Cambridge Earth Sciences
News and events from the Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge University.
- 🌍 Thinking about postgrad study in Earth & Environmental Sciences? Explore our taught & research Master's, or dive into a PhD. Find out more on our website: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/postgraduate #PhD #PhDOpportunities
- 🌋 Sixty million years ago, a mantle plume beneath the North Atlantic triggered extensive volcanic activity—leaving behind iconic sites like the Giant’s Causeway & Fingal’s Cave🌋 New research explains why: thinner patches in Earth’s lithosphere funnelled the plume’s hot rocks far and wide.
- Read more on our news pages: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/how-ice...
- This time last week our part III students were in southern Spain, exploring Almería’s exceptionally varied geology 🌞⛰️ There's something for everyone on this trip: metamorphic rocks, overlying reefs, evaporites and turbidite basins, volcanic centres, and major fault zones!! #Fieldwork #Geoscience
- 🎉 The latest issue of GeoCam is here! Meet our new Head of Department, uncover fascinating research, hear alumni stories, explore student mapping trips, and enjoy vibrant updates from @sedgwickmuseum.bsky.social 📖 Read in full here: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/alumni/alumn...
- 🎶 What if you could play a microscope image of a #mineral like a record? Scientists from Cambridge & Anglia Ruskin have turned #volcanic mineral images into magical music! Hear their melodies at the #CambridgeFestival tomorrow, 4:30 PM. 🌍✨Register here: www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/hidde...
- Studying Earth Sciences opens doors to careers that make a real difference in society🌎Former PhD student Matthew Brady now works for a carbon credit ratings agency, helping organisations make better climate decisions. Read more about Matthew's journey! ➡️ unicamcareers.edublogs.org/2025/03/17/c...
- Last week, our first-year students went on their very first field trip to Ketton Quarry! 🪨🐚 🥳 Here they are, proudly showcasing some of their fossil discoveries, including star-shaped segments of crinoid stems, ammonites, brachiopods, and bivalves. #Geology #Fieldwork #Fossils #Palaeontology
- 🌏 How 'natural' are natural hazards?🌋Cambridge geoscientists and geographers will tackle this compelling question in a live webinar tomorrow, 13th March. Join the conversation and discover how Cambridge research is making real-world impact! Link to register below 👇 #NaturalHazards #Webinar
- [Not loaded yet]
- Hi Claire, yes this is open to the public, so you should be able to register. Hope you can join us☺️If you're interested in this topic then this paper by @maxvwdv.bsky.social might be of interest! www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- When warm seawater seeps under #Antarctic ice shelves it melts them from below and destabilizes glaciers🌊 🌍Researchers used model simulations to reveal the importance of seasonal changes in triggering warm water intrusions; urging for these dynamics to be included in ice loss forecasts.
- 📸 Photo: The Bellingshausen ice shelf, photo credit: Laura Cimoli 📖 Read more about the study here: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/new-res...
- Cambridge geoscientists are mapping the global distribution of critical metals in unusual igneous rocks to locate secure #RareEarthElement deposits. Sally Gibson and Sergei Lebedev are studying carbonatite rocks, which host rare earths, and their relationship to the thickness of Earth's lithosphere.
- You can read more about their project here: www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
- Duygu Sevilgen has built a coral lab in the basement of an old Zoology building. Here, 10 experimental tanks host multicoloured miniature forests, with each tank representing a different marine environment. #ClimateChange #Biodiversity
- Duygu uses extremely small sensors to record the fine details of coral skeletons and listen to their dialogue with algae. In doing so, she determines how much change corals can bear, and improves our chances of saving them in the wild. Read more: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/duyg...
- There are many ways to study rocks up-close! 🔬💎 These thin section drawings and images are of feldspar-pyroxene xenoliths, brought up from beneath Fagradalsfjall, Iceland, by erupted basalts🌋 #ThinSectionTuesday #Petrology
- PhD student Yingbo Li drew the magical thin section illustrations. Norbert Toth, a former PhD student with John Maclennan in Cambridge, took the optical microscope and scanning electron microscope images for his investigation into the use of #MachineLearning to detect minerals in thin section.
- This collection of images and drawings will feature in the Magma Rising Exhibit at the Heong Gallery, Downing College Cambridge, from 26th February until Earth Day on 22nd April and is free to visit!
- Wetlands may be a secret weapon in tackling climate change, due to their ability to lock away carbon in waterlogged vegetation 🦆🌊🌿 But drainage can instead turn wetlands into carbon emitters. PhD student Thomas Marquand is researching the carbon capture potential of Cambridgeshire’s Fenland soils.
- You can read more about Tom's work on our website: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/turning...
- Did you know that mountain ranges like the Himalayas play a role in drawing carbon out of the atmosphere through erosion? Our researchers headed out to Nepal during the monsoon season to study water-rock interactions, bringing about 60 kgs of rainwater samples back to Cambridge for analysis!
- This blog post was written by Zara and Gio, who joined the research team as part of their Part III projects. blog.esc.cam.ac.uk/exploring-wa...
- Beneath Iceland lies a plume of hot mantle rock. It's thought that this plume pulses, in turn influencing volcanism and ocean currents🌋 But scientists haven't been sure about the geological processes at play. Cambridge PhD students joined a North Atlantic research cruise to unravel the mystery!
- You can read more about the IMPULSE cruise on our blog! blog.esc.cam.ac.uk/listening-in...
- In 2019, scientists from Cambridge and @bas.ac.uk drilled a 651-metre-long ice core from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to study its behaviour during the Last Interglacial, when polar regions were 3°C warmer and sea levels higher🧊 After years of analysis, they have published their findings in Nature!
- Find out more about the team’s findings here: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/ancient...
- This footage shows the 2021 eruption of Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, which spewed lava onto 12 square kilometres of populated land🌋 Our Prof. Marie Edmonds and colleagues flew drones into these volcanic plumes to investigate emissions of volcanic pollutants. Video credit: Emma Nicholson.
- Selenium is a volcanic pollutant of interest to Edmonds because it plays a dual role, both as a vital nutrient in trace amounts but as a potential toxin when present in excess. “Surprisingly little is known about volcanic sources of selenium and its persistence in the environment,” said Edmonds.
- As part of a wider project, Edmonds and partners from the University of Waikato and the Open University are using new drone-based methods and geochemical analysis to explore volcanic emissions of selenium. Read more about the SELVES project here: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/scienti...
- Could kelp forests help sequester carbon and combat climate change? 🌊📷PhD student Zhenna Azimrayat Andrews joined a team led by Stanford University to explore the viability of kelp as a marine CO2 (mCDR) technology. Read more: blog.esc.cam.ac.uk/unlocking-th... Photo credit: Jenny Adler
- Professor Sanne Cottaar uses #earthquake waves to gaze deep into Earth’s interior, “It sometimes feels like the Earth is throwing clues at me. It’s my job to put it all together and solve the mystery." Read on to find out what it means to be a Deep Earth Explorer ➡️ www.cam.ac.uk/stories/sann...
- The 7 Jan deadline for #PhD applications is fast approaching! Make sure to check our guidance on applying and reach out to prospective supervisors. We’re here to help you with your application! www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/new-ner...
- Watch these snowflake-like dendritic clinopyroxenes twinkle as this thin section is rotated in cross-polarised light!❄️☃️ This is a rare volcanic rock called komatiite, from Gorgona. Credit: Charlie Gordon. #ThinSectionTuesday #Petrology #Mineralogy
- Think you’d like to study a #PhD in #EarthScience? 🌎🌱 Current PhD students Zhenna, Devesh and Alice offer their top tips for those interested in applying!
- Join us for a #PhD in #palaeontology🦕If you’re interested in evolutionary #paleobiology and palaeoecology and its links to environmental change then our researchers would love to chat with you about designing a project.
- Deadline for applications is 7 January 2025. More information on how to apply may be found here: esc.cam.ac.uk/news/new-ner...
- Looking for #PhD opportunities in #IgneousPetrology? 🌋Feel free to reach out to our researchers to discuss possible project ideas on themes such as crustal magmatic systems, diffusion chronometry, global volatile cycles, Icelandic volcanism and more!
- Deadline for applications is 7 January 2025. More information on how to apply may be found here: www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/new-ner...
- Nice to see a busy careers event last night, organised by the Sedgwick Club! Lots of helpful information on available opportunities and career guidance. And lovely to see some of our alumni too! #Geology #EarthScience #Careers #womeninstem
- We are excited to announce our Department will be hosting a series of new #PhD studentships, starting from Oct 2025! 🥳 The studentships will be in the field of environmental science, working on topics at the heart of some of the most pressing societal challenges #EarthScience
- Find more details of the NERC-CREATES programme and guidance for prospective applicants here: esc.cam.ac.uk/news/new-ner... and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our researchers, who will be happy to advise you!
