RealGeology -- an internet discussion maintained by the Editorial Staff of the American Journal of Science

This is an outreach effort by the editorial staff of the American Journal of Science (http://www.ajsonline.com) to create a space on the web for discussion among practicing earth scientists, graduate students and interested bystanders. The associate editors will use this space to highlight interesting papers in the literature, muse about trends in earth science, and invite informed comment. As the title suggests, RealGeology takes the well-known RealClimate blog as inspiration, but we do not aspire to focus overmuch on topics of contentious political debate. Rather, we hope to engender a lively scientific debate, and to post short essays by the AJS editors that hopefully offer a helpful perspective on developments in earth science. Some of the controversies in earth science certainly have impact on public affairs (carbon sequestration, anyone?) and we hope that RealGeology can offer some clarity on emerging developments.

As a nascent enterprise, the RealGeology blog will be moderated at first by Jeffrey Park, and probably will migrate to a more sophisticated management structure once the project gets traction.