#MINERALMONDAY: your weekly dose of minerals every* Monday (* excluding the last few months of Mondays…). A lot of bad things have happened since the start of the year, but perhaps the least important of these is the complete lack of minerals every Monday. Don’t worry, we are back, and what better way to start than with baksanite, Bi6Te2S3. Why baksanite? Well, for the sake of sounding ...[Read More]
Folds are among the most strikingly beautiful structures we can observe in rocks. There are several ways folds may form in rocks. For instance, folds in sedimentary rocks may develop by liquefaction of soft sediments, but the most common way to produce folds – and also my favorite – is by deformation. When rocks are compressed by tectonic forces, layers (or foliations) bend and warp, p ...[Read More]
Many scientific societies and similar organisations make awards on an annual or regular basis. It is one way of recognising a distinguished career, contribution to the community, etc., or providing a boost to the development of an Early Career Scientist. In the case of EGU, all awardees are expected to give a presentation of their work; it is a way of generating a stimulating programme at the Annu ...[Read More]
Through the eyes of a researcher studying mountain processes in the European Alps in the context of a global warming climate, let’s discover how geophysical methods help to better understand frozen ground! Permafrost defines a thermal state, i.e. permafrost is soil, sediment, or rock that remains at or below 0°C during at least two consecutive years. As permafrost is only defined by its temperatur ...[Read More]
The last few weeks have been filled with devastating news – harrowing stories about the police killing black people. Racial inequalities and discrimination go far beyond current events. In science in general, and in the geosciences in particular, little progress has been made regarding diversity over the past few decades. This is both the result of deep-seated institutional racism (sometimes refe ...[Read More]
Marine plastic is just one of the many challenges facing the future of our oceans. For many years researchers have been attempting to understand this problem, but it can be surprising to learn how many things are still unknown, even in oceans we may think of as being familiar. The Mediterranean Sea is one such place, where this photograph was taken by David Jones just off the coast of Malta. ...[Read More]
In today’s interview, we talk with Prof. Claire J. Horwell. Claire has been awarded the 2020 Plinius Medal for her outstanding interdisciplinary research on the respiratory health implications of inhaling volcanic emissions, and other particulates. my research focuses on protecting communities from exposures to potentially harmful airborne particulates Hi Claire, can you please briefly introduce ...[Read More]
In the last few years it has become a common practice to compensate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by planting trees. This idea is simple and rooted on a very basic principle: trees get the energy of sunlight, and by photosynthesis they take water from the ground and CO2 from the air, releasing oxygen in the atmosphere. The CO2 is then stored in trees and surrounding soil. Tree planting efforts ar ...[Read More]
Ocean acidification could be described as climate change’s evil twin, not that it needs one. The world’s oceans are partly absorbing the carbon dioxide we are pumping into the planet’s atmosphere, which then reacts with seawater and forms carbonic acid. This process decreases the pH of the oceans, making them more acidic. If you are a crab resident of the ocean, this is not good news. Norma ...[Read More]
Women make up 50.8% of the world’s population, yet fewer than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. Of this percentage, women of colour comprise around 5%, with less than 1% represented in geoscience faculty positions. Women are published less, paid less, and do not progress as far in their careers as men. Even within our EGU community, women account for only one third of all members, an ...[Read More]
