Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

Imaggeo on Mondays: Mount Elgon, a balance between fertility and destruction

Jente Broeckx March 26, 2018

Don't be fooled by the peaceful view . Credit: Jente Broeckx (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

This colourful cropland patchwork is located on the fertile flanks of Mount Elgon, Uganda at an elevation of 2,400 metres above sea level. The extinct shield volcano, the oldest in East Africa, is mostly covered in clouds and provides an infinite flow of wonderful waterfalls. Due to the climate at this elevation, the cultivated crops experience more temperate weather conditions compared to crops m ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: How will large Icelandic eruptions affect us and our environment?

Olivia Trani March 16, 2018

Meet Anja Schmidt, the winner of a 2018 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists, pictured here in front of Teide volcano in Tenerife, Spain. Credit: Anja Schmidt.

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Anja Schmidt, an interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Cambridge who draws from atmospheric science, climate modelling, and volcanology to better understand the environmental impact of volcanic eruptions. She is also the winner of a 2018 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Ea ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Chilean relics of Earth’s past

Anita Di Chiara March 12, 2018

Sunset, LLaima volcano and eruptions' relicts . Credit: Anita Di Chiara (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

As Earth’s environment changes, it leaves behind clues used by scientists to paint portraits of the past: scorched timber, water-weathered shores, hardened lava flows. Chile’s Conguillío National Park is teeming with these kind of geologic artifacts; some are only a few years old while others have existed for more than 30 million years. The photographer Anita Di Chiara, a researcher at Lancaster U ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Snow folded by advancing lava

Eva Eibl January 29, 2018

Snow folded by advancing lava . Credit: Eva Eibl (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

The photograph shows the interaction of the first snow and an active lava flow during the 2014 / 2015 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland. The first snow fell onto a ground covered by fine black ash on 26 September 2014. While the meter thick lava flow advanced a few meters per day, it neither melted the snow nor flowed on top of it. Instead, it pushed a layer of centimetre-thick snow and millimetre-thi ...[Read More]