Climate

GeoTalk: Hellishly hot period contributed to one of the most catastrophic mass extinctions of Earth’s history

Laura Roberts-Artal October 20, 2017

Could the eruption of the super volcano in present day Siberia have been the cause of a mass extinction 252 million years ago? From the boundless deep. Credit: Martin Mergili (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. Following the EGU General Assembly, we spoke to Yadong Sun, the winner of a 2017 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists, about his work on understanding mass-extinctions. Using a unique combination of sedimentological, palaeontological and geochemical techniques Yadong was able to identify some o ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: One of the oldest evergreen rainforests in the world

Frederik Tack October 16, 2017

Ratchaprapha lake in Khao Sok national park . Credit: Frederik Tack (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

A blazing sky and shimmers cast by water ripples frame the spectacular beauty of one of the world’s oldest treasures: an evergreen rainforest in Thailand. Today’s featured image was captured by Frederik Tack, of the Institute for Space Aeronomy in Brussels. This picture was taken during sunset between the limestone mountains with the sunlight reflecting on beautiful Ratchaprapha lake i ...[Read More]

How certain plants survive mass extinction events: study

Conor Purcell October 11, 2017

How do plants survive mass extinctions? . Credit: Marta Galvagno (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

We often read about Earth’s mass extinction events and how they wiped out vast numbers of animal species, leaving survivors to evolve and repopulate the planet. But it’s rarer to hear about how plants managed these catastrophes. A new study published last month by a team at University College Dublin, Ireland, in the journal Nature Plants shows how plants with thicker, heavier leaves we ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The unique bogs of Patagonia

Klaus-Holger Knorr October 9, 2017

Oceanic ombrotrophic peatland at the Seno Skyring Fjord, Patagonia, Chile . Credit: Klaus-Holger Knorr (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Patagonia, the region in southernmost tip of South America, is as diverse as it is vast. Divided by the Andes, the arid steppes, grasslands and deserts of Argentina give way to the temperate rainforests, fjords and glaciers of Chile. Also on the Chilean side are rolling hills and valleys of marshy topography: Patagonia’s bogs. Today, Klaus-Holger Knorr, a researcher at the University of Münster’s ...[Read More]