GeoLog

Imaggeo on Mondays

Imaggeo on Mondays: Ice drilling

December 19, 2016
Ice drilling in Saratov
Ice drilling. Credit: Maksim Cherviakov (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

This week’s Imaggeo on Monday’s post, captured by Maksim Cherviakov, shows students from Saratov National Research University practicing a method to measure lake ice thickness. The students are using an ice auger to manually burrow through the ice. Afterwards, the ice depth is recorded using a tape measure. “We measure ice thickness every year on the lakes located in the floodplain of the Vo ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!”

December 12, 2016
Mount St Helen's, Washington, seen from Johnston Ridge.
Mount St Helen's, Washington. Credit: Andy Smedley (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

On May 18th 1980 Mount St Helens (an active stratovolcano of the Cascades located in the North West US), erupted explosively following a magnitude 5.1 earthquake. The quake triggered a devastating landslide which swept away the volcano’s northern flank – in what is the largest debris avalanche recorded on Earth to date. Removal of a section of the edifice depressurised the volcano’s magmatic ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The shrinking of Earth’s saltiest lake

December 5, 2016
One of the consequences of the rapid fall of the water level (>1 m per year), is that vast areas of salt-rich ground of the shrunken Dead Sea are prone to strong dissolution and mechanical erosion of the subsurface processes.
Submarine springs at the Dead Sea shoreline. Credit: Djamil Al-Halbouni and Dr. Eoghan Holohan (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest lakes on Earth, located at the lowest point of the globe.  For centuries it has been known for the restorative powers of its muds and waters. Their hypersalinity means it is possible to easily float on the lake’s surface. Bordering Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, it is a unique environment in an otherwise arid region.  Changing climate, which is seeing tempera ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: White rainbow in the Arctic

November 28, 2016
“Above the foggy strip, this white arch was shining, covering one third of the visible sky in the direction of the ship's bow,” he explains. “It was a so-called white, or fog rainbow, which appears on the fog droplets, which are much smaller then rain droplets and cause different optic effects, which is a reason of its white colour.”
Gateway to the Arctic . Credit: Mikhail Varentsov (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Despite heading into the long polar night – the time when the sun doesn’t shine in the globe’s most northerly latitudes and when temperatures drop and thick sheets of sea ice form -the Arctic is reported to be 20° C warmer than average for this time of year.  Never has it been more important to understand the effects of climate change on Polar Regions. Mikhail Varentsov, a climate and meteor ...[Read More]