Field trip to Ronda peridotites (Malaga, Spain)

Field trip to Ronda peridotites (Malaga, Spain)

A second field trip to the Ronda peridotites was carried out on the 2-5th May 2016 in order to investigate in more details the geochemistry of the alkaline waters and the occurring mineralization. We collected several water and solid samples to examine the chemical profiles of river and hyperalkaline spring waters, as well as the phases and textures of the present carbonate minerals. Finally, we conducted an additional field trip to the alkaline springs in…

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Field trips to Rift Valley (Kenya)

Field trips to Rift Valley (Kenya)

We conducted the first trip to the alkaline lakes of the Rift Valley in Kenya from 8 to 23 of March 2016. The first day upon arrival we had scheduled several meetings with the authorities of Kenyan Wildlife Services and National Museums of Kenya to have permissions to do the exploration. During this trip of ten days we started exploring all the springs feeding the lake Magadi and Little Magadi. We collected samples of water,…

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Field trip to Aqua de Ney (California)

Field trip to Aqua de Ney (California)

This was our second trip to Siskiyou County (California, USA) from 1 to 7 of November in 2017. We returned to Aqua de Ney spring to collect water samples from the wells and to perform in situ measurements. We have collected water from many other springs in the area and measured in situ several hydrochemical environments. Bad weather and a number of logistic problems made impossible to reach Trinity 2, one of the most interesting…

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Field trip to Dallol (Ethiopia)

Field trip to Dallol (Ethiopia)

We have returned to Dallol (from 4 to 20 of February 2019) to continue our research on the origin of the Mount Dallol and the hydrothermal system that it is developing there. Our field studies so far indicate that Dallol is a salt volcano, the first to be reported. We have also studied the geology of the area and discovered at least a new volcano, a stratovolcano. We have collected numerous salt rocks with different…

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Winner of the ‘Wonders of Geochemistry’ contest

Winner of the ‘Wonders of Geochemistry’ contest

Congrats to Electra, one of the winners of the EAG geochemical photo contest ‘Wonders of Geochemistry’ to which she submitted the photo ‘The color palette of Dallol’ captured during our second fieldtrip to Dallol, NE Ethiopia (January 2017). Read more about the story behind her photo here: http://blog.eag.eu.com/general/winners-of-the-2017-photo-contest/

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Field trip to Aqua de Ney

Field trip to Aqua de Ney

From 8th-14th August we carried out a field trip to Aqua de Ney Spring , an unusual spring in northern California. Aqua de Ney has the highest reported silica concentration (>4000 pm) and pH value (~11.9) in a natural spring. We collected water from these springs, measured in situ the pH and ex-situ silica concentration. Then, we performed experiments with these waters finding that they react with metals to form silica biomorphs and silica gardens (metal…

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Field trip to Oman

Field trip to Oman

This has been the first field study of the Prometheus project (13-22nd February 2015). A one-week field work in the rocky desert of the Sultanate of Oman searching for alkaline water sources in remote parts. The trip was organized by my friend and colleague from the University of Bremen, Professor Wolfgang Bach. In this country of the Arabian Peninsula the rocks of the deep mantle of the planet emerge to the surface moved by forces…

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Field trip to Dallol

Field trip to Dallol

The field trips to Dallol have been successfully performed in January 2016 and January 2017. We have collected samples of liquid, gases, air and air particles, etc… and make numerous in-situ measurements of physical and chemical variables such as pH, temperature, pressure, salinity, conductivity, oxygen, redox, visible spectra, etc… The aim of this project is to perform: A rigorous study of the hydrochemistry of the brines including the analysis of the organic compounds and gases. …

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Field trip to Malaga

Field trip to Malaga

On the 27-29th September of 2015 we carried out our first field work in the nearby alkaline springs in the Ronda peridotites of the Betics (Province of Malaga, SW Spain). The goal of the field trip was to observe the geological features of the area, and explore the different serpentinization-related alkaline spring sites. We visited numerous alkaline springs in the wider area of the peridotites, and we conducted preliminary on site measurements of water temperature,…

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