Earth Magnetism and Rock Physics

Imaggeo on Mondays: recording the Earth’s magnetic field one grain at a time

Laura Roberts-Artal October 10, 2016

Titanomagnetite grain . Credit: Firoz Kadar Badesab (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The Earth’s magnetic field extends from the core of the planet, right out to space. It is an invisible, butterfly-like, shield which protects us against the harmful particles ejected by solar flares. In addition, it guards us from atmospheric erosion and water loss caused by solar wind. But how do scientists study the Earth’s magnetic field when it can’t be see? Much of what is known results from ...[Read More]

Celebrating Earth Science Week!

Laura Roberts-Artal October 6, 2016

For those not so familiar with the Earth sciences, geosciences and all its subdisciplines might be shrouded in mystery: boring, unfathomable, out of reach and with little relevance to everyday life. Nothing could be further from the truth! Earth Science Week, an international annual celebration founded by the American Geosciences Institute in 1998, aims to change the public’s perception of the ge ...[Read More]

Going deeper underground – why do we want to know how rocks behave?

Stephanie Zihms August 12, 2016

Photo taken at the Soapbox Science event courtesy of Sarah Caldwell (smcneem)

Imagine you find yourself standing atop a wooden box in the middle of your home town, on a rainy weekend day, with the sole aim of talking to passersby about your research work. It can be a rather daunting prospect! How do you decide what the take-home message of your work is: which single nugget of information do you want members of the public to take away after having spoken to you? Even more im ...[Read More]

Who do you think most deserves the title of the Mother of Geology?

Laura Roberts-Artal August 4, 2016

Much ink is spilled hailing the work of the early fathers of geology – and rightly so! James Hutton is the mind behind the theory of uniformitarianism, which underpins almost every aspect of geology and argues that processes operating at present operated in the same manner over geological time, while Sir Charles Lyell furthered the idea of geological time. William Smith, the coal miner and canal b ...[Read More]