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POPSCapitan Reef Over millions of years, segments of the Capitan Reef were uplifted, and much of the sediment was eroded away from the more resistant limestone reef materials. The Guadalupe Mountains, stretching to the northeast from El Capitan in Texas to near Carlsbad, New Mexico, are one of these uplifted portions of the reef. The southern end of the range is included within Guadalupe Mountains National Park. As this uplift continued, groundwater that supported some of the material in many of the caverns drained away, and material collapsed to form large underground chambers, such as those in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Because the reef was built, in large part, through the accumulation of dead marine organisms that incorporated calcium carbonate into their structures, fossils are abundant in the reef deposits throughout the exposed portions of the Guadalupe Mountains.
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POPSMore facts on mud volcanoes In 2001, an eruption of a large underwater mud volcano off Baku created a new island, which is now almost one sq. km in size. Another volcano not far from Baku have erupted at least ten times since 1980, with flames reaching 300 m (1000') height.
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POPSHydrocarbons in Deep Earth “We were intrigued by previous experiments and theoretical predictions,” remarked Carnegie’s Alexander Goncharov a coauthor. “Experiments reported some years ago subjected methane to high pressures and temperatures and found that heavier hydrocarbons formed from methane under very similar pressure and temperature conditions. However, the molecules could not be identified and a distribution was likely. We overcame this problem with our improved laser-heating technique where we could cook larger volumes more uniformly. And we found that methane can be produced from ethane.”
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