It finally happened! After 10 years of being denied access to one of the all time best fossil collecting spots in North America myself, and a few other lucky geologists were allowed into the quarry with unrestricted access for the day last Thursday! The last time I visited Colborne Quarry was before I had started …[Read More]
Retired blogs
Historical Hazards: Lessons From Ancient Rome
The town of Pompeii was enveloped in ash during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. To the north of Pompeii lies the small, relatively unknown town of Herculaneum, where the ash fell hotter and deeper. Careful excavation by a team of archaeologists, led by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, has revealed intricate details of daily life for …[Read More]
Friday Photo (82): Wildlife in the Field – Confused Sheep
Each morning when we arrived in the field, hoards of sheep* would come marching over sandstone ridges from miles around to congregate in front of our car. After spending a while thinking we may have established a new animal religion, we realised the poor animals mistook us for their farmer coming to feed them. *We …[Read More]
Borehole Implementation in Tanzania: The Story of Kabalekela
Joel Gill writes about the implementation of a borehole in Kabalekela, a village in the north-west of Tanzania. In 2009 and 2010 I visited the village of Kabalekela in the Kagera region of Tanzania to observe the situation there with regards to access to clean and safe water. In short, the village severely struggled to access …[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #34
My apologies for the slight blogging hiatus over the last little while. I have been preparing for a conference and then attending and so I had to put blogging on the back seat for a few weeks to prepare properly. However, the conference is done, my talk is given so now I can get back …[Read More]
Progressive Palaeontology, Leeds 2013
Progressive Palaeontology (ProgPal) is an annual event where early career researchers get to demonstrate their research to an equivalent audience in a reasonably informal atmosphere. It’s also renowned as a mega p*ss-up, as everyone knows palaeontologists are chronic alcoholics (hence the dinosaurs with feathers hypothesis). This year, it was in the vibrant and cosmopolitan northern …[Read More]
Book Review – Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded (Simon Winchester, 2003, Penguin Books)
“Should form an essential part of the reading list for every undergraduate geologist” – Joel Gill, GfGD’s National Director, reviews Simon Winchester’s 2003 bestseller Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded… During a recent break I had the privilege of reading Simon Winchester’s best-selling book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded (I know what you’re thinking – ‘nice …[Read More]
Friday Photo (81): Wildlife in the Field – Glacial Tortoises
A pair of tortoises retreat into their shells in fear as a couple of geologists appear to study the diamictite they are walking over. Clasts visible in the rock below mark melting events at the end of the Gondwana glaciation, 300 million years ago. Deposits like these cover much of southern Gondwana, and can be …[Read More]
Rare Earth Elements: Geochemistry and Geopolitics
The ‘rare earth elements’ (REEs) are a series of similar elements that are rarely encountered on the Earth’s surface. They’re not even allowed to sit in the proper periodic table, banished to a small row floating below with only the ‘actinide series’ (the what?!) for company. REEs have always been the lonely kid in the …[Read More]
Friday Photo (80): Wildlife in the Field – Lizard on Dolomite
A lizard basks on top of a very uncomfortable looking dolomitised grainstone. This dolomitised layer is part of a sequence of platform carbonates that formed 550 million years ago. Only some of the layers are dolomitised, and it is unclear whether the dolomite is primary, or formed secondarily, possibly as a result of Mg-rich fluids …[Read More]