Hidden below the surface of some glaciers, liquid water can be found within what is called the firn layer – the upper layer of a glacier where snow compacts into glacier ice. Liquid water may persist there for up to many years, forming what scientists call “firn aquifers.” While observations of seasonal firn aquifers have …[Read More]
This year once again the EGU General Assembly of 2021 will be going online, however unlike in 2020, for vEGU21 the Programme Committee, Council and other organising members have much more time to prepare this year. So in follow up to last year’s online stream of our very popular EGU Games Night, for 2021 we …[Read More]
An emerging problem brought by climate change is the on-going deoxygenation of the world’s oceans. The fact that concentrations of dissolved oxygen have been/are declining in both open-ocean and coastal waters is becoming a major scientific and societal concern raised in the Kiel Declaration and in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) 2019 …[Read More]
The Geosciences are at the forefront of the fight against climate change. It is Geoscientists who discovered it and explained it, and it is Geoscientists who work to understand it and its consequences. Geoscientists undoubtedly will be amongst those who will lead us to the solutions. However, it often seems that Geoscientists are solely associated …[Read More]
Fausto is very much preoccupied with subduction zones. The omphalos of his working life, or better yet, his paltry existence, he lacklusterly focuses on a single subduction zone. A proclivity for narrow-mindedness, surely. Yet there are ever so many to rejoice in. He thus warbles: What is your favourite subduction zone? Dear Fausto, I can …[Read More]
On a late summer day in September 1923, Janet Vida Watson was born. With a father working in palaeontology and a mother who did research in embryology until her marriage, Janet grew up with science all around her. She went to South Hampstead High School, known for its science teaching and continued her education in …[Read More]
Each month we feature specific Divisions of EGU and during the monthly GeoRoundup we will be putting the journals that publish science from those Divisions at the top of the Highlights roundup. For January, the Divisions we are featuring are: Atmospheric Sciences (CR), and Earth and Space Science Informatics (ESSI). They are served by the journals: …[Read More]
120 years ago in 1901, Swedish meteorologist Nils Ekholm used the term ‘greenhouse’ to describe the heating effect that a planet’s atmosphere has on the surface temperature of the planet, the first time that this now much-used and abused metaphor was published. He wrote: “The atmosphere plays a very important part of a double character …[Read More]
Many of us learned about acidity, or pH, in high school chemistry. We learned that acids like HCl could dissociate into H+ and Cl- and the activity of those H+ ions defined the acidity. In the atmosphere, the same basic definition of acidity, or pH on the molality scale, applies to aqueous phases like suspended …[Read More]
In preparation for Valentines day, Bob Myhill explores the potential for close partnership (and even love?) between the geodynamics and thermodynamics communities. Much of Earth and planetary science relies in some way on thermodynamics. This is not a surprise; the elegance1 of its premises makes thermodynamics a robust starting point for many investigations, and the …[Read More]
