GeoLog | 2018

Imaggeo on Mondays: A volcanic point of view

Olivia Trani May 21, 2018

Sleeping volcano . Credit: Carina Fernandes and Jorge Magalhaes (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

It’s not every day that you can peer into a volcano, much less gaze out at the sky from the inside of one. The Algar do Carvão, or “the Cavern of Coal,” is one of the few places on Earth where you can explore the underground reaches of a volcanic site. The volcanic pit is found on the island of Terceira, part of the Azores archipelago. This collection of islands is an autonomous region of Portugal ...[Read More]

Plate Tectonics and Ocean Drilling – Fifty Years On

Tim Middleton May 16, 2018

Glomar Challenger, the DSDP research vessel that found conclusive evidence of seafloor spreading. (Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

What does it take to get a scientific theory accepted? Hard facts? A strong personality? Grit and determination? For many Earth Scientists today it can be hard to imagine the academic landscape before the advent of plate tectonics. But it was only fifty years ago that the theory really became cemented as scientific consensus. And the clinching evidence was found in the oceans. Alfred Wegener had p ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: River in a charoite schist

Olivia Trani May 14, 2018

River in a Charoite Schist. Credit: Bernardo Cesare (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Polarized light photomicrograph of a thin section of a charoite-bearing schist. Charoite is a rare silicate found only at one location in Yakutia, Russia. For its beautiful and uncommon purple color it is used as a semi-precious stone in jewelry. Under the microscope charoite-bearing rocks give an overall feeling of movement, with charoite forming fibrous mats that swirl and fold as a result of de ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Extreme snowfall potentially worsened Nepal’s 2015 earthquake-triggered avalanche

Olivia Trani May 11, 2018

A view of Langtang Nepal in 2012. The village was struck by an earthquake-induced avalanche and landslides in 2015, burying the town in debris. (Credit: Sander van Dijk via Flickr)

Three years ago, an earthquake-induced avalanche and rockfalls buried an entire Nepalese village in ice, stone, and snow. Researchers now think the region’s heavy snowfall from the preceding winter may have intensified the avalanche’s disastrous effect. The Langtang village, just 70 kilometres from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, is nestled within a valley under the shadow of the Himalayas. The town wa ...[Read More]