The photograph shows water that accumulated in a depression on the ice surface of Vatnajökull glacier in southeastern Iceland. This 700m wide and 30m deep depression [1], scientifically called an ‘ice cauldron’, is surrounded by circular crevasses on the ice surface and is located on the glacier tongue Dyngjujökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull.
The photo was taken on 4 June 2016, less than 22 months after the Holuhraun eruption, which started on 29 August 2014 in the flood plain north of the Dyngjujökull glacier and this depression. The lava flow field that formed in the eruption was the largest Iceland has seen in 200 years, covering 84km2 [2] equal to the total size of Manhattan .
A number of geologic processes occurred leading up the Holuhraun eruption. For example, preceding the volcanic event, a kilometre-wide area surrounding the Bárðarbunga volcano, the source of the eruption, experienced deformation. Additionally, elevated and migrating seismicity at three to eight km beneath the glacier was observed for nearly two weeks before the eruption [3]. At the same time, seven cauldrons, like the one in this photo, were detected on the ice surface (a second water filled depression is visible in the upper right corner of the photo). They are interpreted as indicators for subglacial eruptions, since these cauldrons usually form when geothermal or volcanic activity induces ice melt at the bottom of a glacier [4].
Fracturing of the Earth’s crust led up to a small subglacial eruption at the base of the ice beneath the photographed depression on 3 September 2014. This fracturing was further suggested as the source of long-lasting ground vibrations (called volcanic tremor) [5].
The FP7-funded FutureVolc project financed the above mentioned research and further research on early-warning of eruptions and other natural hazards such as sub-glacial floods.
By Eva Eibl, researcher at the GeoForschungsZentrum
Imaggeo is the EGU’s online open access geosciences image repository. All geoscientists (and others) can submit their photographs and videos to this repository and, since it is open access, these images can be used for free by scientists for their presentations or publications, by educators and the general public, and some images can even be used freely for commercial purposes. Photographers also retain full rights of use, as Imaggeo images are licensed and distributed by the EGU under a Creative Commons licence. Submit your photos at http://imaggeo.egu.eu/upload/.
To credit researchers and to highlight their work, the European Geosciences Union has established a prestigious collection of medals and awards, which are awarded to exceptional scientists for their outstanding research contribution in the Earth, planetary and space sciences.
This year’s nominations must be submitted online before 15 June 2018, and are subsequently evaluated by the medal and award committees. It’s highly desirable that the EGU awardees and medallists reflect the broad diversity of the geosciences community. To accomplish this, EGU encourages considering gender, geographical and cultural balance when putting forward nominees.
Liran Goren receiving the 2018 Geomorphology Division Outstanding Early Career Scientists Award. (Credit: EGU/Foto Pfluegl)
Get a hold on an up-to-date and brief CV (one page)
Add a (half page) list of the candidate’s most relevant publications (with some statistics on the total amount of scientific output)
Less is more
It’s important to note that the total nomination package should not exceed two pages, otherwise the nomination is not considered. Writing such nominations should therefore be guided by a quality over quantity approach, and nominations should be clear and concise, focusing on the research highlights of the candidate.
Feeling proud
All in all, the EGU’s outstanding early career scientists awards are a great way to accolade researchers and to give them credit for their hard work. Nominating your postgraduate students and post-docs also highlights science in your field, increases the reputation of the research group, but above all, makes you feel proud.
This photograph shows El salto del Tequendama, a natural waterfall of Colombia, located in the Department of Cundinamarca at an altitude of 2400 metres above sea level and approximately 30 kilometres southwest of the country’s capital, Bogotá.
The Salto del Tequendama is a space of transit and connectivity between the warm lands of the Magdalena river basin and the cold lands of the Sumapaz paramo, a Neotropical alpine tundra located at 4,000 metres above sea level.
Dutch-Colombian geologist Thomas Van der Hammen concluded that approximately 60,000 years ago the entire savannah of Bogota (populated today by 9 million people) was covered by a large lake, known as the Humboldt Lake, and the associated wetland plants instead of the paramo vegetation seen today.
Over time, the climate became warmer and the bottom of the Humboldt Lake began to rise. 30,000 years ago, the lake’s waters were channelled through the Bogota River and led to the Salto del Tequendama, a real climate event that we Colombians received through the myth of Bochica, a legendary hero to the Colombian indigenous group the Muisca. Here is the summarised myth of Bochica and the Tequendama jump:
“… As the Muiscas had lost respect for the gods, they offended Chibchacum, who had previously been the most beloved of their gods. He decided to punish them by flooding the savanna, for which he gave birth to the Sopo and Tivito rivers, which joined their rivers to the Funza (former name of the Bogotá River). The flood ended with many crops and human lives, until the people clamored with fasting and sacrifices to Bochica to free them from that calamity. The sage Bochica appeared on the rainbow and with his golden scepter, hit the rocks allowing the water to form a gigantic waterfall. So Bochica created the Tequendama jump.”
The large lake was partially dried and separated into smaller wetlands, where Andean plants, deer, foxes, weasels and more than 100 bird species made their home.
The waterfall, famous for its size, surrounding vegetation and vapourous waters, has been widely studied since 1668, when the Bishop of Panamá, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahíta made the first written record of its mythical origin story.
During the 18th and 19th centuries in particular, the Salto was one of the most famous natural attractions both locally and worldwide, due to the waterfall’s 157-metre drop onto a circular rocky abyss in a wooded region of permanent haze.
In the 19th century, large estates, also known as haciendas, were built on the region’s wetlands, and the natural environment was converted into places for fishing, hunting and logging. Through drainage channels, communities dried up the land to establish livestock and agricultural systems. In the last century, as the city of Bogota grew in population and size, the wetlands were filled to build neighborhoods, streets and avenues.
Like many Bogotanos, on a family weekend trip to relieve the stress generated by the chaos of the city and in search of clean air, I took this picture. The Salto was and always has been a fundamental part of the Bogota family mythology.
By Maria Cristina Arenas Bautista, National University of Colombia, Department of Civil Engineering and Agricultural (Bogotá)
A column of robust, reddish-brown ash plume occurred after a magnitude 6.9 South Flank of Kīlauea earthquake shook the Big Island of Hawai‘i. (Image: U.S. Geological Survey)
Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, as well as unique and quirky research news, this monthly column aims to bring you the best of the Earth and planetary sciences from around the web.
Major Story
This month the Earth science media has directed its attention towards a pacific island with a particularly volcanic condition. The Kilauea Volcano, an active shield volcano on the southeast corner of the Island of Hawai‘i, erupted on 3 May 2018, following a magnitude 5.0 earthquake that struck the region earlier that day.
Since the eruption, more than two dozen volcanic fissures have emerged, pouring rivers of lava onto the Earth’s surface and spurting fountains of red-hot molten more than 70 metres into the air. As of today, Kilauea’s eruption has covered about 3534 acres (14.3 square kilometres) of the island in lava, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s most recent estimates.
The island’s volcanic event has dealt heavy damages to the local community, forcing thousands of locals to evacuate the affected area. On 4 May, the governor of Hawaii, David Ige, declared a local state of emergency, activating military reservists from the National Guard to help with evacuations. Over the month Kilauea’s eruption has engulfed nearby neighborhoods in an oozing layer of lava, overtaking 75 homes, blocking major roads, swallowing up many vehicles, and even briefly threatening a geothermal power plant.
Kilauea’s molten rock, with temperatures at about 1,170 degrees Celsius, is an obvious danger to the local Hawaiian community (one serious injury reported so far). However, the volcanic eruption presents many airborne hazards as well.
In addition to spewing out lava, the Kilauea eruption has projected ballistic blocks, some up to 60 centimeters across, and released clouds of volcanic ash and vog (a volcanic smog of sulfur dioxide and aerosols). The ashfall and gas emissions can create hazardous conditions for travel, produce acid rain as well as cause irritation, headache and respiratory issues.
Kilauea’s lava has steadily marched towards the coast of the Big Island, and recently reached the Pacific Ocean. This interaction of molten rock and ocean water has created plumes of laze (lava haze). Laze is essentially a cloud of acidic steam, mixed with hydrochloric acid and fine particles of volcanic glass. Coming into contact with the toxic vapour can result in eye and skin irritation as well as lung damage.
Map as of 2:00 p.m. HST, May 31, 2018. Given the dynamic nature of Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone eruption, with changing vent locations, fissures starting and stopping, and varying rates of lava effusion, map details shown here are accurate as of the date/time noted. Shaded purple areas indicate lava flows erupted in 1840, 1955, 1960, and 2014-2015. (Image: U.S. Geological Survey)
While residents have been fleeing the the Kilauea-affected region, many scientists have rushed to the Big Island to study the eruption. A swarm of researchers have spent the month recording lava flow activity, measuring seismicity and deformation, monitoring ash plumes by aircraft, and taking samples on foot.
Many volcano scientists have also turned to social media to answer questions from the general public about the recent eruption (like why is the eruption pink? Can you roast a marshmallow with lava?) and bust volcano myths floating online (expect no mega-tsunami from this eruption). The EGU’s own early career scientist representative for the Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology Division, Evgenia Ilyinskaya, was invited to explain some volcano lingo on BBC News.
The volcano’s eruption has been ongoing for weeks, with no immediate end in site. Lava flows are still advancing across the region and volcanic gas emissions remain very high, says the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. You can stay up to date with the volcano’s latest activity on the agency’s site.
What you might have missed
A team of scientists from the PolarGAP project have found mountain ranges and three massive canyons underneath Antarctica’s ice using radar technology. These valleys play an important role in channeling ice flow from the centre of the continent towards the ocean, according to the researchers. “If Antarctica thins in a warming climate, as scientists suspect it will, then these channels could accelerate mass towards the ocean, further raising sea-levels,” reports an article from BBC News.
Also in Antarctic news, the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) and the National Science Foundation (US) have announced an ambitious plan to determine the Thwaites Glacier’s risk of collapse. The rapidly melting glacier sheds off 50 billion tons of ice a year, and if Thwaites were to completely go under, the meltwater would contribute more than 80 cm to sea level rise. “Because Thwaites drains the very center of the larger ice sheet system, if it loses enough volume, it could destabilize the rest of the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet,” according to an article in Scientific American. The research team plans to collect various kinds of data on the glacier and use this information to predict the fate of Thwaites and West Antarctica. The $25-million (USD) joint effort will involve about 100 scientists on eight projects over the course of five years, posing to be one of the largest Antarctic research endeavors undertaken.
Meanwhile, looking out hundreds of millions of kilometres away, scientists have made an interesting discovery about one of Jupiter’s potentially habitable moons.
A team of scientists uncovered a new source of evidence that suggests Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, may be venting plumes of water vapour above its icy exterior shell. The researchers came across this finding while re-examining data collected by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, which performed a flyby 200 kilometres above the Europa in 1997. While running the decades old data through today’s more sophisticated computer systems, the research team found a brief, localised bend in the magnetic field, a phenomenon that is now recognised as evidence of water plume presence. These new results have made some scientists more confident that NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, set to launch by 2022, will find plumes on Jupiter’s moon.
A 2007 paper on global climate zones published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, a journal of the European Geosciences Union, has been named the most cited source on Wikipedia, referenced more than 2.8 million times. The Guardian and WIRED reported this story that neither Copernicus Publications nor the Australian authors of the paper were aware of.
EGU training schools offer early career scientists specialist training opportunities they do not normally have access to in their home institutions. Up until 15 August 2018, the Union now welcomes requests for EGU support of training schools in the Earth, planetary or space sciences scheduled for 2019.
In addition, the EGU will now accept proposals for conferences on solar system and planetary processes, as well as on biochemical processes in the Earth system, in line with two new EGU conference series named in honour of two female scientists. The Angioletta Corradini and Mary Anning conferences are to be held every two years with their first editions in 2019 or 2020. The deadline to submit proposals is also 15 August 2018.
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