Picture yourself in the Himalaya mountain belt: millions of years of continental uplift have produced a vast kingdom of towering monoliths, and they continue to grow as the Indian plate pushes further north into the heart of Asia. These dramatic, breath-taking and downright enormous geological structures can be simplified into the following tectonic units: the Leugogranites, the Transhimalaya, the ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Kalalau Valley
At over 5 million years old, the island of Kauai is the oldest island in the Hawaiian Achipelago. Hawaii, Maui and Oahu are all younger and lie further to the southeast. This island chronology is no coincidence – the Archipelago formed as a result of intra-plate volcanic activity. Intra-plate volcanism occurs where an upwelling magma plume or ‘hot spot’ lies beneath a continental plate. In this ca ...[Read More]
Geotalk: Dr Olivier Galland
GeoTalk, featuring short interviews with geoscientists about their research, continues this month with a Q&A with Dr Olivier Galland (University of Oslo), who tells us about his volcanology research and the importance of outreach in promoting the Earth sciences. If you’d like to suggest a scientist for an interview, please contact Bárbara Ferreira. First, could you introduce yourself and ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Crater lake
At the border between the Pacific and Australian plates, crossed by the Pacific Ring of Fire, New Zealand is one of the most geologically active countries in the world. Volcanoes abound in this island-country, which contains the “world’s strongest concentration of youthful rhyolotic volcanoes“, and earthquakes are a frequent presence. Mount Ruapehu, a stratovolcano located in the ...[Read More]