Earth Magnetism and Rock Physics

Imaggeo on Mondays: A spectacular view of moss-covered rocks

Laura Roberts-Artal November 20, 2017

Isle of Skye cliff coast . Credit: Marius Ulm (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Geology has shaped the rugged landscape of the Isle of Skye – the largest island of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides archipelago. From the very old Precambrian rocks (approximately 2.8 billion years old) in the south of the island, through to the mighty glaciers which covered much of Scotland as recently as 14,700 years ago, the modestly-sized island provides a snap-shot through Earth’s dynamic his ...[Read More]

Five top tips to apply for small grants

Stephanie Zihms November 8, 2017

Don’t underestimate the importance of securing those first grants, even if they are only for a small about of money . Credit: tctechcrunch

Stephanie Zihms, the ECS Representative for the EMRP Division (and incoming Union Level Representative) has applied for a range of small scale grants (<£15,000, ca. 16,965€). At this year’s General Assembly, she was one of two speakers at the ‘How to write a research grant’ short course, where she shared insights from her successes and failures. In today’s post she tells us about the top five ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Magnetic interaction

Laura Roberts-Artal October 30, 2017

Magnetic interaction . Credit: David Bernard (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Space weather is a ubiquitous, but little known, natural hazard. Though not as tangible as a volcanic eruption, storm or tsunami wave, space weather has the potenital to cause huge economic losses across the globe. In Europe alone, the interaction of solar wind with our planet’s magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, could lead to disrutions to space-based telecommunications, broadcasti ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: The anomaly in the Earth’s magnetic field which has geophysicists abuzz

Laura Roberts-Artal September 21, 2017

The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA, the large red area in the image) is a dip in the Earth's magnetic field which allows cosmic rays, and charged particles to reach lower into the atmosphere. This interferes with communication with satellites, aircraft, and the Space Shuttle. While there are theories as to why this occurs, the geologic origin is not yet known. The data were collected by the South Atlantic Anomaly Detector (SAAD) aboard ROSAT. It consists of 10 cm² of Germanium and served as a particle background monitor. The SAAD was used to "safe" the PSPC if rates became too high. Source: ROSAT SAA Guest Observer Facility (NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre) . Credit: S. L. Snowden

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Jay Shah, a PhD student at Imperial College London, who is investigating the South Atlantic Anomaly, a patch over the South Atlantic where the Earth’s magnetic field is weaker than elsewhere on the globe. He presented some of his recent findings at the 2017 General Assembly. First, coul ...[Read More]