Tectonics and Structural Geology

#ShareEGU20: How to turn your research into an attractive display

Silvia Brizzi April 21, 2020

Credit: cottonbro. Distributed via Pexels

In response to the growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus and travel restrictions, in-person attendance for the EGU General Assembly 2020 in Vienna has been cancelled. The conference is instead being transformed into a virtual event, where attendees can remotely share their research by uploading presentation material online. Let’s be honest: digital alternatives don’t replicate the i ...[Read More]

Beyond Tectonics: Building fictional worlds to better understand our own

Hannah Davies April 10, 2020

Artists illustration of the TRAPPIST-1 system. Image credit NASA

In this edition of “Beyond Tectonics” Ben Blackledge and Hannah Davies talk about worldbuilding and how it can be applied to the discipline of tectonics and tides. Ben Blackledge recently completed his MSc in Bangor and will soon be beginning a PhD in Bristol University. Let’s begin with a question. Are the tides always the same on every planet? Because of the force of gravity, ...[Read More]

Neutrons and X-rays: 3D and 4D imaging in geoscience

Anne Pluymakers April 6, 2020

In-situ 4D Neutron imaging of imbibition of heavy water in an Indiana limestone (Cordonnier et al., 2019).

Anne Pluymakers is an assistant professor at TU Delft, whose hobbies include experimental rock mechanics and fluid-rock interaction. She focuses on the effects of fluids on mechanical behaviour of rocks at representative in-situ temperature and pressure conditions, with a strong focus on hydrochemical fluid-rock interaction. Investigating the microstructure of the rock and how it is altered is cri ...[Read More]

Mind your head: Taking care of yourself during the Corona-virus crisis

Anne Pluymakers March 17, 2020

Credit: Bongkarn Thanyakij. Distributed via Pexels

By now more and more countries in Europe are hit by the Corona-virus, leading to increasingly strict measures and closures of many public places. We are being asked or obliged to work from home, to limit social contact by staying away from bars, restaurants, sports clubs, museums, theatres and all other places where gatherings of people take place. Simultaneously, we continue to receive worrying m ...[Read More]

Zürich: surrounded by a geologist’s playground

Anna Gülcher March 4, 2020

View on the centre of Zurich, its lake and the Swiss Alps. Credit: Zurich General view by Zürich Tourismus, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Zürich, with its lake stretching towards the foot of the Swiss Alps in the South, is currently a charming city full of watersides, lively bars, students and bankers. In Switzerland, you’ll find a wide variety of landscapes and geological features over a relatively small area – from the Alpine mountain range in the South to the low-lying plateau and the Jura Mountains in the North. Located in close ...[Read More]

How to reduce your carbon footprint when attending EGU’s General Assembly

Elenora van Rijsingen February 12, 2020

Credit: Markus Spiske. Distributed via Pexels

In October 2019, an open letter was published, addressing both EGU and AGU regarding their policy to reduce the carbon footprint of their annual conferences. Almost 2000 scientists already signed this letter, asking for more ambitious measures to decline carbon emissions, in line with the goals of 50% reduction by 2030 and near-zero emissions by 2050 (IPCC SR15, 2018). Some of the proposed improve ...[Read More]

Beyond Tectonics: How mountain building shaped biodiversity

Hannah Davies January 31, 2020

Humboldt's drawing of vegetation zones at mountains of the Andes, Tenerife, Himalaya, Alpes and Pyrenees, and Lapland, inspired by his travels through Europe and South America. Available via license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

This edition of “Beyond Tectonics” is brought to you by Lydian Boschman. Lydian is a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zürich. She has a background in geology and plate tectonic reconstructions, but now works with a group of biodiversity modelers of the Landscape Ecology group at ETH, bridging the gap between geology and biology. In her research, she focuses on the uplift history of the Andes, and ho ...[Read More]

Sendai, living on the edge!

Daniel Pastor-Galán January 22, 2020

View of Sendai from Hirose river. Credit: Daniel Pastor-Galán.

Sendai and its people live on the edge. The city and its citizens learned to live over a subduction zone. Sendai has survived 500 years of hazards; it is a resilient and industrious city. People know disaster will strike again, but also that they will rise up when it does. Japan, ‘the sunrise country’, would be much better named ‘the land of sinking tectonic plates’. Above the point where the Paci ...[Read More]

Features from the field: Bedding/Stratification

Samuele Papeschi December 27, 2019

Inclined bedding planes in Ladakh (India). Photo credits: Arjun Datta (Imaggeo)

Bedding (also called stratification) is one of the most prominent features of sedimentary rocks, which are usually made up of ‘piles’ of layers (called ‘strata‘) of sediments deposited one on top of another. Every stratum is characterized by its own lithology (composition), sedimentary structures, grain size and fossil content that make it unique and different from the stra ...[Read More]

Civita di Bagnoregio – the dying town

Elenora van Rijsingen December 4, 2019

Civita di Bagnoregio - The Dying Town. Credit: Elenora van Rijsingen (distributed via Immageo)

On top of a steep cliff standing out from the surrounding countryside, lies the small town of Civita di Bagnoregio, one of the most famous villages of Italy. It is often called the dying town, although more recently people have started to refer to it as fighting to live. What this little town is fighting against is the threat of erosion, as its walls are slowly crumbling down. Located in central I ...[Read More]