At ambient conditions, water is an odourless, tasteless, transparent liquid. It’s a vital fluid yet it has very simple properties. Unlike soap bubbles, for example, water is not iridescent – it does not appear to change colour when we view it from different angles. Unless, of course, there is something colourful in the background that the water reflects giving it an apparent iridescence. Thi ...[Read More]
Hydrological Sciences
Imaggeo on Mondays: Cordillera del Paine
Images such as the one above inspire scientists and nature lovers alike. This photograph, showing a Chilean landscape with elements representative of various Earth-science disciplines, is simply stunning. In a beautiful mix of shapes and colours, a quiet lake with floating icebergs appears tucked in between a roughed mountain in the background and a colourful double rainbow in the foreground. The ...[Read More]
Geosciences Column: What drives changes in flood risk?
After a couple of months of absence, GeoLog is once again hosting the Geosciences column. This month we have no less than two posts highlighting recent research in the Earth sciences. In the second of this month’s columns, Eline Vanuytrecht writes about recent research on flood risk published in the EGU journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. If you’d like to contribute to G ...[Read More]
Are we giants or ants? The future of hydrology discussed at the 2012 General Assembly
Today’s guest post, written during the 2012 General Assembly, comes from Eline Vanuytrecht from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at KU Leuven, Belgium. This is her second post for GeoLog after her insightful piece on climate change and Portuguese wines. Keynote speakers, ‘giants’ in the field of hydrology, were invited to give their opinion on the path that hyd ...[Read More]
On the Ground at GA2012: Water, water everywhere… including under the ice
Fresh from leading a team of UK geophysicists on a two-week campaign of seismic investigations in northern Sweden, Dr Adam Booth of Swansea University reports to us from the halls of the 2012 General Assembly in Vienna. Hi, from a very sunny Vienna! It’s my first day at the EGU General Assembly, and the whole city is under bright sunshine and blue skies. Over the next few days, I’ll be blogging ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Green river
Thermokarsts occur when solid permafrost melts and soil gives way forming pitted, irregular lands surfaces. They are common in the Arctic, as well as the Himalayas and Swiss Alps. To study them, scientists trace the water using fluorescence dyes, temporarily creating water flows of exotic colours, like the bright green one in this Imaggeo photo. This photo was taken by Simon Gascoin, a researcher ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Reflecting mountains in Sørfjorden, Norway
Located just southeast of Bergen on the Norwegian Atlantic coast, Hardangerfjorden is the third longest fjord in the world, measuring more than 170 km from the Atlantic Ocean to the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. Its longest branch, Sørfjorden, cuts 50 km from the main fjord and ends at Odda. Geormorphologist Martin Mergili visited the area in 2008, following the 33rd International Geological Co ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Huts in Arcachon Bay
Yann Vitasse, now a researcher at the Institute of Botany, University of Basel in Switzerland, got a wonderful present in 2009 for completing his PhD: a flight on an ultralight aircraft above the southwest coast of France. It was then he took this stunning photo of the Arcachon Bay, a water area near Bordeaux that is fed by the Atlantic Ocean and by a number of fresh waterways.“Here you see the fa ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Frozen river meets the sea
This image shows part of the frozen delta of the Siberian River Lena. Thomas Ernsdorf, a researcher at the Department of Environmental Meteorology, University of Trier in Germany, took this photo during a Russian-German expedition to the Laptev Sea, the largest ice factory of the Arctic Ocean, in April 2008. “The main goal of the expedition was to investigate the polynia (large open water and thin ...[Read More]
EGU General Assembly 2012 Call for Papers
Abstract submission for the EGU General Assembly 2012 (EGU2012) is now open. The General Assembly is being held from Sunday 22 Apr 2012 to Friday 27 Apr 2012 at the Austria Center Vienna, Austria. You can browse through the Sessions online. Each Session shows the link Abstract Submission. Using this link you are asked to log in to the Copernicus Office Meeting Organizer. You may submit the text of ...[Read More]