Issue 78: Geoparks
June 1, 2023
In this week’s issue:
- UNESCO announces new geoparks
- Vibrant sights between sand bars
- Manhattan-sized logjam in Canada
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Feature Story: Geoparks
UNESCO just dropped their list of 18 new geoparks. If you don’t know what a geopark is, then you must be living under a rock. Just kidding, we didn’t know what they were until last week, but we’re glad we found out. UNESCO designates certain locations that combine geological significance with sustainable tourism and science. Which means if you love rocks enough to live underneath one, you likely already know all about them.
There are currently 195 geoparks spread across 48 countries, providing us with enough content for about 14 future issues. But since the recent addition of 15 caught our attention, we figured we’d start there and share the orbital perspective of some of our favorites from the new batch.
The acidic water in Ijen’s crater isn’t the only electric blue thing about this volcano. As sulfur rises from the crater’s edge, it ignites and creates an otherworldly blue-fire only seen at night.
While not technically burning, the glacial waters of New Zealand’s highlands create crystal blue flames once they reach the ocean. The country’s first geopark, Waitaki Whitestone, extends from its mountains to the ocean and is studied for its evidence of the planet’s former eighth continent, Zealandia.
It took 400 million years for Mourne Guillion’s unique topography to form. Which, coincidentally, is the same amount of time it takes to finish Game of Thrones. It’s fitting, then, that the area’s jagged peaks, stone walls, and Irish farmland — borne from magma and sculpted by ice — were used as a backdrop for the show’s filming.
Earth’s yearbook exists in Iran’s Tabas geopark. Its geological record reaches as far back as the planet’s beginnings 4.6 billion years ago and is a vital habitat for the endangered Asiatic cheetah.
Islands and tidal flats and volcanoes, oh my. Jeonbuk West Coast geopark has 2.5 billion years of geological history and is already on many-a-list, from UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites to our future travel itinerary.
Like a fender bender at night, the blame goes to whoever’s car is in the least (s)pain. The tectonic collision that created Pangea is still under investigation. But Spain’s newest geopark is providing clues into the massive event that sounds both like a wizard and a spell, the Variscan Orogeny.
Remote Sensations: Sand Bars
Some of you, dear readers, reached out after our sand issue and requested that we share more sand images. Actually, none of you did, which is a shame because we have so many (and our editor loves receiving mail as well as stamps of approval). So we’re unsolicitedly sharing three of our recent favorites anyway. Here we have vibrantly-colored pools nestled between sandbars in China and Brazil. Like any great musical number, the magic happens between the bars.
Plus here’s a bonus from an old and Internet favorite, Athabasca Sand Dunes.
In the News: Logjam
Earth’s atmosphere could be characterized as experiencing a carbon bull market, with atmospheric concentrations on the rise. Which helps explain why so much attention is paid to the planet’s carbon stocks. And when scientists stumble upon a formerly unknown, Manhattan-sized accumulation of ancient logs in the Canadian arctic, they invest.
A recently-published study combined satellite data and deep learning to map the location and approximate mass of over 400,000 wood deposits — aka a beaver’s paradise — in the Mackenzie River Delta. But warming temperatures are threatening to turn the logjam into a logjelly and start releasing some of its 3.4 million tons of sequestered carbon (emissions equivalent to 2.5 million cars in a year).
All imagery Ⓒ 2023 Planet Labs PBC
Editor: Ryder Kimball | Images: Ryder Kimball, Robert Simmon, Max Borrmann, Julian Peschel, Candace Chow, and Maarten Lambrechts
