GeoLog

Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

Imaggeo on Mondays: Erosion

Imaggeo on Mondays: Erosion

In mountainous regions precipitation – be that in the form of rain, hail or snow, for example – drives erosion, which means it plays an important part in shaping the way the landscape looks. Precipitation can directly wear away at hillsides and creates streams and rivers, which leave their mark on the scenery by cutting and calving their way through it. Take for instance the hills in the arid coas ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: a storm is coming

Imaggeo on Mondays: a storm is coming

Coastlines globally are immensely diverse: from the beautifully topical and sun kissed beaches of the Caribbean, to the wet and misty British coastline, through to the raw and wild Alaskan shores, they are home to scores of flora and fauna; rich habitats shaped by powerful forces of nature. In stark contrast, some coastlines, (28,000 km worldwide to be precise) are dry almost barren places, where ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Deep in the Himalayas

The Himalayas: vast, formidable and home to the Earth’s highest peaks. The mountain range stretches inexorably through Indian, Bhutan, Nepal, China (Tibet) and Pakistan separating the Tibetan Plateau to the north from India’s alluvial plains to the south. India, as we know it today, started life much further south, as an island not far off the coast of Australia. It was separated from ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Do coastlines have memories?

do coastlines have memories

Did you know that the shape of coastlines is determined by the angle at which waves crash against the shoreline. It has long been thought that fluctuations in the wave incidence angle are rapidly felt by coastlines, which change the shapes of their shores quickly in response to shifting wave patterns. Or do they? Researchers at the British Geological Survey, Duke University (USA) and Woods Hole Oc ...[Read More]