Hydrological Sciences

Imaggeo on Mondays: A lifeline between light and shadow

Florian Konrad September 9, 2019

A Lifeline Between Light and Shadow. Credit: Florian Konrad (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The Rapaälven making its way through the Rapadalen valley in Northern Sweden. After over a week of hiking through pure wilderness I reached the summit of Skierffe together with three friends. We were just blown away by the view and completely in awe for the beautiful shape of the rivers course… little lakes in between river channels of different sizes as well as dense vegetation forming a ha ...[Read More]

Conversations on a century of geoscience in Europe: Part 1

Olivia Trani August 28, 2019

Image modified from Robberg Peninsula - a home of seals. Credit: Elizaveta Kovaleva (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

When you think about the last century of geoscience, what comes to mind? Perhaps Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift? Or Inge Lehmann’s discovery of Earth’s solid inner core? Over the last 100 years, geoscientists have made incredible contributions to our understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and beyond. The science community has explored uncharted territory, challenged previously ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Our QUEST for innovative tools to understand changing environments and climates

Sebastian Breitenbach and Adam Hartland June 10, 2019

A multi-year cave monitoring programme in New Zealand's Waipuna Cave focusses on developing novel quantitative proxies for palaeoclimatology. We measure drip rate, temperature, electrical conductivity and many other parameters, analyse the isotopic and elemental composition of the water, and compare our results with the length and origin of recorded rainfall. With our data, we hope to better understand the interplay of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the Southern Westerlies and the local response to changes in their dynamics. This monitoring is part of the EU Marie Curie RISE Project "QUantitative palaeoEnvironments from SpeleoThems – QUEST". Credit: Sebastian Breitenbach (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The photo shown here shows typical sampling work underground. You can see Ola Kwiecien and Cinthya Nava Fernandez, researchers at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, collecting dripwater in New Zealand’s Waipuna Cave as part of a four-year EU-funded monitoring programme. Our research aims at developing innovative geochemical indicators that we can use to quantify changes in the hydrological system ...[Read More]

Groundwater springs harbour hidden viruses

Sara Mynott April 10, 2019

Open sewers, such as this one, are common in Kampala, Uganda. Credit: The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance Secretariat.

In many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, groundwater springs are a vital, precious source of water. They are also a reservoir of disease. Research presented at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna reveals that groundwater reservoirs in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda contain diverse communities of viruses – including those that present a risk to human health. The work, carried out by I ...[Read More]