Lichens are amazing organisms. They are a composite of algae and fungi, each of which supports the other through the exchange of nutrients (fungi to algae) and carbon (algae to fungi). They are also capable of making a home out of seemingly inhospitable rock surfaces – and what’s more – making the most of these surfaces …[Read More]
EGU Scientific Divisions
Imaggeo on Mondays: Moulding Malaspina’s moraines
There are many different types of glaciers, each defined by where they’re located and how they terminate. Piedmont glaciers are those that flow out from a confining valley and spill out into the open, forming wide lobes. This one is Malaspina Glacier, which spreads out over the Seward Ice Field. Stretching 45 kilometres over the …[Read More]
Put it in a nutshell – or in this case a 21 ft container
In his final post from the Floating University, Jens Weiser shares what it’s like to be part of an oceanographic research cruise and sums up some of the best experiences he’s had on board… I started this series asking whether anyone of you had ever thought about joining a research cruise. Now that this cruise …[Read More]
A dangerous fish in the lab and a Vibrocorer on the move – who said research was monotonous?
Earlier this month Jens Weiser set off aboard a research vessel fondly known as the Floating University to find out more about the oceans off southern Africa. After several weeks at sea, Weiser has some exciting findings to report back from FS Meteor as he and 14 other young scientists explore the region’s biology and …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: A feast of pancakes
The thought of pancake ice always makes me a little hungry – I just can’t help thinking about stacks of syrup-drowned pancakes, or crepes covered wish sugar and doused with lemon juice – but the science of pancake ice is quite a tempting topic too! Pancake ice occurs in areas where ice formation is repeatedly …[Read More]
Dense rocks rise higher because isostasy says so
From space, the Brandberg Igneous Complex looks like a coffee-coloured birthmark set upon the bony complexion of the Namibian desert. Perfectly circular, its peaks soar in a ring of mighty topography, its massive granite cliffs etched with the muscular definition of spheroidal weathering. Its bulk seems to rise out of the barren landscape, driven upward …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Carving polar canyons
This week Ian Joughin, a research scientist from the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington, takes us on the polar express to put glacial processes into perspective and find out what makes a moulin… This canyon formed when a melt lake on the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet overflowed and created a …[Read More]
‘Coaland’ – fossil fuel addiction, renewables envy and Poland’s energy future
The Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy (ELEEP) Network brings together young professionals from Europe and North America with the aim of fostering transatlantic relations. As Warsaw prepared to host last month’s UN climate convention (COP19), ELEEP members, including former EGU Science Communications Fellow Edvard Glücksman, sat down for coffee with one of the early …[Read More]
Seawater, fish larvae and sediments – a snapshot of an ecosystem off South Africa
Earlier this month Jens Weiser set out from southern Africa to find out more about the region’s biology and geology. Back aboard FS Meteor, he’s searching for layers of lagoonal muds to see what the climate was like here in the late Quaternary… After quite a lot of transit, we arrived at our first big …[Read More]
Geoscience under the tree
In a festive-themed post, EGU Media and Communications Manager Bárbara Ferreira selects a plethora of geoscience-inspired Christmas presents, which you could give to your favourite researcher. Please note that, with the exception of the last one, the items listed below are not necessarily recommended or endorsed by the EGU. For me Christmas is more about …[Read More]