Orogens are the locus of intense deformation and metamorphism, mainly caused by convergent tectonics and burial. Yet, deeply buried rocks – metamorphosed at high pressure (HP) – are customarily met at the surface, even in “recent” systems such as the Alps. The long-standing question is naturally “how are these rocks brought back to the surface?” At the time John Platt wrote his manuscr ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Imaggeo On Monday: Tides at Young Sound
The work of the autumn tides at Young Sound, Northeast Greenland, created a fine sand artwork just before the freezing in of the fjord with the approaching winter. Due to the changing sediment of the nearby Zackenberg river, the local coastal erosion is an object of great recent investigations. Description by Maria Scheel, after the description on imaggeo.egu.eu. Imaggeo is the EGU’s ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
The “Cliffs Notes” on Ice-Cliff Failure
The retreat of large glaciers that drain the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could expose immense ice-cliffs at newly-bared calving faces, which are the exposed ends of glaciers where, in these cases, glacier ice meets the ocean. Past a certain height, these ice cliffs will become susceptible to collapsing from high stresses, a process known as structural ice-cliff failure. If a taller ice clif ...[Read More]
Geodesy
Meet the new ECS Reps
We all hope you have enjoyed vEGU21 and you were able to meet new and old friends/colleagues/peers. With the end of the EGU General Assembly, it is the time when outgoing Early Career Scientist (ECS) Representatives (Reps) are handing all over to the incoming ECS Reps. Now the new Reps officially start their work for the next two years. But who are the new ECS reps? The new Rep for the next year i ...[Read More]
Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology
Happy Birthday Mama Etna!
18 May 1971. This date may not mean anything to you at the moment, but it represents a very special day for the evolution of Mount Etna, leaving a deep mark in the recent eruptive activity of the volcano. Exactly 50 years ago, Mount Etna saw the birth of what, only a short time later, was to become the most active crater of the last decades: “The South-East Crater”, the fourth child of ...[Read More]
Geodynamics
Whole solid-Earth numerical simulation: Towards an understanding of mantle-core interactive dynamics
Due to huge difference between the time scale of the mantle convection and the outer core convection, they are modelled separately. In this week’s News and Views, Masaki Yoshida from the Volcanoes and Earth’s Interior Research Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan, put forward the recent development on the modeling of the whole solid-Earth. The E ...[Read More]
Hydrological Sciences
Post #vEGU21 hydrological reflections
#vEGU21 is over and it was an intense two-week period for many of us. Whether you occasionally zapped in or kept your whole last week free to join online, you certainly have heard a lot about it. Here I have collected a few reflections from the events related to the hydrological sciences division. The conference first week The first week presented several Union-wide debates and sessions. We learne ...[Read More]
Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology
Belemnites in Mythology: From Thunderstorms to Fertility Symbols.
Belemnites are a group of now extinct marine coleoids cephalopods that lived during the Mesozoic (240 Mya – 65 Mya). Unlike modern squids, belemnites had a hard internal skeleon made of calcium carbonate called a rostrum. Like many fossil groups, belemnites have been associated with numerous myths and legends in folklore. Belemnites take their name from the Greek word belemnon meaning dart or jave ...[Read More]
Geodynamics
The short story of my PhD
PhD students’ struggles are alike; each succeed in their own way[1] It was a Friday morning, and nearly 3 years had passed since I arrived at Sydney. This meant, I only had one month left to submit my thesis! No sooner had I entered my office than a feeling of anxiety had found me. I had no time to dig deep into my own thoughts to discover what was happening, although it was obvious. Instead, I re ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Artist in Residence – Plastic problems, hurdles, and nurdles
Microplastics are a big topic these days, so I take a look at some vital research… Plastic problems, hurdles, and nurdles A happy, healthy body has veins and arteries free from clogs and constrictions caused by build-up of lipid junk. This includes our external, shared body, a body on which we all rely, the landscape we live in. The veins and arteries of our landscape are rivers, clogged wit ...[Read More]