2012

 

January

 

MICROMINE UK's Student Bursary 2012 Winner. 

MICROMINE’s Student Bursary Programme invests in the technical development of geoscience students. The inaugural bursary has been awarded to Sinead Fenton – a third-year undergraduate geology student.

Further information

 

 

 

2011

 

October

 

Leicester Students go global during Summer Work Experience 

Undergraduate students from the Department of Geology spanned the globe this summer undertaking work experience placements from the Arctic to Australia. Over 50 students at the end of their first, second and third years took part in placements that involved mineral exploration, mining, petroleum geology, hydrogeology, aggregates, engineering geology, geophysics, environmental science, and a range of scientific research projects including palaeontology and volcanology. Students were scattered to six continents, working in a range of environments in countries such as Chile, Suriname, Uruguay, the USA, Greenland, Finland, Turkey, Mauritania, Malaysia, Australia and the Solomon Islands as well as numerous locations closer to home around the United Kingdom.

Summer 2011 work experience map

The Department values work experience, both in industry and in academic research, extemely highly in its commitment to increasing the employability of its students during their time at Leicester. The experiences are hugely valuable in preparing students for life after their degrees by giving them a taste for life in industry or research, and helps develop a range of transferrable skills highly sought after by employers, as well as the opportunity to earn some much needed cash. The department encourages and aids students to seek out placements for themselves, as well as using an extensive network of contacts through current staff and past graduates to set up placements exclusively for Leicester students.

 

 

September

 

 

End of an era

 

Professor Dick Aldridge, Professor David Siveter and Dr Ian Hill

One hundred and one years of Leicester Geology.  That is what the combined total of experience and expertise – and very considerable academic success – accumulated by three people who are now retiring from the University’s Department of Geology:  Professor David Siveter, Professor Dick Aldridge and Dr. Ian Hill.  Their achievements were celebrated in a lunchtime gathering of friends, family and colleagues at the Department.

Professor David Siveter has been the longest serving.  He has been almost continuously at the Department since 1965 – having been originally interviewed for study by one of the Department’s original lecturers, Dr. Trevor Ford – who was also at the ceremony today (Professor Siveter revealed that he then had been ‘frightened to death’ - but had proved sufficiently eloquent on being asked to talk about a fossil trilobite he had just been handed, that he was awarded the position!).  Professor Siveter is well-known as a researcher who has uncovered secrets of the fossil world never seen before, and for being an expert in ostracods (‘seed shrimps’) minute crustaceans so well-endowed – even as fossils – that the Sun newspaper devoted a major story to one of his discoveries concerning them.

His close colleague, Professor Dick Aldridge, has been at Leicester a ‘mere’ 22 years, including a spell as Head of Department.  Professor Aldridge has also worked on some of the world’s most exquisitely preserved fossils, from all over the world.  He is an expert in conodonts, tiny but complex fossils that for many years were thoroughly enigmatic;  he played a leading role in solving this mystery, to reveal them as, essentially, the teeth of extinct, soft-bodied fish-like animals. Between them (and often working jointly), these two Leicester palaeontologists have published many papers in Nature and Science, the world’s two foremost scientific journals.

Dr. Ian Hill’s sojourn at Leicester has been 33 years.  His specialism is geophysics, and he became an expert in the various means by which one may ‘sense’ the structures that lie just below the ground, by combining electrical, radar and other signals.  Such expertise is has almost literally countless uses, ranging from finding groundwater and minerals to providing information for engineers to uncovering ancient archaeological sites and finding evidence of modern crimes  – and Ian will remain part-time with the Department, having won a 3-year European Union grant to carry out research into this methodology.   His expertise, too, in operating the complex spreadsheet systems by means of which examination marks are collated, have made him a quite indispensible figure in those stressful days of the January and June exams…

All three said they would remain closely linked to the Department and will continue to pursue their research interests – and all three paid tribute to the warm and hospitable spirit maintained in the Geology ‘family’ of which they were such prominent members for so many years.  Long may that spirit persist – even as they (officially) retire from active duties.

 

Leicester's Applied and Environmental Geology showcased in Chile 

The Applied and Environmental Geology Group at Leicester was strongly represented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) in Antofagasta, Chile, in late September 2011. The meeting attracted over 500 delegates from around the world involved in mineral deposit research, exploration and mining to the city in the Atacama Desert. Dr Dave Holwell, Lecturer in Applied and Environmental Geology, presented two talks at the meeting on current industry and research council-funded research. Firstly, on precious metal deposits in the Skaergaard Intrusion in east Greenland, part funded by Platina Resources and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC); and secondly, on Leicester's new X-ray CT scanning technique that images rocks in 3 dimensions at high resolution.
 

Emily Firth, Jenny Smith, Simon Tapster, Nyree Hill and Dr Dave Holwell in Antofagasta, Atacama Desert, Chile

Applied and Environmental postgraduate research was also presented, with Simon Tapster giving a well received talk on his research into the controls on Cu-Au mineralisation in the Solomon Islands, and Jenny Smith speaking about new research on platinum mineralisation in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa, funded by NERC. Nyree Hill presented a poster on newly discovered gold occurrences in Scotland as part of her PhD research funded by NERC and Scotgold Resources.
 
The conference was also attended by undergraduate MGeol student Emily Firth, who spent the summer on a work placement with Orosur Mining, working on a gold exploration project in Chile and at the company's Uruguayan gold mine, before embarking on a Masters research project with the company in the coming year. Emily is one of over 40 undergraduate students who have been involved with work placements across six continents during the summer, opportunities which the department regards as hugely valuable experiences in the long-term employability of its students.

 

Geology Research shortlisted for Award

Geology research project on rotting fish and fossils has been shortlisted for Times Higher Education, Research Project of the year. We have also been selected to exhibit at The Big Bang science show at the NEC. For more information on the project see "the rotten fish and fossil pages"

   

August

Field Trips.... Sculpture Exhibition

This year the University of Leicester’s highly popular annual international sculpture exhibition celebrates ‘A Decade of Sculpture in the Garden’, at the spectacular Botanic Garden in Oadby, and once again there will be opportunities to discover some of the secrets in the materials used by the sculptors.

These all have their own stories, stretching back for millions of years, and these stories will be revealed in geology tours round the exhibition and in special ‘Rock Detectives’ workshops for schools in the Garden.

Geology tours on Thursday 25 August, 6.00-8.00pm, and Tuesday 13 September, 5.00-7.00pm will unveil the mysteries of rocks formed in warm shallow seas teeming with life or in the dark deep ocean; of rocks caught up between colliding continents and squeezed and cooked; of rocks crystallised in the searing heat of a magma chamber.

Dr Gawen Jenkin, from the University of Leicester Department of Geology, will lead a mini-field trip identifying and examining the rocks that the sculptors chose to work on and how they were formed. Using images of the same rocks taken under the microscope he will explain the story written within the rocks and also show an inner beauty that cannot normally be seen. Other materials will also be explored, including bronze, steel and even plastics. These are also derived from rocks and an understanding of them will enhance appreciation of the sculptures themselves.

On the September tour Gawen will be joined by sculptor Austin Orwin who teaches sculpture at the Embrace Arts Centre and who will provide a parallel commentary from an artist’s perspective – the hope being to bridge the divide between the “two cultures.”

Special tours adapted to suit specific groups (two hours maximum) can also be arranged. Both specialist tours and standard tours can be booked through Embrace Arts, RA centre, University of Leicester, tel 0116 252 2455, or visit the website www.embracearts.co.uk<http://www.embracearts.co.uk/>.

The cost will be £3.00 for adults, children are free.

Schools enrolling in Dr Jenkin’s ‘Rock Detectives’ sessions at the exhibition will also learn about the geology of the rocks and the mysteries behind their formation in a programme specifically designed for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4.

Pupils will examine and test the properties of different rocks, explore the Botanic Garden to find different uses of rocks and then design and make a sculpture from quick-drying clay to take home.

Bookings for ‘Rock Detectives’ can be made through The SEED Store, University of Leicester Botanic Garden, tel/fax 0116 271 2933, email botanicgarden@le.ac.uk<mailto:botanicgarden@le.ac.uk>.

Geology outreach relating to the sculptures is supported by the Curry Fund of the Geologists’ Association http://www.geologistsassociation.org.uk/

‘A Decade of Sculpture in the Garden’, will run until 30 October. Except for special Botanic Garden Open Days (see the website www.le.ac.uk/botanicgarden<http://www.le.ac.uk/botanicgarden> for details), entrance is free and the exhibition features sculptures from more than sixty artists of international, national and regional renown.

This year’s exhibition has once again been curated by Dr John Sydney Carter.

The Botanic Garden is transformed into a living, tactile and visual environment where visitors can experience work by some of the most internationally renowned sculptors of our time within an inspirational outdoor setting.

Normal Botanic Garden opening times are 10am-4pm Monday-Friday all year (except for the Christmas-New Year period) and on Saturday and Sunday from the third weekend in March to the second weekend in November. The entrance to the Garden is in Glebe Road, Oadby.

From 30th July until the end of the sculpture exhibition on 30th October, the opening hours of the Botanic Garden will be extended on Saturdays and Sundays until 5pm. The café will be open until 4.30.

 

  

July

Rotten Fish & Fossils

Our palaeobiological research into how decay influences the preservation and interpretation of soft tissues in the fossil record has been highlighted by various agencies and in media reports, and was selected for presentation at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. Check out the Rotten Fossils website for details.

 

Degree Day Celebrations

Graduates 2011

 

 

Congratulations to all students who graduated.

View photographs of the celebrations and list of prize winners.

 

 

March

52nd Annual Bennett Lecture

21 March 2011, 6.00p.m. Bennett Lecture Theatre 1

"Large-scale Hydrothermal Circulation Through Most of the Seafloor: Insights from drilling, observatories, surveys and models"

Andrew T. Fisher, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz

Lecture by Andrew T. Fisher, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences,
University of California, Santa Cruz

Lecture about how subseafloor fluid circulation moves vast quantities of fluids, heat, and solutes through the ocean crust. This circulation influences the evolution of the volcanic crust and oceans, tectonic and magmatic processes from ridges to trenches, and the development of the recently discovered ocean crustal biosphere. Professor Fisher will show how recent and ongoing surveys, newly initiated experiments and modelling studies are transforming our understanding of ridgeflank hydrothermal systems and the hydrogeology of oceanic crust.

For more information and free tickets contact - Gail Andrews 0116 252 3921 ga16@le.ac.uk

 

Leicester Geologists are the Gold Standard

The University of Leicester Student Chapter of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) has received praise from academics and professionals for organising the first UK SEG Student Chapter Symposium on Gold at the Leicester Department of Geology. Over 120 attendees, including several industry representatives and almost 50 students from other Student Chapters across the country, enjoyed a day of presentations by guest speakers and students as well as a range of exciting workshops around the theme of gold and mineral exploration.

The Leicester SEG Student Chapter currently has around 100 members and hosts regular talks by guest speakers from industry and academia, on a range of subjects from the world of economic geology. The Chapter also runs field trips and visits for members, which have this year included a behind the scenes tour of the Natural History Museum’s mineral collection and attending the Mineral Deposits Studies Group Winter Meeting in London in January.

Dr Bob Foster of Stratex Plc opened the symposium with an alternative look at the minerals industry, stressing the need for geologists to consider the investor when carrying out exploration projects. Dr Rob Chapman of Leeds University, who has featured on Channel 4’s ‘Birth of Britain’ programme, then introduced his current research into the geochemical analysis of gold deposits using microinclusions as an indicator of the source of mineralisation. The floor was then opened up to students from of Leeds, Oxford and Leicester Universities who discussed their research projects and summer field work activities.

Core logging

The afternoon allowed students to gain some hands on experience with the opportunity to try core logging with Scotgold’s Dave Catterall, using samples from one of Scotlands richest gold fields. Dr Dave Holwell, Lecturer in Applied and

Dave Holwell explains new technique

Environmental Geology at the University of Leicester, demonstrated a state-of-the-art technique being developed at Leicester whereby X-ray CT scanning can be used to ascertain the quantity and 3D structure of gold and other minerals held within a sample without the need to crush or destroy the rock. A competitive streak

Mineral Identification

was brought to the workshops by Dr Gawen Jenkin, Senior Lecturer in Applied and Environmental Geology and Academic Advisor for the Leicester Chapter, as he invited students to participate in a mineral identification quiz, as well as presenting some world class specimens from his personal mineral collection.  

A further presentation was given by Professor Laurence Robb, Technical Director of Savannah Gold and visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford, who spoke on the origins of gold in the world’s largest gold deposit in the Witwatersrand basin, South Africa. Industry consultants Micromine brought the afternoon to a close with an overview of how their technology can be used to assist with modelling in mineral exploration.

The day was followed by a drinks reception, which gave students the chance to network with the professionals and the chance to share experiences with one another, with many stating how informative and enjoyable the day had been.
Giles McSwiney, President of the Leeds SEG Student Chapter, added “So many of the talks and workshops were engaging and eye-opening and it was also helpful for us, as a relatively young Chapter, to see the kind of event a more established Chapter can put on”.

 

UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER GEOLOGISTS TRACE READINGS FROM JAPAN EARTHQUAKE

University of Leicester geologists have recorded the impact of the earthquake, off the coast of Japan, using sophisticated equipment in the Department of Geology.

The Magnitude 8.9 Earthquake East of Honshu on 11/3/11 was recorded on a SEIS-UK seismometer.

It shows three traces that measure movement of the Earth’s surface in the vertical, north-south and east-west direction. SEIS-UK is part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Geophysical Equipment Facility.

Dr Richard England, senior lecturer in Geophysics at the University of Leicester, said: “Today’s earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan is unusually large. Only 1 or 2 earthquakes of this magnitude occur each year and when they occur they are not normally as close to the surface.

“While Japan is well prepared for even this type of earthquake, it will be some time before the full extent of the damage is known. Most of the devastation will have been caused by the resulting tsunami from the movement of the seafloor at the epicentre of the earthquake.

“The tsunami will be travelling out across the Pacific Ocean and warnings have been issued for the Hawaiian islands, the Philippines, the west coast of north and south America and east coast of Australasia. Because the tsunami waves travel relatively slowly there will be time to evacuate coastal areas but low lying Pacific Ocean islands will be particularly at risk.

“In Japan the immediate danger will now be from continuing aftershocks. There was a M 7.1 event this morning which would normally be considered a strong earthquake. These ‘smaller’ events will still have the potential to generate small tsunami and further shake buildings and infrastructure already damaged, further delaying rescue and relief efforts. The aftershocks could continue for some time.

“Parallels have been drawn with the December 2004 earthquake off Sumatra. This earthquake is not quite as large but the cause, sudden movement along a subduction zone is the same. In this case the Eurasian plate has moved over the Pacific plate.”

Are these events becoming more common? Dr England says the answer to this is, no.

“The timing of Earthquakes is not predictable, although seismologists are getting better at being able to determine which areas are most at risk. The December 2004 event raised awareness of the possibility of major earthquakes and the devastating effects they can have on communities. As a result they are much better reported so everyone takes more notice when they occur.”

The Magnitude 8.9 Earthquake East of Honshu on 11/3/11 as recorded on a SEIS-UK seismometer

Image: The Magnitude 8.9 Earthquake East of Honshu on 11/3/11 as recorded on a SEIS-UK seismometer in the University of Leicester’s Department of Geology. The three traces measure movement of the Earth’s surface in the vertical, north-south and east-west direction. SEIS-UK is part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Geophysical Equipment Facility. Image produced by Dr David Hawthorn.

 

 

 

 

2011

February

 

Geology and Archaeology reunited

Dinah Smith, research student, of the Department of Geology, University of Leicester, was invited back to Willow Tree Fen near Bourne, Lincolnshire, by Community, Project and Education Officer, Marcus Craythorne on February 24th to display her work on Fenland roddons (fossilised tidal creeks of late Holocene age and seen as subtle undulations crossing the fields).The work was started in January 2010 and continued in April when 93 samples were augered from across one of the larger roddons.  February 24th 2011 day was part of the WTF half term activities for the public to view the outcome of the January 2010 Archaeology Weekend. Photographs and roddon sediment samples were on display and Dinah explained to visitors the work involved in the research and where the roddons could be seen on the site.

Tom Lane (Senior Archaeologist, Archaeological Project Services) displayed some of the finds and photographs of that January weekend too, which had included the fascinating activity of producing salt.  The Romans had a salt industry in the area and salterns are to be found on the site. Visitors were shown around  by Tom and Marcus and informed as to what the fen could have been like before drainage began in the 1700’s and where the weekend excavations had taken place. 

Rewetting the land at Willow Tree Fen

This archaeological work had to take place before work  commenced to rewet and transform the once  farmland back to a typical fenland landscape of reedbeds, shallow meres and seasonally flooded pastures and hay meadows  which is now well underway.

The roddon research will be on display again on June 11th and 12th at Michael Sly’s Park Farm, Thorney, Cambridgeshire, as part of the Open Farm Weekend and this year Dinah will be joined by Ken and Susan Rolfe of Cambridge Geology Club who will be introducing and displaying the geology of Cambridgeshire.  On Monday June 13th, Dinah will be giving a presentation about her roddon research to the Cambridge Geology Club in Cambridge as the Cambridgeshire roddons is one of the main focuses of the club’s work in 2011 and part of Cambridgeshire’s Geodiversity programme.

This will be a lead into the “Geology and Landscape of Cambridgeshire” a one day seminar at the University of Cambridge on Saturday 10th September  2011, where Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz (Department of Geology, University of Leicester) will be giving a presentation about the Anthropocene. (www.cambridgeshiregeologyclub.org.uk).

 

 

January

 

 

Leicester Geology represented at Platreef Workshop in South Africa

In January 2011, the 4th Platreef Workshop was held in Mokopane, Limpopo, South Africa, and attended by Leicester Geology representatives made up of staff, research postgraduate and recent graduate. The workshop on the world's third largest resource of platinum (the Platreef of the Bushveld Complex, SA) attracted 75 delegates and is a unique meeting bringing together industry and academics. Lecturer in Applied and Environmental Geology and Platreef expert, Dr Dave Holwell presented ongoing research being undertaken at Leicester to image and understand platinum mineralisation using state-of-the-art X-ray Computer Tomography (CT) scanning technology. PhD researcher Jenny Smith

Dave, Jenny and Sarah at Anglo Platinum's Mogolakwena Platinum Mine - the largest open pit platinum mine in the world.

presented early results of her work on platinum mineralistion on one of the most enigmatic parts of the Bushveld Complex, at Rooipoort, with Caledonia Mining Corporation. Recent graduate from Leicester's MGeol Applied and Environmental Geology course, Sarah Clay, was also present, representing Ivanhoe Nickel and Platinum in her graduate position as exploration geologist on the Platreef. The workshop was part of the 23rd Colloquium of African Geology, hosted by the University of Johannesburg, which was also attended by Dave, Jenny and Sarah, and included field excursions to Anglo Platinum's open pit mines and the birthplace of platinum mining in South Africa at the Waterberg.

 

Continued success for Leicester Applied Geology students at national minerals meeting

For the second year running Leicester students have won awards at the annual meeting of the Mineral Deposits Studies Group (MDSG) - a UK-based organisation that fosters the scientific study of mineral deposits. The meeting, held in the Natural History Museum in early January 2011, was attended by 40 undergraduate students from the Leicester Geology Department, as well as three staff and five postgraduate researchers, as well as many Leicester graduates – now working in the industry. This made the Leicester contingent the biggest by far out of a total of 250 delegates at the conference. The three-day conference included keynote speakers from Canada, Russia and Italy. Poster presentations were given by four Leicester postgraduates and seven MGeol students. Talks were given by Dr Dave Holwell, PhD student Emmanuel Arhin and Adam Jones, a third year MGeol Applied & Environmental Geology student.

Sarah Clay and Dr Dave Holwell at Anglo Platinum's Mogolakwena Platinum mine

At the conference dinner recent Leicester graduate Sarah Clay (MGeol Applied & Environmental Geology 2010) was jointly awarded the MDSG Project Prize for the best undergraduate project on a mineral deposit-related topic in the UK for her 4th year project on "The genesis of magmatic Ni-Cu sulphide deposits in Siberia: The role of crustal contamination" (supervised by Dr Marc Reichow and Prof Andy Saunders), whilst Mike Roberts (MGeol Applied & Environmental Geology) was awarded the Anglo American Best Undergraduate Student Poster Award for his poster “Mineral Exploration using Whole Rock Multi-Element Geochemistry on the Chirano Shear Zone, Ghana, West Africa” on his current 4th year project (supervised by Dr Gawen Jenkin).

Adam Jones gives presentation on behalf of Empire Mining

In the speeches Adam Jones also received an honorable mention from Dr Mike Harris of Rio Tinto for the excellent corporate presentation that Adam presented on behalf of Empire Mining – the company that provided him work experience over the summer vacation.

At the previous year’s meeting in January 2010 another Leicester graduate, Ryan Bartlett (MGeol Applied & Environmental Geology 2009) also won the MDSG project prize for the best undergraduate project in the UK for his 4th year project on “The geochemistry and mineralogy of a lag deposit of the Broken Hill gossan” (supervised by Dr Gawen Jenkin).

Dr Jenkin, course director for the Applied & Environmental Geology degrees at Leicester and also currently Chair of the MDSG commented “Following last year’s success, winning the project prize again this year really underlines the very high quality of work that is carried out by our students in their project work and how well it is regarded by the judges from other institutions. Many of our Applied & Environmental Geology students aim for careers in the mineral exploration and mining industries and our undergraduate projects often involves valuable work experience with a company that gives them a great launch pad to a successful career. Both Adam and Mike have benefited hugely from working with company sponsors as demonstrated by their success at this meeting. Sarah and Ryan are now both successfully employed in exciting and rewarding jobs”

Adam Jones added “Our attendance at the MDSG reflects the enthusiasm instilled in the students by lecturers in the department for mineral deposits and related work.”

Adam Jones worked over last summer on chromite deposits in Albania with Empire Mining. He is currently president of the Leicester student chapter of the Society of Economic Geologists that organises an extra-curricular programme of talks for students interested in mineral deposit geology and exploration.

Mike Roberts currently working on his fourth year project based on his work experience with Kinross Gold Corporation at their Chirano mine in Ghana.

Sarah Clay is currently working in South Africa as an exploration geologist for Ivanhoe Nickel and Platinum.

Ryan Bartlett is currently as an exploration geologist with Stratex Plc looking for gold in Ethiopia.

 

2010

November

 

 

Open Mic Night

For the first time the PCSB Geology Society held an open mic night at Firebug Bar on the 18th November.  This event was open to all geologists within the department including both students and lecturers.  There were a large number of volunteers keen to share their musical talents with others including lecturer Mike Petterson.  Due to recent events involving the tragic news of Watson Satokana, the society decided to dedicate the night to Watson and contribute most of the proceedings to Watson’s family in the Solomon Islands.  The night was thoroughly enjoyed by all and the kind donations by those and other students within the department helped raise £350! The PCSB Geology Society would like to say a big thank you to all those who attended the night as your generous donations have made a huge difference.

 

National Geographic Channel

 

September

 

 

 

ESTA Conference

The Annual Earth Sciene Teachers Association (ESTA) Course and Conference was held at the University of Leicester 17-19 Septeember 2010.

Talks formed just part of the conference, with plenty of opportunities for hands-on action in workshops, INSET courses (for Primary, KS3/4, Post-16 and HE), and fieldwork. Workshop subjects included remote sensing and GIS, comets and meteorites, reconstructing diet from vertebrate skulls, and ocean drilling to name just a few! Field trips to included Charnwood Forest home to Charnia the oldest macrofossils in the UK, the fossil-packed Jurassic rocks to the east, hands-on shallow geophysics, a visit to a major quarry operation and a tour of rock sculptures (geology and art!) in the beautiful university Botanic Gardens.

The conference dinner was held at the award winning National Space Centre visitor and educational centre. As well as a dinner in the Planets gallery, the evening included a drinks reception in the Rocket Tower, space simulator rides, a 360° film show in the Space Theatre.

 

July

 

Geology Tours of 'Heart, Head and Hands'

The sculptures from the exhibition 'Heart, Head and Hands' at the University of Leicester Botanic Garden in Oadby are an artistic spectacle, but look a little closer and there are other stories to be told.
 
Geology tours will reveal the mysteries of rocks formed in warm shallow seas teeming with life or in the dark deep ocean; of rocks caught up between colliding continents and squeezed and cooked; of rocks crystallised in the searing heat of a magma chamber.
 
In this evening walk staff from the University of Leicester Department of Geology will lead a mini-field trip explaining what the rocks are that sculptors chose to work on and how they formed.
 
It is not just the rocks, but the other materials in the sculptures that will be explored and explained ­ bronzes, steel and even plastics. These are also derived from rocks and an understanding of the materials used will enhance appreciation of the sculptures themselves.
 
Tours will be adapted to suit the interest and backgrounds of participants ­ all that is required is an enquiring mind.
 
Geology Tours of 'Heart, Head and Hands' will run on Wednesday 14 July and
Wednesday 28 July from 6.00pm - 8.00pm.   The cost will be £3 per person.

To make a booking please contact the University of Leicester Botanic Garden, tel 0116 271 2933, email: botanicgarden@le.ac.uk

Further information from the Department of Geology geology@le.ac.uk, 0116
252 3921. 

 

 

June

New X-ray CT scanning technology showcased at International Platinum Symposium

 

Dave Holwell answers questions following his talk, with session host Prof Paul Sylvester

Dr Dave Holwell attended the 11th International Platinum Symposium - the world's premier meeting on platinum geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, exploration and mining - at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He presented current work being undertaken in the department utilising the new High Resolution X-ray Computer Tomography (HRXCT) equipment to image precious metal ores from east Greenland in three dimensions, which received much interest from the 250-strong delegation. The work is part of a collaborative project with Platina Resources, an Australian exploration company undertaking mineral exploration in Greenland.
 

An example of a HRXCT reconstruction though a sulphide globule from east Greenland.

A 3D view of a HRXCT reconstruction of a sulphide globule isolated from its host minerals. The brightest specks are grains of palladium and gold.

HRXCT is an exciting new technique that allows the reconstruction and visualization of the internal structure of materials in three dimensions to resolutions of a single micrometre in a quick and entirely non-destructive way. Initially designed for medical imaging applications, this powerful tool can now be applied to geological materials to investigate the three dimension textural relationships of minerals in a non-destructive manner, which far surpasses traditional two dimensional analyses of cut and sectioned material. The technology works by picking out density contrasts between different materials, producing images that are similar to backscattered electron images from Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) techniques, with the advantage of being in 3D. As such, it is ideally suited to the study of dense, ore minerals, but work using this new technology in the department is wide ranging, and includes the study of precious metal ore deposits, volcanic rocks and fossils.

 

April

 Clear Skies over Leicester?

 

Dr Mike Branney, Senior Lecturer in Volcanology offers his perspective. 16th April 2010

Look upwards above Leicester today and you'll see no vapour trails from planes crossing the glorious blue Spring sky. There are no flights at all. But another thing you can't see, is a thin cloud, between 6 and 11 km altitude, containing a myriad of dust-sized particles of glassy volcanic ash. Although we can't see the cloud from the ground, any plane attempting to fly through it could get into severe difficulties. All the jet engines could fail. So it's a very sensible precaution to stop all flights until the cloud dissipates, despite the increasing problems this causes to holidaymakers and the airline industry.

A thousand miles away in southern Iceland, a volcano under an icecap, called Eyafjallajökull, is still erupting - churning out more volcanic ash and steam from the melted glacier ice. So how long will it continue? It's too early to say: when the volcano last erupted, 200 years ago, the eruption went on for over a year. Today's eruption could stop in a few hours time, or it could last much longer - we simply don't know, and rather than slowing down, seismic signals under the volcano this Friday morning suggest the volcano has started to crank up again. So if the eruption continues, how will it affect us? There'll be no flights as long as the ash cloud persists in UK airspace. But the eruption style is likely to change with time: for example, the volcano may start producing lava flows rather than explosively releasing volcanic ash. The effects of the eruption would then become more restricted to the local area around the volcano, and flights over the UK could resume. Also the weather system may change, and start to carry the ash plume somewhere else, instead of over Britain. But at the moment the winds are quite slow and the ash cloud isn't changing very rapidly.

The ash will eventually fall to the ground, particularly if it rains. Look out on your car over the next few days, and you may find a faint layer of grey or brown volcanic dust on the paintwork. It’s pretty harmless, because there will be so little of it. In Iceland, however, things are much more serious. People are wearing masks, and over 800 people living near the volcano have been evacuated. Meltwater floods, called lahars, have washed away roads, and ash lies more thickly on the ground.

After the eruption scientists will visit the site, examine the ash layers to reconstruct exactly what happened at the volcano. There's much to learn about how rising hot magma explodes violently when it encounters glacier ice. Each year students in the Department of Geology at the University of Leicester are learning how to figure out how and why volcanoes explode by assembling the evidence after eruptions - there is clearly lots to learn, and we need specialists who can do this. Today's is not a particularly large or unusual eruption. But the impact to people’s lives across northern Europe underline to us just how serious things could become should one of the many hundreds of active volcanoes around the world erupt in a much bigger way in the future.

March

 

 

 Aggregate Industries Bursary Scheme Presentation

Ten students from the Department of Geology have been presented  with bursary awards from Leicestershire-based construction materials giant Aggregate Industries.

Aggregate Industries Bursary Scheme 2010

Aggregate Industries founded the bursary programme at the university in 2008 which provides financial support as well as work placements with the  company during the summer months. Students are selected through an initial  questionnaire, a one day visit to the company’s head office and a real life team project. This year 10 further students will receive bursaries.

Kip Jeffery, senior lecturer in industrial rocks and minerals at the  University of Leicester, said: "It is fantastic that Aggregate Industries is once again offering these bursaries to our students. We are now in the  third-year of this programme and it continues to build upon the range of existing research, technical and other industry links with the Geology  Department at Leicester. The programme allows our students to spend time at Aggregate Industries and undertake project work, gaining valuable  practical experience and industry insight".

Aggregate Industries Bursary Scheme 2010 Presentation

Colin Jenkins, Managing Director of the company’s aggregate products  division presented the awards to the group. He said "A geology degree is a good preparation for a career in construction and building products, but students entering our business with a geology degree will see that there is a lot more on offer at Aggregate Industries than being a geologist.  We  are delighted that two of the students who received the bursary awards in 2008 are now working as trainee quarry managers at our quarries in Derbyshire and North Yorkshire. We very much hope that this year’s undergraduates will explore the opportunities that Aggregate Industries is able to offer". 

 

The Dawn of a New Epoch?

Researchers show how world has changed

Geologists from the University of Leicester are among four scientists- including a Nobel prize-winner – who suggest that the Earth has entered a new age of geological time.

The Age of Aquarius? Not quite - It’s the Anthropocene Epoch, say the scientists writing in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. (web issue March 29; print issue April 1)

And they add that the dawning of this new epoch may include the sixth largest mass extinction in the Earth’s history.

Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams from the University of Leicester Department of Geology; Will Steffen, Director of the Australian National University’s Climate Change Institute and Paul Crutzen the Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist of Mainz University provide evidence for the scale of global change in their commentary in the American Chemical Society’s’ bi-weekly journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Angkor, the ancient city-complex of Cambodia

The scientists propose that, in just two centuries, humans have wrought such vast and unprecedented changes to our world that we actually might be ushering in a new geological time interval, and alter the planet for millions of years.

Zalasiewicz, Williams, Steffen and Crutzen contend that recent human activity, including stunning population growth, sprawling megacities and increased use of fossil fuels, have changed the planet to such an extent that we are entering what they call the Anthropocene (New Man) Epoch.

First proposed by Crutzen more than a decade ago, the term Anthropocene has

The Modern City of Shanghai

provoked controversy. However, as more potential consequences of human activity — such as global climate change and sharp increases in plant and animal extinctions — have emerged, Crutzen’s term has gained support. Currently, the worldwide geological community is formally considering whether the Anthropocene should join the Jurassic, Cambrian and other more familiar units on the Geological Time Scale.

The scientists note that getting that formal designation will likely be contentious. But they conclude, “However these debates will unfold, the Anthropocene represents a new phase in the history of both humankind and of the Earth, when natural forces and human forces became intertwined, so that the fate of one determines the fate of the other. Geologically, this is a remarkable episode in the history of this planet.”

DOI: Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es903118j.

 

51st Annual Bennett Lecture

Monday 1st March 2010 at 6 p.m. in the Rattray Lecture Theatre

"Climate Change Lessons from a warm world: a history of Pliocene climate research and the United States Geological Survey PRISM project”

Dr Harry J. Dowsett
Leader of the PRISM Paleoclimate Project at the United States Geological Survey

The Pliocene is a natural laboratory for the study and analysis of global warming. Some 20 years of focused research is leading to the production of computer-based reconstructions of Pliocene global environmental conditions.

The historical development of the USGS Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) Project closely parallels our understanding of Pliocene climate and contains lessons applicable to any palaeoclimate reconstruction as well as to future climate projections. 

Ticket Only - Contact Gail Andrews ga16@le.ac.uk

Download the 51st Bennett Lecture poster 835kb

 

February

Too Close for Comfort

2009 Graduate MGeol Student, Leanne Gunn, currently working as an intern at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory working on the mapping of ash dispersal witnessed the partial dome collapse at Soufriere Hill Volcano on 11th February 2010.  She writes

Partial dome collapse at Soufriere Hill Volcano on 11th February 2010

“There was a partial dome collapse yesterday at the volcano and it was incredible to watch! Luckily it went down the North East of the volcano but the flows hit the sea and have extended the coast line by quite a bit! Also the old air port is no longer visible, it’s been buried and all the surrounding vegetation stripped. 

The ash ended up being taken to Guadaloupe and Dominica but apparently some also made it the Barbados! We were reasonably lucky

View from Montserrat Volcano Observatory of a partial dome collapse

with only 4 mm collected on a MVO station right by the Northern extent of the exclusion zone. 

All in all was a very exciting day at the observatory. Still don’t know how much of the dome has collapsed because its really ashy up there and the haze from all the degassing deposits mean we still have not had a clear view of the top.”

 

 

ENI Geological Challenge Award Winner

GeoHut at West View Farm, Alstonefield, Derbyshire

Albert Benghiat (2nd year BSc Geology) and his wife Jill have won the ENI Geological Challenge award 2009 for their Alstonefield Geo-Hut and the Geo-Hut concept. The ENI Geological Challenge seeks to recognise the achievements of individuals or groups in the field of conservation, interpretation or field geological education in the UK. The prize will be formally awarded at the Geologists' Association meeting at Burlington House, London, on the 5th February. ENI is a multinational oil and gas company.

The GeoHut can be found at West View Farm, Alstonefield, Near Ashbourne Derbyshire DE6 2FS and is usually open at weekends and Bank Holidays

 

January

Violent Volcanoes at Highgate Primary School

You are never too young to study volcanic rocks

On 27th January, Carys Bennett and seven students from the University of Leicester ran an afternoon of fun activities on the theme of Violent Volcanoes, at Highgate Primary School in Sileby, Leicester. The children were excited to see eight big people turn up with rocks, coca cola bottles and cardboard puzzles.

The class of 8 to 9 year old children loved volcanoes, and already knew about magma chambers, lava flows and more! During the afternoon they found out what geologists do, what happens

University of Leicester Undergraduate, Dave Dale and his group with their plate tectonic puzzle

when a volcano erupts, and where volcanoes are in the world. They completed plate tectonics puzzles, drawings and even describing rock specimens. We talked about how volcanoes are a great example of the changes between solids, liquids and gases. The highlight was creating their very own exploding volcanoes, and testing different styles of volcanic eruptions, led by mayhem-master-mind Dave Dale.

The event was a great success, thanks to their wonderful teacher Wendy

Children from Highgate Primary School show their volcano drawings

Rees and her enthusiasm for geology. Afterwards, the children held a Violent Volcanoes Museum afternoon for their parents to talk about the event and what they learnt. Thanks to all involved from the University of Leicester: lecturer Gawen Jenkin, postgraduates Simon Tapster and Laurent Darras, and undergraduates Elaine Coley, Dave Dale, Rachael Barratt, Emma Bradley and John Hawker.

 

SEG Minerals Quiz

This year the University of Leicester’s Society of Economic Geologists Chapter ran a minerals quiz featuring several sessions of identification practice and a penultimate quiz with prizes.

Consisting of three fortnightly training sessions the mineral identification classes had a range of samples from the first year’s basic dilemma of distinguishing between quartz, calcite and barite to the more advanced 4th year samples looking at a selection of hydrothermal ore mineral assemblages.  Also included was a selection of obscure and bizarre minerals rarely encountered in the average student’s practicals.

After the several training sessions from previous weeks the test began with over 15 entrants.  Involving six different samples, the entrants had to name the mineral, its deposit type and any other notable features associated with the sample in order to win the cash prizes.  With a tie existing between two competitors for 1st place the deciding mineral had to be named. Following this final showdown the winners were as follows:

1st Nathan Thomas
2nd Mark Haldane
3rd Sarah Clay

First year prizes went to Lyndsey Bland, Alex Fuentes and Abbie-Jade Sutherland

Special thanks go to Dr Gawen Jenkin for the organising and running of the event.  

 

2009

 

December

Whistlestop USA - Jan Zalasiewicz

 

The trouble with geology is that, as a subject, it comes with travel – so to speak – built-in.  Now for most people that is not a hardship at all;  quite the converse, in fact.  But, I’m one of these rare geologists who is not a globetrotter by nature.  Faced with travel to exotic countries, high adventure and stunning landscapes, I generally prefer an armchair, a good book, a cup of tea, and the chocolate biscuits within easy reach.  But last month there came a couple of invitations that were not to be resisted.

First, there was an invitation from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, to be an advisor at a meeting to help plan the next exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History.   That invitation was just too good to refuse:  it is, after all, arguably the world’s greatest museum, with enormous collections, at some 46 million specimens (though they did say that they get slightly different numbers each time they make a count…).   And it was, in truth, splendid.  The museum staff are very firm about the scientific value of their collections, and of the importance of the totality of the geological record, and they were quite clear that if they don’t come up with the best display on geological history in the whole wide world, it won’t be for want of trying. 

Then, two weeks later, it was off to New Orleans - via Birmingham, New York and Houston – about 24 hours of travelling, in all.  It was worth it.  I had been asked to take part in the filming of a National Geographic TV programme on the far future – some 200 million years on – of America.  The film crew, from Australia and New Zealand, were marvellously professional – and also patient with me as utter cinematic greenhorn.  New Orleans, within a very few hours, became my favourite city in the USA, bar none:  for its people (hospitable beyond measure);  its music (the number of local brownie points I gained when mentioning I had, in my youth, seen Louis Armstrong play live in concert, was astronomical);  its food (the gumbo, of course, but also I wasn’t allowed to forget, or forgo, the alligator cheesecake);  and, indeed, for le tout ensemble.

So that’s it.  Try as one might to avoid travel, in geology, travel comes hard-wired, as it were, into the core of the subject.  Our subject, after all, is the whole Earth (and for geology students today, the other planets of the Solar System are becoming fair game too).  It’s all too much for me.  Time to put the kettle on, find that book, and see what’s left in the biscuit tin. 

 

November

Special Lecture - EAGE Student Lecture Tour

“What Energy Future after the World Oil Production Peak?”
Lecture by – Pierre Mauriaud of Total
One of the EAGE (European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) Student Lecture Tour

 

September

New Member of Staff

Dave Holwell

Dr David Holwell has joined the department as Lecturer of Applied and Environmental Geology

BSc Geology (Durham), 2001; MSc Mining Geology (Camborne School of Mines), 2002; PhD (Cardiff) 2006. Following a year as an engineering geologist in the UK and three years in the mineral exploration industry with SRK Exploration Services, Dr Holwell has joined the department as a Lecturer in Applied and Environmental Geology. His main research is in the nature and genesis of platinum-group element and magmatic Cu-Ni sulphide mineralisation and the implications for mineral exploration, using a variety of geochemical and mineralogical techniques. Current interests are focussed on the ore deposits associated with Tertiary intrusions in east Greenland, including the world famous Skaergaard intrusion; and the largest platinum-group element resource on the planet: the Platreef of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa.

International Award

Dave Holwell post-conference field trip to the Mount Isa inlier, NW Queensland

In August 2009, Dr Dave Holwell travelled to the 10th biennial meeting of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, where he received the prestigious SGA-Barrick Young Scientist award. This award is offered biennially to a young scientist who contributed significantly to the understanding of mineral deposits. The award consists of a citation, prize money of EUR 1500, and travel to the Biennial meeting for the presentation. The meeting is one of the largest international mineral deposit conferences on the calendar and involves a large number of representatives from both academia and the minerals exploration and mining from around the globe".
 

August

International Conference

Tom Harvey, Xiaoya Ma and Rob Sansom hike to Walcott's original quarries

3rd - 8th August 2009,  Xiaoya Ma (PhD student) Tom Harvey (Research Associate) and Rob Sansom (Research
Associate) attended the International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion in Banff, Alberta, Canada, high up in the Canadian Rockies.

Tom Harvey, Xiaoya Ma and Rob Sansom hike to Walcott's original quarries.

The conference was held to mark the 100th anniversary Charles Walcott's discovery of the Burgess Shale, which is now recognized as one of the most important fossil sites in the world and has transformed our understanding on the early evolution of animal life (the Cambrian Explosion). As part of this International Conference, the Leicester delegates attended hikes to Walcott's original quarries and presented papers. All were well received, and Robert Sansom was presented with the prize for the best oral presentation by a young scientist.

 

July

Degree Day Celebrations

Geology graduates celebrate

 

Congratulations to all students who graduated.

View photographs of the celebrations and list of prize winners.

 

 

The 2009 University Teaching Fellowships

 

Dr Gawen Jenkin received a University Teaching Fellowship at the Degree Celebrations on 10th July 2009

Dr Gawen Jenkin was awarded a University Teaching Fellowship, at the Degree Celebrations held in De Montfort Hall, in recognition of his inspiring and imaginative teaching and his involvement in national initiatives which promote student learning in Geology.

 
Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Burgess said: “The University of Leicester is a leading international research and teaching University. Our reputation for teaching excellence stems from the quality of our academic staff and the support systems that are in place for our students. At a time when people from around the world gathered at the University of Leicester to celebrate the achievements of their families, we think it is also appropriate to recognise the teaching initiatives developed by staff that contribute to students’ success.
“All our Teaching Fellows have achieved great distinction in their respective fields and this recognition reflects the importance this University attaches to teaching and learning. Leicester is among the top universities in the country for student satisfaction and the efforts made by our teaching fellows and other staff contribute greatly to this success” 

 

Awards

Congratulations to Professor Randy Parrish who has been awarded the 2010 Schlumberger Medal of the Mineralogical Society.
This annual award was founded in 1990 through the generous sponsorship of Schlumberger Cambridge Research and has the purpose: To recognize scientific excellence in mineralogy and its applications; mineralogy being broadly defined and reflecting the diverse and worldwide interests and membership of the Society with its various specialist groups. Evidence of such excellence should be in the form of published work by a currently active scientist.

 

June

Exhibition of Roddon Research

Dinah Smith, Research Student presented her work on Fenland roddons – “fossilised tidal creeks of fenland prehistory” at Open Farm Sunday, Park Farm, Thorney, Cambridgeshire. Dinah had been invited by the farmer and organiser, Mr. Michael Sly, who is helping with the research. Click here for full details

 

May 

Hay Literary Festival Appearance

Dr Jan Zalasiewicz was invited to speak at the Hay Literary Festival on 25th May 2009.  An audience of 400 heard him speak about his new book "The Earth After Us"
What might human civilization leave behind as relics into the far geological future? The geologist envisions what extra-terrestrial aliens, exploring Earth one hundred million years from now, might uncover in their excavations.

Book Details

Making wiggles - life with the physical properties of deep sea sediments!

PhD Student, Pete Fitch, sailing as a physical properties specialist on IODP Expedition 320 has been writing a blog which has now been published online with NERC's Planet Earth click here

 

Good News in National Subject League Tables

The Department of Geology came 4th in the National Guardian University Subject League Tables announced 12th May 2009.

Details 

 

ECORD Distinguished Lecturer Programme 

Lecture by Professor R. John Parkes, Cardiff University

 "The Sub-seafloor Biosphere: the largest prokaryotic habitat on Earth?"

The Geomicrobiology research group lead by Professor Parkes has been instrumental in establishing the global significance of the deep sub-seafloor biosphere, and has made key contributions to recent science as part of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP).

The lecture took place on Thursday 7th May.

 

 April

Scientists on Expedition

Kayd Platform in Atlantic City 2009

IODP Research Associates, Drs Jenny Inwood and Sally Morgan are currently in Atlantic City, New Jersey working to mobilise the L/B Kayd Platform for an expedition drilling the New Jersey Shelf on the North American margin of the Atlantic Ocean. The New Jersey Shallow Shelf (NJSS) expedition was planned and is conducted by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) under the auspices of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) also supports the expedition. Sediments preserved beneath the New Jersey Shelf hold information needed to better understand the Earth’s natural rhythms and the NJSS  Expedition aims at reconstructing sea-level changes during the period 24-14 million years ago and deciphering how sedimentation on the shelf responded to these changes.

 

New Professor Appointed

Michael Petterson has been appointed as Professor of Applied and Environmental Geology.

Professor Mike Petterson

On joining the University of Leicester Mike says “I was a graduate and PhD postgraduate at Leicester, so after quite a long time away it feels a little surreal , though very exciting, to return to one of my ‘points of origin’. I take over a chair in applied and environmental geosciences within the Geology Department. There is already plenty of activity in this area and one of my first jobs is to learn what Leicester is involved with and see where I can best fit in. I am really looking forward to working with the great range of talent and expertise present at the University of Leicester, not only with geosciences but, hopefully, collaborating with a range researchers and workers from different disciplines.”

“Personal research interests I would like to explore include the link between metals, magmas and tectonics, natural hazards and communities, applying geosciences to real (as opposed to purely rhetorical) sustainable development, improving quality of life in the Developing World, and seeking and promoting opportunities for science and social science to interface within a meaningful dialogue, adding value to each others’ approach, research and impact. “

After leaving Leicester Mike had a short sojourn into school teaching before landing a position with the British Geological Survey (BGS), a research institute part-funded by NERC and part-funded from many other sources. He says “I began work in the Lake District mapping volcanic rocks and applying this knowledge with respect to nuclear waste decommissioning solutions. I moved onto working in the Developing world in the fields of primary scientific research, institutional strengthening and very practical aid, educational and poverty-alleviation related work. “

“I was lucky enough to live with my family in the Pacific and South America and have worked in shorter spells throughout Asia, parts of Africa and the Caribbean. My most recent international work has involved working in Afghanistan (2003 – 2007) and on the Montserrat volcano in the Caribbean.

“My later years within BGS have been as Head of the Economic Minerals and Geochemical Baseline programme and Director for Science Resources with responsibility for, 800 staff, numerous laboratories and, as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, trying to keep the organisation relevant and firing on all cylinders.

“The highlights of my career have involved numerous scientific ‘eureka’ moments that I won’t bore you with but also include particularly human moments such as working with indigenous communities on volcanic hazards, helping people come to terms with gold mining, seeing numerous scientists grow, develop and make an impact, reflecting on the great hardships of people living with tremendous poverty, seeing a country torn apart by 30 years of war slowly being reborn, and sadly, seeing very brave Afghan Ministers and advisers I have worked with being killed trying to progress things towards a better future.

“I am, an Honorary Researcher at BGS and Peshawar University, on several NERC-HQ committees, Chair of Governors at a Rutland Comprehensive School, and enjoy playing rock and blues guitar with like-minded fun-loving musicians.”

 

New Book Published

 

New book on caves of the Peak District by Trevor Ford, Honorary Research Fellow.

As the Peak’s foremost geologist, Trevor, spent his early years exploring the caves and is the first to admit that age has now robbed him of the ability to go underground again. This is a pity, for his worthy successors have found two enormous systems – Titan and Leviathan – which are the deepest in the country.

Even if you have no desire to set off on a 500ft descent of one of these monsters, or wade through passages full of fast flowing water, the fantastic work of underground photographer Paul Deakin shows you what you may be glad you are missing. Paul’s incredible technique and skill has produced images of passages stretching into the distance. Even the vast height of Titan and Leviathan were mastered as cavers were caught by his lens, making their descent hundreds of feet above him.

Trevor Ford describes the cave systems (and there are many) in detail and tantalisingly speculates on others which have been lost or offer potential sites for new discoveries. There are numerous plans and diagrams as well as the photographs mentioned above.

‘Castleton Caves’ will be an eye opener to most casual observers of caving, let alone the enthusiasts, but comes with a word of warning: under any circumstances, never go underground without the company of an experienced caver. Like Trevor’s last book – Rocks & Scenery of the Peak District – we now have another really worthwhile book on the Peak.

 

• Title: Castleton Caves
• Author: Trevor Ford
• Publisher: Landmark Publishing
• Price: £9.99
• Pages: 96
• Binding: Paperback
• Published: October 08
• ISBN: 9781843064060

For more information or to purchase a copy, please click here .

 

 March

New Grants and Funding

Sarah Davies has been awarded a grant, worth a total of approximately £1.3 million, from the European Consortium on Ocean Drilling, part of IODP

 

Awards to Students

David Riley was awarded £513 from the Timothy Jefferson Field Research Fund for field work in Herefordshire.

Ben Ellis was awarded £920 from the Geological Society W G Fearnside Fund

 

50th Annual Bennett Lecture

Lecture by Professor Dr Stefan Schmid, University of Basel

The mountains of the Alps

"Anatomy and growth of a mountain belt: a look at the Alps from the earth's surface down into the mantle"

The Lecture was held on Monday 23rd March 2009 
 

Society of Exploration Geophysicists Honorary Lecturer Programme

Society of Exploration Geophysicists Honorary Lecturer Programme presents:

Lecture by Professor Per Avseth

“Mind the gap in seismic reservoir prediction: How rock physics can bridge the gap between qualitative geology and quantitative geophysics”.

The Lecture was held on Wednesday 18th March 2009

 

Faculty of Science Annual Lecture

King Coal: Time for restoration of the mucky monarch?

Lecture by Professor Paul Younger

"Isn't Old King Coal dead and buried?  Ranging widely over the issues of climate change, renewable energy, peak oil, nuclear power and the troubled concept of economic growth, Professor Younger will argue in this provocative lecture that a new approach to coal explotation probably representsthe world's best chance of bridging the gulf to a genuinely low carbon future.

 

 January

New Grants and Funding

Mike Branney and Dickson Cunningham have been awarded NERC funding to investigate "Scales and Frequencies of 'Snake River-type' super-eruptions from the Yellowstone hotspot track"
 
An application to the Mineral Industry Research Organisation (MIRO) /MIST by Kip Jeffrey and Ian Hill, "Deposit Knowledge for Efficient Production: an evidence based approach to the sampling of sand and gravel deposits. " has been successful.

 

Awards to Students and Researchers

Stephen Grebby won a Student Award from the Geological Remote Sensing Group (GRSG) for £750 towards fieldwork in Cyprus for his PhD. The results were announced at the GRSG conference in London.

Rob Sansom (Researcher with Dr Sarah Gabbott) won the President's Prize for the best talk by an early-career researcher at the Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting in Glasgow, December 2008.

David Jones (currently post doc with Mark Purnell) has been awarded a Marie Curie outgoing fellowship to study in Australia.

 

2008

October

 

 Iconic T. rex Unveiled

 

Iconic T-Rex

A cast of a 21-foot long Tyrannosaurus rex (a rare, sub-adult individual), commissioned from the makers of specimens of T. rex that featured in the film ‘Jurassic Park’ has gone on permanent display.
The ferocious predator, nicknamed ‘Jane’, will take pride of place in a showcase in the refurbished Department, and will be an educational facility for members of the public, school visits as well as for staff, students and academic research.
The 65-million year old carnivore is one of a number of exhibits illustrating Flying dinosaurs….and the origin of birds.

Official Opening of 'Flying Dinosaurs - the origin of Birds'. Professors Siveter, Lovell and Mr Bolsover

The exhibition was officially opened on Wednesday 29 October by Mr Bill Bolsover, Group Chief Executive of Aggregate Industries UK Limited, in the presence of Professor Bob Burgess, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester.

 

 

 

National Science Student of the Year!

 

Kaushika Mistry - SET Student of the Year

2nd year MGeol Geology student Kaushika Mistry has been named as winner of the Xcel Science Student of the Year. On hearing about her success Kaushika said “I am extremely proud of the geology department and felt honoured to be nominated. Winning the Xcel Student of the Year for Sciences is a great achievement for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year on the MGeol course. It has been challenging to return to university, and the degree has amplified my interest in geology. Together with my first year experience, this award has makes me more determined to succeed in this degree and my future ambitions. I would like to thank the department, all of the lecturers, support staff as well as the PhD students and my peers who have aided and supported me. Furthermore, I would not have been able to embark on my dream without the help and encouragement from my family, especially my husband and my two children.

Kaushika was nominated for the award by Head of Department Prof Mike Lovell who said “I am delighted to congratulate Kaushika on behalf of everyone in the Geology Department. Kaushika’s success in winning the 'Xcel Sciences Student of the Year 2008' is well deserved and clearly reflects her dedication and hard work throughout the year. In her first year she has not only succeeded in the course, but has achieved first class marks overall and this is a great foundation on which to continue to build. I take great pride in her achievement, look forward to watching her continued success, and send her our very best wishes for her future studies.”

The Xcel Student of the Year awards aim to recognise and celebrate the achievements of students from a multi-ethnic or minority group background, and who have demonstrated excellence.  Xcel is Britain’s largest careers magazine aimed at widening university participation of ethnic minority school and college students, as well as women and people with disabilities.

Research Project of the year - well almost!

In addition to the University winning the University of the Year Award at the Times Higher Awards, a project from the Geology department was short-listed for national title of Research Project of the year. The project, looking at how dietary shifts drive evolutionary change in stickleback, developed a new way of analysing the diets of living and fossil fishes based on the microscopic scratch patterns on their teeth. For more details, visit Mark Purnell's web pages.

September

More Grants!

Richard England received from NERC funding for SEIS-UK for a further five years through to 31st March 2014. SEIS-UK was particularly commended has having a high international standing. This is brilliant news for the department and secures continuation of the department as a geophysical centre of expertise.

Randy Parrish awarded a NERC grant with Yani Najman at Lancaster to study the capture of the Indus-Tsangpo River by the Brahaputra in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis'.

David Siveter has been awarded an FEC NERC grant, on Reconstruction of the Herefordshire (Silurian) Lagerstatte biota. This is with Prof. Derek Siveter (Oxford) and Dr Mark Sutton (Imperial College London).

Sarah Davies has been awarded research grants from Columbia University (to provide logging staff scientists and research services from within Europe for IODP Non-Riser Vessel expeditions) and further grants from ECORD/NERC (for Mission Specific Platform operations)

Stewart Fishwick has been awarded an FEC NERC grant on 'Seismological Investigations of the Continental Upper Mantle'. .

Appointments

Richard England has been awarded a SPLINT Fellowship to work with the CETL based in Geography; this will run from 1st August 2008 to 31 January 2010. This involves work with the BGS on digital mapping and is an exciting and innovative development.

Dick Aldridge has been appointed Chair of the Executive Organising Committee of the 3rd International Palaeontological Congress (IPC 2010) to be held in London in June-July 2010; he is also Co-chair of the Scientific Committee for the meeting.  Mark Purnell is Chair of the Publicity and Sponsorship Committee for the same meeting.

Richard England has been appointed to the University's Student Experience Enhancement Committee

August

Antarctic ostracods

Dr Mark Williams, Prof David Siveter and colleagues have discovered an exceptionally well preserved 14 million year old fossil ostracod in Antarctica which shows the area was once much warmer than it is now. Link to press release.

 July

More Grants!

Dr. Stewart Fishwick has been awarded an FEC NERC grant on 'Seismological Investigations of the Continental Upper Mantle'. This is an award under NERC's new investigator proposal - well done Stewart!

Dr. Richard England has been awarded a SPLINT Fellowship to work with the CETL based in Geography; this will run from 1 August 2008 to 31 January 2010, and will involve working with the BGS on digital mapping.

Additionally Richard has received news from NERC that SEIS-UK will be funded for a further five years through to 31 March 2014. This is excellent news for the department and secures continuation of the department as a geophysical centre of expertise.

Appointments

Many congratulations to Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz who has been appointed Director of University’s Centre for Environmental RESearch (CERES). This is great news and is a good opportunity for the department to become more involved with CERES.

Degree Day Celebrations

Congratulations to all students who graduated. View photographs of the celebrations and list of prize winners.

March

Dynamic Dinosaurs! Cutting edge approaches to ecology and behaviour

March 15, 9.00 - 17.00

The Geology Section (C) of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society presents its Annual Saturday Seminar in Ken Edwards Building, LT1. Subsidised tickets available for Leicester Geology Undergrads; a limited  number of free tickets for Schools. For details, download the flyer and ticket order form here.

February 27, 00.56 am

Earthquake hits Leicester!

Richard England reports: The largest earthquake for nearly 25 years was felt in Leicester and widely across the UK early this morning. The magnitude 5.3 event, which had its epicentre a few km north of Market Rasen in Lincolnshire struck just before 1 am this morning. There are reports of minor damage across the East of England and an injury to one person when a chimney collapsed into a house. In Leicester there was minor damage to buildings and numerous calls to the emergency services, mostly from people alarmed by the earthquake which lasted for about 10 seconds. More details here.

 February

Special Lecture - IODP Distinguished Researcher & International Leadership Lecture Series (DRILLS)

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) introduces its inaugural lecture series DRILLS:

Dr. Yoshiyuki Tatsumi (Institute for Research on Earth Evolution (IREE), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) will be presenting: Drilling into the Memory of Earth.

The lecture will be held at 5pm on Wednesday 20th February in the Ken Edwards Building, Lecture Theatre 1.

For details, download the flyer here or contact Janette Thompson should you have any questions. Information on the whole lecture series can be found at the DRILLS website.

 January

Special Lecture - EAGE Student Lecture Tour

New Monitoring Technologies for Natural Hazards and Surface Displacements. Prof. Benoit Deffontaines, University of Marne-la-Vallee.

Abstract, details and a booking form are available from the Leicester Geophysical Society website. January 29

 

2007

New Website Goes Live

2007 was an eventful year in the department, with lots of news to report. Unfortunately, much of this didn't make it onto the new website but a few highlights are listed below.

More Grants!

Two applications from the department were funded in this year's round of NERC Small Grant awards. Dr Mark Williams and Professor David Siveter, and Dr Mark Purnell are the investigators, and both will employ postdoc research associates.

More New Blood!

Dr. Stewart Fishwick has been appointed to the New Blood Lectureship in Geophysics. Among other things, he works on surface wave tomography and the structure of the upper mantle. Dr. Fishwick was previously at Cambridge University, before which he studied and worked at the University of Edinburgh and the Australian National University.

Grants

Drs Sarah Gabbott and Mark Purnell awarded NERC grant to investigate 'The problem of vertebrate origins – comparative taphonomy and gaps in the fossil record'.

Kip Jeffrey fronts successful bid for DeBeers training.

Lots more news items have yet to make the transfer from the old web pages...

 

Spring 2006

New Blood!

We are delighted to announce that Dr Mark Williams has been appointed to the New Blood Lectureship in Palaeobiology in Geology. His research interests will link with many areas of research in the department and revolve around reconstructing deep time climates (using fossil proxies), exceptional preservation of organisms, and major ecological transitions. Current projects include a book on ‘Deep time perspectives on climate change’, reconstructing latitudinal temperature variation for the Pliocene Atlantic Ocean using shallow marine bryozoans, climate change of the Early Palaeozoic glaciation, the study of exceptionally preserved fossil faunas from the Cambrian and Ordovician, and tracking organism transitions from marine to non-marine aquatic environments. Mark is currently Lecturer at Portsmouth University, and has previously worked at the British Antarctic Survey and the British Geology Survey.

The department’s research profile is further enhanced by the appointment of Dr David Unwin to the New Blood Lectureship in Museum Studies. Dr Unwin's research in palaeobiology will link strongly with that of researchers in the Geology Department.

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Winter 2005/06

Skittles

Peter Fitch (PhD student) wins high-score prize in Department skittles evening.

International Networking

Drs Gary Mullins and Mark Purnell have been invited to Sweden by The British Council as part of a group of “20 promising researchers from Sweden and the UK” to attend and present at the International Networking of Young Scientists (INYS) workshop on 22nd-24th March.

The latest issue of Earth Science 2000 contains a piece by Graham Andrews on how he got interested in geology, a two page essay on geohazards by DrJan Zalasiewicz and an article about the Herefordshire Lagerstätte project involving Prof David Siveter.

Pal Soc Council

Dr Gary Mullins has been invited to serve on the Council of the Palaeontographical Society of London

Grants

Dr Richard England has been awarded a grant with colleagues in the Norwegian Geological Survey for a project entitled ‘Neogene uplift of Scandinavia’. Norwegian Geological Survey Network Fund (NKR 240,500).

And also, with colleagues from the Greenland Geological Survey and Graham Pearson (Durham), a NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility loan for a project entitled ‘Lithospheric structure of West Greenland’ (equivalent value £96,000) and DK 388,100 for instrument deployment from the Greenland Bureau of Minerals and Natural Resources.

And also, with Prof Peter Maguire and Monika Wilde- Piorko (Warsaw University) NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility loan for a project entitled ‘Recognition of the lithosphere asthenosphere system in the transition between Proterozoic and Phanerozoic Europe – PASSEQ’ (equivalent value £228,000)

Dr Gawen Jenkin (with Prof Andy Saunders) has been awarded a NERC isotope geosciences facilities grant-in-kind (£38,530) for isotope support for Dan Smith's PhD project.

Professor David Siveter has been awarded a grant in kind of £3520 from NERC (NIGL) for Isotope studies on Carboniferous ostracods from Scotland.

Professor Andy Saunders receives an additional grant of £138,000 (in kind) to carry out Argon/Argon and Uranium/Lead dating of basalts and relatedrocks from the Siberian Traps large igneous province (to be carried out at SUERC, NIGL, and MIT).

Debate

Dr Mark Purnell participates in a public debate on the question “ Can humans evolve or are we the end-product?“ as part of the Loughborough Logic meeting series (Swan and Rushes, Loughborough, March 23).

Awards to students

Ameena Camps has been awarded money from UCAC and to enable her to write two papers (£1000).

PhD Students Ameena Camps, Dan Smith, and Simon Jowitt have all recieved funding from the BGS Robert’s Skills Fund: £650 for Ameena to present a paper at the Greenhouse Gas Technological Conference in Trondheim, Norway in June; £1500 towards travel to a volcanology course in New Zealand; and £1000 towards the cost of attending the Society of Economic Geologists student's chapter conference.

PhD student Simon Jowitt has had a poster presentation selected for presentation at the first International Society of Economic Geologists Student's Chapter Conference in Keystone Colorado - selection includes $1200 towards conference expenses and Simon was the only person from the UK to be selected.

PhD students Graham Andrews and James Blight have been given funding to attend the Mineral Deposit Studies Group Meeting at Imperial College London in January 2006.

Visiting Prof

Professor David Siveter has been appointed to a Visiting Professorship to the University of Lyon, France for 2006.

 

Palaeo-Exodus?

Almost all the members of the Palaeobiology Group are decamping to Oxford for the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association. Between them, they are giving 6 presentations - abstracts online here.

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Autumn 2005

Keith Cooper, one of our graduates, stages large solo exhibition 'the Bones of Landscape' at the Richard Attenborough Centre for the Arts. This is an exhibition of landscape photographs 'with a bit of geology slipped in'. Runs October 19th to November 23rd, 2005.

New Recruits – Nine new PhD students from the UK and around the world start research projects in the department this September.

Dr Mark Purnell presents 'The Myth of Missing Links' at Leicester's Cafe Scientifique.

Professor Mike Lovell awarded £54,000 by Burlington and the London Petrophysical Society. This will fund the PhD research of Jo Tudge.

PhD student David Cornwell receives the award for best presentation at the British Geophysical Association Meeting in Galway.

Dr Mark Purnell presents talk on 'What's left of where we came from - the fossil record of early chordates' at the British Association Festival of Science in Dublin.

Professors Dick Aldridge and David Siveter appointed Guest Professors at Yunnan University, Kunming, China.

Professor Andy Saunders receives NERC Grant for £186,972 to investigate 'Extent and Environmental Impact of Permo-Triassic Siberian Trap Volcanism'. Leicester graduate Marc Reichow will be employed on the grant.

Summer 2005

Tahiti Bound - Members of the Borehole Research group participating in the IODP drilling expedition to Tahiti.

Highly cited: a paper by Dr Sarah Davies (Davies and Gibling, 2003, Architecture of coastal and alluvial deposits in an extensional basin: the Carboniferous Joggins Formation of eastern Canada) was one of the three most highly cited papers of 2003 in the journal Sedimentology.

More from the Herefordshire Lagerstätte: Professor David Siveter and colleagues have yet another paper on this exceptional biota accepted for publication in Nature!

Applied and Environmental undergraduate Richard Caine gains a summer placement with Rio Rinto to work in Turkey.

Paul Denton receives grant from the Royal Astronomical Society and sponsorship from GEES (Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)to support school seismology workshops in July and also £500 sponsorship from.

PhD student Simon Jowitt awarded the Edgar Pam Fellowship by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining for 2005.

PhD student Kerry Howard wins Best Presentation in Science and Engineering, at the University's Festival of Postgraduate Research 2005.

Whittaker funding for 2005 awarded to Pablo Divila-Harris and Sheila Gomez.

£3.5 million for research into Biologically Inspired Acoustic Systems (BIAS) awarded by EPSRC to a consortium including Profesor Mike Lovell.

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