News

Mussels could 'tough out' climate change

20 August 2019

Global environmental change is generally bad news for life on Earth. But the future may not be entirely doom and gloom. Cambridge biologist Luca Telesca and colleagues have conducted the first large-scale examination of natural variation in biomineralisation in ecologically and economically important Atlantic mussel species Mytilus edulis and M. trossulus within their natural habitats. Little is known about the processes, which allow species such as these to vary regionally. So the researchers tested the mussels ability to vary the production and composition of their calcareous shells which provides them with a resilience to the impacts of climate change in their shallow marine habitat.

Professor Richard Harrison appointed Head of Department

10 July 2019

Richard Harrison (Fitzwilliam 1990), Professor of Earth and Planetary Materials and Fellow of St Catharine’s College, will take over as Head of Department on 1st August 2019.

Perched for take-off

2 April 2019

Perching birds, ranging from sparrows, tits and jays to the South African White-bellied Sunbird, form the largest and most diverse group of living birds. With over 6,000 species belonging to 143 families, the passerines, as they are technically known, have had astonishing evolutionary and geographical success. Within the last 45 million years they have spread out around the world. Now, for the first time the evolutionary tree of all major groups of perching birds has been mapped out in a study involving Daniel Field of the Department of Earth Sciences in Cambridge and led by Carl Oliveros and Brant Faircloth of Louisiana State University.

Geological Society awards for Cambridge researchers

4 March 2019

Congratulations to Professor Marian Holness, Dr Nigel Woodcock and Dr Brendan McCormick Kilbride who each received awards from the Geological Society of London. The awards were presented on President's Day on 6 June 2019.

Magnetic properties of meteorite ‘cloudy zones’ revealed

25 January 2019

A team led by Cambridge Earth Sciences' Joshua Einsle and Richard Harrison have used advanced microscopy techniques and numerical simulations to gain new insight into the formation, composition and magnetic behaviour of the meteoritic composite known as the ‘cloudy zone’.

Research shows what it takes to be a giant shark

24 January 2019

Have you ever wondered why the Megalodon shark became to be so big? Or wondered why some other sharks are much smaller?

Cambridge team reach bedrock to complete Antarctic ice core

9 January 2019

A team of scientists and engineers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey has successfully drilled over 650 metres in to an Antarctic ice cap to obtain an ice core that will show how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet responds to warming. The team, now consisting of six people, has been at Skytrain Ice...

Liz Hide appointed as first full-time Director of the Sedgwick Museum

30 November 2018

The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, the oldest of the University of Cambridge museums, has appointed its first full-time director.

Taking to the skies: measuring volcanic gas emissions using drones

19 November 2018

Many of the world’s most hazardous volcanoes are either too remote or too active to make measurements safely from the ground. Cambridge Earth Scientists are now taking to the skies to investigate the gases being released by these elusive volcanoes.

Dating the emplacement of the Shap granite using zircon

19 November 2018

G5a - the distinctive coarse-grained, pink granite exposed at Shap in Cumbria - has long been a favourite igneous hand specimen for Earth Sciences teaching in Cambridge. New research uses the age of zircon crystal formation to suggest a long gestation period in the mid-crust before its final emplacement 405 million years ago.

Mussels could 'tough out' climate change

Professor Richard Harrison appointed Head of Department

Perched for take-off

Geological Society awards for Cambridge researchers

Magnetic properties of meteorite ‘cloudy zones’ revealed

Research shows what it takes to be a giant shark

Cambridge team reach bedrock to complete Antarctic ice core

Liz Hide appointed as first full-time Director of the Sedgwick Museum

Taking to the skies: measuring volcanic gas emissions using drones

Dating the emplacement of the Shap granite using zircon

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