Our paper of the month is “Bubbles attenuate elastic waves at seismic frequencies: First experimental evidence” (N. Tisato et al., 2015) commented by Luca De Siena. Luca De Siena is Lecturer in Geophysics at the School of Geoscience, University of Aberdeen (UK). He received his PhD from the University of Bologna (Italy) with a scholarship from the INGV-Osservatorio Vesuviano for his work on seism ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Katabatic winds – A load of hot (or cold) air?
It might seem obvious that a warming world will lead to a reduction in glacial ice cover, but predicting the response of glaciers to climatic change is no simple task (even within the short term). One way to approach this problem is to come up with relationships which describe how glaciers interact with the world around them, for example, how the ice interacts with the air above it. Our post today ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week – For each tonne of CO2 emitted, Arctic sea ice shrinks by 3m² in summer
Declining sea ice in the Arctic is definitely one of the most iconic consequences of climate change. In a study recently published in Science, Dirk Notz and Julienne Stroeve find a linear relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and loss of Arctic sea-ice area in summer. Our image of this week is based on these results and shows the area of September Arctic sea ice lost per inhabitant d ...[Read More]
Seismology
Earthquakes felt by Eeyore
“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily. “So it is.” “And freezing.” “Is it?” “Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.” A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner (1928) The above is a quote from one of two classic Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. Upon ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Polar Exploration: Perseverance and Pea Sausages
Born on this Day On this day in 1872 – 145 years ago –Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, Danish author and polar explorer, was born. He led two expeditions to Greenland and successfully mapped the then unknown northeastern part of the country. The second expedition was his last. The expedition was surprised by an early onset of spring and could no longer use their dog sledges. The two Danes, Mylius-Eri ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week – It’s all a bit erratic in Yosemite!
When you think of California, with its sun-soaked beaches and Hollywood glamour, glaciers may not be the first thing that spring to mind – even for ice nerds like us. However, Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada is famous for its dramatic landscape, which was created by glacial action. With our latest image of the week we show you some of the features that were left behind b ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week — Looking back at 2016
I cannot believe that a full year has passed since this very cute pink unicorn wished you a Happy New Year. Yet, over the past 12 months our blog has attracted more than 16,200 visits. And the blog analytics show that you, our dear readers, are based not only in Europe but literally all over the world! With 67 new posts published in only 52 weeks, it’s more than likely that you missed a few inte ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week – The Sound of an Ice Age
New Year’s Eve is just around the corner and the last “image of the week” of 2016 will get you in the mood for a party. If your celebration needs a soundtrack with a suitably geeky touch then look no further. Here is the music for climate enthusiasts: The sound of the past 60,000 years of climate. Scientist Aslak Grinsted (Centre for Ice and Climate, University of Copenhagen, Denmark) has transfor ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week – Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…
Christmas is coming to town and in the Northern Hemisphere many of us are still dreaming of a white Christmas, “just like the ones we used to know”. But how likely is it that our dreams will come true? What is the definition of a White Christmas ? Usually Christmas can be defined as a “White Christmas” if the ground is covered by snow on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day depending on local tra ...[Read More]
Planetary and Solar System Sciences
A water ocean inside Saturn’s moon Dione
Deep inside Saturn’s moon Dione lies a global ocean of liquid water, according to scientists of the Royal Observatory of Belgium. Such discovery places Dione as the third Saturn’s moon, beside Enceladus and Titan, to have a subsurface ocean. Previous models of planet interior, based on gravity and shape data of Cassini, predicted no ocean at all for Dione and a very thick ice crust for ...[Read More]