Villarrica (Ruka Pillan in Mapudungun) is one of the most active volcanoes of southern Chile, and is a popular tourist destination in the heart of the Chilean Lake district. Villarrica has been in a continuous state of steady degassing for much of the past 30 years, since the last eruption in 1984-5, and began showing signs of increased unrest (seismicity, and visible activity in the summit ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
HFA2: Understanding hazards or disasters
From 14-18th March, disaster professionals, politicians, UN representatives and many other stakeholders will be gathering in Sendai (Japan) at the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The aim of the meeting will be to agree upon the final text to replace the Hyogo Framework for Action, the UN guidelines for action on disaster risk reduction and strengthening resilience. At our first ann ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
EGU15 – GfGD Events and Information
VolcanicDegassing
Landslides, lake tsunamis and the tragedy of Lago Cabrera
Fifty years ago, on 19th February 1965, a rock and ice landslide fell from the summit face of Volcan Yate in southern Chile. It was mid-summer, and was one of the warmest and wettest February records in that part of Chile on record. The debris slid rapidly down a narrow gully, losing at least 1500 metres in elevation, until it emerged into the southern end of a small montane lake. This triggered a ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
The Groundwater Wetlands and Bogs Study Group
The Groundwater Wetlands and Blogs Study Group is an unfunded, voluntary collaboration of professionals, formed in December 2012, focused on groundwater wetlands, bogs, and related systems. The Study Group has about 250 members in 39 countries. Study Group members communicate primarily through a disciplined Yahoo Group listserve. We are not a social network nor are we an environmental advocacy g ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
Are we in the age of postmodern groundwater?
My humanities colleagues and friends are always talking about postmodernism or pomo for short (see this funny satire). I’ve been thinking a lot lately about ‘modern groundwater’ (stay tuned for a cool paper), so I started wondering if there is ‘postmodern groundwater’. Modern groundwater is groundwater recharged since the huge spike it tritium in the early 1960’s due to above ground th ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Effective International Engagement (1) – Introduction
Many geologists will have to, and indeed want to, work overseas at some point in their careers. The global opportunities offered by research and working within the geosciences is a big attraction when deciding to study geology and join the profession. In many cases working internationally will often mean partnering with host-country agencies and industries (e.g., universities, geological surveys, ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
EGU15 – Natural Hazards Education and Communications
Figure 1: A man herds his livestock in remote, high altitude, snowy conditions in Ladakh. This post first appeared on GeoEd Trek (AGU Blogs) on December 22nd 2014. It has been slightly modified below, given the deadline for EGU Abstracts has now passed, to include the latest information available about this session. Ladakh is a remote and beautiful Himalayan region in the north of India (Figure ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
Groundwater is NOT photogenic!
One of the first things I realized when designing this blog was that groundwater is not photogenic, in the extreme. Seriously: I dare every hydrogeologist to go to google images and search ‘groundwater‘. You find something like this: I am not saying that I dislike conceptual models or think they are ugly. I actually quite like them, which maybe explains my current profession! But I ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Images of Guatemala (9) – Conflict and Disasters
Until 1996, Guatemala was in the midst of a brutal Civil War. This sculpture in the Presidential Palace of Guatemala City is a reminder of that troubled past and symbolic of a hopeful peaceful future. In the same way that conflict/disasters can hamper and set-back development efforts, conflict can also set-back disaster risk reduction and management. Even once finished, past conflicts can erode tr ...[Read More]