“You can never step into the same river, for new waters are always flowing on to you.” —Heraclitus of Ephesus Rushing rivers, with their unremitting twists and turns and continuous renewal, are often used as a metaphor for life, but the analogy is just as appropriate for scientific research, I reflected as I walked along …[Read More]
Brekkuselslækur, a small river, carves its way across Iceland’s ancient volcanic landscape. At Hengifoss, Iceland’s third-highest waterfall, it tumbles fiercely down thick, dark layers of lavas erupted from volcanoes some 18 to 2.58 million years ago, during a period of geological time known as the Tertiary. Eruptions are rarely continuous; during hiatuses in the extrusion …[Read More]
Despite being one of the driest regions on Earth, the Atacama desert is no stranger to catastrophic flood events. Today’s post highlights how the sands, clays and muds left behind once the flood waters recede can hold the key to understanding this natural hazard. During the severe rains that occurred between May 12 and 13, …[Read More]
This image was taken during the Arctic Ocean 2016(AO16) expedition that ventured to the central regions of the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole. It shows a pressure ridge, or ice ridge, as viewed from onboard the deck of the icebreaker Oden. It was quite striking that the ice ridge resembled an image of a …[Read More]
The effects of climate change are being felt all over the world but towns and cities are feeling most hot-under-the collar, a new study finds. Cities are usually warmer than their surroundings due to the urban heat island effect where artificial surfaces absorb more heat than their natural counterparts. Coupled with the loss of the …[Read More]
Take some ice, mix in some rock, snow and maybe a little mud and the result is a rock glacier. Unlike ice glaciers (the ones we are most familiar with), rock glaciers have very little ice at the surface. Looking at today’s featured image, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Morenas Coloradas rock glacier wasn’t …[Read More]
This month’s GeoRoundUp is a slight deviation from the norm. Instead of drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels and unique or quirky research featured in the news, we’ve rounded up some of the stories which came out of researcher presented at our General Assembly (which took place last week in Vienna). …[Read More]
In 2008 the NEEM Deep Ice Core Project was initiated by 14 partner countries in Northwestern Greenland (camp position 77.45°N 51.06°W) with the aim to drill from the very top of the Greenland ice cap to its base; obtaining ice from as far back as the last interglacial period- the Eemian – some 130,000 years old. …[Read More]
Congratulations to Elisha Teo, the winner of the Communicate Your Science Video Competition 2017. Elisha is a PhD Candidate at National University of Singapore. Display "Teo Lost Rivers" from YouTube Click here to display content from YouTube. Learn more in YouTube’s privacy policy (opens in a new tab). Please enable JavaScript in your browser to …[Read More]
Edvard Munch’s series of paintings and sketches ‘The Scream’ are some of the most famous works by a Norwegian artist, instantly recognisable and reproduced the world over. But what was the inspiration behind this striking piece of art? The lurid colours and tremulous lines have long been thought to represent Munch’s unstable state of mind; …[Read More]
