Critique of a science story that appeared in a British newspaper

Time Frame -½ hour

Materials
Copy of article by Nigel Hawkes from the London Times, Friday 28 May 99: "Lost continent gives up its secrets."

Procedure
Participants/students will critique the article provided. In particular, they should comment on its scientific merit, the accuracy of the facts contained therein, and its entertainment value.

Formative Assessment
The presenter/teacher will lead the discussion about the article

SummativeAssessment
Because LIPs may be up to 40 kilometers thick, scientific ocean drilling has literally only begun to scratch their surface. A deep hole is planned in the next millennium to penetrate up to 4 kilometers into the Ontong Java Plateau. Design a new drilling platform to achieve this goal. Discuss the technology required for drilling to, and logging at, such great depths. Japan will build a new drillship in 2003 for the purpose of drilling to very great depths beneath the seafloor.

Vista 8 also serves as a summative assessment for Vista 6.

Extensions
LIPs are the largest volcanic events in Earth history: Comparison between the eruptions of the Soufriere Hills (1998), Mt Vesuvius (AD 79) and Lakagigar (1783), the greatest volcanic event on Earth in the entire post-Glacial time. The intense episodic nature of the formation of LIPs resulted in the rapid release of large quantities of volatiles, such as CO₂, HCl and SO₂, which had an impact on past climate and life on the planet. How did this affect the composition of the oceans and atmosphere?

What catastrophic consequences did the Lakagigar eruption have on the people of Iceland? The Iceland Haze Famine.

The impact of LIP emplacement on past climate and life result may have been different, depending on other environmental factors. What were the two different outcomes of the formation of the Ontong Java and Kerguelen LIPs? The burst of submarine eruptions that created the Ontong Java Plateau about 122 million years ago coincided with increased biologic productivity, higher sea level, and a warmer climate than at present. In contrast, subaerial emplacement of the Kerguelen Plateau approximately 110 million years ago coincided with marine mass extinctions. Develop the concept of a “threshold” Earth environment. At times, Earth is robust and resistant to change, at others, vulnerable to change.

Radioactivity and geochronology

LIPs on other planets.