Dr. Anouk Beniest, an Assistant Professor in Tectonics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdamat, is an interdisciplinary earth scientist, bringing together geology, geophysics and geodynamics to help us understand complex geological problems. Her research revolves predominantly around plate tectonics, with a focus on extensional systems and she has kindly put together this blog post to convince you t ...[Read More]
Geodynamics
The Sassy Scientist – Clean Your Toilet
As academics, a lot of our time is invested in activities that are not seemingly related to our research. Teaching, organising seminars, writing EGU blog posts, reviewing papers. While I don’t deny the time consumingness of it, reviewing papers is a necessary and useful activity, at least as long as the publishing system works the way it currently does (that’s a topic for another post) ...[Read More]
Unravelling the geological past of the Sierra del Nevado, in South Andes, Argentina
Have you ever wondered to learn more about the geological setting of the Nevado volcano in Central-West Argentina? In this week’s blog, we have Georgina Rubiano Lorenzoni, a Ph.D. Geologist student from the Universidad Nacional de La Pampa in Argentina, who will guide us through her thesis aims, which are the identification and investigation of the petrogenesis and geochronology of the mountain ra ...[Read More]
Earth Science Beyond Academia
Although a career in academic research is a great choice for some, the majority of PhD students will pursue careers outside of universities and research institutes. This week, we learn about the experiences of PhD and Masters students who are embarking on successful careers beyond academia. Name: Deborah Wehner Degree: PhD in Earth Sciences New field: Tech Current Role: Software Developer E ...[Read More]
The Sassy Scientist – Unbelievable Lunacies
Being the reasonable, far-sighted and moderate entity that it is, humanity is irreversibly destroying the habitability of the planet it was given. I hope (man, I *hope*) I don’t have to convince anybody about this *fact*. Most of us are not concerned about this. Some of us are a tad concerned about the fact that the IPCC has declared that keeping the excess temperature below 1.5 degrees has ...[Read More]
Effects of decelerating India-Eurasia convergence on the crustal flow and topographic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau is the most extensive elevated surface on the Earth, stretching ~1,000 km north to south and 3,200 km east to west, with a mean elevation of greater than 4.5 km and located north of the Indian subcontinent. The formation of this Plateau has profoundly influenced the variations and evolution of Asian climate, strengthening of the South-Asian Monsoon, development of the large Asi ...[Read More]
The Sassy Scientist – Hailing in a New Era
The term has just begun, you’ve settled into your new place and survived the tsunami of welcome events and inductions. But what now? There’s no guidebook to a PhD, which is why Lionel has asked us: What can I expect from the first few months of my PhD? Dear Lionel, Tears. You can expect so many tears. Or at least that was my experience anyway… And that’s not because doing a ...[Read More]
X and mantle plumes: the deep quest
Seismic discontinuities necessitates mechanisms that would generate them and therefore, help us better understand the internal structure of the Earth. This week, Martina Monaco talks about the mysterious X-discontinuity — observed under several hotspots at upper mantle depths of ~ 290 km —and how it relates to the rising plumes. According to the Oxford Dictionary, only 400 words in the English la ...[Read More]
The Sassy Scientist – Knowns Unknown
We have dealt with impostor syndrome before. Not only on this weekly column, but elsewhere in the EGU blog too. Time and time again early career researchers seem to think their peers are much smarter, promptly neglecting that everyone else has the same feelings. From the bottom of her early-career crisis, Shion asks: How do I convince myself that I know something (even if just a little bit) about ...[Read More]
The invisible shield from the centre of the Earth
The Earth’s magnetic field plays a prominent role in our everyday life. From birds and bees to many modern-day technologies rely on the magnetic field, and yet, our understanding on its long- and short-term behavior is far from complete. In this week’s post, Annique van der Boon shows how geology and paleomagnetic studies can help us in understanding the long-term activity of EarthR ...[Read More]