https://www.earthmagazine.org/tags/clay/ Recent content in Clay on EARTH Magazine Hugo en-US American Geosciences Institute. All rights reserved. Fri, 21 Dec 2018 10:11:59 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/down-earth-clay-mineralogist-warren-huff/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 10:11:59 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/down-earth-clay-mineralogist-warren-huff/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/down-earth-clay-mineralogist-warren-huff/Huff_profile.jpg" alt="Clay mineralogist Warren Huff taught at the University of Cincinnati (UC) for 55 years. He is still active as a professor emeritus and is a great supporter of bringing UC alumni together, especially at Geological Society of America annual meetings. Credit: courtesy of Warren Huff." loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>Clay mineralogist Warren Huff taught at the University of Cincinnati (UC) for 55 years. He is still active as a professor emeritus and is a great supporter of bringing UC alumni together, especially at Geological Society of America annual meetings. Credit: courtesy of Warren Huff.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Two distinct images come to mind when I think of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Warren_Huff">Warren Huff</a>, my former doctoral adviser: one in which he is enthusiastically teaching and mentoring students both in and out of the classroom, and one in which he is sitting around a fire, playing guitar and leading a group of geologists in science-themed sing-alongs. Both images encapsulate the kind of person he is: a leading scholar in the field of clay mineralogy who lives life with gusto.</p> https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/swelling-clay-slows-landslides/ Tue, 01 May 2018 15:47:48 -0400 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/swelling-clay-slows-landslides/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/swelling-clay-slows-landslides/DSC01339.jpg" alt="Researchers study the Two Towers Landslide in Northern California, which moves about a meter a year and is representative of thousands of clay-rich landslides worldwide. Credit: William Schulz." loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>Researchers study the Two Towers Landslide in Northern California, which moves about a meter a year and is representative of thousands of clay-rich landslides worldwide. Credit: William Schulz.</figcaption> </figure> <p>Rainfall can trigger landslides, and it can also cause slow-moving slides to speed up. But researchers have observed that rain also appears to cause landslides composed of clay-rich material to take longer to start moving, and to move slower than expected.</p> https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/slow-moving-slides-may-be-triggered-cold-temperatures/ Tue, 20 Dec 2016 22:10:55 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/slow-moving-slides-may-be-triggered-cold-temperatures/ <p>Landslides aren&rsquo;t always fast-moving disasters. Slow landslides creep downhill at rates up to a few meters a year, which might not sound dramatic, but slow slides can still damage roads, pipelines and communities. Slow-moving slides are most commonly triggered by increased pore pressure in the soils due to rainfall or snowmelt, but in some places, according to a new study, temperature may also play a role. The new study looking at slow slides in Japan found that cold underground temperatures — independent of increased rainfall — may lubricate slow-moving slides.</p> https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/antibacterial-clays-could-fight-superbugs/ Mon, 08 Dec 2014 09:40:45 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/antibacterial-clays-could-fight-superbugs/ <p>Clays with antibacterial properties found near Crater Lake in Oregon could eventually lead to new agents in the fight against antibiotic-resistant superbugs like methicillin-resistant <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em>, better known as MRSA, according to a new study.</p>