A school that was damaged by pyroclastic flows during the 1991-1993 eruption of Mt Unzen in Japan. In the background is the volcano, about 3.5 km from the summit. Credit: Rick Wall (c) Geology for Global Development
Polluting the Internet
Aerosols from space #1
A short post to illustrate the changing nature of aerosol in the atmosphere in terms of their spatial extent, source and properties. There are two images below showing the scene from the TERRA satellite as it passed over the Eastern Atlantic off the coast of Morocco. The first image shows the plume of smoke from wildfires from Madeira that swept through the island last weekend. The second image sh ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Conference diaries: The IAVCEI Scientific Assembly, 2013
With the undergraduates off on their holidays, summer sees a lot of large geology conferences take place. We’ll be using the Conference Diaries series to bring you the highs and lows of all things geology conference. Here, Mel Auker talks us through the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly…
Geology for Global Development
Fighting Global Poverty – Can Geologists Help? – Updated Programme
We’re currently nine weeks away from the GfGD National Conference and in the process of finalising the conference programme. Here is a summary of the key sessions and speakers. (N.B. In addition to the above speakers, we are delighted that Jane Joughin, Principal Environmental Consultant at SRK Consulting, will be speaking on the important role that mining geology can play in fighting global ...[Read More]
Geology Jenga
Becoming a Ghost Buster: What triggers sapropel formation?
As I touched upon in our first post, we can use the magnetic properties of minerals in sediments (and other environmental materials) to understand changes in environmental and climatic conditions. This is known as environmental magnetism. The basic idea is to identify links between the magnetic properties of a material and environmental conditions and depositional processes. This approach is not a ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guest Blog: Community Water and Sanitation at Cranfield University
Alison Parker explains how and why she ended up lecturing in International Water and Sanitation at Cranfield Water Science Institute. Over millions of years, geological forces have built the Himalayas and carved the Grand Canyon and put abundant natural resources at human beings’ disposal. However, it is obvious that in the short time that humans have been on the planet they have had an eno ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
The greatest story ever told, by fossils
A lot of recent(ish) posts featured on this blog have been about the evolution of flight and feathered dinosaurs. I promised to kick this habit, and write about something different, but this video by Carl Zimmer adds a really nice narrative to the story and is quite a nice little overview for anyone interested. If you have any questions about bird-like fossils, feathers, their function, or dino-bi ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Professionalism and Social Responsibility (5): Some thoughts on disseminating research
Over the past few weeks we’ve looked at a number of important factors concerned with being geologists that have a high degree of professionalism and social responsibility. These posts have included a number of practical tips on writing, preparing reports and undertaking fieldwork overseas and in different cultures. Today we explore the importance of disseminating research. You’ve under ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Supervisor profile – Professor Mike Kendall
Professor Mike Kendall Professor in Earth Sciences School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol PhD (1992) “Contributions to the theory and modelling of seismic waves in anisotropic inhomogeneous media” Supervisor: Prof. C.J. Thomson 1) The Twitter challenge: Describe your PhD in 140 characters (if you can remember it) Developed theory and numerical methods to track seismic waves th ...[Read More]
Four Degrees
Melting, microbes and methane: Are we about to face a carbon apocalypse?
Marion Ferrat takes a look under the frozen layers of Arctic permafrost and discusses how these soils may come back to haunt us. The vast plains of Siberian or Canadian permafrost are a sight to behold. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles of frozen soils cover these lands, a cold and barren environment. In places, however, this permafrost is slowly melting away as a result of rising temperature ...[Read More]