Diplomado Tecnologías de Informacion Geoespacial - UG

The Apennines: The seismic "backbone" running right down the center of the peninsula.

The Alps: Europe's highest mountain range in the north, born 130 million years ago from the closure of the ancient Tethys Ocean.

The Po Valley: The vast, flat expanse standing out vividly in the north.

The Apulian Tavoliere: The southern plains hiding a complex karst underground system.

If you look closely, you can even spot the ancient volcanic lakes dotting central Italy. Our planet is truly a breathtaking, open-air geological laboratory! 🌋⛰️

📸 Image Credit: Frank Ramspott

🌋 Stromboli Volcano is located on Stromboli Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of Sicily, and is part of Italy’s Aeolian Islands. 🇮🇹

It is one of the country’s most active volcanoes, known for its regular eruptive activity.

On 4 May 2026, intense activity from the volcano’s North Crater area triggered a lava overflow down the Sciara del Fuoco slope, a steep volcanic depression on the island’s north-western flank.

🛰 The lava reaching the coastline is visible in this false-colour image acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 6 May 2026.

Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery supports the monitoring of volcanic activity by tracking lava flows, thermal anomalies, and landscape changes, providing information for hazard assessment and civil protection authorities in Italy.

🔗 https://eu-space.europa.eu/explore-euspace/images

The U.S. Geological Survey is monitoring an swarm near Brawley, CA, in the Salton Sea trough of southeastern California. The largest events are four M4.0+; the largest event, a M4.7 was felt by ~180,000 from San Diego to Blythe in eastern CA. The swarm of more than 400 temblors began on 9 May 2026 and is ongoing.

In the event of ground shaking – “Drop, Cover, & Hold On”. For a primer on earthquakes in Arizona visit https://live-azs-azgs.pantheonsite.io/geohazards/earthquakes.

The Community Fault Model (v. 6.1) for Southern California

In a new paper, a team from Harvard University and Appalachian State University present a new version of the Statewide California Earthquake Center - SCEC Community Fault Model, CFM 6.1. This model covers southern California and describes more than 400 active faults that accommodate relative motions across the Pacific‐North American plate boundary. CFM 6.1 is openly available for use in earthquake research.

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article/doi/10.1785/0120250247/727688/The-Community-Fault-Model-v-6-1-for-Southern?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=papers

Pecora Award nominations are due May 29!

You can help recognize an individual or group for their innovative work, impactful research, and dedication to Earth observation through the William T. Pecora Award. The award honors those using satellite or aerial remote sensing to make outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth. Any national or international individual or group working in the field of remote sensing of the Earth is eligible.

Details for submitting nominations: https://ow.ly/BxHz50YRQWi

📷: This Landsat 5 image from August 17, 2009, shows the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. The Landsat 5 Flight Operations Team received a 2020 group Pecora Award for its significant efforts in stretching the satellite’s mission to nearly 30 years, from its launch in 1984 to its decommissioning in 2013. Creatively addressing problems that arose, the team ensured the continuity of the Landsat Program. Landsat 5 imagery lives on today in all of the science products and research projects that rely on its vital historical record.

Located southwest of Cairo in northern Egypt 🇪🇬 the Faiyum Depression is a long-established agricultural region sustained by water diverted from the Nile.

The depression contrasts sharply with the surrounding desert and includes Lake Qarun, a saline remnant of a much larger ancient lake.

🛰️ In this false-colour image acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 9 April 2026, vegetation appears in bright red, highlighting densely cultivated fields across the depression and along the Nile Valley to the east. Lake Qarun is visible as a dark expanse in the northwest, while the Nile appears as a narrow, dark ribbon. The boundary between irrigated land and arid desert is visible throughout the image.

Copernicus satellite data support monitoring of crop extent, irrigation patterns, and land use changes, informing sustainable water management in this water-scarce region.

🔗 https://eu-space.europa.eu/explore-euspace/images

An ancient megaflood 1,000 times the flow of today's Amazon River once surged through this narrow strait. 😲

A deep channel slices across the seafloor, tracing the path of a colossal water surge that transformed an entire region.

What appears today as a calm ocean passage once channeled water at staggering speed and volume, reshaping coastlines almost overnight.

This map shows a narrow marine gateway that once separated two dramatically different worlds—an open Atlantic on one side and a nearly dry Mediterranean Basin on the other.

About 5.33 million years ago, this gateway became ground zero for the Zanclean Flood, when the Atlantic Ocean broke through what is now the Strait of Gibraltar and rapidly refilled the Mediterranean Sea.

At the time, the Mediterranean Basin was largely dry, with perhaps a few small inland seas lying as much as 1 mile (1.6 km) below sea level.

Evidence suggests the strait originally formed from a stream or river draining the eastern slope of an isthmus that once connected Europe to Africa.

When the Atlantic breached this barrier, seawater surged through the gap with unimaginable force, reaching peak discharge rates of roughly 3.5 billion cubic feet per second (100 million m/s)—about 1,000 times the flow of today's Amazon River.

As the water blasted into the basin, it carved deep channels into the seafloor that are still visible in modern bathymetric maps.

Water levels in the Mediterranean Basin may have risen several feet per day, filling the basin in just months to a few years.

By the end of the flood, the Mediterranean Sea covered roughly 970,000 square miles (2.5 million km), permanently reshaping the regional climate, ecosystems, and geography.

The Zanclean Flood is a striking reminder that some of the landscapes we take for granted were forged by rare but extreme events.

Maps like this don't just reveal the seafloor—they show the paths of forces that transformed our planet in ways still visible millions of years later.

Source: Wikipedia

🍀 This rare cloud-free image of Ireland 🇮🇪 acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 29 April 2026, provides an exceptional view of the island, revealing its surface in full spring detail.

Across the island, bright green tones dominate, indicating widespread vegetation growth associated with mild temperatures and ample moisture typical of the season.

The central plains appear as a continuous agricultural mosaic, while darker upland areas suggest thinner vegetation cover and more exposed terrain. Along the eastern seaboard, milky turquoise plumes indicate suspended sediments in coastal waters, shaped by river outflows and marine currents.

🛰️ Copernicus Sentinel satellite observations allow tracking of such seasonal and coastal features over time, supporting environmental monitoring and analysis.

🔗 https://eu-space.europa.eu/explore-euspace/images

😍🧠 Did you know the Andes Mountains extend all the way to Antarctica? 🇦🇶

Geologically, this is true. The Andes continue underwater beneath the Drake Passage and reappear on the White Continent as the Antarctandes, forming part of the Antarctic Peninsula.

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🌎 The Geological Connection

This extension is known as the Scotia Arc, a submerged mountain chain that links the southern tip of the Andes in Tierra del Fuego to the mountains of Antarctica. Both systems share the same tectonic origin and similar volcanic rock formations.

🏔️ Drake Passage:
Here, the mountains sink beneath the ocean, forming a curved underwater arc before rising again farther south.

❄️ Antarctandes:
This is the official name given to the Antarctic mountain range that preserves a structure and elevation comparable to the southern Andes.

🌍 In other words, the Andes don’t truly end in South America — they continue beneath the ocean, connecting two continents through deep geological history.