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1 December 2023
Friday fold: a Massanutten cross-section from a century ago
The Friday fold digs deep into the historical archives for a near-century old illustration of the geology of the Massanutten mountain system in Virginia’s Valley & Ridge geologic province.
29 November 2023
Coastal Climate Solutions – via quilt
What happens if you ask students to write stories relating to Project Drawdown’s coastal and ocean sinks sector – and share their work? One outcome can be a collaborative class quilt!
21 November 2023
Global Geosciences Society Initiative: Take Our Survey!
Are you a student or an early career scientists? The Global Geosciences Societies Initiative, which brings together leaders from more than 15 associations around the world, is looking for your insight on career opportunities in the Earth and space sciences. Your responses are anonymous and will help societies to develop programs, resources and tools to ensure students and early career professionals can excel in their chosen field. Take our survey …
20 November 2023
Kanchenjunga Glacier, Nepal High Snowlines Expanding Supraglacial Ponds in 2023
Kanchenjunga Glacier in Nov. 8, 2023 false color Sentinel image. The flowlines of the six tributaries shown in green with the snowline on each at the purple dots. Percentage of glacier length above the snowline for each tributary shown as percentage. Two rapidly expanding supraglacial lakes shown at yellow arrows. Kanchenjunga Glacier is the main glacier draining west from Kanchenjunga Peak draining into the Ghunsa River. Lamsal et al (2017). report …
17 November 2023
AGU’s Statement on Second Averted U.S. Government Shutdown of 2023
AGU is relieved that the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have agreed once more to extend funding of the government and avert a shutdown, but we urge lawmakers to end the stalemate over the federal budget and ensure the government stays open for good. The continuing political brinkmanship leaves much of the U.S. scientific enterprise – and the countless people and places it serves – teetering on the …
Continental Glacier, Wyoming Fragmentation Accelerates
Continental Glacier in 1994 Google Earth and 2016 and 2022 Sentinel images, illustrating the separation at the black arrows, into the northern middle and southern parts, with an impending separation at green arrow. Continental Glacier is a long plateau glacier draped along the continental divide in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. It drains into Torrey Creek and then the Wind River. In 1994 this glacier extended 5 km from south …
13 November 2023
News stories – is print or audio the way to go?
I wonder if we are bringing breaking news stories in our discipline in the best way to students – in other words, are we meeting students where they are?
9 November 2023
Glacial geology of Discovery Park, Seattle
A field trip to examine the glacial geology of Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington, leads Callan to contemplate the nature of expertise — and especially his steep learning curve on an oceanographic cruise.
8 November 2023
AGU Launches Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation
Today, we are excited to announce the launch of a new open access journal, the Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation. JGR: Machine Learning and Computation is dedicated to research that explores data-driven and computational methodologies based on statistical analysis, machine learning, artificial intelligence and mathematical models, with the aim of advancing knowledge in the Earth and space sciences. In particular, this journal will accept papers proposing novel …
7 November 2023
Near-empty seas, near-empty air
Callan is currently at sea aboard the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson, crossing the North Pacific Ocean from Seattle to Honolulu. In this post, he explores a fascinating aspect of life on the high seas: there is shockingly little life! Explore the scant copepods and albatrosses and reflect on life in the oligotrophic open ocean.
6 November 2023
Storstrømmen Glacier, NE Greenland Retreat Releases New Islands
Storstrømmen and L. Bistrup Brae in Landsat imagery from 8-23-2013 and 8-26-2023. Green dots on 2013 image is the 2023 margin. Yellow dots on 2023 image is the 2013 margin. Island A and Island B are at the glacier front in 2013 and are fully separated by 2023. R=Randsoen proglacial lake. Storstrømmen and L. Bistrup Brae are large outlet glaciers in northeast Greenland that join at their terminus. The calving …
Tales from the (manus)crypt: This is the end
Horror stories (especially movies) have a tradition of long series capstoned by an “ending” movie. Halloween Ends. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. THE Final Destination. And while Third Pod isn’t a horror movie, we are ending (but like some of those stated “final” movies, we may someday return).
3 November 2023
Friday fold: Neoproterozoic rhyolite (of the Konnarock Formation?)
The Friday fold returns!
Today we join the Virginia Geological Field Conference to look at primary volcanic flow banding in a Neoproterozoic rhyolite, and consider what it might have to tell us about the ancient Snowball Earth glaciations.
2 November 2023
Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharak Glacier, India Shrinking Accumulation Zone
Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharak Glacier snowline (blue dots) on Oct. 8, 2020 (Sentinel image) mean elevation is 5350 m. T=Terminus location and blue line is flowline with distance from terminus in km. Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharak Glacier are located at the headwaters of the Alaknanda River, Uttarakhand, India and have until recently shared a terminus. Glacier runoff is an important contribution to the 400 MW Vishnuprayag and 330 MW Alaknanda …
27 October 2023
2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report on Teaching and Learning
This report profiles key trends and emerging technologies and practices shaping the future of teaching and learning, and envisions a number of scenarios and implications for that future
25 October 2023
AGU and the Geological Society partner on geosciences book series
AGU has partnered with the Geological Society of London to launch a new open access book series called GeoHorizons, which focuses on critical topics in the geosciences. Book proposals for the series can now be submitted for consideration. The focal point is solution-based science that addresses the many challenges facing humanity and the environment from a geosciences perspective. The books are intended to feature the work of scientists across demographics, …
23 October 2023
Tales from the (manus)crypt: Zombie-making fungi
Carolyn Elya is the Zombiologist in Chief, aka incoming Assistant Professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. She’s been obsessed with parasites for a while, but it was the flies zombified by a fungus that made them climb, perch, and died that really caught her fancy.
19 October 2023
Future Prospects Vanishing: 40th Field Season North Cascade Glacier Climate Project Results
The summer of 2023 was our 40th field season observing the response of North Cascade glaciers to climate change. Each year we visit a series of glaciers on the same date to complete our annual examination. We carry all of the equipment to each field site in backpacks and camp in tents near the glacier. All the glaciers we observe, except Easton Glacier, are in Wilderness Areas. This precludes the …
11 October 2023
Coronation Glacier New Island Development-Baffin Island
This is a portion of the island emerging from beneath the terminus with the 20-50 m high ice front in July 2023, the main portion of the island extends to the left and then out from the glacier. (Bischke/Biner/Bessen/Klemmensen) Coronation Glacier is the largest outlet glacier of the Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island. The glacier has an area of ~660 square kilometers and extends 35 km from the edge …
9 October 2023
Tales from the (manus)crypt: Mind-controlling mushrooms
The video game and TV show “The Last of Us” captivated audiences with the concept of a fungal pandemic. The story is set in a world ravaged by a fungus that infects people and turns them into zombies. But what’s the likelihood a human fungal pandemic could happen?