What lies between 3000m and 4800m above sea level in the mountains of the Andes? A very special place dominated by an exceptional ecosystem: The Páramo. Picture lush grasslands with a unique population of flora and fauna, some of which is found nowhere else on Earth. Páramos stretch from Ecuador to Venezuela, across the Northern …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays
Imaggeo on Mondays: Trapped air
Can you imagine walking into the depths of an icy, white, long and cavernous channel within a thick glacier? That is exactly what Kay Helfricht did in 2012 to obtain this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays photograph. Tellbreen Glacier is a small glacier (3.5Km long) in the vicinity of the Longyearbyen valley in the Svalbard region …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: A massive slump
One of the regions that has experienced most warming over the second half of the 20th century is the Potter Peninsula on King George Island in Antartica. It is here that Marc Oliva and his collaborators are studying what the effects of the warming conditions on the geomorphological processes prevailing in these environments. “Permafrost is …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: The Valley of the Souls
Simon Gascoin captured this image of the badlands of the Palca canyon. The Palca canyon is located near the city of La Paz, Bolivia. Like much of the geology in the vicinity of La Paz, the canyon comprises mainly unconsolidated glacial formations, which are highly susceptible to wind and water erosion. The imposing spires, which …[Read More]
Imaggeo On Mondays: Loch Leven
Over hundreds and thousands of years, glaciers reshape the landscape beneath them. As they creep forward, the combined weight of the glacier and the perpetual forward movement means the ice continuously erodes away the rock below, permanently changing the terrain. During the last Ice Age much of Scotland and northern Britain were covered by a …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Fossil dunes
Desert winds continually rework the sands on their surface, shifting grains up the stoss side of a dune to pile the sand higher… until the pile gets too steep and collapses under its own weight. This slipping of material along the front of the dune, allows it to move forward and migrate. The movement of …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Beneath a star-studded sky
Marco Matteucci captured this image of the night sky on the slopes of Mount Rosa, the second tallest peak in Alps. Mount Rosa straddles the border between southern Switzerland and Italy the pink mountain’s name comes from the Franco-Provençal word rouése, meaning glacier. Much off the Swiss side of the mountain is enveloped in the …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Spectacular splatter – the marvels of a mud volcano
Mud volcanoes, unlike many others, do not extrude lava. Instead, they release glutinous bubbling brown slurry of mineral-rich water and sediment. They range in size from several kilometres across, to less than a metre – the little ones are known as mud pots, reflecting their diminutive nature. The world’s largest, though, is Lusi: a mud volcano …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Entering a frozen world
Dmitry Vlasov, a PhD Student and junior scientist from Lomonosov Moscow State University, brings us this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays. He shares his experience of taking part in a student scientific society expedition to Lake Baikal. This picture shows icy shores of Lake Baikal – a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world’s largest natural …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: The most powerful waterfall in Europe
On the menu this Monday is the opportunity to indulge in some incredible Icelandic geology. Take a look at a tremendous waterfall and the beautiful basalt it cuts through… Iceland is famous for its striking landscapes, from fiery volcanoes and fields of basalt to violent geysers and pools of the most fantastic blue. One of …[Read More]