Soil Sciences

Geosciences Column: The World’s soils are under threat

Laura Roberts-Artal July 22, 2016

Tillage in vineyards with heavy machinery is inducing soil degradation. Utiel, Eastern Spain . Credit: Artemi Cerdá (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

An increasing global population means that we are more dependant than ever on soils. Soils are crucial to securing our future supplies of water, food, as well as aiding adaptation to climate change and sustaining the planet’s biosphere; yet with the decrease in human labour dedicated to working the land, never have we been more out of touch with the vital importance of this natural resource. Now, ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Pollen tells a 7300 year old story of Malta’s climate and vegetation

Laura Roberts-Artal July 1, 2016

Birch pollen by Per Harald of NTNU, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology. Distributed via Flickr .

Figuring out what the climate was like, and how it changed, throughout Earth’s history is like trying to complete a 1000 piece puzzle. Except that scientists usually don’t have all the nuggets and building a comprehensive picture relies on a multidisciplinary approach in order to fill in the blanks. This is particularly true during the Holocene, which spans the last 11,700 years of the Earth’ ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Earth Wave

Laura Roberts-Artal May 9, 2016

Earth Wave n˚1 . Credit: Pierre Antoine (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Take a stroll along the norther beaches of the French Channel Coast, some kilometers east from the entrance of the Channel Tunnel, and you’ll encounter an imposing cliff of soft, sandy composition which dominates the landscape. On close inspection, the sediments which make up the Quaternary aged deposits of the Sangatte Cliff, are beautiful, revealing intricate patterns which hold the key to the g ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: How to communicate science to policy officials – tips and tricks from the experts

Sarah Connors May 4, 2016

EGU Flags at EGU General Assembly 2016. Credit: EGU / Kai Boggild (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The EGU General Assembly was bigger than ever this year. Over 16,500 people attended more than 500 sessions. Although many sessions featured policy-relevant science, the short course entitled ‘Working at the science policy interface‘ focused purely on the role of scientists within the policy landscape. For those of you that couldn’t attend, this month’s GeoPolicy post takes a clo ...[Read More]