Regular Features

August GeoRoundUp: the best of the Earth sciences from around the web

Olivia Trani September 6, 2018

Shutters of the Cheruthoni dam open in response to heavy rainfall in Kerala, India. (Credit: Kiranroice, via Wikimedia Commons)

Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, major geoscience headlines, as well as unique and quirky research, this monthly column aims to bring you the latest Earth and planetary science news from around the web. Major story The south Indian state of Kerala has suffered unusually heavy monsoon rainfall this month, triggering the worst flooding the state has seen in more ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Bristlecone pines, some of Earth’s oldest living life forms

Raphael Knevels September 3, 2018

A thousands of years Old Beauty. Credit: Raphael Knevels (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

About 5,000 years ago, the ancient city Troy was founded, Stonehenge was under construction, and in the rugged Sierra Nevada mountain range, groves of bristlecone pine seedlings began to take root. Many of these pines are still alive today, making them the world’s oldest known living non-clonal life forms. Raphael Knevels, a PhD student from the Friedrich-Schiller-University’s Department of Geogra ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Antarctic winds make honeycomb ice

Olivia Trani August 27, 2018

Honeycomb Ice, Antarctica. Credit: Helen Millman (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

These delicate ice structures may look like frozen honeycombs from another world, but the crystalline patterns can be found 80 degrees south, in Antarctica, where they are shaped by the white continent’s windy conditions. In Western Antarctica is a 9-kilometre line of rocky ridges, called Patriot Hills. Often cold wind furiously descends from the hills across Horseshoe Valley glacier, sculpting do ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Fairy chimneys in Love Valley

Olivia Trani August 20, 2018

Fairy Chimneys in The Love Valley. Credit: Alessandro Demarchi (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Every year tourists from around the world flock to Love Valley in Göreme National Park in the Cappadocia region of central Turkey to marvel at the region’s peculiarly pointy geological features. These cone-shaped formations, known as ‘fairy chimneys’ or hoodoos, dominate the park’s skyline, with some rocky spires extending up to 40 metres towards the sky. While the name ‘fairy chimney’ suggests my ...[Read More]