Secrets of planet earth.

[alokmohan]

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (July 9) - The small gray and black rocks stored in 3-foot-long clear plastic tubes at a Texas A&M University lab could be mistaken for the leftovers after a kitchen countertop installation.<br /><br /> <br /> <br />Paul Zoeller, AP<br />Jeff Fox, left, director of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, and staff scientist Neil Banerjee, look over part of the only intact section of oceanic crust ever recovered.<br /><br />More Coverage:<br />· Has Noah's Ark Been Found?<br />· Was Tomb for King Tut's Mom?<br /><br />Talk About It: Post Thoughts<br /> <br /> <br /><br />But the surprisingly heavy pebbles are much more significant. They're part of the only intact section of oceanic crust ever recovered, pulled from beneath the Pacific Ocean by geologists drilling more than a mile into the sea floor.<br /><br />Scientists hope this latest effort in the generations-old attempt to get closer to the center of the planet - achieved as part of the world's biggest earth science program - can help unlock some of earth's longest-held secrets.<br /><br />"I would say this is just like a voyage of discovery to the planet Mars, except this is inner space rather than outer space," said Neil Banerjee, staff scientist for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program at Texas A&M. "We're learning about the fundamental dynamics of how our planet works."<br /><br />Banerjee said the oceanic work adds to the knowledge about climate, earthquakes and of how mountains are built.<br /><br /> <br /> "The piece is the holy grail"<br />-Neil Banerjee, Texas A&M scientist <br /> <br />The pebbles, known as gabbros, were found in the crust below the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles west of Costa Rica. They were once red-hot magma boiling from deep within the earth that formed the sea floor when it contacted water 15 million years ago.<br /><br />"Consider 60 percent of the earth surface is made in this fashion," said Jeff Fox, director of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. "What's exc

 

[enigma10]

OMG! Where is page 2! Darn you! Darn you to h-llo!<br /><br /> <b>Big hint</b><br /><br /><i>*insert picture of a man in rags on a sandy beach holding his fist up a ruined form of the Statue of Liberty*</i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"<font color="#333399">An organism at war with itself is a doomed organism." - Carl Sagan</font></em> </div>

 

[3488]

Fascinating thread. I hope we learn much. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[alokmohan]

What?