Le point culminant du Jura

Le Crêt de la Neige et Le Reculet sont historiquement mentionnés comme le plus haut sommet du massif du Jura. Leurs altitudes étant très proches, nous les avons mesurées de manière précise (GPS différentiel), ainsi que celles de deux autres pointes qui paraissaient hautes sur des cartes. Les résultats montrent qu’une de ces deux pointes, nommée “J1”, atteint une altitude de 1720,83 mètres, et ainsi dépasse le Crêt de la Neige (1718,06 m) et Le Reculet (1717,14 m).

Notre rapport complet est disponible ICI.

DIVE 2024 Science Workshop

From July 10th to 12th scientists of the DIVE project and associated researchers will gather in Romagnano Sesia, in the geological Ivrea-Verbano Zone, for the 2024 Science Workshop of the project. With both boreholes fully cored, and hundreds of samples already with the researchers, this workshop will be the prime venue to discuss first results, present further research steps, coordinate joint interests, and foster sample and data sharing. With 39 participants, 19 presentations, and ample time for discussions, we look forward to a productive meeting. The workshop is co-funded by UNIL’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research (CIRM), and well as the International Lithosphere Program (ILP).

ICDP-DIVE DT-1A hole completed at 909.5 m depth

After half a year spent in Megolo di Mezzo, the drilling activities at the DT-1A borehole are now completed. The hole has reached a final depth of 909.5 metres, fully cored! A little closing ceremony took place at the end of April (see photo), before borehole logging activites on site, and final core description and sampling party in the core repository (in preparation). A big THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed the successful operations!

Representatives of the drilling company, the municipality, and of our project at the closing ceremony in front of The Rig.

DIVE DT-1A at 315 m depth and on a break

The second project DIVE borehole, located in Megolo, is now at 315.3 m depth below surface, and prepared for a pause over the year end break. One of the last cores was a beautifully recovered 3-m-long piece of metagabbro, standing with two “columnar” (~stalwart) members of the project on the photo below. Other photos and daily news can be followed here; on-site activities are planned to resume in January 2024.

Uncertainty around an earthquake swarm in Hungary

“In August 2023, a series of earthquakes unprecedented in the Great Hungarian Plain began near the town of Szarvas. Several newspaper articles have made certain or almost certain claims about the events. However, understanding such a swarm of earthquakes requires much more data, geophysical modelling, and considerable research time. For this reason, and on the basis of what we know today, the probability of the earthquakes around Szarvas being related to human activity cannot be established with certainty.”

This is the English abstract of a study which appeared in Hungarian in the journal Magyar Tudomány (=Hungarian Science), available here.