Great geoscience photographs aren’t always shots of beautiful landscapes. Sometimes there are stunning things to see at a much smaller scale. This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays showcases one such curiosity and highlights how research images can reveal a lot about the natural world when exhibited as a form of art. Thin sections are a fantastic way of finding out more about rocks, soils and tissue struc ...[Read More]
Regular Features
Imaggeo on Mondays: Pitter-patter of little paws in Patomsky crater
This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays is brought to you by Dmitry Demezhko, who describes how Patomsky crater may have formed and why it keeps scientists puzzling… Patomsky crater, also known as Patomskiy crater or the Patom cone, sits in the Irkutsk Region of Eastern Siberia. The site is a curious cone with a crater at the top and a small mound in the center. The cone totals some 39 metres in height and ...[Read More]
Geosciences Column: Using tall trees to tot up tropical carbon
Forests in the tropics account for about half the above-ground carbon on Earth and as the trees grow older they are capable of storing more and more. In fact, their carbon-storing potential is so large that they are increasingly being viewed as a means of mitigating climate change. Take, for example, the United Nations effort to reduce degradation and deforestation by assigning value to forest car ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: A fly by some fantastic farming
This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays is brought to you by Kristof Van Oost, a scientist from the Georges Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research (UCL) in Belgium. He tells us how local organic farms are being managed to ensure a lot of carbon stays in the soil… This is a picture of the organic farm Het Open Veld in Leuven, Belgium. The farm is built around an alternative agriculture model in whic ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: Connecting geoscience and archaeology with Sophie Gangl
This week in GeoTalk, we’re talking to Sophie Gangl, a masters student from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna. Sophie tells us about the intersecting fields of geoscience and archaeology, and shares the benefits of presenting postgraduate projects at an international conference. Hi Sophie, can you tell us a little about yourself and what you’ve been investigating ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: How sea urchins can help mitigate climate change
This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays stars the humble sea urchin – a creature suffering from the effects of climate change, but one that could also provide a way to sequester some of the CO2 responsible… Carbon dioxide and water react to form carbonic acid – a mixture of bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. Sea urchins bag the bicarbonate to grow bigger, stronger shells, or ‘tests’, but without a catalyst, th ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: White mist on White Island
White Island, also known as Whakaari, is an active stratovolcano off the coast of New Zeland’s North Island, nested in the northern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Much of its activity is made up of bubbling mud pools and steamy, sulphurous clouds from fumaroles like the one below – sights that attracts many a tourist to the marine volcano. Over the last 200 or so years, a large part of White Isla ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: Matt Herod on awesome outreach and education
Matt Herod has long been part of the EGU Blog Network, where he writes about all things geochemistry from his base in the University of Ottawa. In this week’s GeoTalk, we had the chance to talk to Matt about all the other science communication activities he’s been up to – from mentoring kids in Canada to speaking science in schools… This year GeoSphere had its first birthday as part of the EGU Blo ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Long live the lichen!
Lichens are amazing organisms. They are a composite of algae and fungi, each of which supports the other through the exchange of nutrients (fungi to algae) and carbon (algae to fungi). They are also capable of making a home out of seemingly inhospitable rock surfaces – and what’s more – making the most of these surfaces to release the nutrients they need to grow. The quartzite above is home to the ...[Read More]
I’m a Geoscientist – Get me out of here! Apply to take part in our 2014 launch event!
Imagine a talent show where contestants get voted off dependant on their skills in their area of choice. Then imagine that this talent show is populated by scientists with school students voting them off based on the scientist’s ability to communicate their research well. This is the basis of the EGU’s new educational (for both students and scientists!) initiative to launch in June 2014. The EGU h ...[Read More]