Last week (August 6-8), we were stuck by Typhoon Dolphin (日本語で台風13号) here in Kikaijima. Although typhoons grazed by Kumamoto when I was living there, this was the first time experiencing a real direct hit on this tiny island in the Pacific. Needless to say, the effects were a lot more severe. The typhoon at one … Continue reading Typhoon Dolphin

Sign at Point 211 I moved to Kikaijima this month to start my new job at the KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences. I want to show off the wondrous island of Kikaijima, and what better place to start than the top! Point 211 is also known as 七島鼻 (しちとうばな - Shichi Tou Bana). The … Continue reading Point 211, Kikaijima

My new office, Hawaii Beach in Kikaijima! Last year, I posted a number of posts about Kikaijima, an island in Kagoshima in southern Japan (see this one for an overview of Kikaijima). I am happy to say that I will start a new position as a researcher at the KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences … Continue reading The next chapter, Kikaijima!

A Holocene beach ridge in Camarones, Argentina, which formed when sea level was higher than it is now. Karla Rubio-Sandoval et al (including me!) have published a massive dataset of paleo sea level data for the east coast of South America. This came out in the April 2026 issue of Global and Planetary Change. This … Continue reading Compilation of Paleo Sea Level Data from the Atlantic coast of South America

A beach on Inujima (Dog Island) in Japan, which is composed of a sand that is primarily slag. It is close to an abandoned copper refinery. In September last year, I participated in the Ark of Coral Reefs cruise. One of the stops was on Inujima, which you can read about here. In the picture … Continue reading Sandgate

In front of the Osaka expo with the mascot Myaku Myuaku. When we got up, we were passing by Kobe. Almost at our destination of Osaka! We lifted some of the sails on our approach to the Osaka Expo! The Osaka Expo! Our expedition had an event there the next day, but unfortunately I had … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Final Day

An old quarry on Inujima. When we awoke early in the morning of day 9 (September 22), we were already at our destination for the day, Inujima. Inujima means "Dog Island". It is located in Okayama Prefecture. The weather was already looking nice. We arrived on the island by a passenger ferry. The breakwater at … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 9

Day 8 (September 21) was mostly a transit day through the Seto Inland Sea. This is a shallow sea between Shikoku and Honshu Islands. During the last glaciation, it was dry land. They have dredged fossils of an extinct elephant from the bottom! Since this the Miraie is a training vessel, we also have to … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 8

Time for some paleo sea level science. Look at that terrace! On day 7, we arrived at the Tosashimizu Geopark in southern Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island. Plenty of interesting geology! For me, this was a day of paleo sea level! We made it to Shikoku in the morning of September 20th, reaching Ashizuri Port. … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 7

Obviously after the events of the previous day, day 6 (September 19th) was a solemn day. It was decided that we continue forth in the morning. With the delays, we could not raise the sails and had to use the engines to reach our next destination on time. After leaving Yakushima, we passed by Tanegashima. … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 6