This week we have a photo of the something that has been on my mind a lot for the last little while and will continue to be on my mind in the comings years months weeks. Of course I am speaking of lab work and particularly the new iodine extraction line that I have been developing. Over the past few months I have had a 0% success rate with this damn thing. However, thanks to the fresh ideas and ex ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Save the Date – GfGD National Conference 23rd October 2013
On Wednesday 23rd October 2013, GfGD will be hosting their first National Conference in London. Aimed at students and recent graduates, this one day event will be a great opportunity to learn more about GfGD and their work, explore the role of geoscience in development, and meet people across the country with the same interest in applying their work to fight poverty and improve society. Put the d ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Imaggeo on Mondays: Kalalau Valley
At over 5 million years old, the island of Kauai is the oldest island in the Hawaiian Achipelago. Hawaii, Maui and Oahu are all younger and lie further to the southeast. This island chronology is no coincidence – the Archipelago formed as a result of intra-plate volcanic activity. Intra-plate volcanism occurs where an upwelling magma plume or ‘hot spot’ lies beneath a continental plate. In this ca ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guest Blog: Managed aquifer recharge in coastal Bangladesh
Donald John MacAllister has a BSc in Geophysics from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in Water Management from Cranfield University. He has spent three years working as a hydrologist and water engineer, both in the UK and in the international development sector. He is currently pursuing a PhD at Imperial College London researching the use of a naturally occurring geoelectric phenomenon to m ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Gender confusion in Confuciusornis? Not any more!
Among the many issues with the fossil record is the case of gender identification. In modern organisms, it is usually pretty easy to tell which members of a particular species are the males and which are the females. This can either be through consistently perving on them to figure it out during copulation, or some aspect of their morphology, such as antlers, or you know, a penis or vagina. When i ...[Read More]
VolcanicDegassing
Sea-floor spreading, on land
One piece of evidence that helped to establish the theory of Plate Tectonics in the early-1960’s was the recognition of patterns of magnetisation in the basalts of the seafloor that were symmetrical about the global oceanic ridge system. Fred Vine and Drummond Matthews recognised that this pattern had to be fixed in place as the lavas, that were erupted along the ocean ridge, cooled through ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (65): Geologists in the field – escaping the sun
In contrast to last week’s snowy photo, geologists trying to squeeze into a patch of shade during field work in the betics, Spain, April 2011. Get involved with our Friday Photo series – send us your favourite photos of geologists in the field! (c) Geology for Global Development 2013
GeoLog
Geosciences Column: The contribution of climate change to water scarcity in the MENA region
In this month’s Geoscience’s column, Alex Stubbings discusses the water scarcity problems in the Middle East and North Africa region and the recent developments in modelling water resources here. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is considered the most water-scarce region in the world. As such, the region faces a multitude of challenges in the 21st century including population growt ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
A new feathered dinosaur – worth getting ruffled for?
Two new feathered dinosaur articles appeared in the latest edition of Nature Communications; one on gender identification in a well-known theropod (the meat noshing ones), and the subject of a forthcoming blog post, and another on a new feathered fiend from, surprise surprise, China. I normally really don’t like writing about theropods, especially of the feathered variety, as it just seems l ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
Geology Photo of the Week #19 – Jan 27 – Feb 2
Hi Everyone, Sorry this post is a bit late. Things have been crazy the last few days in the lab. I am trying to get enough done in the next few weeks to submit an abstract to a conference and I still have quite a long way to go. The 19th photo of week was taken by me at the Hogan Sand Pit just north of Ottawa near Cantley, Quebec. It is a pretty interesting sedimentological feature called a “ ...[Read More]