EGU Guest blogger

Image of the Week — Listening to the Snow

Nanna B. Karlsson October 21, 2016

E. Bagshaw (University of Cardiff, UK) listening for the bleep from a wireless sensor buried in the snow a few hundred metres away. [Credit N. B. Karlsson].

When working in the middle of an ice sheet, you rarely get to experience the amazing wildlife of the polar regions. So what are we doing hundreds of kilometres from the coast with an animal tracker device? We are listening to the snow of course! It is not crazy; It is what Image of the Week today is all about! Going Wireless In June 2016, Liz Bagshaw and I travelled to the EGRIP (East Greenland Ic ...[Read More]

Sea Level “For Dummies”

Lionel Favier October 19, 2016

Looking out over the sea on a quiet day with no wind, the word “flat” would certainly pop up in your mind to describe the sea surface. However, this serene view of a flat sea surface is far from accurate at the global scale. The apparent simplicity behind the concept of sea level hides more complex science that we hope to explain in a simple manner in today’s “For Dummies” post, which will g ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Satellite Measurements of Arctic Sea Ice

David Docquier September 16, 2016

The map above shows the region around Fram Strait that separates Greenland and Svalbard (Spreen et al., 2009) . The colours show the amount (volume flux) of sea ice that was moving from the Artic Basin and south in October/November 2006 as measured by satellites. The arrows show the direction of sea ice.

Sea ice is an important part of the Earth’s climate system. When sea ice forms, it releases heat and salt. When sea ice melts, it takes up heat and adds freshwater to the salty ocean water. It is also important for the exchange of energy between the atmosphere and the ocean surface, and for the ocean currents that transport warm and cold water from the equator to the poles and back. The main route ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Yes, you’re looking at one of Peru’s most dangerous glacial lakes!

David Rounce September 9, 2016

Lake Palcacocha is one of Peru’s most dangerous glacial lakes due to the threat of an avalanche entering the lake and causing a glacial lake outburst flood. The siphons installed in 2011 lowered the level of the lake by 3-5 m in an attempt to reduce the flood hazard of the lake. [Credit: David Rounce]

As mountain glaciers melt and recede, they often leave behind large glacial lake that are contained by the glaciers’ old terminal moraines. These glacial lakes are found throughout the world and can pose a significant flood hazard to downstream communities and infrastructure. The image of this week focuses on Lake Palcacocha, a large glacial lake located in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca at an elevation ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Hidden Beauty on a Himalayan Glacier

Arindan Mandal August 12, 2016

Supraglacial lake on the surface of Chhota Shigri Glacier at ~4900 m above sea level in the ablation zone (Credit: Anurag Linda).

Today’s image of the week comes from stunning setting of Chhota Shigri Glacier in the Pir Panjal Range of northern India. The range is part of the Hindu-Kush Karakorum Himalaya region which is a notoriously challenging place to work as it is very remote and completely inaccessible during the winter months. However, when have these challenges ever stopped a hardy glaciologist?! Our image thi ...[Read More]

Image of the week – Our salty seas and how this affects sea ice growth

Chris Horvat August 5, 2016

Lines of constant density for sea water . Black lines show lines of constant density as a function of temperature (y-axis) and salinity (x-axis). The dashed black line indicates, for a given salinity, the temperature at which the water will freeze. Figure adapted from Timmermans and Jayne (2016) - with permission.

Earth’s oceans are not simply just water, they are a complicated multi-component fluid consisting of water and dissolved salts (ask anyone who has tried to drink it!). The existence of these salts has a significant impact on global ocean circulation. Nowhere is this more significant than in the polar oceans where it is one of the key factors influencing sea ice formation. In this week’s imag ...[Read More]

Image of the Week — Looking for ice inside a volcano !

Tommaso Santagata July 29, 2016

A phase of the laser scanning survey of the southernmost ice mass in Europe: the Ice Cave, Mount Etna,. [Credit: Alessio Romeo – Inside The Glaciers Project]

Who would think that one of the world’s most active volcano shelters the southernmost persistent ice mass in Europe!? Yes, you can find ice inside Mount Etna! Located at an altitude of about 2,040 m above sea level, the Ice Cave (Grotta del Gelo) is well known among Mt Etna’s volcanic caves due to the presence of columns of ice on its walls and floor which occupy about the 30% of the ...[Read More]

Fieldwork at 5,000 meters in altitude

David Rounce July 28, 2016

Field Site, Imja Lake, in November 2015 [Credit: D. Rounce]

Imja Lake is one of the largest glacial lakes in the Nepal Himalaya and has received a great deal of attention in the last couple decades due to the potential for a glacial lake outburst flood. In response to these concerns, the UNDP has funded a project that is currently lowering the level of the lake by 3 m to reduce the flood hazard. The aim of our research efforts is to understand how quickly ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – How ocean tides affect ice flow

Teresa Kyrke-Smith July 8, 2016

(a) Shaded relief map of Rutford Ice Stream (West Antarctica) and surrounding area. Red box indicates the region shown in b. (b) Horizontal velocity where colors indicate speed, arrows show flow direction, and grayscale background is horizontal speed from Rignot et al. (2011). (c) Detrended along-flow displacements measured with GPS stations beginning December 2003. Locations of stations are indicated in (b). ( Credit : Brent Minchew )

Ice streams discharge approximately 90% of the Antarctic ice onto ice shelves , and ultimately into the sea into the sea (Bamber et al., 2000; Rignot et al., 2011). Whilst flow-speed changes on annual timescales are frequently discussed, we consider here what happens on much shorter timescales! Previous studies have shown that ice streams can respond to ocean tides at distances up to 100km inland ...[Read More]

Ice on fire at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

Thorbjörg Águstsdóttir July 6, 2016

In 2010 thick ash poured from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano after an explosive eruption. Find out more about why this happened at the Explosive Earth Exhibit at this weeks Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. Photo Credit: Eyjólfur Magnússon

The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition (RSSSE) is a free public event 4-10th July 2016 in London. This is a yearly event that is made up of 22 exhibits, selected in a competitive process, featuring cutting edge science and research undertaken right now across the UK. The scientists will be on their stands ready to share discoveries, show you amazing technologies and with hands-on interactive ...[Read More]