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Looking towards Pico de Cabugi, the highest volcanic neck in the region; image credit Marthe Klöcking

Large topographic features are caused by subtle changes in the uppermost mantle

1 October 2020

Brazil’s Borborema Plateau is in the middle of the South American plate - well away from the dynamic tectonic forces of subduction in the Andes Volcanic Belt. Plate theory suggests that passive areas like Borborema should be flat and stable, with little movement of the crust. But the region, which is thousands of kilometres across and a domed shape, has actually risen by up to a kilometre over the last 30 million years.

Synthesized false colour image of Venus, Credit: JAXA / ISAS / Akatsuki Project Team

Phosphine clouds suggest Venus could host life

15 September 2020

A UK-led team of astronomers involving Dr Paul Rimmer, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences with affiliations at Cavendish Astrophysics and the MRC Labratory of Molecular Biology, has discovered a rare molecule – phosphine – in the clouds of Venus, hinting to the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.

New record of Earth’s Cenozoic climate reveals defining role of polar ice

3 September 2020

Research published today in Science presents a new record of Earth’s temperature and glaciation since the end of the age of the dinosaurs, revealing the changing state of the climate system through the last 66 million years.

Atomic-scale imaging of uranium dioxide reveals how nuclear waste breaks down

1 September 2020

A recent study, led by Dr Aleksej Popel and directed by Professor Ian Farnan, both at the Department of Earth Sciences and Cambridge Nuclear Energy Centre, has observed the surface breakdown of uranium dioxide, the primary component of nuclear fuel, shedding light on the mechanism and rate of waste leaching.

Scelidosaurus finally makes its way into the dinosaur family tree

27 August 2020

The first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified has finally been studied in detail and found its place in the dinosaur family tree, completing a project that began more than a century and a half ago.

Abrupt changes in Earth’s past climate occurred synchronously

20 August 2020

An international study, involving Professor Eric Wolff at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, has found that the onset of past climate changes was synchronous over an area extending from the Arctic to the low latitudes.

Carbon dioxide pulses are a common feature of the carbon cycle

20 August 2020

A multi-institutional study, involving researchers at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, has found that pulse-like releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere are a pervasive feature of the carbon cycle and that they are closely connected to major changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation.

Addressing racial inequality and inclusion in the Department of Earth Sciences

10 June 2020

This post is a response on behalf of the Department of Earth Sciences to an open letter sent by undergraduates, postgraduates and post-docs prompted by the current vocalisation around racial injustice, and in particular the Black Lives Matter movement. The letter raises concerns about the Department and wider Earth science sector’s track records on diversity and inclusion, and urges a substantial and comprehensive shift in the approaches taken to addressing this. To date, more than 120 people have signed the letter.

Ozone depletion blamed for the end-Devonian mass extinction

3 June 2020

359 million years ago, at the end of Devonian times, life on Earth suffered a catastrophic extinction—the cause of which has puzzled geologists for decades. Land plants and freshwater life were affected particularly badly. However, unlike other major extinctions, there is no evidence to suggest that major volcanic eruptions or asteroid impacts were to blame. Now a team of Earth scientists, including Sarah Wallace-Johnson from the University of Cambridge’s Sedgwick Museum, has found the cause.

Origins of Earth's magnetic field remain a mystery

8 April 2020

Zircons, and their microscopic mineral inclusions, from an ancient outcrop of Jack Hills, Western Australia, have been at the centre of an intense geological debate: When did the Earth first create a magnetic field? Previous studies have suggested that these minerals record traces of Earth’s magnetic field dated as far back as 4.2 billion years ago (Ga). However, an international team led by MIT, and including Professor Richard Harrison (Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge), has now found evidence to the contrary.

Large topographic features are caused by subtle changes in the uppermost mantle

Phosphine clouds suggest Venus could host life

New record of Earth’s Cenozoic climate reveals defining role of polar ice

Atomic-scale imaging of uranium dioxide reveals how nuclear waste breaks down

Scelidosaurus finally makes its way into the dinosaur family tree

Abrupt changes in Earth’s past climate occurred synchronously

Carbon dioxide pulses are a common feature of the carbon cycle

Addressing racial inequality and inclusion in the Department of Earth Sciences

Ozone depletion blamed for the end-Devonian mass extinction

Origins of Earth's magnetic field remain a mystery

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