Electraesalopsis beuteli: A new species of Stag Beetle from Cretaceous Burmese Amber.

Stag Beetles, Lucanidae, are highly specialised Scarab Beetles distinguished by the large 'antlers' (actually highly modified mandibles) of the males. These antlers are used in fights between the males, in which they try to force one another from favourable spots for attracting females (typically high points on sticks or similar). About 1300 extant species of Stag Beetles are known, split into four subfamilies, plus about 25 fossil species, the oldest of which comes from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou deposits of Inner Mongolia. ome of these fossil species are placed in modern subfamilies, and others into three additional extinct subfamilies.

In a paper published in the journal Zoological Systematics on 21 July 2017, Tengfei Qiu of the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application at Hebei University and the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuanyuan Lu, also of the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Weiwei Zhang, of the Three Gorges Entomological Museum, Shuo Wang, again of the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuxia Yang, also of the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application at Hebei University, and Ming Bai, once again of the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describe a new species of Stag Beetle from Cretaceous Burmese Amber.

The new species is named Electraesalopsis beuteli, where 'Electra' is Latin for 'amber', 'aesalopsis' means 'similar to Aesalus' (a modern genus of Stag Beetles), and 'beuteli' honours Rolf Beutel of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, for his contributions to entomology.The species is described from a single specimen from a piece of amber from a mine at Noije Bum, near Tanai Village in the Hukawng Valley of  Kachin State in northern Myanmar, dated as 98.8 million years old by uranium-lead dating of zircons from volcanic ash in the matrix from which the amber is extracted. The specimen is oval, 5.6 mm in length and reddish brown in colour. It lacks the large antlers typical of male Stag Beetles, but cannot be confidently described as male as some species of Stag Beetle lack these antlers, and this is the only specimen of this species known.

Electraesalopsis beuteli, complete view of the amber piece. Scale bar is 5.0mm. Qiu et al. (2017).

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Summer storm injures ten in Istanbul.

Ten people have been injured following a severe thunderstorm in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday 27 July 2017. The storm only lasted about 20 minutes, but brought with it winds gusting at up to 98 kilometres per hour, 22 mm of rain (the city typically receives about 34 mm of rain in the entire of July) and hail stones described as 'the size of golf balls'. The storm is reported to have uprooted about 230 trees, damaged the roofs of about 90 buildings and started a number of fires, mostly due to lightning strikes, though the worst of which was due to a crane collapsing at Haydarpasa Port.

Damage to a mosque in Istanbul following a storm on 27 July 2017. Anadolu Agency.

Storm systems form due to heating of air over the sea. As the air is heated the the air pressure drops and the air rises, causing new air to rush in from outside the forming storm zone. If this zone is sufficiently large, then it will be influenced by the Coriolis Effect, which loosely speaking means the winds closer to the equator will be faster than those further away, causing the storm to rotate, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere. Such storms can carry large amounts of water, evaporated from the surface of the sea by the warmth of the Sun, which can then be released abruptly as rain or hail when the moist air encounters cooler conditions over land (the amount of water the air can hold relates directly to its temperature).

Hailstones that fell on Instanbul during a storm on 27 July 2017. Anadolu Agency.

Thunderstorms occur when warm, moist bodies of air encounter cooler, drier air packages. The warm air rises over the cooler air until it rises above its dew point (the point where it cools to far to retain its water content as vapour), and the water precipitates out, falling as rain, sleet or hail. Warm moist air passing over the surface of the Earth acts as an electrical generator, creating a negative charge in the cloud tops and a positive charge at the ground (or occasionally in a second cloud layer). The atmosphere acts as an electrical insulator, allowing this potential to build up, until water begins to precipitate out. This allows a channel of ionised air to form, carrying a current between the clouds and the ground, which we perceive as lightning.

 Flooding during following a storm in Istanbul on 27 July 2017. Bulent Kilic/Getty Images.

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Asteroid 2017 MB1 passes the Earth.

Asteroid 2017 MB1 passed by the Earth at a distance of about 8 785 000 km (22.8 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, or 5.87% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun), slightly before 8.45 am GMT on Saturday 22 July 2017. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, though were it to do so it would have presented a considerable threat. 2017 MB1 has an estimated equivalent diameter of 330-1000 m (i.e. it is estimated that a spherical object with the same volume would be 330-1000 m in diameter), and an object of this size would be predicted to be capable of passing through the Earth's atmosphere relatively intact, impacting the ground directly with an explosion that would be 200 000-2 750 000 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. Such an impact would result in an impact crater 5-15 km in diameter and devastation on a global scale, as well as climatic effects that would last decades or even centuries.

The calculated orbit of 2017 MB1. Minor Planet Center.

2017 MB1 was discovered on 19 June 2017 (34 days before its closest approach to the Earth) by the University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Survey at the Steward Observatory on Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation 2017 MB1 implies that the asteroid was the 27th object (object B1) discovered in the second half of June 2017 (period 2017 M).

2017 MB1 has a 1334 day orbital period and an eccentric orbit tilted at an angle of 8.51° to the plane of the Solar System, which takes it from 0.59 AU from the Sun (i.e. 59% of he average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, somewhat less the distance at which the planet Venus orbits the Sun) to 4.16 AU from the Sun (i.e. 416% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, and almost three times as distant from the Sun as the planet Mars). It is therefore classed as an Apollo Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than the Earth, but which does get closer). This means that close encounters between the asteroid and Earth are extremely common, with the last having occurred in July 2016 and the next predicted in February 2025. As an asteroid probably larger than 150 m in diameter that occasionally comes within 0.05 AU of the Earth, 2017 MB1 is also classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid.

2017 MB1 also has frequent close encounters with the planets Venus, which it is thought to have last passed in August 1951, and is next predicted to pass in January 2025, Mars which it last came close to in August 1955 and is next predicted to pass in April 2025), and Jupiter, which it last came close to in December 1993, and is next predicted to approach in July 2041. Asteroids which make close passes to multiple planets are considered to be in unstable orbits, and are often eventually knocked out of these orbits by these encounters, either being knocked onto a new, more stable orbit, dropped into the Sun, knocked out of the Solar System or occasionally colliding with a planet.

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Fluminicola umpquaensis & Fluminicola fresti: Two new species of Pebblesnail from Oregon.

Pebblesnails, Fluminicola spp., are small globose to conical freshwater Snails found in the watersheds of western North America from California to British Colombia. The Snails inhabit a range of habitats from small seeps and springs to large rivers and lakes, with the group thought to contain many species, each with a limited range and specific habitat requirements. Despite this, only twenty-five species have been described to date, fourteen of which come from the Sacramento River Basin and six from the Columbia River Basin, with many other known populations that have historically been grouped into a small number of widespread populations, something which is now believed to be erroneous. Many populations of Pebblesnails are thought to be at risk due to Human activities, and gaining a proper understanding of their taxonomy is crucial before any legal protection for these species can be gained.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 8 June 2017, Robert Hershler of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian Institution, and Hsiu-Ping Liu and Niko Hubbart of the Department of Biology at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, describe two new species of Pebblesnails from the Umpqua and Rogue River Basins in Oregon.

Hershler et al. carried out gene sequencing and morphometric analysis of 161 Pebblesnails from 35 sites in the Umpqua and Rogue River basins. From this they were able to detect three distinct clades of Pebblesnails. One of these was identified as a new population of Fluminicola multifarius, a species previously known from the Sacramento and McCloud river basins in California. The distribution of this species is now extended to include the southern part of the upper Rogue River Basin. This also raises the possibility that the species might be found in the Klamath River Basin, which lies between the Sacramento and Rogue basins, and where the species has not yet been recorded. The remaining two populations are described as new species. 

Shells, opercula and radula, Fluminicola multifarius from the Rogue River Basin in Oregon. (A) Shell. (B) Shell. (C) Shell. (D), (E) Opercula (outer, inner sides). (F) Portion of radular ribbon. (G) Central teeth. (H) Lateral teeth. Scale bars: (A)–(B) 1.0 mm; (D)–(E) 250 μm; (F), 100 μm; (G)–(H) 10 μm. Hershler et al. (2017).

The first new species is named Fluminicola fresti in honour of the late Terrence Frest, for his contributions to the study of malacology in the northwestern United States. This species was found in spring-fed environments in the upper parts of both river basins, to the north of Little Butte Creek. The species is small to medium sized for the genus, reaching 2.3 to 5.5 mm in height, with a trochoidal to ovate-conic shell, 3.5-4 whorls when fully grown and an ovate aperture. 

Shells, opercula and radula, Fluminicola fresti. (A) Holotype. (B), (C) Sympatric ovate-conic and trochiform shell morphs, respectively. (D) Shell. (E), (F) Opercula (outer, inner sides). (G) Portion of radular ribbon. (H) Central teeth. (I) Lateral teeth. Scale bars: (A)–(D) 1.0 mm; (E)–(F) 250 μm; (G) 100 μm; (H)–(I) 20 μm. Hershler et al. (2017).

The second new species is named Fluminicola umpquaensis, meaning ‘from Umpqua’, the species being widely distributed in the Umpqua River Basin but not known from elsewhere. The species is large for the genus, reaching 9.5 mm in height, with a conical and a spire that tends to erode, leaving it with somewhere over 3.5 whorls when mature. The species was found in springs, streams and rivers in the Umpqua Basin.

Shells, opercula and radula, Fluminicola umpquaensis. (A) Holotype. (B) Shell. (C) Shell. (D), (E) Opercula (outer, inner sides). (F) Portion of radular ribbon. (G) Central teeth. (H) Lateral teeth. Scale bars: (A)–(E), 1.0 mm; (F), 100 μm; (G)–(H), 10 μm. Hershler et al. (2017). 

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Mars reaches Solar Conjunction.

The planet Uranus will reached Solar Conjunction (i.e. be directly on the other side of the Sun from the Earth) on Thursday 27 July 2017. This means that it will both be at its furthest from the Earth this year, about 2.5 AU (2.5 times the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or about 374 000 000 km), and completely obscured by the Sun. 

The relative positions of Uranus, the Sun and Earth at Solar Conjunction. NASA.

Mars orbits the Sun at an average distance of 1.5 AU, completing one orbit around the Sun every 1.88 years. The planet is now home to numerous man-made instruments, all of which receive regular instructions from Earth. The two planets reach Solar Conjunction roughly once every two years, during which time all of these instruments are cut off from Earth for two weeks, with the majority simply being shut down.

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Flooding kills ten in West Bengal after water released from the Durgapur Barrage

Ten people are known to have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes after water was released from the Durgapur Barrage on Thursday 27 July 2017. The water was released to prevent stress to the dam, following a rise in water behind the dam, caused by heavy rainfall associated with the Asian summer monsoon. However the state's Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has suggested that the flood, and other similar floods following releases of water from other dams in India this week, has been caused not by unexpectedly high rainfall levels, but by an accumulation of silt behind the dam, leading to a reduced water retaining capacity, something which should be prevented by regular dredging of dam lakes.

Flooding in the town of Ghatal in West Midnapore district, West Bengal, on 27 July 2017. Hindustan Times.

Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. This situation is particularly intense in South Asia, due to the presence of the Himalayas. High mountain ranges tend to force winds hitting them upwards, which amplifies the South Asian Summer Monsoon, with higher winds leading to more upward air movement, thus drawing in further air from the sea. 

Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. Geosciences/University of Arizona.

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Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake in Antofagasta Province, Chile.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake at a depth of 75.7 km, 98 km to the southeast of the city of Antofagasta in the Chilean province of the same name, slightly after 6.10 am local time (slightly after 10.10 am GMT) on Wednesday 26 July 2017. There are no reports of any damage or injuries associated with this event, but people have reported feeling locally.

 

The approximate location of the 26 July 2017 Antofagasta Earthquake. USGS.

 

Chile is located on the west coast of South America, which is also the convergent margin between the Nazca and South American Plates. The Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the South American Plate and is sinking beneath the South American Plate. This is not a smooth process, the rocks of the two plates continuously stick together then, as the pressure builds up, break apart again, causing Earthquakes. As the Nazca Plate sinks deeper it is partially melted by the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of the melted material then rises up through the overlying South American Plate as magma, fuelling the volcanoes of the Chilean Andes.

 

 The subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate, and how it causes Earthquakes and volcanoes. Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center.

 

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

 

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