GeoLog

EGU Scientific Divisions

Geosciences Column: Iceland spar, or how Vikings used sunstones to navigate

Nowadays, we can rely on GPS receivers or magnetic compasses to tell us how to reach our destination. Some 1000 years ago, Vikings had none of these advanced navigation tools. Yet, they successfully sailed from Scandinavia to America in near-polar regions where it can be hard to use the Sun and the stars as a compass. Clouds or fog and the long twilights characteristic of polar summers complicate ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Stretching to the Light

Stretching to the Lights, Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA. Image by Valeria Volpe, distributed by EGU under a Creative Commons License. Imaggeo is the online open access geosciences image repository of the European Geosciences Union. Every geoscientist who is an amateur photographer (but also other people) can submit their images to this repository. Being open access, it can be used by scientists for thei ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Akutan Volcano, Alaska

Akutan Volcano, Alaska. Image by Michael Jackson, distributed by EGU under a Creative Commons License. High winds create lenticular clouds off Shishaldin Volcano in the Aleutian Islands. UNAVCO staff installed 16 integrated geophysical instruments including GPS, seismic, tilt, meteorologic instruments on Unimak Island as part of the EarthScope Project. Imaggeo is the online open access geosciences ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Mother of Pearl Cloud

Mother of Pearl Cloud above Esrange, Sweden. Image by Peggy Achtert, distributed by EGU under a Creative Commons License. This image shows a Polar Stratospheric Cloud (PSC) observed during a lidar campaign at Esrange, northern Sweden, on January 27th, 2011. The lidar measurement revealed that the PSC occurred between 29 and 31 km altitude at a temperature below -93°C. PSCs are most commonly observ ...[Read More]