Proactive sewer asset management requires accurate condition assessment, yet CCTV inspections remain costly because interpretation is manual. We evaluated 18 vision-language models (VLMs) in a zero-shot setting for automated classification of six sewer defect types using a curated dataset. Each model produced a defect label, a short explanation, and a confidence score. OpenAI proprietary models outperformed open-source ones. GPT-4.1 mini achieved the highest macro-F1 score (0.50), outperforming much larger models, especially for surface damage and cracks/breaks. Some open-source models, such as LLaMa 4 (16x17B) and Qwen2.5-VL (32B), performed above random guessing but remained behind the proprietary models. All models failed to detect production errors, the most difficult class, and performed poorly on deformations. Confidence scores were generally unreliable, with little distinction between correct and incorrect predictions. Textual-output analysis showed that models sometimes described defects accurately even when the assigned label was wrong, although major hallucinations remained. We conclude that VLMs show some promise for sewer asset management, but they are not ready for deployment. Future work should focus on adding asset metadata to prompts and fine-tuning open-source models, especially since larger, newer, and more expensive OpenAI models did not outperform smaller ones, although confirmation requires a more thorough statistical analysis.

The Echaurren Norte Glacier mass balance time series is the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, thus it is—together with the Zongo Glacier in Bolivia—a reference glacier by the World Glacier Monitoring Service. The Echaurren Norte Glacier constitutes a reference case of glacier degradation and transition in the Central Andes of Chile, exemplifying the full spectrum of contemporary glacier evolution processes: frontal retreat, surface thinning, progressive debris cover and fragmentation. An analysis of satellite imagery from 1955 to 2023 reveals a ∼65% reduction in glacier area, accompanied by an expansion of supraglacial debris. Today, no clean ice is visible at the surface, and the glacier persists as three fully debris-covered units with a combined area of only 0.18 km2. These transformations indicate a shift from an active mountain glacier towards a debris-covered glacieret, characterized by negligible ice flow and limited basal sliding. In this contribution to the ‘Vanishing Glaciers’ collection, we present this work as a homage to the Echaurren Norte Glacier and to everyone who contributed to its monitoring over the decades. We also discuss possible pathways to continue long-term glacier monitoring in this region and strategies to link this monitoring to the Echaurren Norte Glacier history.

Seasonal glacier dynamics are key to predicting hazards and glacier stability due to short-term events as well as improving glacier models. However, the short-term ice velocity variations remain poorly constrained for slow-moving glaciers in the Himalaya due to the scarcity of in situ observations and limitations of satellite data and methods. We present seasonal velocity variations of Drang Drung Glacier (western Himalaya) in 2021 using Sentinel-1 phase-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and offset tracking. Smoothed velocity estimates reveal $\sim$400 % seasonal variability (3–13 m a$^{-1}$), with speedups in spring and autumn and slowdowns in summer and winter. We relate these patterns to changes in radar backscatter and seasonal widening of the proglacial stream observed in Planet imagery. To interpret the mechanisms, we simulate the evolution with the Subglacial Hydrology and Kinetic Transient Interactions model coupled to the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model. Results indicate that speedup–slowdown cycles and their upglacier migration are driven by meltwater-induced shifts in subglacial drainage efficiency. This study emphasizes the role of hydrology and basal sliding in Himalayan glacier dynamics, often oversimplified in existing models.

Quantifying micromechanical and microstructural properties of snow is crucial, as they control bulk thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. Snow density can provide an estimate of mechanical properties, while direct observation of snow microstructure is necessary to determine mechanical properties. We utilized a novel non-contacting laser ultrasound system, providing high-frequency acoustic waveform measurements, to observe mechanical properties at the microscale. We investigated the temporal relationship between p-wave velocity, snow crystal type, p-wave modulus, stiffness and specific surface area (SSA). We created homogeneous snow samples, each composed of a single type of precipitation particle, compacted to a density of 250 kg m-3. We measured wave propagation through these snow samples and observed changes in p-wave speed during equilibrium metamorphism. We also measured SSA with the InfraSnow Sensor, as well as micromechanical properties with the SnowMicroPenetrometer. With these data, we observed changes in mechanical properties, with up to a factor of 2 increase in elastic modulus depending on crystal type during a period of 72 hours. Estimated elastic moduli increased over time, as expected and in agreement with previous work. Needles and columns had faster p-wave velocities, implying larger elastic modulus, compared to plates and dendrites, and had a higher rate of change within the first hour.

Helm Glacier is a World Glacier Monitoring Service reference glacier and is one of three glaciers in Western Canada with a mass balance record which exceeds 40 years. An ice-penetrating radar survey reveals a mean and maximum ice thickness of 13.0 and $37.2\,\mathrm{m}$, respectively. We combine ice thickness data and altimetric data from repeat LiDAR surveys to project ice disappearance. We use simple extrapolation and a multivariate linear regression to predict surface elevation change based on incoming shortwave radiation, end-of-winter snow depth, positive degree days, slope and aspect. Both approaches project the disappearance of Helm Glacier by 2035. We estimate that Helm Glacier has a current mass balance sensitivity to temperature of ${\mathrm C}_{\mathrm T}=-0.58\,{\mathrm m\boldsymbol\,\mathrm w.\mathrm e.\boldsymbol\,\mathrm a}^{-1}\,^\circ\,\mathrm C^{-1}$, which is slightly less negative than the balance sensitivity of ${\mathrm C}_{\mathrm T}=-0.64\,{\mathrm m\boldsymbol\,\mathrm w.\mathrm e.\boldsymbol\,\mathrm a}^{-1}\,^\circ\,\mathrm C^{-1}$ derived from the in situ balance record. Helm Glacier is more than 4$\rm{^\circ}C$ out of balance with current climate conditions [2014–24].

Since the first glacier-wide mass-balance measurement on Gara Glacier (India) in 1974, researchers have monitored 38 glaciers across the Himalaya. These glaciers show a mean wastage of −0.62 ± 0.33 m w.e. a‒1, equivalent to a cumulative mass loss of −23.95 ± 1.44 m w.e. over 1974‒2023. The wastage strongly increased from −0.31 ± 0.34 m w.e. a‒1 pre-2000 to −0.66 ± 0.33 m w.e. a‒1 post-2000, indicating an acceleration of ∼9 cm w.e. per decade since 1974. Only seven glaciers (Chhota Shigri, Hoksar, Mera, Pokalde, Rikha Samba, West Changri Nup and Yala) meet the WGMS definition of benchmark glaciers, characterized by at least 10 years of continuous mass-balance observations. Glacier-wide mass-balance analysis with geodetic estimates identifies Mera and Rikha Samba as representative of the central Himalaya, while Chhota Shigri for the western Himalaya. To honour the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (IYGP) 2025, it is recommended to: (i) use standardized methodologies for estimating random errors in glacier-wide mass balances; (ii) reanalyse mass-balance series spanning ∼10 years or longer; (iii) expand monitoring to underexplored regions like the Karakoram, Sikkim, Zanskar and the Bhutanese Himalaya; (iv) continue monitoring of benchmark glaciers which is vital to understanding glacier response to climate change.

A catalogue of seismic events is produced and analysed for Sørsdal Glacier, East Antarctica. Recordings were made using an irregular array of three broadband and eight short-period seismometers, with approximately 3 km aperture, deployed slightly upstream of the expected grounding line during the 2017–18 austral summer. The broadband sensors were used to construct the event catalogue, and the short-period instruments were used to aid constraints on source directionality relative to the array. We observe a diurnal cycle of seismicity, which is characterised by Rayleigh waves with peak activity corresponding to low surface temperature, indicating surface crevassing enhanced by thermal stress as the dominant source mechanism. Event groups were formed using manual analysis, followed by template matching. These groups revealed spatial and temporal clusters with distinct crevassing zones operating in diurnal cycles, and other near-surface sources with weaker periodicity potentially originating from firn or hydrological processes. These cycles and source variability show the evolution of the surface on daily and seasonal timescales, so they may provide useful insights into hydrofracture and ice shelf stability. The analysis techniques and workflows employed are transferable to other polar ice sheet outlet glaciers where seismicity is generated largely outside the aperture of the array.

The first fossil fauna to be described from the Antarctic was collected at Seymour Island in December 1892 by Captain Carl Anton Larsen and the crew of the Norwegian whaling ship Jason. Some specimens collected by Larsen’s crew were acquired by Charles Donald, the surgeon with an 1892–1893 Scottish whaling expedition from Dundee that was also operating in the vicinity of Seymour Island. Donald returned the fossils to Scotland, and they were described in two papers published by The Royal Society of Edinburgh (1894 and 1899) as, inter alia, two new species of Palaeogene bivalves and one of Cretaceous to Palaeocene age. Sadly, the described Palaeogene specimens are now lost, but one Cretaceous/Palaeocene survivor, the holotype of Lahillia larseni, has been located in the palaeontology collection of the British Geological Survey with the reference number FOR 4053. On Seymour Island, Lahillia larseni is a common species in both Upper Cretaceous and Palaeocene strata and is of particular importance as its abundance seems to have been unaffected by the end-Cretaceous extinction.

The Sauce Grande River Basin (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) presents a late Pliocene–Holocene sedimentary succession that preserves key evidence of Quaternary paleoenvironmental change in the southern Pampas. This study integrates stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleopedology, geochemistry, mineralogy, and stable isotope data to reconstruct paleoenvironmental evolution from the late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene. Three paleosol types (Calcisols, Calcic Protosols, and Protosols) were identified and characterized through field descriptions, micromorphology, and molecular indices. Their development reflects shifts in landscape stability, sediment supply, and soil moisture regimes, consistent with glacioeustatic fluctuations and climatic oscillations during the late Plio-Pleistocene transition and the Quaternary. Stable isotope analyses of pedogenic carbonates reveal a trend from C₃-dominated vegetation under more humid conditions in the late Pliocene–Early Pleistocene, to more arid Late Pleistocene–Holocene environments, with increased δ13C values indicating reduced vegetation density and a higher potential contribution of C₄ plants. These findings align with palynological and faunal evidence, highlighting the value of paleosols as sensitive indicators of environmental change. The multiproxy approach adopted here provides new insights into soil formation dynamics and Quaternary palaeoecological transitions in non-glaciated midlatitude settings of South America.

The subsurface sediment collected from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1385 of the Iberian Margin was examined via metagenomics. Examination of the assembled metagenomes across different depths showed abundant signatures of Aerophobia and Bacteroidia, with additional lineages in lower abundance. We found that predicted functions, such as formaldehyde oxidation and the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle, decrease with depth, whereas acetogenesis and hemicellulose debranching increase with depth. Genomic signatures of iron reduction and nitrate reduction were widespread in the sediment column. Once binned into metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) across all depths, six MAGs were of sufficient quality for characterisation and taxonomically assigned to the classes Promethearchaeia, Thorarchaeia, Atribacterota, Aerophobia, Bacteroidia and SM23-21. We examined how these MAGs varied in relative abundance across sediment depths and how predicted function varied among MAGs and compared to geochemistry. Coverage signatures of Promethearchaeia decreased with depth, whereas signatures for other lineages, particularly the Atribacterota and Bacteroidia, increased with depth. Functions like beta oxidation and glycolysis were well represented across MAGs. Very few genomic signatures of methane and sulfate metabolic cycling were observed in MAGs. This analysis indicates that while the Iberian Margin sediment is a well-preserved site for paleoclimate, which suggests limited microbial or chemical diagenesis, it also contains signatures of subsurface microbes that suggest activity in situ as a result of depth-dependent abundance trends.