From last week’s unusual desert landscape to this week’s lush valley in Cuba… The picture shows the Vinales Valley, a karstic depression with mogotes in western Cuba. Karst is the general term for landscapes formed when limestone is disolved by carbonic acid, in rain water. This leads, in particular, to the formation of an underground network of caves and rivers. In the tropics, ...[Read More]
Understanding the climate evolution of our planet is not an easy task, but it is essential to understand the past if we are to predict the future! Historic climate cycles provide us with a glimpse into a period of time when the Earth was warmer than it was today. Our image of the week looks at these warmer periods of time to see what they can tell us about the future! For example, during the Plioc ...[Read More]
Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, as well as unique and quirky research news, this monthly column aims to bring you the best of the Earth and planetary sciences from around the web. Major Stories On August 25th Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the southern coast of the U.S.A, bringing record breaking rainfall, widespread flooding and a natural disaster on a ...[Read More]
From supercharging your scientific skills, to boarding your base in science communication or picking up tips on how to boost your career – be it in academia or outside – short courses can be one of the highlights of the General Assembly programme. But, did you know that any EGU member (you!) can propose a short course? You’ve got until 8 September 2017 to complete the application. This quick guide ...[Read More]
A large majority of igneous rocks on Earth are formed by a process known as fractional crystallization (summarized in the diagram below). To understand this process, start by imagining a large liquid magma (melt) body. As we cool the magma, mineral phases become stable and crystals start to form. The newly formed minerals are likely to have a very different density from the magma causing them to f ...[Read More]
The European Commission requires both expert advice and an understanding of public opinion to steer policy and draft new EU legislation proposals that will be introduced to both the Council and the EU Parliament to debate. The EU Commission regularly hosts hearings, workshops, expert groups and consultations to gain valuable insights, prompt discussion and help draft policy. These forums may be r ...[Read More]
Megan Jamer is a geoscientist from Canada, and an avid cyclist and explorer. Megan is currently travelling around East Africa on bicycle, taking in some remarkable sites and observing first hand the relationship between geoscience and sustainable development. Megan has previously written about agroforestry, landslides, and disaster risk reduction in Rwanda. Her travels have since taken her to Tanz ...[Read More]
Today’s NetherMod update is written by Yue Zhao. She did her MSc at Utrecht University and is now a PhD at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. To study the thermal evolution of the Moon, she incorporates high temperature and pressure experimental results from her group into numerical models of lunar mantle convection. After a wonderful ice-breaking evening in the glimmering setting sun over ...[Read More]
Today’s post takes us to the far northern reaches of our planet, to a desert like nothing you’ve seen before. This picture is a view to the north across Alexandra Fjord, on the east coast of Ellesmere Island, in the Canadian High Arctic, with Sphynx island in the middle of the fjord. The south shore of Alexandra Fjord includes a polar oasis, an area of tundra vegetation and relatively mild climati ...[Read More]
Post by Jared van Rooyen, MSc candidate in Earth Science at Stellenbosch University, in South Africa. Part one of three in a Crowdfunding Science series by Jared. ___________________________________________________________ When my supervisor, Dr Jodie Miller, suggested to me last year that we should look at crowdfunding as a way to potentially to fund my master’s project, I had no idea of what I w ...[Read More]
