GeoLog

Regular Features

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]

Geosciences Column: The complex links between shrinking sea ice and cloud cover

December 2, 2016
Sea ice breaking on the Chukchi Sea, Barrow, July 2014
Sea Ice . Credit: Scott Davidson (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The global climate system is complex. It is composed of, and governed by, a plethora of interconnect factors. Solar radiation, land surface, ice cover, the atmosphere and living things, as well as wind and ocean currents, play a crucial role in the climate system. These factors are intricately connected; changes to some can have significant effects on others, leading to overall consequences for th ...[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]