geology

Light years from home – a geologist’s tale

Conor Purcell June 21, 2017

Sunrise seen from space . Illustration inspired by the opening scene of Stanley Kubricks film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Credit: Grafiker61 (Own work), distributed via Wikimedia Commons .

In a departure from the usual posts we feature on the blog, today Conor Purcell (a freelance science writer) brings you a thought provoking science fiction piece. Grab a drink and dive into this geology inspired adventure! “It’s typical geology for a rocky planet” K reported. “Captured beneath the ocean at its northern pole, the core is a mix of metamorphic and sedimentary rock, with sand an ...[Read More]

Life after geoscience

Sam Illingworth October 2, 2015

After spending 13 years (give or take) at school you are faced with a tough decision: what to study at University (if anything at all, the academic path may well not be for you)? You sift through a bunch of university prospectuses and try to plan your future. Of course, lots of things can change, prior to, during and after you finish your studies. Nevertheless, there is no harm in starting to plan ...[Read More]

GeoEd: Why fieldwork is essential to training the next generation of Geoscientists

Sara Mynott April 3, 2014

Our latest GeoEd article is brought to you by Simon Jung, a lecturer and palaeoceanographer from the University of Edinburgh, who highlights what makes fieldwork a brilliant way to understand Earth processes… Studying geosciences involves training across a broad range of natural sciences. Only equipped with such background knowledge will students be able to grasp key concepts in the various ...[Read More]

For the love of rocks

Sara Mynott February 14, 2014

We often have a way of seeing patterns in otherwise random features, and rock outcrops are no exception. Do you see the heart on its side? To the untrained eye an outcrop like this is simply a heart-shaped feature in an otherwise grey rock. But to the geologist, the layers, swirls, shapes and colours tell a story. The ribbons in the granite show that the rock has been subjected to sheer forces and ...[Read More]