The solar eclipse of November 3, 2013, as observed from the MSG satellite, in geostationary orbit 36000km above the equator. The eclipsed area, where the shadow of the full Moon reached the Earth’s surface, moved over the Atlantic Ocean and Africa. This eclipse was classified as a hybrid eclipse because it started out as an …[Read More]
During the late Jurassic, this dolostone was formerly at the sea floor, but after millions years of tectonic movements and natural forces, these rocks now appear at 3000m! Mont Blanc, the highest peak of the Alps is less than 20km away, and is visible in the background. Thank to the Alpine collision, this former sea …[Read More]
“The Onsala Twin Telescopes are part of the global geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) network. Radio telescopes all around the globe are observing extra-galactic radio sources simultaneously to determine Earth orientation parameters, source positions and station coordinates, as well as velocities. Geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry is used to maintain the International Terrestrial Reference …[Read More]
“I was told that there will be a piedmont glacier on the way from Station Nord, a Danish military base in northeast Greenland, to our destination in no-man’s-land next to the 79°N Glacier. On half the way, we passed the beautiful Elephant Foot Glacier, named after its symmetric shape originating from the viscous flow of …[Read More]
The Zugspitze Geodynamic Observatory Germany (ZUGOG) has been setup on the summit of mountain Zugspitze at an altitude of almost 3000 m during 2018 with the main scientific objective being a better understanding of seasonal and long-term mass redistributions in the European Alps. This knowledge is very important (e.g. with regard to water storage and …[Read More]
At the transition from the Gobi Altay ranges to the Valley of the Lakes in South West Mongolia, the Ikh Bogd mountain towers almost 3000 m above the aridifying endorheic Orog Nuur Basin. The actively deforming mountain front shows traces of multiple earthquakes, which in turn affect the alluvial sediments deposited in the basin. Simultaneously, …[Read More]
The almost perfect rock pyramid in the foreground was formed by physical weathering and found in the Los Glaciares National Park in southern Argentina. The block was deposited on top of a rock surface polished by glacial erosion. The pyramidal peaks in the background are also the result of glacial erosion, albeit on a much …[Read More]
Plymouth, the capital of Montserrat, was evacuated in 1995 after the nearby Soufrière Hills Volcano (background of the image) had reactivated. Later on the town was struck by pyroclastic flows, and its centre was almost completely buried by material relocated from the upper slopes through lahars. The suburb of Town Hill can still be seen …[Read More]
A double rainbow was captured when heading through the glaciated Benasque valley, located in the heart of the Pyrenees. The photo was taken just before the sunset, after heavy rainfall. A rainbow is caused by reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets. Second rainbow arc results from one reflection more than in the first …[Read More]
A collection of washed-up shells on a beach on the south island of New Zealand. Shore transport processes have produced a well-sorted drift of similarly sized (approx. 1-2 cm) shells and shell fragments. The main species represented are the common turret shell (Maoricolpus roseus) and wheel shell (Zethalia zelandica), both sea snails endemic to New …[Read More]
