EGU Blogs

5018 search results for "6"

Geology for Global Development

Robert Emberson: Microplastic – Too Important to Ignore

December 10, 2017
Robert Emberson: Microplastic – Too Important to Ignore

Anyone lucky enough to catch any of the BBC’s recent new series Blue Planet II will have noticed that each episode devotes a portion of the time to the impact humans have on the oceans. A breathtaking series of shots from a recent episode detailed the heart-wrenching demise of a baby whale, possibly poisoned by its mother’s milk due to toxins from plastic pollution. Vast quantities of plastic now ...[Read More]

CR
Cryospheric Sciences

Image of the Week – Searching for clues of extraterrestrial life on the Antarctic ice sheet

December 8, 2017
Image of the Week – Searching for clues of extraterrestrial life on the Antarctic ice sheet

Last week we celebrated Antarctica Day, 50 years after the Antarctic Treaty was signed. This treaty includes an agreement to protect Antarctic ecosystems. But what if, unintentionally, this protection also covered clues of life beyond Earth? In this Image of the Week, we explore how meteorites found in Antarctica are an important piece of the puzzle in the search for extraterrestrial life. Meteori ...[Read More]

GeoLog

GeoSciences Column: Don’t throw out that diary – medieval journals reveal the secret of lightning

December 8, 2017
GeoSciences Column: Don’t throw out that diary – medieval journals reveal the secret of lightning

When 17th century Japanese princess Shinanomiya Tsuneko took note of an afternoon storm in her diary one humid Kyoto summer, she could not have imagined her observations would one day help resolve a longstanding scientific conundrum. Statistical analysis of her journals has revealed a link between lightning strikes and the solar wind – proving that your teenage diary could contain good scien ...[Read More]

Geology for Global Development

Heather Britton: Can Animals be Used to Predict Earthquakes?

December 6, 2017
Heather Britton: Can Animals be Used to Predict Earthquakes?

One of the most common questions faced by the disaster risk reduction community relates to earthquake prediction (see this Geological Society briefing on prediction vs. forecasting). The disaster risk reduction community, however, would perhaps argue that improved buildings, reduction in poverty, and improved governance are a greater priority than predicting earthquakes. Even so, there are still m ...[Read More]

CL
Climate: Past, Present & Future

What is in the (European) air?

December 6, 2017
What is in the (European) air?

You thought that Mauna Loa was the only observatory to provide continuous measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and were disappointed because Hawaii is way too far from your study area or because you wanted to know how bad  the air is in your hometown? The US have been monitoring the composition of the atmosphere since 1972, but what about Europe? Since 2008, Europe has its own ...[Read More]

GD
Geodynamics

Conferences – so near and yet so far

December 6, 2017
Conferences – so near and yet so far

Attending conferences is expensive and time consuming, so going to all the conferences relevant for your research topic(s) is an impossible mission. One solution might be to attend (parts of) conferences remotely. Suzanne Atkins, postdoc at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, discusses the pros and cons of remote conferencing. Last month the Geological Society of London live-streamed their celebration of 50 ...[Read More]

GeoLog

Imaggeo on Mondays: Autumnal Larch

December 4, 2017
Imaggeo on Mondays: Autumnal Larch

For a fantastically picturesque train ride, consider travelling by rail between Lanquart and Davos (in Switzerland). You’ll be rewarded with stunning Alpine views, especially in autumn when the Larches, surrounded by Spruces, turn yellow and cast pretty reflections in the waters of the mountain lakes. Seen here is Schwartzsee, located only a few meters from ‘Davos Laret’ train station. Imaggeo is ...[Read More]

WaterUnderground

AGU fall meeting New Orleans – what we’re most looking forward, to reduce your FOMO!

4th December 2017
AGU fall meeting New Orleans – what we’re most looking forward, to reduce your FOMO!

Two words: French Quarter. OK, well beyond that quite a few things… On Sunday the fun kicks off with the Hubbert Quorum (link) – a nice and informal meeting with lots of interaction. On Monday is Advances in Hydrologic Science by Early Career Scientists: A Discussion of the Publishing Process (TH13A; link) On Tuesday is Mars Underground: Subsurface Waters, Diagenesis, Hydrothermal/Meta ...[Read More]

TS
Tectonics and Structural Geology

How Rome and its geology are strongly connected

December 3, 2017
How Rome and its geology are strongly connected

Walking through an ancient and fascinating city like Rome, there are signs of history everywhere. The whole city forms an open-air museum, full of remnants of many different times the city has known, from the Imperial to the Medieval times, the Renaissance, the Fascist period, and finally the present day version of Rome. For historians and archaeologists, unravelling the exact history of the city ...[Read More]

Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

A little fracture can go a long way: How experiments illuminate our understanding of volcanic eruptions

December 1, 2017
A little fracture can go a long way: How experiments illuminate our understanding of volcanic eruptions

What controls how violently a volcano erupts? Stratovolcanoes like Mount St Helens (USA), Gunung Merapi (Indonesia), or Volcán de Colima (Mexico) tend to erupt in two distinct ways: effusively and/or explosively. Effusive eruptions are eruptions where lava is extruded without any major explosions. Although effusive eruptions can be dangerous, at stratovolcanoes they tend to be restricted to volcan ...[Read More]