CR
Cryospheric Sciences
Avatar photo

Biagio Di Mauro

Cryo-Adventures – Hunting snow algae in the Alps

October 8, 2021
Cryo-Adventures – Hunting snow algae in the Alps

We are used to think of algae as marine or lacustrine organisms, but they are actually able to thrive also on the cryosphere. In a previous post, we learnt how snow algae live and reproduce on snow. Now we will explore how and why scientists study snow algae, and how social media can be used for identifying new study areas. Snow algae in the Alps Snow algae in the Alps have been overlooked or conf ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – What darkens snow and ice?

September 18, 2020
Image of the Week – What darkens snow and ice?

“Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow”. Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1 (W. Shakespeare) Snow and ice are not always as pristine as one may think. If you have ever walked on a glacier or on a snowfield during summer, you might have already noticed that. In fact, both snow and ice are often darkened by impurities. In this blog post, you will learn about the main processes leading to ice and snow darkeni ...[Read More]