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]
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]
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]
Remote, rugged, raw and beautiful beyond measure, the island of South Georgia rises from the wild waters of the South Atlantic, 1300 km south east of the Falkland Islands. The Allardyce Range rises imposingly, south of Cumberland Bay, dominating the central part of the island. At its highest, it towers 2935 m (Mount Paget) above the surrounding landscape. In the region of 150 glaciers carve their ...[Read More]
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 story and what you might have missed This month has been an onslaught of Earth and space science news; the majority focusing on natural hazards. Hurricanes, earthquakes and v ...[Read More]
Forest fires have once again seized the public consciousness in both Europe and North America. Extreme drought and temperatures contributed to a tinderbox in many forests, and have led to deadly fires across Europe and record-breaking, highly disruptive fires in the USA and Canada, from where I’m currently writing. A simple way to understand fire is by thinking about the fire triangle – the three ...[Read More]
Although traditionally used to study earthquakes, like today’s M 8.1 in Mexico, seismometers have now become so sophisticated they are able to detect the slightest ground movements; whether they come from deep within the bowels of the planet or are triggered by events at the surface. But how, exactly, do earthquake scientists decipher the signals picked up by seismometers across the world? And mo ...[Read More]
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 On August 25th Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the southern coast of the U.S.A, bringing record breaking rainfall, widespread flooding and a natural disaster on a ...[Read More]
GeoTalk interviews usually feature the work of early career researchers, but this month we deviate from the standard format to speak to Jonathan Bamber, the EGU’s President. Jonathan has a long-standing involvement with the Union, stretching back almost 20 years. Following a year as vice-president, Jonathan was appointed President at this year’s General Assembly in Vienna. Here we talk ...[Read More]
Stephan Winkler’s 2017 Imaggeo Photo Contest finalist photo showcases an unusual weather phenomenon… The image shows a typical weather situation in the Southern Alps of New Zealand with a moist, westerly airflow pushing over the Main Divide [which separates the water catchments of the more heavily populated eastern side of the island from those on the west coast] to create a typical foehn wind [dr ...[Read More]