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Beneath Iceland, an enormous blob of hot rock slowly rises from deep within the mantle, delivering magma to one of the most volcanically active places on Earth.But the influence of the Iceland Plume goes far beyond volcanic activity. Over millions of years, the plume has pulsed rhythmically, causing the seabed to rise and fall, possibly diverting t…

A new atlas charts the global distribution of unusual, critical‑metal‑bearing igneous rocks, finding that they often form near the thick and ancient cores of the world’s major continents.Researchers from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences mapped occurrences of CO2-rich igneous rocks – the world’s primary source of rare earth elements – findin…

A recent panel discussion involving Andy Woods, professor at the Department of Earth Sciences and head of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, explored how research across the University is enabling cleaner fuels and the smarter use of materials and resources. Andy Woods discussed his research on the potential for heat storage and re-u…

A wave taller than London’s The Shard or the Empire State Building devastating everything in its path sounds like the plot of a scientifically-questionable Hollywood disaster film. But this happened last summer, in a real fjord visited by thousands of tourists.The second highest tsunami ever struck Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska, in August 2025 with a run…

Amongst the fjords in the Faroe Islands lies a peculiar type of farm. From above, it looks like lines and lines of rope suspended in the water, but hidden beneath the surface is an underwater forest of kelp.Cambridge researcher Zhenna Azimrayat-Andrews spent last summer there, trying to understand just how much this fast-growing seaweed could help …

A new decades-long study of oceanographic data provides the first evidence that deep-ocean heat has moved closer to Antarctica, threatening the fragile ice shelves that fringe the continent.The study, led by the University of Cambridge with collaborators from the University of California, compiled long-term ocean measurements collected by ships and…

Earth’s recent ice ages follow a rhythm set by variations in its orbit around the Sun – a cornerstone of how we understand past climate change. Yet this pacing is not constant. Around 1.2 million years ago, the climate system began a profound shift: glacial cycles lengthened from a 41,000-year rhythm to one closer to 100,000 years. Explaining this …

Conway Morris Joins Past Laureates Freeman Dyson, the Dalai Lama, and Jane Goodall to Receive One of the World’s Largest Individual Lifetime Achievement AwardsProfessor Simon Conway Morris, a groundbreaking paleontologist at the University of Cambridge, has been awarded the 2026 Templeton Prize for his outstanding contributions to the field of evol…

Scientists from the University of Cambridge have studied how the bird skull evolved, helping to piece together how differences in development caused the varied appearances of modern birds. Lead author of the study, Dr Olivia Plateau from Cambridge Earth Sciences, said, “birds are the only surviving lineage of dinosaurs, so understanding how develop…

Congratulations to Nick Butterfield, Professor in Palaeobiology, on being awarded the prestigious Pilkington Prize in recognition of his teaching excellence.Since joining the Department thirty years ago, Nick has made a pivotal contribution to the Earth Science teaching program. He has spent his entire career delivering world-class teaching in the …

Copper. It’s in our mobile phones, the wiring and plumbing in our house and it’s an increasingly important material in green technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines. Our daily lives depend on this critical metal and, as we transition to a sustainable future, demand is set to skyrocket. Almost all copper comes from porphyry co…

A first-of-its-kind Cambridge exhibition will let visitors wrestle with the extraordinary power of rare-earth magnets and discover the amazing rocks from Greenland that contain rare-earth elements (REEs).The presence of significant REE deposits in Greenland is in part why the country has been thrust into the geopolitical and media spotlight in rece…

Geoscientists have shown how atomic-scale crystal flaws can unravel in a domino-sequence that causes rocks to shift from creeping smoothly and slowly to jolting dramatically. It’s the first time that scientists have been able to analyse this so-called ‘mild-to-wild’ transition in rocks from Earth’s mantle, and they say it might contribute to causin…

Researchers have identified a ‘tipping point’ about 2.7 million years ago when global climate conditions switched from being relatively warm and stable to cold and chaotic, as continental ice sheets expanded in the northern hemisphere.Following this transition, Earth’s climate began swinging back and forth between warm interglacial periods and frig…

Welcome to Dr Mir Anamul Haq Jeri (Inam), who joins the Department of Earth Sciences as the NANO Nuclear Teaching and Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy. This new role, funded by Nano Nuclear Energy Inc, a company specialising in advanced nuclear technologies, will focus on training and educating the next generation of nuclear scientists.Nuclear pow…