Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

Imaggeo on Mondays: “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!”

Laura Roberts-Artal December 12, 2016

Mount St Helen's, Washington, seen from Johnston Ridge.

Mount St Helen's, Washington. Credit: Andy Smedley (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

On May 18th 1980 Mount St Helens (an active stratovolcano of the Cascades located in the North West US), erupted explosively following a magnitude 5.1 earthquake. The quake triggered a devastating landslide which swept away the volcano’s northern flank – in what is the largest debris avalanche recorded on Earth to date. Removal of a section of the edifice depressurised the volcano’s magmatic ...[Read More]

GeoEd: A round-up of (geo)educational board games

Laura Roberts-Artal November 23, 2016

Playing the Wiapuna board game in the final class. Credit: T. Ewen and J. Seibert, 2016.

With the rise of electronic games – those played on computers, consoles and even on mobile phones – you’d be forgiven for thinking the humble board game would be slowly making its way into the history books. Nothing could be further from the truth! Sales of board games are on the up, as are cafes where you can gather to play table-top games of your choice, and board game meet ups: regular gaming g ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Gole dell‘ Alcantara

Laura Roberts-Artal November 7, 2016

Find a new way . Credit: Wolfgang Fraedrich (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

On account of Mount Etna (Europe’s largest volcano), the island of Sicily is peppered with geological wonders. Starting with the summit craters of the volcano itself, right through to over 200 caves formed within lava tubes, the island is packed with volcanic sights.Chief among them is Gole dell ‘Alcantara, a system of gorges formed 8,000 years ago in the course of the river Alcantara ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: Drilling into the crater which contributed to the demise of dinosaurs

Laura Roberts-Artal October 28, 2016

The Onshore Science Party for Expedition 364. Image courtesy of Volker Diekamp@ECORD_IODP

Six months ago, somewhere in the tropical waters off the coast of Mexico, scientists began drilling into one of the most iconic geological features on Earth: the Chicxulub crater; the 66 million year old remnants of a deadly asteroid impact, thought to have contributed to the demise of dinosaurs and most other forms of life which inhabited the Earth at the time. Today we speak to Sonia Tikoo, Assi ...[Read More]