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 number of thermodynamic applic ...[Read More]
What we know On December 29, a strong earthquake Mw 6.4 hit Petrinja at 12:20 CET, a town located in Central Croatia. This event is the largest onshore earthquake rupture in Central Europe since the M 6.5 Norcia earthquake occurred in 2016 (e.g. Scognamiglio, 20181) which killed 299 persons and 4,500 became homeless. Recent reports on the Petrinja quake suggest seven fatalities and heavy damages o ...[Read More]
In the midst of summer when the sun does not set at high latitudes one can sometimes catch a glimpse of the mesosphere shortly after sunset or before sunrise. These thin veils, known as noctilucent clouds, are the highest known cloud-like structures forming at about 80km above the surface. At this height, they are still lit by the sun and can be seen from lower latitudes many hundreds of kilometer ...[Read More]
The San Andreas Fault in California, the Alpine Fault in New Zealand, or the Main Frontal Thrust in the Himalayas are some of the most famous and largest fault zones that accommodate the relative displacement between two adjacent crustal blocks. Such faults, however, represent only the shallower expression of something much bigger: a crustal shear zone. In the first 10 kilometers or so of the crus ...[Read More]
In today’s interview, we meet Dr Fabio Corbi, a researcher at IGAG-CNR, the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the Italian National Research Council. Fabio has experience in analogue modelling of megathrust earthquakes and he is currently exploring the potentiality of machine learning in this research field. Hi Fabio, would you briefly tell us about you and your career? ...[Read More]
The mysterious appearance and disappearance of the Weddell Polynya, a giant hole in the sea ice cover, has long puzzled scientists. Recent work reveals that the polynya is initiated and maintained by gigantic and formidable atmospheric currents: atmospheric rivers! Read on to find out more… Each year, approximately 15 million square kilometers of ice forms in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica d ...[Read More]
Ramsay’s 1980 important contribution is a practical and theoretical handbook about shear zones, where the reader can find a detailed classification of shear zones, their description, and mathematical explanation. A definition of the concept of shear zones opens the article, followed by the shear zones classification into three types, namely brittle (e.g., Fig. 1a), brittle-ductile (e.g., Fig ...[Read More]
2020 left your head spinning? This week Derek Neuharth from GFZ Potsdam introduces us to the spinning microplates that can be found in extensional plate boundaries such as the East African Rift System and the East Pacific Rise. Divergent plate boundaries Microplates are enigmatic features that form in the boundaries between tectonic plates. Generally, plate boundary dynamics are divided into three ...[Read More]
Dear readers of the EGU Climate: Past, present and future blog. We hope you are having a good start to the New Year. Last year we faced a multitude of challenges due to the pandemic. Hopefully, by the end of 2021, the vaccination campaign will help combat the pandemic, and allow us to go back to some semblance of normality; fingers crossed! About Climate scientists Climate scientists investigate E ...[Read More]
The genesis of the idea to explore the influence of certain papers on shaping the field of tropospheric chemistry came when editing a textbook chapter I had written a decade earlier. As I edited it I thought, what really is new; text-book worthy over the last 10 years? In some senses what is text-book worthy at all? These type of questions inspired me to think about where atmospheric chemistry has ...[Read More]
