science communication

Imaggeo on Mondays: The Tempest

Hazel Gibson February 24, 2020

The Tempest. Credit: Cyril Simon Wedlund (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Measuring the aurora. This picture was taken while doing an optical/radar coordinated campaign in Svalbard, Norway, near the settlement of Longyearbyen. In this campaign, we were measuring for the first time the polarisation of the auroral ‘red line’ of atomic oxygen with a photopolarimeter and were running the radars in order to have a better understanding of the state of the ionosphe ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The sun rises also in the middle of nowhere

Hazel Gibson February 17, 2020

Credit: Andrea Libertino (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Uluru in Australia is one of the most visibly recognisable geological features in the world. This sandstone formation covers an area of 3.3 kilometres and stands 345 metres above the plains around it. According to geoscientists, the rocks that form Uluru were deposited in an inland sea during the Cambrian Period approximately 500 million years ago. The arkose sandstones were then uplifted and fold ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Cooking crystals in the Earth cauldron

Hazel Gibson February 10, 2020

Cooking crystals in the Earth cauldron. Credit: Julien Leuthold (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

This picture shows a 30 micrometer thick rock section of a gabbro from the Rum Layered Intrusion (Scotland). Large clinopyroxene crystals are enclosed in a foliated fine grained groundmass of plagioclase and olivine. The clinopyroxene core crystallized at an early stage, at 1160°C. They were partly molten at 1200°C during successive hot magma injections and subsequently recrystallized, enclosing h ...[Read More]

Imaggeo On Mondays: Contrasting Colors of Pinnacles and Mountains

Hazel Gibson February 3, 2020

Contrasting Colors: Pinnacles & Mountains. Credit: Lukas Hörtnagl (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Despite its rugged appearance of sandstone pinnacles and arches, the ecosystem of Arches National Park in Utah, U.S.A. is very fragile. Beyond the normal ‘high desert’ environment, this beautiful landscape is home to microbial communities in the soil called cryptobiotic crusts. These biological soil crusts are very vulnerable to damage and when harmed they can take years to grow back. These barren ...[Read More]