EGU Scientific Divisions

Looking for answers towards the stars: stone tools and nuclides unveil the earliest solid evidence of humans in Europe

Anna Katsigera April 18, 2024

When stars explode, supernova-style, the explosion sets off streams of high energy particles across the universe, mainly protons and alpha particles, that after millions of years reach us here on Earth. Secondary cosmic rays pass through our bodies and almost everything around us, and they penetrate a few meters into the ground where they interact with atoms in soil and rock. This produces new iso ...[Read More]

Turning adversity into opportunity: mapping plastic pollution in rivers

Jakub Stepanovic April 17, 2024

In July 2021, the Benelux area, Germany, and France experienced heavy rainfall followed by mass flooding, causing widespread damage. Along the vast quantities of plastic swept along the riverbanks, Rahel Hauk, a researcher from Wageningen University, conducted fieldwork to assess the impact of the flood event on plastic deposition. Amidst the debris, Hauk and her colleagues noticed a large volume ...[Read More]

Past ice and future predictions – scanning and drilling the changing Antarctic ice

Maria Scheel April 17, 2024

In front of the blue EGU press conference background, Olaf Eisen (left), Robert Larter (middle) and Emma Pearce (right) are engaged in discussion.

Did you know that some of the scientists of each General Assembly get invited to a press conference to face a group of curious journalists? I did not – but as press assistant for the #EGU24, I had the unique chance to attend the press conference “Unveiling Antarctica’s secrets: new research brings us one step closer to predicting the future of the icy continent”. Prominent scientists (Fig.1) ...[Read More]

Soil bacteria that hunt like a wolfpack? Myxobacteria and their role in the food web

Maria Scheel April 16, 2024

A photo of a wolf in the middle and four microscopic images of colourful bacterial cultures around it.

Picture this: bacteria that can slime their way around the soil, finding their prey, circling it, closing in on it and lysing it (or making their cell pop), just to feed on their prey. It sounds like a far stretch from a wolf to a bacteria, but even other soil predators, the comparably huge nematode worms ( up to 100 times bigger!), are afraid of these bacterial “wolves”. I went to the Soil System ...[Read More]

What’s beneath Tenerife? Innovative Monitoring Techniques Reveal the Island’s Volcanic Activity

Anna Katsigera April 16, 2024

Tenerife, the largest active volcanic island in the Canarian archipelago, encompasses a diverse landscape shaped by volcanic activity. This picturesque island of the Mediterranean not only boasts stunning vistas but also harbours a dynamic volcanic system that requires diligent monitoring. In recent years, an international team of researchers from Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN), In ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: Fluvial geomorphology and its potential for policy impact

Chloe Hill February 9, 2024

In this month’s GeoPolicy blog post, Dr Grace Skirrow outlines how researchers can share their expertise with environmental regulators to have policy impact and the role that fluvial geomorphology can play in policy decisions. Fluvial Geomorphology and why it is relevant for policymakers Fluvial Geomorphology (“fluvial”, derived from the Latin “fluvialis”, meaning “of the river”) is the study of l ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: meet Gino de Gelder, researcher of the link between tectonics, sea-level rise & coral reefs!

Simon Clark January 12, 2024

Hello Gino! Welcome to GeoTalk. Could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and your background? Sure thing! My background is mostly in tectonics, geomorphology and the evolution of (active) fault systems, which I developed during my studies at Utrecht University and my PhD at the IPGP (Paris). Initially I focused on the way that coastlines record either uplift or subsidence in response ...[Read More]

The Global South Climate Database: one thousand experts in one year!

Ayesha Tandon January 5, 2024

Climate change is one of the most urgent problems facing humanity today. Every corner of the planet is already feeling the impacts of climate change, from devastating heatwaves to sweeping floods. The wealthy and powerful are responsible for the lion’s share of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, the impacts of climate change are disproportionately felt by the poorest and most vulnerable members ...[Read More]

The best Christmas gift you could ask for: how a rare solar event created a once-in-a-lifetime Martian experiment

Hazel Gibson December 20, 2023

One of the realities of studying the Earth, planetary or space sciences is that we are attempting to observe an experiment that has been in progress for billions of years, with variables that are most often far outside of our control. Many researchers try to understand these systems by recreating aspects of it, either in analogue experiments or by using simulations, where the variables can be adju ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: meet Megan Holdt, researcher of mantle dynamics & Geodynamics ECS Representative!

Simon Clark December 15, 2023

Hello Megan! Welcome to GeoTalk. Could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and your background? Hi Simon, thank you for inviting me to GeoTalk! I am originally from Australia and studied geology and geophysics at the University of Sydney. After I finished my undergraduate degree, I worked as an earth scientist for almost seven years. I really enjoyed my time in industry, but I felt th ...[Read More]