plastic bags with a few handfuls of vermiculite, wood shavings or potting soil. Another method is rolling tubers in a long strip of plastic wrap, making sure each tuber isn’t touching the others.
Keep tubers in a dark, cool place that does not freeze. A crawl space, root cellar or old refrigerator are good locations.

Source: The Snohomish County Dahlia Society

Oklahoma Governor Caves; Now Ready to Extradite Baby Veronica’s Dad

Suzette Brewer, Indian Country Today Media Network, August 14, 2013

This morning, after a downtown Tulsa press conference in which Matt and Melanie Capobianco made an emotional plea for the return of Veronica Brown to them, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin reversed her position from yesterday and issued a threat to Oklahoma native Dusten Brown in signing an extradition warrant from South Carolina unless Brown “cooperated” with the Capobiancos.

Only yesterday, Fallin issued a statement to the Associated Press saying that she would not extradite Dusten Brown because “he has a right to his day in court.”

“What Fallin may not realize, or doesn’t care to realize is that Dusten Brown, prior to their latest round of playing the victim, had offered them shared custody every which way from Sunday—and they flat out rejected every single offer,” said an insider. “He offered them summers and holidays, they said no. He offered them the school year and he get the summers, they said no. And now here they are on our doorstep whining about cooperation when they have rejected every single offer behind the scenes. They wanted all or nothing, and he’s simply not going to do that. So here we are. It’s disgusting.”

‘Custodial Interference’: Dusten Brown Turns Himself In

Dusten Brown Released After Posting copy0K Bond

It is widely acknowledged that during her tenure she has lost a lot of political ground with Oklahoma’s Indian tribes, who are collectively one of the largest employers in the state with billions in annual revenues and thousands of jobs. They comprise the second largest tribal population in the country after California.

“Mary Fallin has failed to be a good partner to her tribal constituents and this is just more proof that she is weighing her national aspirations with selling out and armtwisting her own citizens to pander to a foreign jurisdiction,” said one tribal leader who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. “She’s trying to have it both ways, but this is the deal: Is she going to stand up and support the American Indian people of Oklahoma and allow Dusten Brown his day in court, or is she going to be subservient to another state and allow native people to continue to be pawns in a political and judicial system that is not a friend to Indian tribes? Today’s action is a politically calculated, 180-degree turn that will not go unnoticed when the next fundraising cycle comes around.”

Fallin’s office did not respond to requests for comment from Indian Country Today Media Network. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker also issued a statement voicing his continued support for the Brown family and their right to due process.

“The Capobiancos have requested the Cherokee Nation and Dusten Brown to follow the South Carolina court’s order, but they forget that Dusten Brown has the same rights to have his arguments heard before our Oklahoma courts and Cherokee Nation Tribal Court,” Cherokee Principal Chief Bill John Baker said in a statement issued after the press conference. “We respectfully ask the Capobiancos to allow that due process.”

Dakota oil could add risks to rail transport

Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON — Crude oil shipped by railroad from North Dakota is drawing fresh scrutiny from regulators concerned that the cargo is adding environmental and safety hazards, something that analysts say could raise costs.

The Federal Railroad Administration is investigating whether chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are corroding rail tank cars and increasing risks. Separately, three pipeline companies including Enbridge Inc. warned regulators that North Dakota oil with too much hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic and flammable, was reaching terminals and putting workers at risk.

Until last month, safety advocates’ chief worry was spills in derailments. After tank cars blew up July 6 on a train in Quebec, investigators in Canada are considering whether the composition of the crude, which normally doesn’t explode, may have played a role in the accident that killed 47 people. The oil was from North Dakota’s Bakken shale.

“Crude historically has not been considered in the highest category of hazmat,” said Anthony Hatch, an independent analyst in New York who has tracked railroad companies for almost three decades. “The risks have been considered to be environmental, not to humans. Perhaps Bakken crude should be considered in a higher category.”

The cost of added safety measures, such as tighter rail-car specifications that would make obsolete some current models, may become an issue if oil prices fall, according to Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based policy-analysis firm.

“The solution to rail safety issues looks like unanticipated costs, whether, it be rail car investments or new safety protocols,” Book said.

Such costs are less likely to slow production when is oil trading for $100 or more per barrel, Book said. “At $75 per barrel, it could be a big deal,” he said. Crude oil futures have traded higher than $100 a barrel since July, and are more than $90 a barrel since late April.

North Dakota is the nation’s second-biggest oil-producing state, with more than 790,000 barrels a day this year up from from about 150,000 barrels in 2008. Railroads move 75 percent of the state’s crude, including the load of more than 70 cars that derailed and exploded last month in Lac-Megantic, Quebec.

Canadian regulators are testing the composition of crude from the wrecked Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. freight train. A question they say they’re asking is why the derailment led to such an intense inferno, which regulators have called “abnormal.” They visited North Dakota as part of their review, said Chris Krepski, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

“We did take samples from the tank cars to get a better understanding of what was actually carried in them and verifying that against the shipping documents,” Krepski said. “It’s safe to say we’re looking at everything.

Montreal, Maine & Atlantic said last week it was forced to file for bankruptcy because of potential liability in the crash.

Much of North Dakota’s production relies on hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a technique in which millions of gallons of chemically treated water and sand are forced underground to shatter rock and free trapped oil. Highly corrosive hydrochloric acid is widely used to extract oil in the state, according to a 2011 report from the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

In a July 29 letter to the American Petroleum Institute, a Washington-based lobbying and standards-setting group for the oil and gas industry, the railway administration said it found increasing cases of damage to tanker cars’ interior surfaces. A possible cause is contamination of crude by materials used in fracking, according to the letter.

“If the hydrochloric acid is carried with the oil into rail cars, corrosion can be an issue,” said Andy Lipow, president of Houston-based Lipow Oil Associates.

Shippers need to know the properties of the oil to ensure that it’s transported in tankers equipped to handle the cargo, according to the rail agency’s letter. Because information provided to railroads on the properties of oil is not gathered from tests, the agency said it “can only speculate” as to the number of cars in violation of hazardous-materials regulations.

Investigating whether the chemical composition of Bakken oil makes it more likely to corrode tank cars is reasonable, said Peter Goelz, a former National Transportation Safety Board managing director who’s now a senior vice president with O’Neill and Associates in Washington.

The Quebec accident also revived a debate over the type of cars used to haul oil. For years, regulators and watchdogs have sought improvements to a common car design shown to be susceptible to rupture when derailed. The NTSB estimates that 69 percent of today’s rail tank-car fleet has “a high incidence of tank failure during accidents,” Chairman Deborah Hersman wrote last year. The agency recommendeds thicker shells and other modifications to strengthen the cars.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., this week called on U.S. regulators to phase out the older cars, known as DOT-111s, saying they’ve contributed to spills of hazardous materials.

“The DOT-111 tank car has proven particularly prone to spills, tears and fires in the event of a derailment, and it’s simply unacceptable for New York’s communities along the rail lines to face that risk when we know thicker, tougher cars could keep us safer,” Schumer said.

The rail industry is fighting a proposal to retrofit existing cars, saying it could cost as much as $1 billion.

Shippers also must account for hydrogen sulfide, a highly flammable toxic gas that at some wells is a byproduct of oil, to properly classify oil for transport. The Bakken oil field generally produces lighter oil with little or no hydrogen sulfide, though at times, crudes with different grades are mixed for shipping, said John Harju, associate director for research at the University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center, and co-author of the Society of Petroleum Engineers report on the Bakken reservoir.

“You see little blender facilities popping up all over the place along pipelines and rails,” Harju said.

In June, Enbridge won an emergency order to reject oil with high hydrogen-sulfide levels from its system after telling the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it found dangerous levels of the compound at a rail terminal in Berthold, N.D. In addition to being highly flammable, hydrogen sulfide in the air is an irritant and a chemical asphyxiant that can alter both oxygen utilization and the central nervous system, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“We did discover that some of the crude coming into the system had much higher levels of hydrogen sulfide than we felt was safe for our employees,” said Katie Haarsager, an Enbridge spokeswoman. “Some blending may not have been up to levels in the past.”

Enbridge won FERC’s permission to refuse delivery of any oil with hydrogen sulfide that exceeded 5 parts per million, half the minimum exposure recommended by federal regulators. In a May 5 test, Calgary-based Enbridge, which owns and operates a 970-mile pipeline from Plentywood, Montana, to Clearbrook, Minn., found levels as high as 1,200 parts per million at its Berthold terminal “that could cause death, or serious injuries,” according to the company’s FERC filing.

Two other pipeline operators, Tesoro Corp. and the closely held True companies, which operates the Belle Fourche and Bridger pipelines in North Dakota, also found high levels of hydrogen sulfide in crude shipments. The FERC approved Tesoro’s request to reject oil with hydrogen sulfide at more than 5 parts per million effective Jan. 1. True companies was allowed to turn away crude with more than 10 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide effective April 1

True, based in Casper, Wyo., sent a notice to its Belle Fourche and Bridger customers in January warning that high levels of hydrogen sulfide “materially affected the common stream and created safety hazards at certain delivery locations.

North Dakota regulators say hydrogen sulfide is prevalent in oil wells in some areas and field inspectors are required to carry hydrogen-sulfide monitors.

“The fact that there were explosions, and crude oil is not supposed to explode, raises a lot of suspicions as to whether there were other chemicals and so on added to oil in the process before the shipment,” said Edward Burkhardt, chief executive officer of Rail World Inc., which owns the Montreal and Maine railway.

While derailments of trains hauling crude can create environmental messes, oil doesn’t usually ignite unless exposed to extreme heat, said Lloyd Burton, professor of environmental policy at the University of Colorado in Denver. Gasoline, refined from crude oil, is more more volatile.

“Crude oil doesn’t usually explode and burn with the ferocity that this train did,” Burton said.

Celebrating Two Years of Accomplishments

Tulalip Hibulb Cultural Center is celebrating two years of sharing Coast Salish culture and highlighting the stories, people, art and history of Tulalip.

Saturday, August 17, 10 am to 5pm. Included in the activities are carving, beading and flute music demonstrations, storytelling, craft activities, a salmon lunch and a special performance by the Tulalip Lushootseed Language Camp students.

For directions and more information visit HibulbCulturalCenter.org or call 360.716.2600

6410 23rd Avenue NE, Tulalip WA 98271

Get Ready For Back to School

Marysville School District

School offices will open to serve families the third week in August. Call 360-653-7058 for information.

All Day Kindergarten News

Thanks to increased funding from the legislature, the Marysville School District is able to offer all day kindergarten classes to students who attend the following schools: Quil Ceda/Tulalip, Liberty, Shoultes and Marshall.

We will continue to offer tuition-based all day kindergarten at the following schools: Allen Creek, Grove, Kellogg Marsh, Pinewood and Sunnyside.

We are thankful for this increase in funding for targeted schools and look forward to the day that the state will fund all day kindergarten at all of our schools!

If you have questions, please call 360-653-0818 or your local elementary school office after they officially open on August 20 at 9:00 am. Here’s to a great 2013-2014 school year!

Are you ready? The start of school is just around the corner! Here are some important things to know:

The first day of school is Wednesday, September 4th
Schools will be open to serve families by Tuesday, August 20
Bus schedules will be mailed out to all families mid- August in the annual Back to School Guide – watch for the guide in your mail!
A “general” school supply list is available HERE to get the year started. Schools may have their own lists that will be available when schools open on the 19th and / or posted on their school web page
If you are new to Marysville, registration forms are available online, or at your child’s neighborhood school for grades K – 8 (after August 19). Grades 9 – 12 register at the District Office, located at 4220 80th Street NE, Marysville, or call Tami Wilson at 360-653-0871. For more information about schools in Marysville, call 360-653-7058.
Remember to Register to Vote!

State reminding people to cook shellfish after increase in illnesses

Published: August 14, 2013

By KIE RELYEA — THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Three people in Whatcom County have become sickened by saltwater bacteria after eating undercooked or raw crab and oysters – part of a statewide surge totaling 44 probable or confirmed cases of the intestinal illness.

The number of cases of people sickened by vibrio bacteria is about twice what it was for this time last year; about 40 to 80 cases are reported annually.

“We seem to be in an active season,” said Rick Porso of the state Department of Health’s Office of Shellfish and Water Protection.

Most cases occur during summer.

The worst outbreak in recent years was in 2006, when Washington had 80 lab-confirmed vibrio cases, with 36 of them in King County, according to the King County Health Department.

Of the 44 confirmed or probable cases so far this year, King County has 21.

To avoid being sickened, health officials recommend cooking all shellfish during the summer to kill the bacteria.

“It is completely preventable with cooking, so that’s what we urge people to do this time of year,” Porso said.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the bacterium that causes the illness, occurs naturally in marine coastal waters.

In low numbers, vibrio doesn’t sicken people. But when water temperatures rise, the bacteria multiply rapidly – raising the risk of vibriosis illness among people who eat raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters.

Public health officials believe the warm summer and daytime low tides contributed to the recent illnesses, and expect more to occur in the coming weeks because current conditions are likely to continue.

Vibriosis causes flu-like symptoms that can include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Symptoms usually appear 12 to 24 hours after eating infected shellfish.

The illness is usually mild to moderate and lasts two to five days, but it can be life-threatening to people with weak immune systems or chronic liver disease. People who take antacids also can become very sick.

The three cases reported in Whatcom County were from recreational harvesters who fell ill after eating oysters and crab.

Here’s what people should do to kill the bacteria and avoid becoming sick:

– Cook shellfish to an internal temperature of 145 degrees for at least 15 seconds.

– Recreational harvesters should take extra precautions when gathering oysters during the summer, including putting them on ice or refrigerating them as soon as possible after collecting them.

– Harvest as soon as the tide recedes, avoiding oysters that may have been exposed for unknown periods of time.

– Don’t rinse cooked oysters with seawater.

– Before gathering shellfish, recreational harvesters should check safety information by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-800-562-5632.

The Department of Health has been sending notices to shellfish growers recommending extra precautions during low mid-day tides and warm weather.

Officials close a growing area when vibrio levels are high or when four or more people who eat shellfish from there are sickened within 30 days. As a result, Hammersley Inlet and several parts of Hood Canal, including Dabob Bay and Quilcene Bay, are closed because of high vibrio levels, while Oakland Bay and Totten Inlet growing areas are closed because of recent illnesses.

Reach KIE RELYEA at kie.relyea@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2234.

Schack honors Tulalip artist

Source: The Herald

Tulalip artist James Madison is known for putting contemporary twists on traditional Salish and Tlingit Northwest Native Art.

For instance, Madison will create an aluminum sculpture depicting salmon in a fish ladder that represents the life of the Snohomish people, one of the Tulalip tribes.

Madison puts that modern twist on tradition in his upcoming exhibit, “Generations,” at the Schack.

That exhibit will show Madison’s commitment to sharing traditional native art using a contemporary approach and it also honors Madison as the Schack’s pick for 2013 Artist of the Year.

In a prepared statement, Madison said that he strives to “create art with an open mind in the sense that I am always thinking of new ways to add a modern twist to a traditional piece. This allows for me to help keep my culture alive. As we move into the future, so does the teachings of my ancestors.”

Madison was surrounded by art and the culture of the Tulalip Tribes as a child. At the age of 8, Madison learned how to carve at his grandfather’s kitchen table. Madison’s father, an abstract painter, encouraged Madison to try sculpting. And his uncle, a teacher, shared stories of American Indian culture.

Madison said these influences led to his intense interest in art and his native heritage.

Madison’s work can be seen beyond the Schack.

He is best known for large-scale pieces, including a 24-foot story pole, at the Tulalip Resort and Casino. He has pieces displayed at many of Washington’s state parks, as well as museums and galleries in New York, Alaska and Canada.

“Generations” opens with a catered reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 15 and is on view through Sept. 21 at Schack Art Center Main Gallery, 2921 Hoyt Ave., Everett. For more information, go to schack.org or call 425-259-5050.

What’s in crude oil — and how do we use it?

By Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg, Grist

The petroleum we pump out of the ground turns into a range of useful things: fuel for all forms of transportation, a key ingredient in plastics, and more. Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic’s senior technology editor, takes a look at the chemistry of crude oil in the two-minute video above, explaining the process of distilling one barrel, gallon by gallon. Animated by Lindsey Testolin, this clip is part of a six-part video series in The User’s Guide to Energy special report. If this short overview leaves you wanting to know more, check out Kyle Thetford’s more detailed look at the process.

This story first appeared on The Atlantic as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg is the executive producer for video at The Atlantic.

Ice Melt on Steroids: Greenland’s Ice Sheet Being Cooked From Above and Below

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Is Mother Earth melting from the inside out?

A new study has brought to light yet another factor that must be added into the complex set of data that is chronicling the melting of the Arctic: The Earth’s molten core may be heating things up from below.

In a paper published on August 11 in the online journal Nature Geosciences, scientists working on an international research initiative called IceGeoHeat at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany, said they had found a distinct difference in the melt depending on the thickness of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. Together those two elements form the lithosphere, and in some places on Greenland this has proven to be exceptionally thin, the researchers found. And the thinner the lithosphere, the greater the melt right above it.

“The temperature at the base of the ice, and therefore the current dynamics of the Greenland ice sheet is the result of the interaction between the heat flow from the earth’s interior and the temperature changes associated with glacial cycles,” said study co-author Irina Rogozhina, who initiated IceGeoHeat, in a statement from the research center. “We found areas where the ice melts at the base next to other areas where the base is extremely cold.”

Previous models have assumed that the Greenland ice sheet, which loses 227 gigatonnes of ice annually—contributing 0.7 millimeters to the average 3-mm-per-year sea level change that has been observed worldwide—was melting solely because of air and water temperatures, as well as other surface phenomena, the center’s statement said. The lithosphere was thought to play a minimal role, if any. The new research disputes that notion, the scientists said.

“We have run the model over a simulated period of three million years, and taken into account measurements from ice cores and independent magnetic and seismic data,” said Alexey Petrunin, another lead researcher, in the statement. “Our model calculations are in good agreement with the measurements. Both the thickness of the ice sheet as well as the temperature at its base are depicted very accurately.”

It is just one more factor to be added in when analyzing climate, said the research center, Germany’s main Earth science institute, which studies “the history of the Earth and its characteristics, as well as the processes which occur on its surface and within is interior,” according to its website.

“This effect cannot be neglected when modeling the ice sheet as part of a climate study,” the institute said. “The current climate is influenced by processes that go far back into the history of Earth: The Greenland lithosphere is 2.8 to 1.7 billion years old and is only about 70 to 80 kilometers thick under Central Greenland. It remains to be explored why it is so exceptionally thin. It turns out, however, that the coupling of models of ice dynamics with thermo-mechanical models of the solid earth allows a more accurate view of the processes that are melting the Greenland ice.”