Regular Features

Imaggeo on Mondays: Dragon Blood Tree

Laura Roberts-Artal August 24, 2015

Dracaena Cinnabari [Dragon Blood Tree, Socotra, Yemen] . Credit: Annalisa Molini (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

On a small and isolated island in the Indian Ocean you’ll find an endemic population of Dragon Blood Trees (Dracaena cinnabari). Burly, with an interesting umbrella-shaped fractal canopy, these unique trees are a sight to behold. To see them for yourself, you’ll have to travel to the little known Socotra archipelago. Off the coast of Somalia, but belonging to Yemen, the group of islands boast an i ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Velociraptor in the Zagros Mountains

Laura Roberts-Artal August 17, 2015

How many times have you turned your head up to the sky and spotted familiar shapes in the clouds? Viewing structures from afar can reveal interesting, common and, sometimes, funny patterns. Satellite images are often used to map geological terrains. They offer a bird’s eye view of the planet and the opportunity to see broad scale structures, the scale of which would be impossible to grasp from the ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Mesopotamia, the ancient land between rivers

Laura Roberts-Artal August 10, 2015

Mesopotamia, an area rich in history and considered as the cradle of civilisation, with the first populations establishing themselves in the region some 6000 years ago,lies between two great rivers: the Euphrates and the Tigris. The ancient territory spans areas of modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, the northeastern section of Syria and small sections of southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran. The histor ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: The calamity of eruptions, or an eruption of benefits?

Laura Roberts-Artal August 7, 2015

Mt. Bromo Panorama. Credit: Jimmy McIntyre (distributed via Wikimedia Commons)

So here is a question: why would anyone want to live in the vicinity of an active volcano? The risks are well known, with hazards arising from lava flows, lahars, ash falls, debris avalanches, and pyroclastic density currents, with many often having deadly consequences. But despite the danger, more than half a billion people live in the direct vicinity of volcanoes. Could it be that communities pr ...[Read More]