experiments

Imaggeo On Monday: Space plasma in a jar

Gabriel Voitcu February 1, 2021

Space plasma in a jar . Credit: Gabriel Voitcu (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Laboratory visualisation of solar wind interaction with Earth’s magnetic field. The Van Allen radiation belt, Earth’s magnetosphere, “bow shock” and a solar coronal hole can all be seen, and are emphasized with the ‘Planeterrella experiment‘, a vacuum chamber in the shape of a bell jar with the ‘Sun’ on the left (in the form of a large metallic sphere) and the ‘Earth& ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: recreating geological processes in the lab

Laura Roberts-Artal April 11, 2016

Geomorphic analog experiment (Normal Fault) . Credit: Stephane Dominguez (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Many of the processes which take place on Earth happen over very long time scales, certainly when compared to the life span of a person. The same is true for geographical scale. Many of the processes which dominate how our planet behaves are difficult to visualise given the vast distances (and depths) over which they occur. To overcome this difficulty, scientists have developed and resorted to a n ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: Explosive testing with Greg Valentine

Laura Roberts-Artal April 16, 2015

The Eastern Ukinrek Maar, Alaska. Credit: R. Russell, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, USGS.

Following his session at the EGU General Assembly, Greg Valentine (Buffalo University) spoke to Sara Mynott about how he creates model volcanoes, specifically maar-diatremes, and blows them up to better understand what goes on in an eruption… So what is a maar-diatreme? A diatreme is a vent-like structure, mostly made up of broken up bedrock and magma. Initially, you have a dyke that channels magm ...[Read More]