Regular Features

Imaggeo on Mondays: An explosive cloud

Laura Roberts-Artal February 23, 2015

Karymsky volcano, 2004. Credit: Alexander Belousov (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

One of the world’s most volcanically active regions is the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia. It is the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk microplate (belonging to the large North America Plate) which drives the volcanic and seismic hazard in this remote area. The surface expression of the subduction zone is the 2100 km long Kuril-Kamchatka volcanic arc: a chain of volcanic isla ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: The quest for life on Mars

Laura Roberts-Artal February 20, 2015

Jarosite deposits on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Understanding where we come from and whether Earth is the only habitable planet in the Solar System has been a long standing conundrum in science. Partly because it is our nearest neighbour, partly because of its past and current similarities with our own home, Mars, the red planet, is a likely contender in the quest for extra-terrestrial life. In this guest blog post, James Lewis, a PhD student a ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: A Patagonia landscape dominated by volcanoes

Laura Roberts-Artal February 16, 2015

Imagine a torrent of hot and cold water, laden with rock fragments, ash and other debris hurtling down a river valley: this is a lahar. A by-product of eruptions of tall, steep-sided stratovolcanoes, lahars, are often triggered by the quick melting of snow caps and glaciers atop high volcanic peaks. The history of the Ibañes River and its valley, in southern Chile, are dominated by their proximity ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Fire in ice – the history of boreal forest fires told by Greenland ice cores.

Laura Roberts-Artal February 13, 2015

Burning of biomass contributes a significant amount of greenhouses gases to the atmosphere, which in turn influences regional air quality and global climate. Since the advent of humans, there has been a significant increase in the amount of biomass burning, particularly after the industrial revolution. What might not be immediately obvious is that, (naturally occurring) fires also play a part in e ...[Read More]