Here is the second instalment in our series covering the biggest unknowns in the Geosciences. Last week we explored what it is about the Earth’s origin that still remains unclear and this week we probe the Earth’s deep interior. Unlike in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth, there are no volcanic tubes we can climb down which will allow us to discover the inner workings of our Planet. ...[Read More]
The known unknowns – the outstanding 49 questions in Earth sciences (Part I)
Science is about asking questions, as much as it is about finding answers. Most of the time spent by scientists doing research is used to constrain and clarify what exactly is unknown – what does not yet form part of the consensus among the scientific community. Researchers all over the globe are working tirelessly to answer the unresolved questions about the inner workings of our planet, but inev ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Long-lived lakes have a lot to tell
The world’s oldest, deepest freshwater lake lies in southeast Siberia: Lake Baikal. Stretching some 600 kilometres across the Russian landscape, Baikal marks what the very early stages of a new ocean – an ancient rift that cleaved the centre of Asia apart throughout the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Today, there are still signs of tectonic activity and the rift continues to diverge 4 mm furth ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: A rolling stone gathers no moss
Philippe Leloup brings us this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays, with tales from a mountain trail that show a geologist can never resist a good rock! This image is that of a polished slab of a rock composed of interlayered marbles and amphibolites. The sample was once part of a small dry-stone wall bordering an outdoor kitchen along a trail along the Ailao Mountain Range in China (or Ailao Shan in Chines ...[Read More]