Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are caused when masses of meltwater are released from behind a glacier moraine. Moraines are piles of unconsolidated debris that have either eroded from the glacier valley or have been deposited by melting glaciers. When they fail, a huge volume of water can be released, threatening populations further down the …[Read More]
Latest posts
Volcanoes Under the Ice
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; …[Read More]
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 …[Read More]
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 …[Read More]
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 …[Read More]
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. …[Read More]
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 …[Read More]
Townhall and Splinter Meetings at EGU 2014
In addition to the wealth of scientific sessions at the General Assembly (27 April – 2 May 2014), there is also the option to attend other meetings during EGU 2014. These include Townhall and Splinter Meetings, which are organised by conference participants. Townhall Meetings Townhall Meetings are meetings open for all participants in the conference. …[Read More]
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 …[Read More]
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 …[Read More]