past climate

Imaggeo on Mondays: how short-term storms can impact our landscapes

Olivia Trani September 2, 2019

Storm over the Sierra de Aconquija. Credit: Mitch D'Arcy (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

In the Sierra de Aconquija, a mountain range in the southern Central Andes of Argentina, strong storms often come and go at a moment’s notice, but they can have a long-lasting impact on the Earth’s surface. The thunderstorm cell featured in this photo formed in less than half an hour, giving all those nearby only a few minutes to take cover. Mitch D’Arcy, a geomorphologist and postdoctoral researc ...[Read More]

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]

Living in a new Age

Robert Emberson September 14, 2018

The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) has updated the timeline for Earth’s full geologic history, dividing the Holocene into three distinct periods. What does that mean for the Anthropocene? (Photo: East Khasi Hills in Megahalaya, India. The state is the namesake of the new geological age. Credit: Sai Avinash via Wikimedia Commons)

If you were suddenly told you were living in a different time period, what would your immediate reaction be? Changes in the calendar – even if it’s just terminology – have proven emotive in the past. In 1752, when England shifted from the Julian to Gregorian calendars, and 11 days were cut from 1752 to catch up, there are suggestions that civil unrest ensued. Once again, the name of the period in ...[Read More]

Geoscience hot topics – Part I: The Earth’s past and its origin

Laura Roberts-Artal November 18, 2015

Basalt . Credit: Dorothea Eue (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

What are the most interesting, cutting-edge and compelling research topics within the scientific areas represented in the EGU divisions? Ground-breaking and innovative research features yearly at our annual General Assembly, but what are the overarching ideas and big research questions that still remain unanswered? We spoke to some of our division presidents and canvased their thoughts on what the ...[Read More]