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Cambridge researchers take a deep dive into Iceland plume’s enigmatic workings

14 May 2024

What do the rumblings of Iceland’s volcanoes have in common with the now peaceful volcanic islands off Scotland’s western coast and the spectacular basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland? Iceland sits over a mantle plume — a fountain of hot rock that rises from Earth’s core-mantle boundary — explaining...

Drawing a line back to the origin of life: Graphitization could provide simplicity scientists are looking for

24 April 2024

Scientists from the Cambridge University have suggested that molecules vital to the development of life could have formed from a process known as graphitisation. Once verified in the laboratory, the finding could allow scientists to recreate plausible conditions for life's emergence. It has long been debated how the...

Sedgwick Museum receives vital investment from Research England for collections-based research and innovation

9 April 2024

Research England has announced that it will support nine of the University’s museums and collections, including the Sedgwick Museum, with £3m a year of Higher Education Museums, Galleries and Collections (HEMG) funding, over the coming five years. The Sedgwick Museum — which houses more than 1.5 million geological objects...

Department and Sedgwick Museum hold first Earth Sciences Fair

25 March 2024

On Saturday 23 rd March, the Department of Earth Sciences and Sedgwick Museum hosted their first Earth Sciences Fair as part of the wider Cambridge Festival. Visitors had a chance to meet scientists from the Department and hear about their research to understand our planet and tackle environmental challenges. Interactive...

Ice on show at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

20 March 2024

Cambridge Earth Sciences and the British Antarctic Survey will be at the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition , talking all about how we’re unlocking the past using ice cores from Antarctica. This annual event is a free, interactive experience for anyone curious about the latest advances in science and technology...

Crystal defects yield improved estimates of earthquake energy balance

12 March 2024

Earthquakes happen when rocks deep underground break and slide past each other suddenly: releasing seismic waves that cause shaking. But shaking is just one way that earthquakes liberate their pent-up energy. Around 80% of an earthquake’s total energy actually stays within rocks close to the fault rupture. When a fault...

Earth’s earliest forest revealed in Somerset fossils

8 March 2024

The oldest fossilised forest known on Earth – dating from 390 million years ago – has been found in the high sandstone cliffs along the Devon and Somerset coast of South West England. The fossils, discovered and identified by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Cardiff, are the oldest fossilised trees ever...

Professor Sasha Turchyn receives Pilkington Prize for teaching excellence

7 March 2024

Professor Sasha Turchyn has been awarded the prestigious Pilkington Prize in recognition of her teaching excellence. Professor Sasha Turchyn is a lecturer in biogeochemistry and Director of Studies in Earth Sciences at Trinity Hall. The award acknowledged Sasha’s dedication to students, running fieldtrips and her work to...

Join us as we celebrate International Women's Day!

29 February 2024

Join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day, this Friday 8 th March! The Department’s EDI Committee is hosting a panel discussion featuring five inspiring female earth scientists working in wide-ranging fields. The panel speakers will share their experience and reflections: from career paths, to role models and...

Deep ocean structures revealed via seismic imaging

27 February 2024

In the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Brazil, warm tropical waters flow southward and meet colder currents travelling north from the sub-Antarctic region. At this point, two significant water masses of contrasting temperature and salinity converge: forming a swirling, turbulent zone known as the Brazil-...

Cambridge researchers take a deep dive into Iceland plume’s enigmatic workings

Drawing a line back to the origin of life: Graphitization could provide simplicity scientists are looking for

Sedgwick Museum receives vital investment from Research England for collections-based research and innovation

Department and Sedgwick Museum hold first Earth Sciences Fair

Ice on show at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

Crystal defects yield improved estimates of earthquake energy balance

Earth’s earliest forest revealed in Somerset fossils

Professor Sasha Turchyn receives Pilkington Prize for teaching excellence

Join us as we celebrate International Women's Day!

Deep ocean structures revealed via seismic imaging

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