PACIFIC OCEAN
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Video depicts deepest volcano ever seen
A plume of sulfur and molten lava erupts from the West Mata Volcano nearly 4,000 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean, south of Samoa in this May 7 image made public Thursday. (Nsf And Noaa Via Associated Press)
Scientists have recorded the deepest erupting undersea volcano ever seen, capturing for the first time video of fiery molten lava bubbles exploding 4,000 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean.
A submersible robot witnessed the eruption in May during an underwater expedition near Samoa, and the high-definition videos were presented Thursday at a geophysics conference in San Francisco.
Scientists hope the images, data and samples obtained during the mission will shed new light on how the Earth’s crust was formed. The research could also help explain how some sea creatures survive and thrive in extreme environments and how the Earth behaves when tectonic plates collide.
“It was an underwater Fourth of July,” Bob Embley, a marine geologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a news release. “Since the water pressure at that depth suppresses the violence of the volcano’s explosions, we could get the underwater robot within feet of the active eruption.”
The eruption was a spectacular sight: Bright-red lava bubbles shot out of the volcano, releasing a smoke-like cloud of sulfur. The lava froze almost instantly as it hit the cold seawater, causing black rock to sink to the sea floor. The submersible hovered near the blasts, its robotic arm reaching into the lava to collect samples.
The mission to record a deep-sea volcanic eruption was 25 years in the making. Although 80 percent of the Earth’s volcanic activity occurs in the sea, scientists from NOAA and the National Science Foundation had never witnessed an eruption this deep and in this detail.
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– Associated Press
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OHIO
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Felon Traficant says he may run for House
Former congressman James Traficant, who was recently released from prison after serving seven years for corruption, said Thursday that he is “proud of being an ex-con” and may try to return to Congress.
Traficant, a Democrat who was elected to nine terms from Youngstown before he was kicked out of the House, said he will circulate nominating petitions in three House districts. He didn’t specify which, but the three districts closest to his home town are all held by Democrats.
He deflected a question on whether he would run next year as a Democrat, Republican or independent, saying that would be decided in time.
Traficant, in a wide-ranging news conference in Youngstown, displayed his typical freewheeling style, alleging prosecutorial misconduct in his case, criticizing Ohio for omitting Youngstown from a November ballot issue that approved casinos in four bigger cities, and denouncing an old nemesis, the Internal Revenue Service.
He was released in September after serving time for racketeering, bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion.
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– Associated Press
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GAO
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ACORN faces audit of federal funding
Government auditors will investigate the use of federal funding by the Association of Community Groups for Reform Now, the embattled community-organizing group that conservatives have long accused of illegal activities.
The Government Accountability Office informed Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) of the investigation earlier this month, and the lawmakers publicly announced the GAO’s plans on Thursday. Smith is the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, while Issa leads the GOP on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Though the watchdog agency’s investigation is likely to provide a solid accounting of ACORN’s spending of federal funds, the auditors lack any enforcement powers. Smith also wants the FBI to investigate ACORN and add law enforcement muscle to the GAO’s efforts.
Lawmakers voted to end the group’s federal funding this fall after an undercover operation by two conservative activists produced video of ACORN employees giving advice on how to avoid paying taxes on a brothel. But a federal judge ruled the vote unconstitutional last week, saying the House issued a “bill of attainder,” or legislative singling out of a specific group.
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UTAH
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Energy Dept. reaches nuclear waste deal
The Energy Department said is has struck a deal with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert that would prohibit thousands of drums of low-level radioactive waste from South Carolina from being permanently buried in Utah until stricter state guidelines are put in place.
Department spokeswoman Jen Stutsman said the agreement was reached Thursday, two days after Herbert called on the department to stop a train loaded with depleted uranium from leaving the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.
State regulators say they need more time to determine whether depleted uranium can safely be disposed of at EnergySolutions’ site about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. Depleted uranium is different from other waste disposed there because it becomes more radioactive over time, for up to 1 million years.
The first train, carrying more than 4,000 55-gallon drums of waste, won’t be stopped or turned around, Stutsman said. But the department agreed to place its waste in temporary storage once it arrives in Utah, rather than permanently disposing of it.
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– Associated Press
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