Geomorphology

How extreme events impact Earth’s surface: reports from the 6th EGU Galileo conference

Maarten Lupker November 6, 2019

Researchers convene at the Bhote Kosi valley in Nepal for a week long EGU Galileo Conference on how rare and catastrophic events influence Earth system dynamics. (Credit: Kristen Cook)

Throughout the year, EGU hosts a number of meetings, workshops, and conferences for the geoscience community. While the EGU’s annual General Assembly brings more than 15,000 scientists together under one roof, the EGU Galileo Conferences allows a smaller number of scientists to discuss and debate issues at the forefront of their discipline. In this blog post, the organisers of the 6th Galileo Conf ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Taking a Breath of the Wild – are geoscientists more effective than non-geoscientists in determining whether video game world landscapes are realistic?

Rolf Hut October 24, 2019

Are people with a geoscientific education better at telling ‘fake’ natural features in video games from real ones? A new study tested both geoscientists and non-geoscientists with photos of natural and artificial landscapes. (Photos from Rolf Hut et al. 2019)

For years, geoscientists have been both fascinated and perplexed by the beautiful (yet often inaccurate) landscapes present in several video games. But are people with a geoscientific education better at telling ‘fake’ natural features from real ones? Rolf Hut, an assistant professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and his colleagues sought to answer this question in a new st ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: A walk at the glacier

Martina Grudzielanek October 14, 2019

A walk at the glacier. Credit: A. Martina Grudzielanek (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

In 2012 I had the opportunity to help lead a teaching excursion to the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard. On this trip, geography students from the Ruhr-University of Bochum in Germany had the chance to learn more about the nature of this fascinating island. In addition to Svalbard’s climatology and the wildlife, the region’s glaciology and geomorphology were the main topics we focused on. For exampl ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The colourful sinkhole clusters at Ghor Al-Haditha

Rob Watson September 30, 2019

Crazy colours in a cluster of sinkholes at Ghor Al-Haditha. Credit: Rob Watson (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Sinkholes that form on the Dead Sea shore at Ghor Al-Haditha, Jordan, often occur in clusters, with many holes packed into a small area. However the visual appearance of neighbouring sinkholes can vary significantly. Mineral precipitation in the foremost sinkhole in this picture, which has no fresh water supply, gives it a garish pink-orange colouration. The larger hole behind has a groundwater-de ...[Read More]