This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays stars the humble sea urchin – a creature suffering from the effects of climate change, but one that could also provide a way to sequester some of the CO2 responsible… Carbon dioxide and water react to form carbonic acid – a mixture of bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. Sea urchins bag the bicarbonate to grow bigger, stronger shells, or ‘tests’, but without a catalyst, th ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: White mist on White Island
White Island, also known as Whakaari, is an active stratovolcano off the coast of New Zeland’s North Island, nested in the northern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Much of its activity is made up of bubbling mud pools and steamy, sulphurous clouds from fumaroles like the one below – sights that attracts many a tourist to the marine volcano. Over the last 200 or so years, a large part of White Isla ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Long live the lichen!
Lichens are amazing organisms. They are a composite of algae and fungi, each of which supports the other through the exchange of nutrients (fungi to algae) and carbon (algae to fungi). They are also capable of making a home out of seemingly inhospitable rock surfaces – and what’s more – making the most of these surfaces to release the nutrients they need to grow. The quartzite above is home to the ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Moulding Malaspina’s moraines
There are many different types of glaciers, each defined by where they’re located and how they terminate. Piedmont glaciers are those that flow out from a confining valley and spill out into the open, forming wide lobes. This one is Malaspina Glacier, which spreads out over the Seward Ice Field. Stretching 45 kilometres over the lowlands towards the sea, and spanning some 65 kilometres across, Mal ...[Read More]