PI-LAB phase II: The recovery

A team of seismologists from the University of Southampton are currently on board the Royal Research Ship Discovery sailing across the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. They are out for the second phase of the PI-LAB (Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary) project, this time recovering ocean bottom stations that were deployed last year. Their scientific mission is… Read More PI-LAB phase II: The recovery

Faults control the flux of water into the Earth during continental breakup

Gaye Bayrakci, Tim Minshull, Jon Bull and Richard Davy from the G&G group, with colleagues from six other institutions, have published a paper in Nature Geoscience this week, entitled “Fault-controlled hydration of the upper mantle during continental rifting”. This paper is the first to document a direct link between the fault activity and the amount… Read More Faults control the flux of water into the Earth during continental breakup

PILAB project sails through (cruise blog now live)

The Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere and Asthenosphere Boundary project aims at studying the interaction of the base of the rigid tectonic part (the lithosphere) with the softer layer underneath it – the asthenosphere. Understanding interaction between the two layers is essential in order to better understand what makes plates ‘plate-like’, and thus understanding the origin… Read More PILAB project sails through (cruise blog now live)

Papua New Guinea Seismic Deployment – 2014 (Part 2)

By Nick Harmon and Saikiran Tharimena: This is the second part of the blog chronicling our seismic deployment in Papua New Guinea which is part of a collaborative project with colleagues at JAMSTEC, University of Tokyo, University of Southampton, University of Rhode Island and Stanford University. Click here to read the first part of our… Read More Papua New Guinea Seismic Deployment – 2014 (Part 2)

Research cruise investigates large submarine landslides around the Nordic Seas

During July 2014 members of the Geology and Geophysics group took part in a major National Oceanography Centre research cruise on board the RV Pelagia. The focus of the cruise, led by Dr Pete Talling, was to investigate the tsunami risk to the coastal areas of the Nordic Sea. The PhD students involved on this… Read More Research cruise investigates large submarine landslides around the Nordic Seas

Field campaign investigating the hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics in Venice Lagoon, Italy

A research team from the coastal processes research theme within Geology and Geophysics, led by Prof Carl L. Amos, with  PhD student Hachem Kassem, has recently completed a scientific field campaign in Venice Lagoon, Italy. The work was undertaken within RITMARE framework, the Italian National programme of scientific and technological marine research; through sub-project 3, Work Package 4, Action 5;  WP4.A5 on hydrodynamic and morphodynamic… Read More Field campaign investigating the hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics in Venice Lagoon, Italy

Secrets of the sea: what can submarine sediments tell us about volcanoes?

Creating records of eruptive events through time is incredibly important; these records can give us a huge wealth of information about the history of a volcano. The knowledge we can gain from eruptive records is critical to understanding what hazards a volcano may pose in the future, including: how often the volcano erupts, the style… Read More Secrets of the sea: what can submarine sediments tell us about volcanoes?

The 4 year anniversary of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption: My eyewitness account

A few years ago I was lucky enough to witness the infamous summit eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. Despite all the hassle it caused, especially the financial losses incurred by the aviation industry, the eruption created more awareness of the importance of volcano research in the UK. Subsequent studies of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption have advanced… Read More The 4 year anniversary of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption: My eyewitness account

An automated tool for grain size analysis from sediment profile imagery

Acquiring physical properties of the seabed is important for understanding sediment transport and resuspension processes and for monitoring the changing health of benthic ecosystems. Increasingly sediment profile imagery (SPI), a rapid, in-situ technique is used in conjunction with grabs and cores to obtain these properties. SPI is an inverted periscope that penetrates the seabed and… Read More An automated tool for grain size analysis from sediment profile imagery

Fine-scale gas distribution in marine sediments assessed from deep-towed seismic data

Stephan Ker from Ifremer (the French national institute for marine research) and co-authors including  Graham Westbrook and Tim Minshull from G&G have published a paper in Geophysical Journal International that uses novel deep-towed seismic data and a novel technique to infer the detailed properties of gas pockets in marine sediments.  The seismic data were collected… Read More Fine-scale gas distribution in marine sediments assessed from deep-towed seismic data