SCIENCE NEWS: California’s mercury legacy; Seasonal rain and snow trigger small earthquakes on California faults; Why the world’s rivers are losing sediment – and why it matters; and more …

In science news this week: Reclaiming the Sierra: California’s mercury legacy; Seasonal rain and snow trigger small earthquakes on California faults; Why the world’s rivers are losing sediment – and why it matters; Billion-dollar dams are making water shortages, not solving them; Dryland cropping systems research addresses future hunger and drought issues; and Eyes on Nature: How satellite imagery is transforming conservation science Reclaiming the Sierra: California’s mercury legacy: “Mercury has left a significant imprint on California’s environment as a result of historical mining.
An estimated 26 million pounds of mercury was used to extract gold from rock deposits in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and up to one third of that may have been lost to the environment.
… ” Read more from the FishBio blog here: Reclaiming the Sierra: California’s mercury legacy Seasonal rain and snow trigger small earthquakes on California faults: “California’s winter rains and snow depress the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges, which then rebound during the summer, changing the stress on the state’s earthquake faults and causing seasonal upticks in small quakes, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley seismologists.
This loading and the summer rebound — the rise of the land after all the snow has melted and much of the water has flowed downhill — makes the earth’s crust flex, pushing and pulling on the state’s faults, including its largest, the San Andreas.
… ” Continue reading at Science Daily here: Seasonal rain and snow trigger small earthquakes on California faults Why the world’s rivers are losing sediment – and why it matters: “In September 2011, after 20 years of planning, workers began dismantling the Elwha and Glines dams on the Elwha River in northwestern Washington state.
… ” Read more from Yale 360 here: Why the world’s rivers are losing sediment – and why it matters Billion-dollar dams are making water shortages, not solving them: “Dams are supposed to collect water from rivers and redistribute it to alleviate water shortages, right?
… ” Read more from Science Daily here: Dryland cropping systems research addresses future hunger and drought issues Eyes on Nature: How satellite imagery is transforming conservation science: “As recently as the 1980s, gray seals were effectively extinct on Cape Cod.
… ” Read more from Yale 360 here: Eyes on Nature: How satellite imagery is transforming conservation science Maven’s XKCD Comic Pick of the Week … Sign up for daily email service and you’ll never miss a post!
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About Science News and Reports: This weekly feature, posted every Thursday, is a collection of the latest scientific research and reports with a focus on relevant issues to the Delta and to California water, although other issues such as climate change are sometimes included.

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