European Geosciences Union
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The International Geoscience Education Organisation (IGEO) has published a new geoscience textbook, which is freely available for download. The book, supported by the EGU and the International Union of Geological Sciences, was written by EGU Committee on Education Chair Chris King.
The February 2019 edition of the EGU email newsletter, the monthly information service for Union members, is now available.
The second EGU Galileo Conference of 2019 will bring together scientists studying a range of rare or extreme events and their broader impacts on Earth surface processes, biogeochemical cycles and human systems. The deadline for applications is 30 April.
The EGU General Assembly 2019 (7–12 April, Vienna, Austria) will bring together geoscientists from all over the world to one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary and space sciences. The deadline for abstract submission is 10 January, 13:00 CET.
To provide a better experience for all attendees at its General Assembly, the EGU is making changes to the schedule of its largest annual meeting. The new schedule offers more time for all presentation types by featuring posters, orals and PICOs throughout the day, and includes a dedicated networking slot.
Soil water is a medium from which microbes acquire resources and within which they are able to move. Occupancy and availability of water and oxygen gas in soils are mutually exclusive. In addition, as soil dries the remaining water is held with an increasing degree of adhesive energy, which restricts microbes’ ability to extract resources from water. We introduce a mathematical model that describes these interacting effects and organic matter decomposition.
Many variables, e.g., in hydrology, geology, and social sciences, are only observed at a few distinct measurement locations, and their actual distribution in the entire space remains unknown. We introduce the new geostatistical interpolation method ofquantile kriging, providing an improved estimator and associated uncertainty. It can also host variables, which would not fulfill the implicit presumptions of the traditional geostatistical interpolation methods.
The fallout of large clasts (> 5 cm) from the margins of eruptive plumes can damage local infrastructure and severely injure people close to the volcano. Even though this potential hazard has been observed at many volcanoes, it has often been overlooked. We present the first hazard and risk assessment of large-clast fallout from eruptive plumes and use Mt Etna (Italy) as a case study. The use of dedicated shelters in the case of an explosive event that occurs with no warning is also evaluated.
Evaluation of the vertical precipitation rate profiles of CloudSat radar by comparison with two surface-based micro-rain radars (MRR) located at two antarctic stations gives a near-perfect correlation between both datasets, even though climatic and geographic conditions are different for the stations. A better understanding and reassessment of CloudSat uncertainties ranging from −13 % up to +22 % confirms the robustness of the CloudSat retrievals of snowfall over Antarctica.
Each month, Jesse Zondervan picks his favourite posts from geoscience and development blogs/news which cover the geology for global development interest. Here’s a round-up of Jesse’s selections for the last month: The UN World Meteorological Organization called cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique this month, “possibly the worst weather-related disaster to hit the southern hemisphere”. Civil Engineering professor Ryan P. Mulligan discusses what climate science tells us about the future of storms like this. Cyclone Idai paralysed the city of Beira …
Wondering what to expect at the General Assembly this year? Here are some of the highlights: Union Symposia (US) For events which will have general appeal, regardless of your field of research, look no further than the Union Symposia. The very first session celebrates 30 years of the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Programme (US5). This session will highlight the need for, and illustrate exciting advances in the translation of atmospheric composition research to support services. The event will also articulate …
Post by Kevin Befus, Assistant Professor in Civil and Architectural Engineering at the University of Wyoming. Have you ever taken a walk on the beach during a lowering (ebbing) tide and see mini-rivers grow and create beautiful drainage patterns before your eyes? These short-lived groundwater seepage features (Fig. 1A) are tiny (and fast) analogs of how groundwater has shaped some parts of Mars! It appears that groundwater loosening sediments can lead to all sorts of scales of erosion on both …
