This week in GeoTalk, we’re talking to Juan Carlos Afonso, a geophysicist from Macquarie University, Sydney. He explains how a holistic approach is crucial to understanding tectonic processes and how a little “LitMod philosophy” can go a long way to achieving this… First, could you introduce yourself and tell us a little about what you are currently working on? My name is Juan Carlos Afonso and I’ ...[Read More]
Geodynamics
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 by some unseen force. In fact, granite intru ...[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 eating large amounts of food and celebratin ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Flying over flysch
In this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays, Ian Watkinson transports us to the Sulaiman Mountain Range and shows why it’s always worth bringing a camera in your hand luggage… This image is the view from the window of a plane crossing the Pakistan-Afghanistan border close to Zhob. I took it just before the weather closed in on a clear crossing of the Indus valley foreland and the entire Sulaiman Mountain ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Great faults and faultless geotourism
Road cuttings provide a great window into the wonders of what’s beneath the Earth’s surface. In this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays Bahram Sadry takes us through a beautiful fault between Tabriz and Tehran, Iran… These incredible rock outcroppings along Zanjan-Tabriz highway (the northwest of Iran), are unlike any other outcrop in the world. They are a group of faults and fractures, brecciation and gra ...[Read More]
Dust in the desert: The Skeleton Coast – Foggy, dusty & demanding – part 3 of 3
In this third instalment in this series our journey takes us into the Skeleton Coast. Synonymous with shipwrecks and known as “The Land God Made in Anger” to indigenous Bushmen this coastal desert has been protected as a National Park since 1971. Similar to many of Namibia’s National Parks, the Skeleton Coast does not allow anyone to stay overnight within its boundaries. However at over 16,000 km2 ...[Read More]
Dust in the desert: The Kuiseb and Tschaub Rivers – part 2 of 3
The dust in the desert series continues this week as James King shares his experience of fieldwork in Nambia… Our base of operations is located in Swakopmund, a sea-side town of German heritage. This has two benefits: pastries and unrivalled hardware stores. The amount of supplies (hardware, not cake) that this sleepy Namibian town has puts most major UK cities to shame; proving to be an essential ...[Read More]
Dust in the desert: Measuring it is only half the battle – Part 1 of 3
Fieldwork is vital to understanding all sorts of Earth processes, but that doesn’t make it easy! James King, a researcher from the University of Oxford, describes what it takes to set off on a scientific expedition… Although the classic text on sediment transport by wind by Sir Ralph Bagnold was written way back in 1941, the mechanics of dust storms and their effects on the climate are still ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: Simon Mudd
Today in GeoTalk, we’re talking to Simon Mudd, an exceptional and forward-thinking geomorphologist. First, could you introduce yourself and let us know a bit about what you are currently working on? I am lecturer in Landscape Dynamics at the University of Edinburgh, where I have been since 2007. Before that I was a post-doc at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville Tennessee. I received my PhD from V ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: The Chalk Cliffs of Étretat
Étretat is a coastal region in northern France, well known for its stunning geological landscape. Particularly the headland you see here. Headland erosion is perhaps one of the best known processes in coastal erosion, where a crack in the headland is opened and enlarged by hydraulic abrasion. Continued wave action causes the widened crack or cave to break through the headland and form an arch. As ...[Read More]