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Department of Earth Sciences

 
Read more at: Prolonged droughts likely spelled the end for Indus megacities
Map showing location of cave in Himalayas, with rainfall contours overlain

Prolonged droughts likely spelled the end for Indus megacities

13 April 2023

New research involving Cambridge University has found evidence — locked into an ancient stalagmite from a cave in the Himalayas — of a series of severe and lengthy droughts which may have upturned the Bronze Age Indus Civilization. The beginning of this arid period — starting at around 4,200 years ago and lasting for over...


Read more at: Some birds have hollow bones, and new research helps us understand why

Some birds have hollow bones, and new research helps us understand why

24 March 2023

Scientists have known for centuries that birds have hollow bones, but the exact benefits of this trait — from making them lighter for flight to even helping them breathe more efficiently — have been relatively understudied. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have used high-resolution CT scans to digitally...


Read more at: Giant underwater waves affect the ocean’s ability to store carbon
Global climate model, a map showing black landmasses surrounded by yellow-orange oceans

Giant underwater waves affect the ocean’s ability to store carbon

16 March 2023

Underwater waves deep below the ocean’s surface – some as tall as 500 metres – play an important role in how the ocean stores heat and carbon, according to new research. An international team of researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and the University of California San Diego, quantified...


Read more at: Scientists have new tool to estimate how much water might be hidden beneath a planet’s surface
Illustration of planets in a line

Scientists have new tool to estimate how much water might be hidden beneath a planet’s surface

14 March 2023

In the search for life elsewhere in the Universe, scientists have traditionally looked for planets with liquid water at their surface. But, rather than flowing as oceans and rivers, much of a planet’s water can be locked in rocks deep within its interior. Scientists from the University of Cambridge now have a way to...


Read more at: Lavas reveal the life story of giant magma mushroom beneath the Galápagos islands

Lavas reveal the life story of giant magma mushroom beneath the Galápagos islands

10 March 2023

Many of the most violent outpourings of volcanic activity in history are fed by mushroom-shaped pillars of hot rock extending deep to Earth’s mantle, the region between the core and the crust we walk on. These ‘mantle plumes’ can be active for millions of years — leaving huge lava fields and chains of volcanic islands in...


Read more at: International Women’s Day at the Sedgwick Museum

International Women’s Day at the Sedgwick Museum

8 March 2023

The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences marked this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations with a tour showcasing some lesser-known stories of trailblazing women of geology and palaeontology. The tour — hosted by Liz Hide , Director of the Museum —uncovered some of the many women whose contributions to geology have...


Read more at: Geochemist awarded for outstanding research paper

Geochemist awarded for outstanding research paper

21 February 2023

Congratulations to Dr Carrie Soderman on being awarded the Geochemistry Group Postdoctoral Medal for her 2022 paper in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta . The paper discusses the use of stable isotopes as new tools for investigating temperature and lithological heterogeneity in the mantle. “This paper showcases some of the...


Read more at: Newly-refurbished Clean Labs open for research once more
Close up of sample containers and pipette in fume cupboard

Newly-refurbished Clean Labs open for research once more

16 February 2023

Geoscientists use isotopic analysis to answer a range of questions, from the age and origin of a rock to the processes that have shaped it since formation. Across our department, researchers are applying the technique to developments at the forefront of climate, environmental and planetary science. The forensic detective...


Read more at: The largest penguin that ever lived
Illustration showing penguins an a beach

The largest penguin that ever lived

9 February 2023

Fossil bones from two newly-described penguin species, one of them thought to be the largest penguin to ever live – weighing more than 150 kilograms, more than three times the size of the largest living penguins – have been unearthed in New Zealand. An international team, including researchers from the University of...


Read more at: Two Cambridge Earth Scientists receive funding to explore frontiers in environmental science

Two Cambridge Earth Scientists receive funding to explore frontiers in environmental science

23 January 2023

Two Cambridge Earth Scientists have been awarded NERC funding for research that will ‘open up discipline-shifting discoveries in environmental science.’ Dr Rachael Rhodes and Professor Marie Edmonds have received NERC ‘Exploring the Frontiers’ grants, allowing them to investigate questions at the forefront of volcanology...