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Geosciences Column: How climate change put a damper on the Maya civilisation

Olivia Trani October 25, 2018

Overview of the central plaza of the Maya city of Palenque (Chiapas, Mexico), one of the many remnants of the Maya civilisation. (Credit: Jan Harenburg via Wikimedia Commons)

More than 4,000 years ago, when the Great Pyramid of Giza and Stonehenge were being built, the Maya civilisation emerged in Central America. The indigenous group prospered for thousands of years until its fall in the 13th century (potentially due to severe drought). However, thousands of years before this collapse, severely soggy conditions lasting for many centuries likely inhibited the civilisat ...[Read More]

Put it in a nutshell – or in this case a 21 ft container

Sara Mynott January 2, 2014

In his final post from the Floating University, Jens Weiser shares what it’s like to be part of an oceanographic research cruise and sums up some of the best experiences he’s had on board… I started this series asking whether anyone of you had ever thought about joining a research cruise. Now that this cruise is coming to an end, I can only strongly advise everyone who might have responded t ...[Read More]

A dangerous fish in the lab and a Vibrocorer on the move – who said research was monotonous?

Sara Mynott December 31, 2013

Earlier this month Jens Weiser set off aboard a research vessel fondly known as the Floating University to find out more about the oceans off southern Africa. After several weeks at sea, Weiser has some exciting findings to report back from FS Meteor as he and 14 other young scientists explore the region’s biology and geology… A certain routine has developed over the last week here on board. The t ...[Read More]

Seawater, fish larvae and sediments – a snapshot of an ecosystem off South Africa

Sara Mynott December 19, 2013

Earlier this month Jens Weiser set out from southern Africa to find out more about the region’s biology and geology. Back aboard FS Meteor, he’s searching for layers of lagoonal muds to see what the climate was like here in the late Quaternary… After quite a lot of transit, we arrived at our first big station off Durban on Wednesday afternoon. On our way here we used the time to introduce ourselve ...[Read More]