The thought of pancake ice always makes me a little hungry – I just can’t help thinking about stacks of syrup-drowned pancakes, or crepes covered wish sugar and doused with lemon juice – but the science of pancake ice is quite a tempting topic too! Pancake ice occurs in areas where ice formation is repeatedly …[Read More]
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Monday paper: Combined use of stable isotopes and fallout radionuclides as soil erosion indicators in a forested mountain site, South Korea
Meusburger, K., Mabit, L., Park, J.-H., Sandor, T., Alewell, C. 2013. Combined use of stable isotopes and fallout radionuclides as soil erosion indicators in a forested mountain site, South Korea. Biogeosciences 10, 5627-5638. DOI: 10.5194/bg-10-5627-2013, 20133 Abstract The aim of this study is to assess and to validate the suitability of the stable nitrogen and carbon isotope signature as soil erosion …[Read More]
My year in 2013
Inspired by Martin Eve (link), I decided to make a documentation of academic-related stuff I’ve achieved in 2013. The last year was mostly occupado by the first year of my PhD, but other academic-ish stuff too as complimentary activities to research. This is kinda like a personal diary of ‘achievements’, as well as a documentation …[Read More]
Cold soil in the groove
Often, soils from cold regions, such as Arctic soils, show polygonal forms in their surface. These polygons are formed because of the freeze-thaw cycle, characteristic of permafrost. What is permafrost? Permafrost is a subsurface soil layer which stays permanently frozen (below 0 oC) during long periods of time, usually more than two consecutive years. Most extensive …[Read More]
What’s Geology got to do with it? 3 – Christmas! Part 2
Dear Readers, Welcome to the last Four Degrees post of 2013! I’m back home with family and here the Christmas festivities happen today, on Christmas eve. So before I focus my attention on wrapping my last present and stuffing the goose for our family meal, here is the second instalment of our Christmas special of ‘What’s …[Read More]
Dense rocks rise higher because isostasy says so
From space, the Brandberg Igneous Complex looks like a coffee-coloured birthmark set upon the bony complexion of the Namibian desert. Perfectly circular, its peaks soar in a ring of mighty topography, its massive granite cliffs etched with the muscular definition of spheroidal weathering. Its bulk seems to rise out of the barren landscape, driven upward …[Read More]
The 12 days of PhD Christmas
Twelve Dinners Delivered (to the lab) Eleven Papers Prepping Ten Bugs-a-Bugging Nine Ladies Dancing (but not with you) Eight Bunsens-a-Burnin’ Seven Dance Solos Six Words a Minute Fiiive Grants Rejected Four Calling Mates (“I’m busy“) Three Absent Supervisors Two Days off a Year (maybe) And a h-index of nooought. Merry Christmas everyone!
Monday paper: Modelling soil organic carbon stocks in global change scenarios: a CarboSOIL application
Muñoz-Rojas, M., Jordán, A., Zavala, L. M., González-Peñaloza, F. A., De la Rosa, D., Pino-Mejias, R., and Anaya-Romero, M. 2013. Modelling soil organic carbon stocks in global change scenarios: a CarboSOIL application. Biogeosciences, 10, 8253-8268, DOI: 10.5194/bg-10-8253-2013. Abstract Global climate change, as a consequence of the increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 concentration, may significantly affect …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Carving polar canyons
This week Ian Joughin, a research scientist from the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington, takes us on the polar express to put glacial processes into perspective and find out what makes a moulin… This canyon formed when a melt lake on the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet overflowed and created a …[Read More]
Monday paper: Managing soil nitrate with cover crops and buffer strips in Sicilian vineyards
A. Novara, L. Gristina, F. Guaitoli, A. Santoro, A. Cerdà. 2013. Managing soil nitrate with cover crops and buffer strips in Sicilian vineyards. Solid Earth, 4, 255-262, doi:10.5194/se-4-255-2013 Abstract When soil nitrate levels are low, plants suffer nitrogen (N) deficiency but when the levels are excessive, soil nitrates can pollute surface and subsurface waters. Strategies to …[Read More]