Author Archives: Chris Rowan

Earthquakes of 2018

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Chris Rowan

Just as I did in 2016 and 2017, I thought I’d begin the new year with a look back at the earthquake activity in the last. According to the catalogue maintained by the USGS, the Earth’s ever-grinding tectonic plates produced … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, society

Earthquake prediction is a fool’s errand

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Chris Rowan

If you want to make earthquake scientists jumpy, all you need to do is ask, "can you predict the next earthquake?" In fact, any variation on the theme of ‘earthquake’ and ‘prediction’ will do – unless it is one which … Continue reading →

Categories: deep time, earthquakes, geohazards, geology, ranting, society

Magma making earthquakes on Hawaii

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Chris Rowan

Volcanic happenings are afoot on the Big Island of Hawaii. To be clear, Kilauea has been erupting continuously since 1983, but activity has waxed and waned. The last few weeks have definitely seen an uptick in unrest, with inflation and … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, volcanoes

A very slow magnetic doom

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Chris Rowan

Why an ‘imminent’ reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field doesn’t mean what most people think it means. Continue reading →

Categories: deep time, geology, palaeomagic, public science, society

Simulating radioactive decay

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Chris Rowan

3.8 billion years! 4 billion years! 4.4 billion years! 4.57 billion years! When discussing the age of the Earth in introductory geology, I think it is important for students to know at least the basic principles of where these ages … Continue reading →

Categories: deep time, geology, science education, teaching