The Atacama desert in Chile is one of the driest regions in the world. Rain has never been recorded in parts of the desert and the average rainfall is typically one milimetre per year or less (for comparison, the average annual precipitation in Munich, where the EGU Executive Office is located, is over 960 millimetres). However, every five years or so, rare bouts of local rainfall are triggered by ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Arctic iceberg
The text of this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays comes from the photographer himself, Phillip Blaen (University of Birmingham), who took the picture while on fieldwork for his PhD studies. Phillip researches the impacts of climate change on the hydrology and ecology of Artic rivers. Last year, I was working in a small research village called Ny Alesund, which is on the shore of Kongsfjord in north-west ...[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]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Trees of time
The Namib-Nauklufy National Park in Namibia is a stunning ecoregion that encompasses part of the Namib Desert and the Nauklufy mountain range. With an area of almost 50,000 square kilometres, the park covers a wide range of landscapes, including gravel plains, tall sand dunes, and an ephemeral river. The park also includes one of the main visitor attractions of Namibia, the Sossusvlei, a large dry ...[Read More]