Author Archives: Chris Rowan

Mystery Geology Theatre 2012

Yesterday was, of course, the long-awaited day of the apocalypse, as we reached the end of the Mayan calendar. The fact that the descendants of the Maya didn’t buy this interpretation was, of course, beside the point, as were all … Continue reading

Categories: geology, public science, ranting, reviews

Stuff we linked to on Twitter last week

Volcanoes It’s that time of year again – cast your ballot for the 2012 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/nomination-time-for-the-2012-pliny-for-volcanic-event-of-the-year/ (via @eruptionsblog) Earthquakes How combining GPS sensors with seismometers can speed up identification of large/dangerous earthquakes, and emergency … Continue reading

Categories: links

Scenic Saturday: White Island before the spiny lava invasion

Last week, Erik drew my attention to this odd spiny lava dome spotted on New Zealand’s White Island. It is rather strikingly weird, like the country that brought us the Lord of the Rings had decided to now bring us … Continue reading

Categories: geohazards, photos, volcanoes

Earthly and Unearthly Beauty

NASA unveiled a couple of rather beautiful things at AGU last week – and despite actually being at the conference, I haven’t really had the time to sit back and appreciate them until now. The first was the ‘Black Marble’, … Continue reading

Categories: climate science, geology, geophysics, photos, planets

AGU Dispatches: Final Day and Final Thoughts

Unless you are presenting, the final day of a 5 day-conference can be a test of your intellectual fortitude: it can be tough to force your tired and stuffed-with-cool-new-science brain to take an interest in any more talks or posters. … Continue reading

Categories: academic life, conferences, earthquakes, geohazards, geology, geophysics, tectonics