Devils Hole: Ancient Traces of Climate History
Diving in the cavern: Beneath the surface of the Amargosa desert, located in southwestern USA, lies a hidden ‘gem’ for climatologists that harbors a complete history of climate evolution spanning a million years: Devils Hole.
Geologists from Innsbruck are studying this climate record which is found both above and below the present day water table.
Apart from ice in the polar regions, caves are one of the most important climate archives in the world. The Earth’s surface is exposed to weathering and erosion and constantly changes.
In caves, however, the footprints of the past are well preserved, sometimes over many hundreds of thousands of years.
In February 2017, a group of researchers from Innsbruck descended into a part of Devils Hole to get a glimpse into the historic climate changes.
They were accompanied by Robbie Shone, one of the most accomplished cave photographers in the world.
In our multimedia-story we take a closer look on their cave adventure both above and below the water table.
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Earth Sciences
Earth Sciences (also referred to as Geosciences), which deals with basic issues surrounding our planet, plays a vital role in the area of energy and raw materials supply.
Earth Sciences comprises subjects such as geology, geography, geological informatics, paleontology, mineralogy, petrography, crystallography, geophysics, geodesy, glaciology, cartography, photogrammetry, meteorology and seismology, early-warning systems, earthquake research and polar research.
Newest articles
New yttrium-hydrogen compounds discovered
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have made a significant scientific breakthrough by discovering new yttrium-hydrogen compounds having serious implications for the research on high-pressure superconductivity. High-pressure superconductivity refers to…
New AI model detects ninety percent of lymphatic cancer cases
Medical image analysis using AI has developed rapidly in recent years. Now, one of the largest studies to date has been carried out using AI-assisted image analysis of lymphoma, cancer…
UTA preps giant particle detectors for neutrino project
Excavation of caverns part of Fermilab’s Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. With excavation work complete at the site where four gigantic particle detectors for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be…