This post unifies two of my absolutely favourite topics: geology and classical Greek history. I have always had a soft spot for the classics. In fact, when I started my undergrad I was planning on doing a double major of geology and classics. I decided to focus on geology, but I have not lost my love of ancient civilizations particularly the ancient Greeks and Romans. Most of us are familiar with ...[Read More]
On March 8th, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Evidence from satellite tracking suggests that the aircraft may have crashed into the Indian Ocean several 1,000 kms west of Australia and this is where the search is now focused. No debris or oil slick related to the aircraft has so far been found. However, signals consistent with the “p ...[Read More]
Well, AESRC is done for another year and with it my role as co-chair of the organizing committee! Thank goodness for that! Hopefully, I can finally get some actual thesis related work done in the coming months…and maybe get back to blogging a bit as well. However, as grateful as I am that AESRC is done, I have to say that it was a fantastic conference this year with a host of terrific talks ...[Read More]
There is a strange phenomenon on the internet called unboxing. Unboxing is when a person receives a new package of something and takes a video or pictures of the process of opening it for the first time and posts it online. Mostly, from what I can see, people “unbox” electronics or hockey cards or things of that nature. However, what I have today could be called the granddaddy of all ...[Read More]
Today’s post is a special treat! An interview style post with one of the newest professors in the Department of Earth Science at the University of Ottawa: Dr. Pascal Audet. What is your background? e.g. What was your undergrad in, PhD. I graduated with a degree in physics from the Université de Montréal. By that time I knew I wanted to work in applied physics and I had always been cur ...[Read More]
Satellites are now so ubiquitous in our lives that there is something of a precedent to take them for granted. A normal daily routine for may people across the world may include watching television (satellite) as you check your twitter account (satellite) and have a look at the weather (satellite), all before you’ve even eaten your breakfast (not a satellite); whilst for those of us in the remote ...[Read More]
This post is kind of a continuation of Laura Roberts excellent guest post on the Solar Storms and the Earth’s Magnetic field. However, this is a bit of a different spin on it. I am not writing about what get’s kept out, but rather what slips by the shield and gets in. Of course, I am speaking about cosmic rays and the wonderfully useful isotopes they produce that rain down upon us. Yes ...[Read More]
I am a PhD student at the University of Liverpool Geomagnetism Laboratory. My current research project is the palaeomagentic study of 3.5-3.2 billion year old rocks from South Africa. The aim of my research is to improve our understanding of the long term evolution of the Earth and the surface conditions under which the first forms of life originated through using palaeomagnetic records. The rock ...[Read More]
This post is the first of hopefully many guest posts by graduate students and geologists I work with. This post is by Dr. Martin Wolstencroft, a post doctoral fellow with Dr. Glenn Milne here at UOttawa. Martin is a geophysicist by trade and hails from a small town in central England. He did his undergraduate degree and PhD. at Cardiff University in Wales. His PhD. research focussed on the solid E ...[Read More]