In this month’s Geosciences Column, Celso Gomes highlights a recent result published in EGU’s Biogeosciences on the role of a particular single-celled microorganism in the production of nitrous oxide in the ocean. About 30% of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas, is a product of the ocean. Therefore, by studying the mechanisms behind the oceanic production of this gas, sc ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: The broken heart
We humans have a tendency to see familiar shapes in things such as animals in clouds, faces on Mars, and even food in rocks. The photographer, Natalia Rudaya saw a broken heart in a curious Taiwanese rock, the centrepiece of the beautiful photograph we are featuring this week. Aside from its interesting shape, the Broken Heart rock has strange dents, which tell of its geological history. These for ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: Dr Guillermo Rein
This week, we are excited to introduce a new monthly blog column called GeoTalk, featuring short interviews with geoscientists about their research. To kick-start this regular Q&A series, we talked to Dr Guillermo Rein of Imperial College London about “the largest fires on Earth” and how they can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. First, could you introduce yourself and let us ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Jökulsárlón
This photo of an awe-inspiring icy landscape is without a doubt one of the best we have ever featured in our weekly Imaggeo on Mondays. The Icelandic glacial lagoon Jökulsárlón is gloomy and cold. Yet the brilliant blue of the ice and the turquoise of the water stand out beautifully in this image, giving it a je-ne-sais-quoi of magic. The photographer, János Kovács, a geologist at the University o ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Water or new iridescent fluid?
At ambient conditions, water is an odourless, tasteless, transparent liquid. It’s a vital fluid yet it has very simple properties. Unlike soap bubbles, for example, water is not iridescent – it does not appear to change colour when we view it from different angles. Unless, of course, there is something colourful in the background that the water reflects giving it an apparent iridescence. Thi ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Cordillera del Paine
Images such as the one above inspire scientists and nature lovers alike. This photograph, showing a Chilean landscape with elements representative of various Earth-science disciplines, is simply stunning. In a beautiful mix of shapes and colours, a quiet lake with floating icebergs appears tucked in between a roughed mountain in the background and a colourful double rainbow in the foreground. The ...[Read More]
Geosciences Column: For permafrost, (sediment) size does matter
In this month’s Geosciences Column, David Bressan – now a regular EGU contributor – highlights a recent result published in The Cryosphere with implications on the occurrence and preservation of alpine permafrost. The last 150 years saw an increase of 0.8°C in the Earth’s mean global temperature. In mountain ranges like the European Alps, however, this rising trend is even more pronoun ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Kerlingarfjöll
Iceland, with its stunning volcanic landscapes, is one of the world’s most geologically rich countries. Kerlingarfjöll, featured in this week’s image, is a prime example of that. This Icelandic mountain range, covering an area of 150 square kilometres, formed during a volcanic eruption in the Late Pleistocene – some 100 thousand years ago. “Kerlingarfjöll is very different to the environment aroun ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Sequoias in full moon
The Sequoia National Park in Sierra Nevada, California, is one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the United States. The park, spanning over 1,600 square kilometres, is home to high mountains, deep canyons, and long and pristine caves. But its most distinct feature are giant sequoias, the world’s largest trees. Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) grow to an average height of 50 to 85 metres ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Jointed Colorado Rockies
The Rocky Mountains, or Rockies, are a North American mountain system stretching around 5,000 km from northern British Columbia, Canada, to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. They are made up of a discontinuous series of mountain ranges with distinct geological origins, the last of which was formed during the Laramide orogeny (mountain formation event) 80–55 million years ago. With a po ...[Read More]