Whilst on a family holiday in Norway, Gerrit de Rooij took this incredible photograph of an ice arch. Understandably geoscience is not his top priority whilst taking photographs on holiday, however Gerrit points out that “pretty much every picture of a landscape has hydrology in there somewhere”, as he goes on to describe below. This picture was taken near Balestrand, a village along the Sognefjor ...[Read More]
Geosciences Column: Is it possible to quantify the effect of natural emissions on climate?
The air we breathe is full of tiny particles that can have a big impact on our climate. Industrial activities have greatly increased the number of these particles, cooling the climate and potentially offsetting some of the warming due to greenhouse gases. In this post Kirsty Pringle introduces new research that suggests that it might not be possible to quantify the effect of industrial emissions o ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Painted Hills after the storm.
The geological record preserved at John Day Fossil beds, in Oregon, USA, is very special. Rarely can you study a continuous succession through changing climates quite like you can at this National Park in the USA. It is a treasure trove of some 60,000 plant and animal fossil specimens that were preserved over a period of 40 million years during the Cenozoic era (which began 66 million years ago). ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: Beate Humberset
In this edition of Geotalk, the regular feature were we highlight the work and achievements of early career researchers, we are talking to Beate Humberset, the winner of the Outstanding Student Poster (OSP) Award for the Solar- Terrestrial Sciences Division (ST) in 2013. In addition, Beate is the Young Scientist Representative for the ST Division so we will also touch upon her responsibilities in ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Salted Moon
The eerie landscape depicted in our Imaggeo on Mondays image, is brought to you by Donatella Spano (University of Sassari, Italy). This picture was taken at Mammoth Hot Springs, one of the largest hot spring areas at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States on August 10, 2010. Mammoth Hot Springs is divided into two sections, the Lower Terrace and the Upper Terrace Loops. The photo below ...[Read More]
The known unknowns: Climate, Life, and the Solid Earth (Part V)
After four fascinating instalments in the known unknowns series we have (sadly) come to the final post. Since the series began in September we have explored the top questions that still remain unanswered when it comes to understanding the inner workings of the planet as well as how the interplay of a number of systems that occur at the Earth’s surface give rise to its varied landscapes. The series ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Polygon ponds at sunset.
Thinking of the Arctic conjures up images of vast expanses of white icy landscapes punctuated by towering icebergs and a few dark rocky masses; certainly not a green landscape with a series of water pools amongst rolling hills. The image below is perhaps more reminiscent of the temperate Scottish or Welsh countryside; but don’t be fooled, out Imaggeo on Monday’s image was captured by Reinhard Pien ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Fresh breakout in the lava fields
Kate Dobson was a volunteer at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory (HVO) in 2001/02 and revisited the stunning Big Island in 2006. During her holidays Kate ventured out to the coastal section of the Pu’uO’o lava flow field and captured this spectacular image of a fresh lava breakout. The Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent is in the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano and began erupting on January 3, 1983, and has continued ...[Read More]
The known unknowns – the outstanding 49 questions in Earth Sciences (Part IV)
We are coming to the end of the known unknowns series and so far we have explored issues which mainly affect the inner workings of our planet. Today we’ll take a look at the surface expression of the geological processes which shape the Earth. Topography significantly affects our daily life and is formed via an interplay between primarily tectonics and climate, but it also affected by biological, ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: The perfect overnight stop.
Being an Earth scientist has its perks and camping overnight in a cave under an absolutely stunning unpolluted night sky has to be up there with one of the best! Our Imaggeo on Mondays image is brought to you by Simon Virgo who took the photograph in 2008 during an advanced mapping field course in structural geology in the Batain region of northeastern Oman. The Batain region extends over an area ...[Read More]