EGU Blogs

Cryospheric Sciences

Did you know? – Storms can make Arctic sea ice disappear even faster

Polona Itkin July 19, 2019

The increase in air and water temperature due to climate change drives the retreat in the Arctic sea-ice cover. During summer, when sunlight reaches the Arctic, the absorption of heat by the dark ocean water enhances the sea-ice melt through the ice-albedo feedback. During winter, when sunlight does not reach the Arctic, another feedback is at work, as storms enhance the energy transfer between ai ...[Read More]

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Geodynamics

The Sassy Scientist – Jekyll and Hyde

The Sassy Scientist July 19, 2019

Every week, The Sassy Scientist answers a question on geodynamics, related topics, academic life, the universe or anything in between with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Do you have a question for The Sassy Scientist? Submit your question here. Senna asks: I’m torn between mantle dynamics and lithosphere dynamics as a research topic. Which shall I choose? Dear Senna, Could you follow my little Jekyll ...[Read More]

GMPV

Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

Are mantle melts heterogeneous on a centimeter scale?

Mike Jollands July 18, 2019

The mantle makes up the majority of the volume of the Earth, but there is still a lot about it that we don’t understand. This is because we can’t observe it directly – forget ‘Journey to the center of the Earth’ – even our deepest drill holes (about 12 km deep) are merely tickling the surface of the planet (about 6400 km to the center). Most of what we know abou ...[Read More]

GeoLog

GeoTalk: Creative communication for science education – meet scientific artist Kelly Stanford

Olivia Trani July 17, 2019

GeoTalk interviews usually feature the work of early career researchers, but this month we deviate from the standard format to speak to Kelly Stanford, an artist based in Manchester, UK who focuses on creating works of art that embody scientific concepts in an accessible and aesthetically pleasing manner which can be used to communicate science to the public. Here we talk to her about her career p ...[Read More]

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Tectonics and Structural Geology

From Mountains to Modernists: the geological foundations and inspirations of Barcelona

Hanneke Heida July 17, 2019

Barcelona is a vibrant city on the Mediterranean coast, nested snugly between the sea and the Collserola Ridge of the Catalan Coastal ranges. The story of Barcelona starts around 2000 years ago as an Iberian settlement, owing to its strategic location on the coastal route connecting Iberia and Europe. The combination of easily defendable ground and the fertile soils of the Besos and Llobregat delt ...[Read More]

GD

Geodynamics

Let’s talk about plagiarism

Editorial Team 2 July 17, 2019

Hey you! Do you have 5 minutes to talk about plagiarism? Have you ever wondered if some parts of a thesis that you have supervised are simply a copy-paste from another thesis or article? This week, an anonymous guest author will tell us about their personal experience with plagiarism in science and what can be done against it. Granted, it is not the most fascinating topic. Until recently, I really ...[Read More]

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Hydrological Sciences

Talking hydrology: an interview with Hjalmar Laudon on hydrological research at the Krycklan catchment

EGU Guest blogger July 17, 2019

For our second post of “Talking hydrology”, we interviewed Hjalmar Laudon, professor and chair of forest landscape biogeochemistry at SLU Umeå (Sweden). We talked about past and current research in the Krycklan catchment and the usefulness of long-term datasets. 1) You have been conducting hydrological research at the Krycklan catchment (North of Sweden) since 2002. How did you keep yoursel ...[Read More]

GeoLog

Imaggeo on Mondays: The surprising beauty of the Arctic tundra

Alexandra Loginova July 15, 2019

Close your eyes and try to imagine first thing which comes to your mind, when somebody says “Tundra”. What would you imagine? Being a master student, I imagined cold, flat and a dead field. In fact, Tundra turn out to be completely different, at least in September 2010, when I and my colleagues were lucky to visit it. As it is well known from textbooks no big trees grows in Tundra, how ...[Read More]

GMPV

Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

#mineralmonday : lithiophilite

Mike Jollands July 15, 2019

What is it? Lithiophilite, LiMnPO4 What’s it made of? Lithium (Li), manganese (Mn), phosphorus (P) and oxygen (O). The PO4 at the end of the formula makes this a phosphate mineral (phosphorus + oxygen = phosphate). What’s it’s structure? The way the different atoms are arranged in lithiophilite is described as orthorhombic, which means the crystal is built of lots of tiny cuboid- ...[Read More]

GeoLog

Geosciences Column: How erupting African volcanoes impact the Amazon’s atmosphere

Olivia Trani July 12, 2019

When volcanoes erupt, they can release into the atmosphere a number of different gases initially stored in their magma, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide. These kinds of gases can have a big influence on Earth’s atmosphere, even at distances hundreds to thousands of kilometres away. A team of researchers have found evidence that sulfur emissions from volcanic eruptions i ...[Read More]