EGU Blogs

Geodynamics

The jelly sandwich lithosphere: elastic bread, the jelly, and gummy bears

Iris van Zelst November 1, 2017

The Geodynamics 101 series serves to showcase the diversity of research topics and methods in the geodynamics community in an understandable manner. We welcome all researchers – PhD students to Professors – to introduce their area of expertise in a lighthearted, entertaining manner and touch upon some of the outstanding questions and problems related to their fields. This month Vojtěch Patočka fro ...[Read More]

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Solar-Terrestrial Sciences

Eyes on the Sun

Kamalam October 31, 2017

The Sun is a complex, dynamic ball of plasma which influences our lives. Studying the Sun is challenging because each of its layers have different composition, physics and wavelengths of emssion. Moving outwards from the photosphere (visible surface of the Sun), we have the chromosphere and the corona (hottest outermost layer). The solar plasma is in constant motion much like fiercely boiling wate ...[Read More]

GeoLog

Imaggeo on Mondays: Magnetic interaction

Laura Roberts-Artal October 30, 2017

Space weather is a ubiquitous, but little known, natural hazard. Though not as tangible as a volcanic eruption, storm or tsunami wave, space weather has the potenital to cause huge economic losses across the globe. In Europe alone, the interaction of solar wind with our planet’s magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, could lead to disrutions to space-based telecommunications, broadcasti ...[Read More]

GeoLog

GeoPolicy: The importance of scientific foresight

Chloe Hill October 27, 2017

Many of the issues that society currently faces are complex and research on just one angle or area does not provide sufficient information to address the problem. These challenges are compounded when more than one region (or even the entire planet) is impacted. Many of the decisions and legislations passed by governments today will go on to impact how these issues either develop or are resolved ye ...[Read More]

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Biogeosciences

Understanding the role of microbes in cold seep habitats

Jasper Bloemen October 27, 2017

A cold seep is an area of the ocean seafloor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs. These parts of the ocean floor still remain a large mystery for scientists, in particular for the occurence of hydrothermal vents. In between these vents, microbes live that play a role in the local and global carbon budget. However their exact role remains largerly unknown ...[Read More]

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Cryospheric Sciences

Image of the Week – Of comparing oranges and apples in the sea-ice context

David Docquier October 27, 2017

In the last fifty years, models and observations have enabled us to better understand sea-ice processes. On the one hand, global climate models have been developed, accounting for the sea-ice component in the climate system. On the other hand, satellite instruments have been developed to monitor the “real” sea-ice evolution. These satellite observations are often used to evaluate climate models. H ...[Read More]

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Geomorphology

Time to travel – the ERASMUS program turns 30 this year

Jan Blöthe October 27, 2017

The mobility program of the European Union, named after Erasmus of Rotterdam who studied in different places all over Europe, turns 30 this year. I wanted to take this opportunity to promote this great possibility for gathering international experience and getting insights into the teaching and research skills of our European colleagues. The ERASMUS program, named ERASMUS+ since 2014, is most famo ...[Read More]

GeoLog

GeoSciences Column: Forests in flux – log-jams in the Amazon

Robert Emberson October 25, 2017

Collapsing dams are a staple of disaster films, but the form that these take in natural systems is also surprisingly varied. Streams and rivers can be blocked by a range of rapid and gradual inputs. One of the lesser-known causes of stream blockage is through the accumulation of large woody debris – tree trunks and large branches – to form a log jam. The impact of these jams on river geomorphology ...[Read More]

GeoLog

EGU2018: Financial support to attend the General Assembly

Laura Roberts-Artal October 24, 2017

The EGU is committed to promoting the participation of both early career scientists and established researchers from low and middle-income countries who wish to present their work at the EGU General Assembly. In order to encourage participation of scientists from both these groups, a limited amount of the overall budget of the EGU General Assembly is reserved to provide financial support to those ...[Read More]

GeoLog

Imaggeo on Mondays: Ice forming on Chesapeake Bay

Laura Roberts-Artal October 23, 2017

Sandwiched between the U.S states of Mayland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York State, the District of Columbia and Virginia, lies Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America. It is of huge ecological importance: “the bay, its rivers, wetlands and forests provide homes, food and protection for countless animals and plants”, says the Chesapeake Bay Program. Up to 150 major rivers and stream ...[Read More]