The Earth’s magnetic field extends from the core of the planet, right out to space. It is an invisible, butterfly-like, shield which protects us against the harmful particles ejected by solar flares. In addition, it guards us from atmospheric erosion and water loss caused by solar wind. But how do scientists study the Earth’s magnetic field when it can’t be see? Much of what is known results from ...[Read More]
It’s a clear night, much like any other, except that billions of kilometers away the Sun has gone into overdrive and (hours earlier) hurled a mass of charged particles, including protons, electrons and atoms towards the Earth. As the electrons slam into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the night sky explodes into a spectacular display of dancing lights: aurora. Aurora remain shrouded in myste ...[Read More]
The Forum for Research into Ice Shelf Processes, aka FRISP, is an international meeting bringing together glaciologists and oceanographers. There are no parallel sessions; everyone attends everyone else’s talk and comment on their results, and the numerous breaks and long dinners encourage new and interdisciplinary collaborations. In fact, each year, a few presentations are the result of a previou ...[Read More]
The third blog for TS is an invited guest blog by Fabrizio Storti, the chief executive editor of the EGU journal Solid Earth. Solid Earth publishes open access manuscripts on the composition, structure, and dynamics of the Earth from the surface to the deep interior. It is the journal for our community and we encourage everyone to see if they can contribute a manuscript and/or participate in the o ...[Read More]
For those not so familiar with the Earth sciences, geosciences and all its subdisciplines might be shrouded in mystery: boring, unfathomable, out of reach and with little relevance to everyday life. Nothing could be further from the truth! Earth Science Week, an international annual celebration founded by the American Geosciences Institute in 1998, aims to change the public’s perception of the ge ...[Read More]
The General Assembly is not only for researchers but for teachers and educators with an interest in the geosciences also. Every year the Geosciences Information For Teachers (GIFT) is organised by the EGU Committee on Education to bring first class science closer to primary and high school teachers. The topic of the 2017 edition of GIFT is ‘The Mediterranean’. This year’s workshop is co-organised ...[Read More]
That soils are vital to secure our future supplies of water, food, as well as aiding adaptation to climate change and sustaining the planet’s biosphere is a subject we’ve featured on the blog as recently as the summer. That’s because never have humans been more out of touch with the vital importance of this natural resource. Inhabiting among soil particles thrives an even less familiar, but equall ...[Read More]
As far as blogging milestones go, today is pretty special. This is GeoLog’s 1000 post! Since the EGU’s official blog launched back in March 2010 (that’s right, there’s over 6 years of back catalogue for you to enjoy!), we’ve shared posts about research spanning almost every discipline in the Earth sciences; highlighted member’s adventures in the field and showcased the work of outstanding early ca ...[Read More]
Last week was the Fall APECS International Polar Week, designed to promote and celebrate the great collaborative science that goes on around the world to further our understanding of the polar regions. Part of this celebration was a figure competition, to find the most “eye-catching, informative and inspiring” figures that illustrate aspects of polar science. What better, we thought, t ...[Read More]
“SEISMIC ANISOTROPY AND MANTLE DEFORMATION: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM SHEAR WAVE SPLITTING?” (M. K. SAVAGE, 1999) commented by Dr. Jessica Johnson Jessica Johnson from the University of East Anglia (UK) is our guest author of the PoM blog series of this month! She has chosen to comment on the paper “Seismic Anisotropy and mantle deformation: what have we learned from shear wave ...[Read More]
