Biogeosciences

Imaggeo on Mondays: Why is groundwater so important?

Laura Roberts-Artal July 4, 2016

Why is groundwater so important? . Credit: Anna Menció (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Groundwater is an often underestimated natural resource, but it is vital to the functioning of both natural and urban environments. Indeed, it is a large source of drinking water for communities world-wide, as well as being heavily used for irrigation of crops and crucial for many industrial processes. The water locked in the pores and cracks within the Earth’s soils and rocks, also plays an impor ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Pollen tells a 7300 year old story of Malta’s climate and vegetation

Laura Roberts-Artal July 1, 2016

Birch pollen by Per Harald of NTNU, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology. Distributed via Flickr .

Figuring out what the climate was like, and how it changed, throughout Earth’s history is like trying to complete a 1000 piece puzzle. Except that scientists usually don’t have all the nuggets and building a comprehensive picture relies on a multidisciplinary approach in order to fill in the blanks. This is particularly true during the Holocene, which spans the last 11,700 years of the Earth’ ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: A sunrise over Kelimutu’s three-colour lakes

Laura Roberts-Artal June 20, 2016

A Kelimutu sunrise . Credit: Danielle Su (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Volcanoes are undeniably home to some of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture slopes of exceedingly fertile mineral rich soils, covered in lush vegetation; high peaks punching through cloud cover offering stunning vistas and bubbling pools of geothermally warmed waters were one can soak ones worries away. What about strikingly coloured crater lakes? Y ...[Read More]

Volcanic darkness marked the dawn of the Dark Ages

Laura Roberts-Artal June 15, 2016

Volcanic ash can spread far and wide. Credit: Taro Taylor via Flickr.

The dawn of the Dark Ages coincided with a volcanic double event – two large eruptions in quick succession. Combined, they had a stronger impact on the Earth’s climate than any other volcanic event – or sequence of events – in the last 1200 years. Historical reports reveal that a mysterious dust cloud dimmed the sun’s rays between in 536 and 537 CE, a time followed by global societal decline. Now, ...[Read More]