Being a stratigrapher or not, there’s one stratum you have all trod upon if you ever went to the General Assembly (GA), without probably noticing it. The uppermost unit of EGU’s GA floor, a ca. 5 mm thick layer with a soft rubbery texture and peculiar light-grey colour, outcropping over the whole poster halls: Carpet! …[Read More]
Division blogs
Geodesy
Gravity time series still reveal new insights
View of the Medicina observatory. The site hosts a superconducting gravimeter (SG) installed in a dedicated building next to a piezometer. Local height variations are monitored by means of two GPS stations, located at the end of the N-S segment of the “North Cross” radio telescope. The two GPS stations …[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week – Antarctica: A decade of dynamic change
Whilst we tend to think of the ice flow in Antarctica as a very slow and steady process, the wonders of satellites have shown over the last two decades it is one of the most dynamic places on Earth! This image of the week maps this dynamical change using all the satellite tools at …[Read More]
Geodynamics
Postcard from Tokyo: JpGU2018 conference
Konichiwa from Tokyo and JpGU2018! This week, 20-24 May, the Japanese Geoscience Union (JpGU) is holding its annual union meeting just outside of Tokyo, in Chiba (about 40 minutes by metro). I am fortunate enough to be on a research visit to the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Tech over on the other side of the …[Read More]
Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology
Fire, Fog, Frost, Famine – French Revolution? The Lakagígar eruption in Iceland, 1783-1784 [Part 2]
![Fire, Fog, Frost, Famine – French Revolution? The Lakagígar eruption in Iceland, 1783-1784 [Part 2]](https://blogs.egu.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/05/banner1-2.webp)
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 …[Read More]
Natural Hazards
Natural Groundwater Quality: an underestimated and yet dangerous hazard.
Today I have the pleasure to interview Dr. Evangelos Tziritis, a brilliant scientist and a friend. He will talk to us about Natural groundwater quality hazard and its implications. This blog aim is to discuss Natural Hazards. Therefore, today we will focus on the natural component of water quality, disregarding anthropogenic sources. Evangelos is a …[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week — Biscuits in the Permafrost
In Svalbard, the snow melts to reveal a mysterious honeycomb network of irregular shapes (fig. 1). These shapes may look as though they have been created by a rogue baker with an unusual set of biscuit cutters, but they are in fact distinctive permafrost landforms known as ice-wedge polygons, and they play an important role …[Read More]
Geodynamics
EGU 2018: Experience of a first time attendee
Your first time at the General Assembly can be a daunting experience. It’s not easy to navigate the scientific programme and let’s not even mention navigating the building! It becomes even more difficult if you do not know many people in your scientific community yet. Luckily, one of the easiest things to do at EGU …[Read More]
Solar-Terrestrial Sciences
Prof. Ilya Usoskin – A discussion with an inquiry mind
In the May issue of the Life of a Scientist we have the pleasure to talk to Prof. Ilya Usoskin from the Univeristy of Oulu, Finland. Among numerous things, he is the head of the Oulu Cosmic Ray station and receipent of this year’s Julius Bartels EGU Medal; a decision that was based: “on his contributions …[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week – Cure from the Cold?
Humans rely on antibiotics for survival, but over time they are becoming less effective. So-called ‘superbugs’ are developing resistance to our most important drugs. The key to this global issue may be found in the cryosphere, where extreme microbiologists are hunting for new compounds in the cold that could help us win the war against …[Read More]