James Hickey is a PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. A geophysicist and volcanologist by trade, his PhD project is focussed on attempting to place constraints on volcanic unrest using integrated geodetic modelling. Earth Science Week is an international initiative to promote the great work that goes on in the geoscience community. It encompasses a huge range ...[Read More]
Science snap (#32): Coral currents
KT Cooper is a PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. A carbonate geochemist by training, here she dives into the world of corals. Coral is misunderstood. It may look like a beautiful underwater plant, and for a long time it was thought to be one, but is in fact an invertebrate. The coral structures are colonies made up of individual small polyps. These produce a ...[Read More]
Things I wish I knew when I started my PhD…
James Hickey is a PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. A geophysicist and volcanologist by trade, his PhD project is focussed on attempting to place constraints on volcanic unrest using integrated geodetic modelling. As the academic year begins again, new PhD students across the country (and further) are slowly settling into their fresh surroundings. I stayed a ...[Read More]
Coral, wanted dead and alive; a brief excursion into the world of coral science
Today we have a guest post from Dr. Peter Tomiak who delves into the life and death of corals… I completed my undergraduate degree in Biology and Geology at the University of Bristol in 2008. Subsequently I undertook a sponsored internship with Save The Elephants, in Samburu National Park Kenya, before starting a short term position alongside Prof. Adrian Lister at the Natural Histor ...[Read More]
Science snap (#31): Mammatus clouds
After all the thunderous weather this weekend and being British, I thought I’d do a weather themed science snap. Don’t bolt yet; it’s a volcanic-weather themed! This is a picture of mammatus clouds following the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. These clouds are pretty rare, unusual and distinctive. Formally, the Glossary of Meteorology defines mammatus clouds as “hanging protuberances, like p ...[Read More]
Science Snap (#29): African Fairy Circles
If you’re wandering among the arid desert that stretches from Angola to South Africa, you may notice the ground pot-marked by millions of circular barren patches. These striking features are known as “Fairy circles”, and can grow up to 15 meters in diameter. Tall grasses often surround these circles, further accentuating these miniature crop circles. How these Fairy Circles form is hotly de ...[Read More]
Science Snap (#28): The Eye of the Sahara
Surrounded by thousands of square miles of ubiquitous desert, the “Eye of the Sahara” peers out from the Earth’s surface and at nearly 50 km wide, its easily visible from space too. The “Eye of the Sahara” is known as a Richat Structure, a geological feature consisting of a series of alternating circular layers of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock, exposed by erosion. The “Eye of the Sahar ...[Read More]
Science Snap (#28): Brandberg Massif, Namibia
Brandberg Massif is Namibia’s highest mountain, but if you look from above, you’ll notice it’s no ordinary one. Brandberg is a single mass of granite that pierced its way through the Earth’s crust into the Namib Desert. Looking at the Landsat 7 image, Brandberg is a circular dark and steep-sided mountain, imposing itself over the desert below. It reaches height of 2.5 km and stretches across 31 km ...[Read More]
Science Snap (#25): Vesuvius, Andy Warhol
Quite simply, volcanoes are inspiring. I’ve yet to meet someone who disagrees. The majestic volcanic landscape has thus been an inspiration to many an artist and author, whether intentional or not. Furthermore, artwork itself can be a valuable tool to help decipher and understand eruptions and their effects on the climate. Pictured here is Vesuvius erupting in all its glory and is one of my ...[Read More]
Science Snap (#24): The psychedelic Zambezi flood plain
This colourful image shows the Zambezi River’s floodplain in Zambia. The image was created from three acquisitions from Envisat’s radar instrument that were merged together. Each acquisition was assigned a colour and when combined show changes in the floodplain between each satellite acquisition. The white patch of pixels in the upper right quadrant marks the city of Mongu and appears ...[Read More]