The start of the new year sees the launch of a new series here on GeoLog. Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, as well as unique and quirky research news, this monthly column aims to bring you the best of the Earth and planetary sciences from around the web. Major stories One of the biggest stories of this month was the anticipated release of the average global su ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: littoral rainforests
Making room for growing populations, and the resources they demand, comes at the cost of precious natural environments. Rainforests, globally, are under threat from farming, logging and ever expanding cities. It is reported that if current rates of exploitation continue, the world’s rainforests could be lost within the next century. Like almost anything else, rainforests come in all shapes a ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: the remotest place on Earth?
Perhaps a bold claim, but at over 4,000 km away from Australia and 4,200 km from South Africa, Heard Island is unquestionably hard to reach. The faraway and little know place is part of a group of volcanic islands known as HIMI (comprised of the Heard Island and McDonald Islands), located in the southwest Indian Ocean. Shrouded in persistent bad weather and surrounded by the vast ocean, Heard Isla ...[Read More]
Geosciences Column: Do coastlines have memories?
Did you know that the shape of coastlines is determined by the angle at which waves crash against the shoreline. It has long been thought that fluctuations in the wave incidence angle are rapidly felt by coastlines, which change the shapes of their shores quickly in response to shifting wave patterns. Or do they? Researchers at the British Geological Survey, Duke University (USA) and Woods Hole Oc ...[Read More]