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Department of Earth Sciences

 
Read more at: Crystal clues reveal that magmas move rapidly beneath Main Ethiopian Rift

Crystal clues reveal that magmas move rapidly beneath Main Ethiopian Rift

15 December 2025

Tectonic activity is constantly reshaping Earth’s surface—ploughing continents together to build lofty mountains or pulling them apart so they may become basins or oceans. Research presented at this year’s AGU Annual Meeting explores the rifting process in the Main Ethiopian Rift—part of a major fault system that is...


Read more at: Dancing on ice: Geochemist keeps an eye out for polar bears while rehearsing steps for world championship

Dancing on ice: Geochemist keeps an eye out for polar bears while rehearsing steps for world championship

11 December 2025

A Cambridge geochemist, who will represent Great Britain at a major Latin dance world championship, had to keep on top of practice during fieldwork expeditions, and even rehearsed her steps on Greenland’s windswept tundra – in between polar bear watches. Dr Carrie Soderman – who is investigating rare earth elements and why...


Read more at: Department holds first Winter Lecture

Department holds first Winter Lecture

11 December 2025

The Teaching Team held the inaugural Winter Lecture on 5 December. The event was an opportunity to come together at the end of Michaelmas term to hear from one of our Emeritus faculty members, Professor Dave Norman, who delivered a lecture titled ‘Dinosaurs: are their evolutionary origins and relationships problematic? â€...


Read more at: Unmelted asteroids supplied life-giving volatiles to Mars and Earth

Unmelted asteroids supplied life-giving volatiles to Mars and Earth

26 November 2025

New evidence reveals that unmelted asteroids originating from different parts of the Solar System were a key source of volatile elements during the formation of Earth and Mars. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London measured zinc isotopes within Martian meteorites, tracing their unique...


Read more at: Accessing the inaccessible: my fieldwork exploring volcanoes’ hidden plumbing
Photo of a woman stood on a beach, in front of a mountain, they are dressed in field gear and using crutches.

Accessing the inaccessible: my fieldwork exploring volcanoes’ hidden plumbing

18 November 2025

PhD student Frankie Butler reflects on navigating fieldwork with a disability, her recent travels to Ireland and Iceland in search of igneous rocks, and how she is working to make earth sciences fieldwork more accessible to all. My research I’m Frankie Butler (aka Francesca), a second-year PhD student working with Prof...


Read more at: Studying mountain belt evolution guides search for new lithium sources

Studying mountain belt evolution guides search for new lithium sources

17 November 2025

A new study reveals why rocks within some mountain ranges get hot enough to form lithium-rich deposits—insights that could help pinpoint untapped sources of this critical mineral. Dubbed the ‘white gold’ of the energy transition, lithium is essential for batteries that power electric vehicles and store renewable energy. “...


Read more at: Boron isotopes reveal how nuclear waste glass slowly dissolves over time
Nuclear fuel rods, image credit: Pixabay

Boron isotopes reveal how nuclear waste glass slowly dissolves over time

28 October 2025

A new study has uncovered how tiny differences in boron atoms can help scientists better predict the long-term behaviour of glass used to store hazardous waste. The findings , published in Environmental and Biogeochemical Processes , could improve forecasts of how radioactive materials are released from storage over...


Read more at: Ancient bird fossil tells of New Zealand’s lost avian biodiversity

Ancient bird fossil tells of New Zealand’s lost avian biodiversity

23 October 2025

Of all songbirds, the bowerbird has perhaps one of the strangest courtship displays. To attract a mate, males of the species build arched structures or ‘bowers’ using twigs, embellished with colourful objects such as leaves, fruit and even plastic—behaviour famously captured in David Attenborough’s documentaries. Now...


Read more at: Fieldwork in paradise: historic lavas and eruption encounters in Hawaiʻi

Fieldwork in paradise: historic lavas and eruption encounters in Hawaiʻi

20 October 2025

PhD student Julian Pahl recounts his fieldwork in Hawai ʻ i this summer, where he got a chance to sample historic lava flows and witness the ongoing eruption of Kīlauea. Hi! I am Julian, a second-year PhD student specialising in igneous petrology at Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences. My research focuses on the...


Read more at: Mysterious magnetic fossils powered ancient animal navigation

Mysterious magnetic fossils powered ancient animal navigation

20 October 2025

Buried in ancient seafloor sediments dating back millions of years lie minuscule magnetic fossils—fragments left behind by a mysterious, unidentified organism. Shaped like spearheads, spindles, bullets and needles, and no larger than a bacterial cell, scientists are confident these magnetofossils are biological in origin...