Joel Gill writes about the implementation of a borehole in Kabalekela, a village in the north-west of Tanzania. In 2009 and 2010 I visited the village of Kabalekela in the Kagera region of Tanzania to observe the situation there with regards to access to clean and safe water. In short, the village severely struggled to access any clean water. The nearest sources were several kilometres away, and t ...[Read More]
Book Review – Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded (Simon Winchester, 2003, Penguin Books)
“Should form an essential part of the reading list for every undergraduate geologist” – Joel Gill, GfGD’s National Director, reviews Simon Winchester’s 2003 bestseller Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded… During a recent break I had the privilege of reading Simon Winchester’s best-selling book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded (I know what you’re thinking – ...[Read More]
Friday Photo (81): Wildlife in the Field – Glacial Tortoises
A pair of tortoises retreat into their shells in fear as a couple of geologists appear to study the diamictite they are walking over. Clasts visible in the rock below mark melting events at the end of the Gondwana glaciation, 300 million years ago. Deposits like these cover much of southern Gondwana, and can be found today in southern Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India and South America. This se ...[Read More]
Rare Earth Elements: Geochemistry and Geopolitics
The ‘rare earth elements’ (REEs) are a series of similar elements that are rarely encountered on the Earth’s surface. They’re not even allowed to sit in the proper periodic table, banished to a small row floating below with only the ‘actinide series’ (the what?!) for company. REEs have always been the lonely kid in the playground, but now our mum is making us in ...[Read More]