A 3-day visit by Professor Paul Hoffman with a short-course on Snowball Earth

By Dr Thomas Gernon – Associate Professor in Earth Science (Thomas.Gernon@noc.soton.ac.uk)   Last month, Ocean and Earth Science welcomed Professor Paul Hoffman from Harvard University for a three-day visit. Paul is famous for developing the theory of ‘Snowball Earth’, when in the late Proterozoic (~700 Ma) the oceans froze and our whole planet was covered… Read More A 3-day visit by Professor Paul Hoffman with a short-course on Snowball Earth

Fieldwork investigation of Sandstone Injectites in California

During October, new PhD student Ben Callow and Prof Jon Bull visited California to study field examples of sandstone injectites as part of two collaborative carbon sequestration projects STEMM-CCS (Horizon 2020) and CHIMNEY (NERC). California is home to some of the largest onshore examples of sandstone injectites in the world, providing Ben and Jon with… Read More Fieldwork investigation of Sandstone Injectites in California

‘Skinny’ landslides and big earthquakes

Earthquakes and associated tsunamis can be exceptionally dangerous. In the last 12 years, earthquakes and tsunamis offshore Sumatra, Japan and Haiti have killed over 350,000 people. Despite this, many large and growing population centres are located close to plate boundaries worldwide, which is where most large earthquakes occur. It is therefore important to understand how… Read More ‘Skinny’ landslides and big earthquakes

Southampton Geologists/Geophysicists study Boset-Bericha Volcano Complex, East African Rift

The G&G research group was recently (March 2015) joined by new PhD student Melanie Siegburg who will study the Boset-Bericha volcano complex in Ethiopia. Together with PhD supervisors Jon Bull, Tom Gernon and Derek Keir, and fellow PhD student Finn Illsley-Kemp, Melanie completed reconnaissance fieldwork, including some field sampling, in April-May 2015. “Boset” is the… Read More Southampton Geologists/Geophysicists study Boset-Bericha Volcano Complex, East African Rift

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)

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

Southampton undergraduates at AAPG Imperial Barrel Award

This year’s AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) Imperial Barrel Award team (Alice Wenborn, Suzanne Millis, Sam Bunnett, Ben James and Chris Wilkinson) were placed 5th in the European Regional Competition in Prague. In an extremely closely fought competition featuring 26 teams from throughout Europe, they were the highest ranking UG team, beaten only by… Read More Southampton undergraduates at AAPG Imperial Barrel Award