This was originally posted on the PLOS Paleo blog Crocodiles are freakin’ amazing animals. They’ve been around for about 250 million years, and throughout this time have survived two mass extinctions, and at least twice decided to hitch up and take to the seas. Their historical diversity, and general weirdness, was vast compared to what we see in modern crocs, which are on the face of it all fairl ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
Bubbling Merrily: Artesian Springs
I recorded the video above on a recent field camp near Deep River, Ontario. This video shows a great example of a flowing artesian spring which is bubbling up at the headwaters of a creek. The water is freezing, crystal clear and totally delicious! The classic textbook on groundwater, Freeze and Cherry, puts the attraction of groundwater springs nicely when they say “Flowing wells (along wit ...[Read More]
VolcanicDegassing
Volcanoes of the Ethiopian Rift Valley
The great Rift Valley of Ethiopia is not only the cradle of humankind, but also the place on Earth where humans have lived with volcanoes, and exploited their resources, for the longest period of time. Perhaps as long ago as 3 Million years, early hominids began to fashion tools from the volcanic rocks from which the Rift Valley was floored, including basalt and obsidian. The Ethiopian Rift Valley ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
My DEFENCE! Follow live tweets with #129I @ 2:30pm ET
My PhD defence is this week (Wednesday) at 2:30pm ET. I am feeling pretty good about the whole thing but at the same time nervous. I just don’t know exactly what to expect. I have a sort of idea of what the questions might cover and where my assumptions or conclusions might be challenged. However, the uncertainty of all this is what is making me nervous. I have gotten lots of good advice fro ...[Read More]
Geology Jenga
Yet another way we are altering Earth’s natural functioning
So it has been a while since I last blogged, attributed to various excuses – fieldwork, moving job, moving house – but moving forwards I intend to spend more time discussing the myriad aspects of geoscience I find fascinating. One good example is a recent paper from Janice Brahney (University of British Columbia) and colleagues in Global Biogeochemical Cycles entitled ‘Is atmospheric p ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
#EGU16 – Sessions of Interest
The EGU General Assembly 2016 takes place in Vienna between the 17-22 April 2016. Abstract submission is now open for their fantastic range of sessions, with support applications open until 1st December 2015. These offer financial support to early-career scientists and established scientists from low, lower-middle and upper-middle income countries. We’ve noted some sessions of immediate rele ...[Read More]
Geology Jenga
The coolest way to visualise how planets work
It’s not always easy visualising the complex processes which operate on planet Earth. Even more difficult, at least for me, is explaining them to others. That’s why I’m always on the look out for tools that might just help me with that and which I can share with others too. Enter the NASA Visualisation Explorer, and the Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS), which I came across r ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guest Blog: Autumn Reflections
Cecilia Reed (aka Lady Rock) is a volcano and geology enthusiast, film-maker and communicator based in London, UK. She has previously published a really interesting series of videos relating to volcanic activity, culture and the local environment in Central America. Cecilia has kindly allowed us to republish this post from her Tumblr site, introducing her latest video series and reflecting on the ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
Photo of the Week #50
This week’s photo is brought to you from outer space! Indeed, this a beautiful cut section of a meteorite that fell in northwest Australia and was found in 1892 (ignore the label behind it). It is an iron-nickel meteorite and is composed entirely of metal. This crazy cross-hatching, which is most commonly found in such iron-nickel meteorites, is called a Widmanstätten pattern. Widmanstätten ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
From the GeoSphere Archives: The Wooden Wall
It is once again time to write about geology and classics and the incredibly important impact the geosciences had on the ancients and their way of life. My previous post on this topic can be found at my old blog location as the post: The Odyssey and Geology. I’ll begin by relating a story: The two fleets, the Persians the the Greeks, which was composed of the navies of all the city states, b ...[Read More]