A fascinating story has emerged this week from a paper in Nature Geoscience by Amanda Lough and co-workers (Lough et al., 2013), on the discovery of a new volcano deep beneath the ice of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The discovery is partly a story of scientists looking in a place where no-one had looked before; this case, using a network of seismometers, as a part of POLENET/ANET ̵ ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Theropod skulls: a note of caution
Morphometrics is a horrible word, but refers to a technique that is gaining increased traction in palaeontology in recent years. It essentially is a way of measuring anatomy, or specific aspects of anatomy. An extension of it is called geometric morphometrics, and this relies on using co-ordinate points on fossils to analyse things like shape variation. The newly minted Dr Christian Foth had a stu ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
New Placement Opportunity: Hazards Education in the Himalayas – Literature Reviews
In June 2014 a conference will take place in Leh (Ladakh Region, India) with a focus on sustainable resource development in the Himlayas. Prior to the main conference, there will be a two-day school’s conference involving students (aged 14-16 years) from 10-15 local schools. A series of lessons will be delivered to these students on the key topics of (i) climate change, energy resources and energy ...[Read More]
Geology Jenga
Make the Most of your PhD
People decide to do a PhD for a whole host of different reasons. Some are driven by wanting to explain the unknown, whilst others see it as a means of securing a better job. No matter what your reasons are there is one certain thing, you’ve got to enjoy learning and you’ve got to be curious. A PhD trains you in the arts of research, independent and critical thinking, and in geology, there is most ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
A new power is rising…
This post originally appeared at: http://the-briefing.com/a-new-power-is-rising/ People always under-estimate the power of the fossil record. There has always been this stigma surrounding it that it is too poor, or too biased to read ‘properly’, and is consequently of no use. I still hear this quite a bit, and there are a couple of reasons for it. Over the last ten years or so, there has been a su ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Three-dimensions of palaeontological awesomeness
Scientific publishing is entering a new era, with digital content becoming more and more important in a world where data is openly and freely shared. In palaeontology, we’re not being left behind. Along with this shift, 3D fossils are adding a new breadth to the field, both in a scientific and educational context. A great example is the British Geological Survey’s immense 3D fossil project. I thou ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Using garnet geochemistry to investigate the lithospheric mantle beneath northern Tanzania
Sorcha McMahon is a third year PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. Sorcha is investigating how strange igneous rocks called carbonatites may have formed, using both natural samples and high-pressure experiments. As part of my undergraduate MSci course at the University of Cambridge, I carried out a project investigating a collection of thin sections from perid ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
An interesting step for open access..
If you haven’t heard of it yet, a new tool, the Open Access Button has just launched, coincident with a large open access conference in Berlin. Below is a copy of their press release, the original of which can be found here. In the mean time, check out some of the EGU’s open access journals – there’s quite a decent variety! Also, for those interested, the Finch Committee wh ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Was the diversity of feeding styles in giant turtles a key to their suckcess?
Sometimes, it can be difficult to figure out how ancient organisms used to eat. Part of the problem is that we can never actually see extinct animals eating (until we invent time-travel.. *taps fingers impatiently at physicists*), and often it can be hard to work out how something ate based just on its anatomy. Sometimes though, the fossil record chucks up something truly spectacular, and gives ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guest Blog: Chris Phillips of MapAction Visits GfGD Oxford
Ana Heureux (GfGD Ambassador, Oxford) writes about a recent talk to the Oxford GfGD University Group. Chris Phillips came to Oxford on November 5th and gave the first talk of the academic year, talking about his work with MapAction. Between work at the Ordnance Survey, travelling and volunteering for MapAction and travelling for pleasure, Chris Phillips keeps himself busy. When Chris arrive ...[Read More]