Geosciences Column

Geosciences Column: Earthquakes and depleted gas reservoirs; what comes first?

Laura Roberts-Artal November 20, 2015

"West Texas Pumpjack" by Eric Kounce TexasRaiser - Located south of Midland, Texas. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

An ever growing population means the requirement for resources to fuel our modern lifestyles grows too. Be it in mining, oil/gas extraction or the improvement of renewable technologies, the boundaries of where and how we access resources are constantly being pushed. Previously inaccessible resources become viable prospects as demand increases and our technological know-how advances. Hand in hand w ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Soil in art

Laura Roberts-Artal September 18, 2015

Soil profiles and associated vegetation represented as paintings in Walter Kubiena’s textbook (1953) Bestimmungsbuch und Systematik der Böden Europas (The Soils of Europe). Taken from Feller et al., 2015 .

When you think of soil, what is the first thing that comes to mind? The answer will depend on your perception of soil: to some it has a patriotic meaning (“soil of Britain”, for example), while to others it has a strong agricultural connection and to an Earth scientist, well, it’ll depend on their field of expertise. A geotechnical engineer’s perception of soil is different to how it might be view ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: The Oldest Eurypterid

David Marshall September 1, 2015

Artists reconstruction of Pentecopterus decorahensis in the Ordovician seas of what is now Iowa, USA. Image by Patrick Lynch.

The name of a newly found fossil of sea scorpion draws inspiration from ancient Greece warships and is a unique example of exceptional preservation, shedding light on the rich life of this bygone sea critter, explains David Marshall of Palaeocast fame. To learn more about the importance of giving new fossils names and what Pentecopterus decorahensis (as the new fossil is formally called) teaches u ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: The calamity of eruptions, or an eruption of benefits?

Laura Roberts-Artal August 7, 2015

Mt. Bromo Panorama. Credit: Jimmy McIntyre (distributed via Wikimedia Commons)

So here is a question: why would anyone want to live in the vicinity of an active volcano? The risks are well known, with hazards arising from lava flows, lahars, ash falls, debris avalanches, and pyroclastic density currents, with many often having deadly consequences. But despite the danger, more than half a billion people live in the direct vicinity of volcanoes. Could it be that communities pr ...[Read More]