This photo was taken during a fieldwork campaign following the mainshock of the deadly seismic sequence that struck central Italy starting from 24 August 2016. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake severely damaged nearby towns, claimed more than 290 lives and injured nearly 400 people in its wake. As a geologist from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, I was in charge of measuring the ma ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Snow folded by advancing lava
The photograph shows the interaction of the first snow and an active lava flow during the 2014 / 2015 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland. The first snow fell onto a ground covered by fine black ash on 26 September 2014. While the meter thick lava flow advanced a few meters per day, it neither melted the snow nor flowed on top of it. Instead, it pushed a layer of centimetre-thick snow and millimetre-thi ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: The best of imaggeo in 2017
Imaggeo, our open access image repository, is packed with beautiful images showcasing the best of the Earth, space and planetary sciences. Throughout the year we use the photographs submitted to the repository to illustrate our social media and blog posts. For the past few years we’ve celebrated the end of the year by rounding-up some of the best Imaggeo images. But it’s no easy task to pick which ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Smoking mountain top
Japan’s northernmost, second largest and least developed island, Hokkaido, is famous for its unspoilt nature. Harsh, cold and snowy winters make way for pleasant summers, which allow tourists and locals to enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, year-round, in the island’s six protected areas. The largest of the natural parks is Daisetsuzan: known for it’s wilderness and volcanoes. It is formed by ...[Read More]