A comprehensive
MIT-led study of the potential for geothermal energy within the United States
has found that mining the huge amounts of heat that reside as stored thermal
energy in the Earth's hard rock crust could supply a substantial portion of the
electricity the United States will need in the future.
A study of private water wells in reclaimed surface-coal-mining areas of the northern and central Appalachians shows that traces of mining-related contaminants persist in some wells, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.
In mid-December, the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program drilled to a new record depth of more than 3,280 feet below the seafloor in Antarctica, making it the most successful Antarctic drilling program to date in terms of depth and rock core recovered.