Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

Exploring parachute science in analytical geoscience

Elliot Carter December 1, 2021

Crater lakes, Kelimutu Volcano, Indonesia. Credit: Danielle Su (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

During this past October, a team of researchers took part in a “hackathon” organised by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to generate data and new ideas to increase diversity in geoscience. This was an extremely hectic, sometimes stressful but fun and illuminating experience which ultimately culminated in a pilot funding bid (which we learned this week has been successful!). Our i ...[Read More]

Volcanoes and Wines, Part 1

Simona Gabrielli and Alessandro Musu August 5, 2021

On the left picture of Bromo Mountain in East Java Indonesia, photo by ibrahim kusuma on Unsplash. On the right a view of Mt Vesuvius through a vineyard from the Pompeii ruins near Naples, Italy. Photo by Pieter Biesemans on Unsplash

Why talk about wine on the GMPV blog? Well, this geologist-favourite drink is not only good memories of the EGU General Assembly but also a topic that spans among all the GMPV categories. Indeed, wine composition, flavour, structure and quality are inevitably bound to the mineralogy and geochemistry of the soil, making it so common and appreciated since ancient times. And what gives us a nice comp ...[Read More]

Fire, Fog, Frost, Famine – French Revolution? The Lakagígar eruption in Iceland, 1783-1784 [Part 2]

Will Hutchison May 22, 2018

Lava fountains of the fissure eruption in Holuhraun, northeast of Bárðarbunga (Iceland) in 2014. The fountains are about 70-90 meters in height. Image credit: Joschenbacher

PART II: Were the Haze Hardships caused by Men? Famine Before the Lakagígar eruption, the population of Iceland was 48810 people; four years later, it was down to 38518. Disregarding about 1500 deaths which were caused by a smallpox epidemic, the eruption may still have killed about 1/6 of the population [5]. These deaths were not directly caused by the lava or by toxic gases. The main cause was h ...[Read More]

Fire, Fog, Frost, Famine – French Revolution? The Lakagígar eruption in Iceland, 1783-1784 [Part 1]

Will Hutchison May 9, 2018

The southwestern part of the Lakagígar fissure, seen from the mountain Laki. The flat land to the left of the crater row is covered by rough ‘a’a-lava. The black stretches to the right are covered by tephra (solidified lava fragments) which was probably formed by violent interaction between rising magma and ground water. Photo credit: Claudia Wieners

“On the 8th of June 1783, at Whitsun, there gushed forth from the mountains behind the summer pastures a fire which devastated land, cattle and humans with its effects, both nearby and far away”, wrote Reverend Jón Steingrímsson of Kirkjubæjarklaustur in his autobiography [2]. The “fire” which welled up from a volcanic fissure now known as Lakagígar (the craters of Mount Laki) was the biggest floo ...[Read More]