Scientists are building walls of willow trees in the Southern French Alps gullies to trap dirt that blocks hydroelectric dams downstream. Sediment in rainwater washes off the steep valley slopes in the Francon marly basin into gullies. These smaller waterways then feed larger rivers. When the water reaches the slower-moving reservoirs above dams, the sediment …[Read More]
EGU Scientific Divisions
Bookends on Planetary Atmosphere
New results presented this week at the EGU General Assembly have scientists adjusting the assumptions that have longed acted as bookends on the way we understand the evolution of planetary atmospheres. On one side, researchers have identified a previously unrecognised greenhouse effect that could have warmed the early Earth. On the other, the Curiosity rover …[Read More]
GeoTalk: Sylvian LeDuc on Why Woody Biofuels Wouldn’t be the Best Plan for the EU
Biofuels are set to replace 10 per cent of EU transportation fuel by 2020. Yet, the long-term sustainability of first generation biofuels, made from grains and vegetable oils, has raised concerns as production starts to compete with food supplies. Attention has now turned to second generation biofuels, produced from non-edible sources such as wood or …[Read More]
Supermodels!
You’ve probably heard of supermodels like Heidi Klum and Kate Moss, but have you heard of SUMO? It’s an abbreviation for a project called Super Modeling by Combining Imperfect Models, and although it doesn’t sound nearly as glamorous, it may mean big things for climate modeling. This innovative approach, pioneered by an interdisciplinary group of …[Read More]
CCS – what’s the hold up?
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been on the research and political agenda for some time now, but there has been a surge in media coverage recently in the European Union (EU). This is in part due to the announcement of the results of the CCS funding commercialisation competition run by the Department of Energy …[Read More]
Introducing ESurf
ESurf, more formally known as Earth Surface Dynamics is the new open access journal from the EGU. Focussing on the processes that affect the Earth’s surface at all scales, ESurf aims to communicate the interactions of Earth surface processes with the lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and pedosphere. Highlighting field measurements, remote sensing and experimental and numerical …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Grand Prismatic Spring
Yellowstone National Park, USA, is well known for its outstanding natural beauty. This is the Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. It is the third largest hotspring in the world and the largest found in the United States, with a maximum diameter of about 90 m. It discharges roughly 2.5 cubic …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Alas, allases are abound!
The Lena River flows throughout Russia from its source in the Baikal Mountains out into the Arctic Ocean, where the delta’s landscape is dominated by ice-rich Yedoma and thermokarst lakes. Thermokarst lakes have been identified as a source of carbon release to the atmosphere and Yedoma-like lake sediments are known to release more methane than …[Read More]
Geosciences Column: Tag – you’re it! Chasing atmospheric tracers
I’ve been ruminating over the idea for this post for some time now; since last October in fact, when the EGU Twitter Journal Club discussed a paper about tagging (You can find the Storify for the discussion here). Not tagging as in the playground favourite, but the idea of keeping track of certain molecules in …[Read More]
Events for Young Scientists at EGU 2013
Short Courses Demystifying Open Access – an open discussion for early career researchers tackling how OA can benefit young scientists without compromising their careers. From what it costs to publish an open access paper to how we can measure its impact, all interested scientists are invited to drop in and join us over drinks in …[Read More]