In this month’s Geoscience’s column, Sara Mynott discusses the geological hazards associated with climate warming and how recent research sheds new light on our understanding of rockfall frequency. Rockfalls are the free-falling movement of bedrock material from a rock face, a phenomenon also encompassed by the terms ‘landslide’, ‘rockslide’ and ‘rock avalanche’. They range from small debris falls ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Resources: ‘World We Want’ Discussion forums
It’s been a while since we posted anything in our resources series. This week we direct you to a group of discussion forums on the ‘world we want’ website. They have discussion boards covering a range of development themes, some of which are particularly relevant to GfGD; water, energy and environmental sustainability. They direct you to articles and blogs, as well as facilitatin ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
DINOSAUR! But what does it mean..?
Palaeontology probably isn’t the most difficult of sciences, but it does incorporate aspects of chemistry, biology, and physics to a certain degree, as with many other geoscientific disciplines. Palaeontologists are also well known for the mysterious and unintelligible ‘science-speak’ that they use in research papers, fueled by this combination of a multitude of various sciences, ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Imaggeo on Mondays: Rainbow in stone
Nothing better characterises the wild US West than endless landscapes of red hoodoos, spires of rock protruding from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Found mainly in desert and dry, hot areas, hoodoos are distinctive from similarly-shaped formations, such as spires or pinnacles, because their profiles vary in thickness throughout their length. Their distinctive colour bands are the ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guest Blog: From the President of the International Association for Geoethics
Prof. Jesús Martínez-Frías is the head of the planetology and habitability department in the ‘centro de astrobiologica’ in Madrid. He is also the new president of the International Association for Geoethics (IAGETH). We did a short piece promoting another geoethics organisation in December, and here Jesús elaborates on the history and significance of geoethics… Although Geoethics ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
Guest Lecture – Dr. Tim Lowenstein
Our department was recently lucky enough to have Dr. Tim Lowenstein from SUNY Binghamton come give a guest lecture on the changes in the chemistry of seawater throughout geologic time. Originally, we thought that the major ion chemistry in the past was more or less the same as it is today. However, over the last 10 years this long standing belief has been challenged by many researchers and champio ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (64): Geologists in the field – snow in Greece
After our successful ‘active geology’ series, we begin a new, fun photo series looking at ‘geologists in the field’. This week, clearing snow off the outcrop on an undergraduate field trip to Greece, December 2009. Please send us your favourite field photos! (c) Geology for Global Development
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Which direction to take!?
One of the most important things palaeontologists and taxonomists do is the description of new species or fossils. Focussing on dinosaurs, because they’re the ones I know the best, there is a whole host of descriptive anatomy to get your head around. It’s not just the names of the bones; it’s also the names of the parts and structures within bones, including muscle scars and hypo ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Register for the EGU General Assembly 2013
Online pre-registration to the 2013 EGU General Assembly is open until 13 March 2013. The meeting, taking place in Vienna from 07–12 April, brings together over 10,000 scientists from all over the world and covers all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. To register, you will need to create an account with Copernicus, our meetings’ organiser, if you don’t already have one ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Event: Water security at the Overseas Development Institute
Despite the clear advantages to investing in water and sanitation, water security remains an elusive goal for many communities around the world. We discussed the importance of a clean and reliable water supply last year in the GfGD Blog ‘water series‘. The Overseas Development Institute are hosting a public event to discuss ‘water security: global concerns and local realitiesR ...[Read More]