CR
Cryospheric Sciences

Joint Post

The fragile connection of the Ocean and the Cryosphere – a story from the past

March 24, 2022
The fragile connection of the Ocean and the Cryosphere – a story from the past
The primordial Earth. [Credit: Simone Marchi/SwRI]

Compared to the formation and evolution of the Earth’s surface, the ancient oceans receive little attention in geological history. However, understanding the rise and fall of the oceans of the past—or “ghost oceans”—can reveal crucial information about the evolution of our planet, the cryosphere included. Can oceans play a historical role in climate change? If water bodies had not existed, would w ...[Read More]

Parenting in Academia: Challenges and Perspectives

January 14, 2022
White print on pavement with parent holding kid by the hand
Children pave the way to the future, but the parents need support [credit: Suzi Kim at Unsplash.com]

Trying to juggle teaching, advising, publishing, finding a new (or permanent) job, relocating, attending conferences, and actually doing research sometimes requires more hours in the day than exist (oh and that global pandemic situation is sticking around). Additionally, many scientists have children or are starting a family at the same time as maintaining and building a career. In this week’s blo ...[Read More]

The new glacial geomorphological map from New Zealand

April 2, 2021
The new glacial geomorphological map from New Zealand
Glacial geomorphological mapping comparison in 3D. a - Moraine ridge in the middle section of the Ahuriri River valley with surrounding area. b - Key landscape elements are shown in the accompanying sketch. (Credit: Tielidze et al., 2021).

Geomorphological maps are a fundamental tool to represent landforms and understand how different morphological elements and agents shaped a natural landscape. They are also important as background information for many fields of research including ecology, forestry and of course, glaciology. In this week’s blog, Levan Tielidze tells us about the importance of mapping glacial geomorphology, presenti ...[Read More]

Running a live stream of proglacial processes

November 4, 2020
Running a live stream of proglacial processes
Sampling in the glacier-fed stream near the field camp. Photo: Floreana Miesen

In Switzerland, nothing is really remote, but some places are more so than others. Dense infrastructure networks typically provide convenient access to research sites in the Alps where it is difficult to feel far away from home. However, this is not always the case… For us, our home for the summer is a bit different. We work at 2400 m above sea level in Southern Switzerland, in a narrow vall ...[Read More]

Image of the Week – Ice lollies falling from the sky

June 2, 2017

You have more than probably eaten many lollipops as a kid (and you might still enjoy them). The good thing is that you do not necessarily need to go to the candy shop to get them but you can simply wait for them to fall from the sky and eat them for free. Disclaimer: this kind of lollies might be slightly different from what you expect… Are lollies really falling from the sky? Eight years ag ...[Read More]

Black Carbon: the dark side of warming in the Arctic

November 2, 2016
Black Carbon: the dark side of warming in the Arctic
Greenland in summer: ice is covered by dark particles -- Black Carbon -- which amplify melting. [Credit : NASA ICE distributed via flickr]

When it comes to global warming, greenhouse gases – and more specifically CO2 – are the most often pointed out. Fewer people know however that tiny atmospheric particles called ‘black carbon’ also contribute to the current warming. This post presents a paper my colleague and I recently published in nature communications. Our study sheds more light into the chemical make-up of black car ...[Read More]