Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

What’s my age again? Comparing dating methods in loess

Janina Nett, Sonja Berg, Christian Zeeden and Stephanie Scheidt February 9, 2021

Figure 1: The investigated Balta Alba Kurgan loess-paleosol sequence in Romania with the partly preserved Kurgan on top (black dashed line). Sampled profiles are indicated by the white rectangles and the stratigraphically important tephra layer is highlighted in pink (adapted from [1]).

As you have learned from our previous posts, loess is a widespread terrestrial sediment, known to be an important archive for the changes of past environmental and climatic conditions. In order to use loess as a proxy, we first need to investigate the age of the sediments. In loess, different dating methods can be used, such as luminescence dating, radiocarbon dating, magnetic stratigraphy, and or ...[Read More]

Geoscience for the Future with Dr Natasha Dowey

Chris Skinner January 29, 2021

The Geosciences are at the forefront of the fight against climate change. It is Geoscientists who discovered it and explained it, and it is Geoscientists who work to understand it and its consequences. Geoscientists undoubtedly will be amongst those who will lead us to the solutions. However, it often seems that Geoscientists are solely associated with the extractive industries, a damaging false p ...[Read More]

Fossils on screen

Cinzia Bottini December 10, 2020

In these days fossils are becoming the new Hollywood stars as we are more and more pushed to use new -or sort of new- approaches for disseminating paleontology which pass through a screen. Technology is providing us with several ways to reach homes, colleagues throughout the world, or classrooms to share our research. The EGU General Assembly meeting itself will be online in 2021. Popular museums ...[Read More]

What do (Consulting) Sedimentologists do all day?

Jon Noad November 16, 2020

This ammonite outcrops near Fernie, British Columbia

When I graduated in the 80’s, a job in oil and gas was seen as a glamorous and exciting career for a geoscientist. Even some dramatic falls in the oil price could not dent the optimism within the industry, and oil cities like Calgary thrived. However, life for geologists working in our city has changed dramatically over the last few years. A peak oil price of around $106 per barrel in June 2014 wa ...[Read More]