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 investigating a collection of thin sections from perid ...[Read More]
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Green Tea and Velociraptors
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 – there’s quite a decent variety! Also, for those interested, the Finch Committee wh ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Was the diversity of feeding styles in giant turtles a key to their suckcess?
Sometimes, it can be difficult to figure out how ancient organisms used to eat. Part of the problem is that we can never actually see extinct animals eating (until we invent time-travel.. *taps fingers impatiently at physicists*), and often it can be hard to work out how something ate based just on its anatomy. Sometimes though, the fossil record chucks up something truly spectacular, and gives ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Imaggeo on Mondays: That spot there? It’s 143,000 kilometres across
This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays highlights an amazing view of the night sky at new moon. Christian Klepp took this photo while at Waterton Glacier in the Rocky Mountains – it’s an incredible feat of determination to spend the night beside a glacial lake in the Rockies, let alone to capture such a photo! The centre of the Milky Way lies just over the horizon, shrouded by clouds of interstellar dust. ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guest Blog: Chris Phillips of MapAction Visits GfGD Oxford
Ana Heureux (GfGD Ambassador, Oxford) writes about a recent talk to the Oxford GfGD University Group. Chris Phillips came to Oxford on November 5th and gave the first talk of the academic year, talking about his work with MapAction. Between work at the Ordnance Survey, travelling and volunteering for MapAction and travelling for pleasure, Chris Phillips keeps himself busy. When Chris arrive ...[Read More]
An Atom's-Eye View of the Planet
Cool and hot eruptions, worlds apart
Rings over Etna. copyright Tom Pfeiffer – volcanodiscovery.com Volcanic Mount Sinbung in Sumatra, Indonesia, has sprung to life in a series of massive eruptions over the last few days. The volcano had lain dormant for more than 400 years before a few minor eruptions three years ago. But this week more than 5,000 people have been evacuated from nearby towns and villages as Sinbung makes her presenc ...[Read More]
GeoLog
The Geology of Skyrim: An unexpected journey
Back in January I did a talk at an event called Science Showoff, a comedy night based in London where scientists stand up in front of an audience in a pub and talk about funny stuff to do with their work. I talked about video games. Not any video game however, I talked about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it’s a fantasy role playing video game. It is a g ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (105): Blog Competition Best Image
GfGD Blog Competition 2013 – Best Image The town of Banos de Agua Santa (Ecuador), in the foothills of the active volcano Tungurahua. Credit: David Litchfield, University College London
VolcanicDegassing
Friday Field Photo – Volcanic Crater Lake, near Sollipulli, Chile
Green Tea and Velociraptors
A double-whammy of dinosaur awesomeness. Pun totally intended.
This is a post about pachycephalosaurs. It’s not a post about feathered dinosaurs, huge dinosaurs, or any of the ones which you may be more familiar with from popular media. Pachycephalosaurs were the dome-headed little scrappers of the Cretaceous, around 85 to 66 million years ago. Their name means ‘thick-skulled lizard’ (pachy: thick, cephalon: skull, saurus: lizard), and they were a small group ...[Read More]