Just 100s km away from you are right now there is a place where rocks can flow, where once-living matter is turned in jewels, from where deadly plumes once killed nearly all life on earth. We can never visit this place – even though it’s right under you. 1. Human beings will never reach the deep… Continue reading Six amazing facts about what’s under your feet
A world without subduction
The greatest achievement of the generation of Earth Scientists now retiring is the concept of plate tectonics. The insight that the earth’s surface is made up of rigid plates that move has shed light on all aspects of Earth Science, from palaeontology to geophysics to the study of ancient climates. What’s less well known is… Continue reading A world without subduction
#thinsectionThursday – what Twitter was made for
One of the great privileges of studying geology at university is spending time looking at thin sections. It may not feel like it at the time – learning to identify minerals down the microscope is hard work – but peering into the secrets of the earth is deeply satisfying, both intellectually and aesthetically. https://twitter.com/chrsphr/status/461928938584166401 For… Continue reading #thinsectionThursday – what Twitter was made for
The Himalaya: mountains made from mountains
Good building stones get reused. Sometimes the only traces of very old buildings are their stones, built into more modern ones. It’s the same with rocks and mountain belts. Stone that now forms parts of the Himalaya was once part of a now-vanished mountain range. The Himalaya were formed by the collision between the Indian… Continue reading The Himalaya: mountains made from mountains