News

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. With more than 300 scientist…

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 slips, large amounts of energ…

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 found in Britain, and the o…

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 introduce a new Part IB cours…

Join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day, this Friday 8th 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 advice for aspiring scientists.Wo…

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-Malvinas Confluence. PhD studen…

A new X-ray diffractometer has been installed in the Department’s microanalysis laboratory. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a key scientific technique for determining the crystal structure of natural and human-made samples. The upgrade allows for faster sample analysis — facilitating a wide range of new experiments, including real-time characterization …

Congratulations to Professor Helen Williams on being elected a Geochemistry Fellow of the European Association of Geochemistry and The Geochemical Society.The Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry established the honorary title of Geochemistry Fellow to be bestowed upon outstanding scientists who have, over some years, ma…

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrunk suddenly and dramatically at the end of the Last Ice Age, around eight thousand years ago.The evidence, contained within an ice core, shows that in one location the ice sheet thinned by 450 …

Researchers from the universities of Western Australia and Cambridge have uncovered the importance of hydrothermal vents, similar to modern day black smokers, in supplying minerals that may have been a key ingredient in the emergence of early life. The study, published in Science Advances, examined 3.5-billion-year-old rocks from western Australia …

As our climate warms Britain’s weather is becoming ever more extreme: with heatwaves and heavy rainfall events increasingly frequent and severe. In Scotland, winter precipitation has increased by 20% since the 1960s, and this upward trend looks set to intensify.A group of scientists from the University of Cambridge and British Antarctic Survey inve…

Some of the most dramatic landforms on Earth — from majestic fold mountains to deep ocean trenches — are created at plate boundaries. But sometimes topographic features cannot be explained by plate tectonics alone. Cambridge Earth Sciences’ Philippa Slay, PhD student with Nicky White, is investigating evidence for topographic anomalies — called ‘dy…

Minerals present in the Venusian atmosphere could explain the colour and splotchiness of the planet’s clouds in the UV range say Cambridge researchers, solving a long-standing mystery. Scientists know that Venus' clouds are mainly composed of sulfuric acid droplets with some water, chlorine, and iron — a mix that varies with height in the thick and…

You might think Earth’s deep and rocky interior is relatively featureless but, three thousand kilometres beneath our feet, enigmatic structures akin to colossal mountain ranges rise from the edge of the planet’s core.“It’s anything but boring down there,” said Carl Martin, who has just completed his PhD in the Department of Earth Sciences, “these f…

The Cambridge Volcano Seismology Group are livestreaming earthquake data from Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula for the public to watch online in real-time.Earlier in November, a vast sheet of magma pierced through rocks beneath the Peninsula — triggering seismic shaking and forcing evacuations from the coastal town of Grindavík. Scientists are now mon…