Rannoch Moor is the largest area of unbroken (no houses, no roads) blanket bog in the United Kingdom. Blanket bogs – as their name suggests – blanket the ground in an extensive layer of peat. They form in regions where there is high rainfall and comparatively little evapotranspiration. These waterlogged conditions are found throughout much of the northern hemisphere, and allow blanket bogs to form ...[Read More]
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Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Supervisor profile – Professor Mike Kendall
Professor Mike Kendall Professor in Earth Sciences School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol PhD (1992) “Contributions to the theory and modelling of seismic waves in anisotropic inhomogeneous media” Supervisor: Prof. C.J. Thomson 1) The Twitter challenge: Describe your PhD in 140 characters (if you can remember it) Developed theory and numerical methods to track seismic waves th ...[Read More]
Four Degrees
Melting, microbes and methane: Are we about to face a carbon apocalypse?
Marion Ferrat takes a look under the frozen layers of Arctic permafrost and discusses how these soils may come back to haunt us. The vast plains of Siberian or Canadian permafrost are a sight to behold. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles of frozen soils cover these lands, a cold and barren environment. In places, however, this permafrost is slowly melting away as a result of rising temperature ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
What is soil structure?
Soil structure is the result of the spatial arrangement of the solid soil particles and their associated pore space. Aggregation mainly depends on the soil composition and texture, but is also strongly influenced by other factors such as biological activity, climate, geomorphic processes or the action of fire. Structure is a typical morphological soil property, which allows differentiating soil of ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Open call for scientific sessions (EGU 2014) and more from the Soil System Sciences Division
From April 27th to May 2nd 2014 the EGU 2014 will be held in Vienna. See here more information http://www.egu2014.eu The Scientific sessions that will be held in Vienna are being uploaded now, and they will be reviewed and approved in the next council meeting of the EGU (Munich, October 10-12th 2013). The Soil System Sciences Division wish to organize a program that will be diverse, scientifically ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Geosciences Column: Dating a bivalve
Just as the rings on a tree can be used to determine its age, the bands on a bivalve’s shell can tell us the how long it’s been around for. Warm, food-filled waters lead to greater growth in the summer and low plankton abundance (the principle food source for filter-feeding molluscs) leads to limited growth during the winter months – hence the banding. But pinning down the age of a bivalve m ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (92): Working on Mount Etna
GPS and leveling on Mt Etna with Dr John Murray from the Open University. Credit: Rick Wall (c) Geology for Global Development 2013
Polluting the Internet
Sweeping soot out of the atmosphere
Efforts to slow the rate of global temperature rise in the 21st Century have for some time focussed on non-CO2 species or so-called ‘short-lived forcers’. As far as aerosols are concerned, black carbon (often referred to as soot) has been the main avenue to explore due to its capacity to warm the atmosphere by absorbing sunlight. Black carbon contrasts with most other aerosol species w ...[Read More]
GeoLog
EGU 2014 – got an idea?
Have a great idea for a conference session but haven’t quite put it into practice? Now’s your chance! Until this time next month (13 September) you can submit your session ideas and take part in organising the scientific programme for the EGU General Assembly in 2014. What you need to do: Take a look at the sessions that have already been suggested here – where does your idea fit ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
GfGD News and Updates
The summer is a busy period for many people and it can be hard to keep track of all that is going on. We’re taking the opportunity today to give you an update on GfGD’s work, and key ways in which YOU can get involved… Blog & Image Competition There is still time (just!) to apply for our 2013 blog and image competition, full details can be found here. The deadline is midday t ...[Read More]