PhD student Ella Richmond studied critical metal mobility in Weardale and Cornwall granites. With her supervisor, she presented results, visited key granite sites, toured the UK’s first geothermal plant, and collected granite samples for geochemical analysis in Durham! #DUresearch #Fieldwork

Visiting the department this week is Dr. Alexander Yates @asyates2.bsky.social from @ulbruxelles.bsky.social. Today, Alec started our VolcCoffee seminar series with a presentation on his research into seismic noises and how they can be used to improve our understanding of volcanic systems! 🌋🌐📈

The Durham University Earth Sciences department is proudly represented at the Solar and Storage conference in Birmingham by PhD candidate Joe! Visit stand B69 until Thursday to learn more about the future of energy! 🌼☀️🔋 #DUresearch #SolarStorageLive #DurhamUniversity #DurhamEnergyInstitute

For a peat to form you don't just need wet conditions you also need stagnant conditions link.springer.com/article/10.1... Our new study follows the thermodynamic profiles to show how fens and bogs significantly differ in when they become closed. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Following last week's field trip, our geochemists were joined by the 3rd year students! They worked on a cross-section through the Alps in Italy and Switzerland as part of their module on Metamorphic Petrology! 🗻🏞️ #DurhamUniversity

For the past week, Master's students Oscar and Freddie have joined Kevin and Kristijan in Zermatt and Saas-Fee's 3000m-high ophiolite complex, collecting samples for geochemical analysis of stable and radiogenic isotopes. Stay tuned to learn about the future outcomes of their research!

Bronze and Iron Age farmers in the Middle East prioritised wine production over olive growing in times of climatic change. Researchers in our Department of Archaeology and @durhamearthsci.bsky.social analysed charred seeds and wood samples 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

When we say sphagnum carpet I am not sure that you are supposed to be able to pick it up and fold it. This year's Sphagnum pioneers at Hatfield form a mat that dries out and detaches in ephemeral ponds. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Four weeks in the Scottish Highlands? That has been Izzy's summer, collecting molybdenite & granite for U-Pb and Re-Pb dating to test genetic links between the mineralisation and granite formation. Lots of hiking, bogs, wild camping in storms, lost samples, Highland cows & swims in fairy pools!

How do peats form? Our experiments compares how self-weight compaction compares degradation processes. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Spoiler - degradation is more important @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

In 2019 @durhamearthsci.bsky.social welcomed Holmes's granddaughter (Mary, in scarf) and great granddaughter (Tahareh, plaid skirt) to the Arthur Holmes Building. Picture includes me (tallest) and Prof Jon Gluyas holding his copy of "Holmes". ⚒️🧪🧵1/2

The World Peatland project team at Leicester Science Park having just finished our today workshop @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

We're hiring! Join us as an Associate Professor in Sustainable Earth Energy 🌍 Lead research in low-carbon geoenergy & energy storage, at one of the UK’s top universities. Apply by 31 Oct 2025 on this link👉 durham.taleo.net/careersectio... #DurhamUniversity #Hiring #ApplyToday

Refreshing news to end the summer: PhD student Freya Alldred frosty tales from Greenland & Svalbard ❄️🌊. Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, Freya used an underwater drone to study the kelp's role in nutrient cycles, productivity & carbon storage. Fieldwork funded by @theexplorersclub.bsky.social & Ponant

New publication, Check it out!

An ancient Bermuda stalagmite has revealed more about the past shifting of the Gulf Stream. Prof James Baldini, @durhamearthsci.bsky.social and PhD candidate Edward Forman @unisouthampton.bsky.social tell us more: bit.ly/46R8lz9

Congratulations to Martin Smith and Stuart Jones in our Department, who have both been promoted to Professor!

Great day at Big Bang 2 event at Ushaw Historic House explaining Earth and lunar geology to County Durham families. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social collaborating with @ducollections.bsky.social and NASA South Carolina Space Grant. 🧪⚒️🚀☄️

Our grass experiment is coming along very nicely in Cumbria. Rain and warm weather has helped. Now we leave it for a month and see what impact the soil amendments have had. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

The @durhamearthsci.bsky.social connection is strong with this one ... really interesting looking review.

Up at Schulman Grove, CA, today, amongst the ancient Bristlecone Pine trees with our @durhamearthsci.bsky.social MSci students. The trees, the oldest living organsims on the planet, have silently witnessed many civilisations rise and fall.

Scientists from @durhamearthsci.bsky.social, @ox.ac.uk and @uoft.bsky.social have worked out a list of crucial ingredients needed to find #CleanHydrogen hotspots in the Earth's crust. Find out more 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Dr Martin Smith from our Earth Sciences department has reclassified a 500-million-year-old spiny Cambrian #fossil Shishania — once thought to be a snail-like creature as a sponge relative called a chancelloriid. Learn more: www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/... #DUresearch

Professor Jon Gluyas from our @durhamearthsci.bsky.social is championing the future of sustainable energy. He is dedicated to finding #geoenergy solutions that could transform how we power our world. 🌍 Find out more about his groundbreaking work 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Our former PhD student @isobelyeo.bsky.social (now at @noc.ac.uk) features in this article. Her team are investigating seismicity from the underwater volcanoes near Santorini. Could an almighty eruption destroy a dreamy Greek island? www.bbc.com/news/article...

The deadline for the Exploring Risk Festival has been extended to the 29th of April - there is still time to put in your films and images. Full details: exploringrisk.org.uk

Well, we certainly think that Durham University is worth driving round the world for! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New paper out by @geochemwithjen.bsky.social (@durhamearthsci.bsky.social) Jennifer's project on Scottish fjords from the Last Glacial Maximum was supported by a Yorkshire Geological Society Research Grant! www.sciencedirect.com/.../abs/pii/...

We love a great archaeology story and especially when it involves Durham University’s archaeology department! Very exciting! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

69% of British peatlands are on a downward trajectory and have been since 2001. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... We surveyed all British peatlands and applied the cold humid island hypothesis @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social

Peatland restoration not keeping up - our new method for mapping peat health www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... British peats have seen revegetation (increased albedo), but not as fast as we should expect given controls and climate change. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social

Our Ed Llewellin has been working with colleagues at Luleå University, Sweden on a pioneering project to map the inside of lava tubes using autonomous drones! www.ltu.se/en/latest-ne...

Huge congratulations to our @richardjbrown.bsky.social and David Selby on their @geolsoc.bsky.social awards! Dr Richard Brown will be awarded the Dewey Medal and Professor David Selby is this year’s recipient of the William Smith Medal. Learn more: www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Our new research @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @uwaterloo.ca @bristoluni.bsky.social on the World's longest water quality record shows that despite success decreasing phosphorus the potential for algal growth uwaterloo.ca/water-instit...

Doing fieldwork on bogs of the Pennines you expect to get wet and cold, but you don't expect to become a cat rescuer. Found abandoned on the Pennine Way - we named her Marsden - now with RSPCA vet. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Nice to have my career highlighted as part of this spotlight series by Durham University. www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/... @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @ihrr.bsky.social

5 Mins With | “Finding solutions motivates me” Claire Horwell (@clairehorwell.bsky.social) is an air pollution scientist and Professor of Geohealth at Durham University: geoscientist.online/sections/fiv...

The effects of volcanic unrest/seismic swarms can be devastating and exhausting for local communities. The constant stress of the shaking… and waiting to see if the next tremor will be ‘the big one’. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Thank you to Andrea Kelly from Broads Authority for making it possible for us to go peat coring in the Broads today. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Stopped here in 2007 on fieldtrip with @durhamearthsci.bsky.social undergraduates led by the late Jon Davidson. Absolutely stunning locality in the middle of a jaw-dropping region. ⚒️

Out at Cullercoats Newcastle yesterday playing with our Blue Robotics BlueRov2 underwater drone Dove Marine Lab @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Very flattered by this invitation to deliver the 2025 @royalastrosoc.bsky.social Harold Jeffreys lecture - in honour of a Durham University alumnus who made seminal contributions to geophysics and probability theory, and who also happens to be my great-great-grand-PhD-advisor! 🧪

It was great to host you, Josh!

Many congratulations to our Andrew Valentine (@apvalentine.bsky.social) on the award of the Royal Astronomical Society's Harold Jefferys Lectureship! A wonderful and well-deserved achievement! #RASAwards2025

🎄Season’s greetings from all of us in the Durham Department of Earth Sciences! 🎄

An unexpected treat to catch up with Prof. Dave Harper of @durhamearthsci.bsky.social here at #PalAss24 😊 Dave was one of my Bachelors supervisors 12 (!) years ago at #Durham University, and it's 9 years since we last met!

So what does change down a peat profile? Only consistent change across 13 locations was change in degree of unsaturation - formation of double bonds bsssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Peat soils move from biomass composition to lignin-like composition @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Seeing the @agugeohealth.bsky.social Section grow from nothing to a vibrant community of transdisciplinary researchers and practitioners is incredible! In the photos: 1) the founding executive 2) the current and past presidents 3) the Section reception last night. We need a bigger room next year!

How do peats form? Compaction, degradation leading to higher water tables and greater bulk density - right? No bsssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 22 cores and never saw bulk density increase with depth: density profiles reflect contemporary conditions @durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Proud to have been given the @agu.org GeoHealth Section award for 2024! Thank you! So wonderful to be part of this incredible geohealth community and journey! @agugeohealth.bsky.social