As the national forum of debate and development of cutting-edge Earth science, The Geological Society has a special responsibility to communicate geoscience and its importance to the Government, the media, and the general public. As part of this commitment to support geoscientists, the profession and society, the Geological Society has been involved with Voice of …
Earth Science Week 2023 (8th-14th October) is an exciting opportunity to celebrate the theme “Geoscience Innovating for Earth and People”. During Earth Science Week, organisations around the globe host events that encourage people to connect with the world around them and, in line with the theme, think about the way geoscience influences our world and …
By Beki Hooper Beki Hooper is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet. Her poems have appeared in two anthologies and multiple international literary magazines. She often writes on themes of nature, mortality and psychology. She is also a scientist, and holds a doctorate in corvid cognition. You can follow her on Twitter @BekiHooper. “Don’t tell me …
April is Poetic Earth Month. We are celebrating this year with a generous contribution by Helen Nattrass (pictured right) and Victoria Field. Helen discusses the writing and poetry workshops which encourage people to not only gain inspiration from the world around them, but to open up and importantly, have fun… Victoria Field and I co-operate …
With geoscience-related degrees seeing a decline in applicants, George Jameson (Diversity and Inclusion Project Lead) discusses the value of further education in Earth science graduate outcomes. For some time, we have wondered about how beneficial or useful obtaining a degree in the Earth sciences can be for those graduating in the United Kingdom. This question …
With the recent launch of Geoenergy, Max Brouwers (Getech) highlights the importance of geoscience in this new era of sustainable energy. The energy transition is well underway and the speed of change is accelerating. With the shift from fossil-based energy systems to renewable sources, the associated trilemma of challenges – access to affordable, secure, and …
Back in 2009, the cover of Geoscientist carried an image scanned from a fragment of Paesina Stone from Tuscany – a silty limestone formed during the Cretaceous Period and marked with a fine network of cracks through which groundwater has diffused, bringing colourful oxides of various minerals. This stunning image had been created by Richard … Continue reading
When the news broke on Friday that a new Icelandic eruption could be on the way, it didn’t take long for it to spread. This hasn’t always been the case. In its early years, the physics of geological communication was simple – involving nothing more than oscillations of pressure transmitted through a gas – talking. Continue reading
Extending east from Cape Crozier, the front of the Ross Ice Shelf is a 30 metre high vertical wall of ice. It’s a remarkable feature, especially when you realise that it’s fresh water, it’s floating, and about 90% of it is underwater. With an area of 487,000 square kilometres, the Ross Ice Shelf is the … Continue reading
On Friday, back in our harbour in the fast ice between Capes Royds and Evans on Ross Island, we realised we are the most southerly ship on the planet. To get here this early in the season we’ve had to crunch our way through 900 miles of pack ice. The previous day, we landed on … Continue reading
So far, the geology on this trip has faced some stiff competion from history and penguins, but on tuesday it came into its own. We moved across McMurdo Sound overnight and into the fast ice on the west coast, ready for an assault on the Dry Valleys. It was a lovely sunny day on the … Continue reading
Taking a circuitous route through the pack ice, we finally made it to Frankin Island at 76 degrees south. We got the ship to within 5 miles, then flew in by helicopter, landing on the sea ice at the southeastern end of the island about a mile and a half from a colony of Emperor … Continue reading
Monday 21st November Our captivity in the ice didn’t last as long as we expected. After an hour or so, just as we were beginning to discuss who to eat first, we were released from the ice. We pressed on south through this vast frozen plain, and on Saturday morning passed 73o south. It was … Continue reading
Tom Sharpe continues his journey in the footsteps of Captain Scott, on the 100th anniversary of Scott’s journey to the South Pole… Friday 18 November As the ice charts showed, we reached the edge of the pack ice on schedule, open pack mainly of first year ice that was easy to move through, so we … Continue reading
We’re breaking through the Ross Sea pack ice at the moment – the ice shelf was named after Captain Sir James Clark Ross who first discovered it in 1841. The Ross Ice Shelf was a popular starting point for early Antarctic explorers – both Scott and Amundsen crossed it to reach the Pole in 1911. Continue reading
Following in the footsteps of Scott It’s a hundred years since Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ill fated expedition to Antarctica, and the anniversary is being marked by many events this year and next. I’m currently on my way to visit Scott’s hut at Cape Evans, on the west side of Ross Island, where Scott built … Continue reading
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