Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, major geoscience headlines, as well as unique and quirky research, this monthly column aims to bring you the latest Earth and planetary science news from around the web. Major story The world soaks up the sun This summer our planet experienced the hottest June in …[Read More]
Roughly 50 million years ago, the Eurasian and Indian continental plates began to crash into each other, dramatically changing the landscape of modern-day Asia. The force of the collision caused the Earth to scrunch together at the zone of impact, subsequently forming the Himalayan mountain range. However, to the north of the crash, a stretch …[Read More]
The EGU General Assembly 2019 took place in Vienna last month, drawing more than 16,000 participants from 113 countries. This month’s GeoRoundUp will focus on some of the unique and interesting stories that came out of research presented at the Assembly! Major Stories Glacial disappearing act in the European Alps New research from a team …[Read More]
A University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) Glaciology student examines the calving front of the Paulabreen glacier [in Spitsbergen, Svalbard], taking advantage of sea ice in the Rindersbukta fjord to safely approach the front. Paulabreen is a surge-type glacier, which means that it periodically switches between long periods of slow, stable flow to short-lived periods of …[Read More]
We tend to think of glaciers as spotless pristine settings. But “if plastic is everywhere, why not on the surface of glaciers?” This occurred to Roberto Sergio Azzoni, a professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Milan in Italy, who decided to find the answer to this question for himself. At the …[Read More]
Sentinel-2B imaged the highest mountains of western Europe, just the moment an airplane was about to fly over the granite peaks of Grandes Jorasses and cross the border from France to Italy. The passengers on the right side of the plane must have enjoyed a spectacular view on Mont Blanc, just nine kilometers away to …[Read More]
Pictured here is a snapshot of an environment in transition. Today’s featured photo was taken at the foot of Monte Fitz Roy, a jagged Patagonia mountain located in Los Glaciares National Park on the border between Argentina and Chile. The Patagonia region in South America is the second biggest source of glaciers in the southern …[Read More]
These ethereal, twisted ice sculptures litter the frozen shoreline of Tempelfjorden, Svalbard, giving the landscape an otherworldly feel and creating a contrast with the towering ice cliff of the glacier and the mountains behind. They are natural flotsam, the scoured remnants of icebergs calved from the Tunabreen glacier, washed up on the shoreline. These icebergs …[Read More]
These delicate ice structures may look like frozen honeycombs from another world, but the crystalline patterns can be found 80 degrees south, in Antarctica, where they are shaped by the white continent’s windy conditions. In Western Antarctica is a 9-kilometre line of rocky ridges, called Patriot Hills. Often cold wind furiously descends from the hills …[Read More]
Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Mathieu Morlighem, an associate professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine who uses models to better understand ongoing changes in the Cryosphere. At the General Assembly he was the recipient of a 2018 …[Read More]
