THE EARTH DIDN'T END TODAY

Perhaps the most important geology

story of the day/week/month/year/decade/century/

whole Mayan calendar.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/9757830/Mayan-Apocalypse-world-survives-predicted-doomsday.html

IAIN'S TSUNAMI PROGRAMME

Tonight at 7pm on BBC4 is Iain Stewart's

'10 Things you didn't know about Tsunamis'

Previous programmes on volcanoes, avalanches and earthquakes (and this one too) are available on YouTube

OTHER GEOLOGY/GEOGRAPHY BLOGS

Do have a look at the other Blogs which might be of interest 
(see right hand panel).

The Geological Society of London
Bath Geological Society
Earth Science Guy
Living Geography

FRACKING: FACT AND FICTION

The government has announced that it will remove a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing across the UK.

Fracking, as it is known, is a controversial technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock. But how concerned should people be about the environmental impacts?

Hydraulic fracturing is widely used across the US to exploit reserves of oil and gas that were once believed to be inaccessible.

But in the UK, the use of fracking was halted in 2011 after some minor earthquakes near Blackpool, in north-west England, were attributed to test wells being drilled by the energy company Cuadrilla.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20595228

GRAVITY MAPS

The Lunar Gravity map is all new 
(click on the the link to see video explanation) http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/dec/06/gravity-map-moon-formative-years

The Earth's gravity map is from last year.
(click on the the link to see video explanation) 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2011/mar/31/gravity-map-earth-surface-goce

iTunesU & Podcasts

iTunes U

Have a look on iTunes U. There are lots of short videos explaining key ideas of Geology (and most other subjects too).

The Open University ones are generally very good + some from American Universities.

Open University: Their 'Volcanoes' course would be good to start with.


Podcasts

Lots out there: e.g. BBC Material World, Planet Earth Online & The Infinite Monkey Cage

JUST TYPE 'GEOLOGY' INTO iTUNES AND SEE WHAT COMES UP.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW ABOUT ANY PARTICULARLY GOOD ONES!

Drilling begins at lake hidden beneath Antarctic

A British research team in Antarctica has launched a long-awaited project to hunt for life in a lake hidden beneath the ice-sheet.  A team of 12 scientists and engineers has begun work at remote Lake Ellsworth.  They are using a high-pressure hose and sterilised water at near boiling point to blast a passage through more than two miles of ice. The aim is to analyse ice waters isolated for up to 500,000 years. 

The process of opening a bore-hole is expected to last five days and will be followed by a rapid sampling operation before the ice refreezes. 

Lake Ellsworth is one of several hundred lakes known to exist beneath the ice-sheet - its waters kept just above freezing temperature by the warmth of the rocks below and by pressure melting 

For more information: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20682647

LIQUEFACTION VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlhIHhadTqc

Excellent liquefaction video from Japan. The crack visibly widens and closes up.

IS OUR WEATHER GETTING WORSE?

Hopefully this will be of the same calibre as the Channel 4 programmes on Eyjafjallajokull and the Haiti Earthquake.

'Is our weather getting worse?' should be really good for Y13 geography on Atmospheric Systems.

TUESDAY 11th DECEMBER 8pm ON CHANNEL 4

Are the strange events of 2012 a one-off or an ominous sign of climate change in action? How does the changing global climate affect the British weather and what can we expect in the future? Is our weather getting worse?

• 

COMPETITION

Prize (t.b.a.) for the best explanation of what is going on in the photo I have attached from Professor Menzie's talk.

Either detailed labels on a copy of the diagram or a paragraph explaining 

the key features.

Competition closes at 4pm on Tuesday.

GEOEYE

http://www.geoeye.com  Brilliant satellite photos and an ipad app.

MAGMA FROM SOURCE TO SURFACE

Well done to all of you who scored 9/10 and 10/10 for your questions and comments to Prof Menzies yesterday! He again went away impressed with your enthusiasm, ability to think and your willingness 'to be curious'. 

My favourite quote from yesterday:
'Eyjafjallajokull eruption significantly improved the air quality in London and at Heathrow in particular.'

Some detailed concepts were covered I thought you coped really well!

CHASING ICE

The Daily Telegraph magazine today features an article about Glaciers and climate change. This is in advance of a film being released in UK cinemas on 14th December 

called 'Chasing Ice'. www.chasingice.co.uk

'STROKEY-BEARDY' GEOLOGY!

Wells geologists enjoyed a lecture at the Bath Geological Society yesterday evening, entitled 'Eight Myths of Evolution' by Professor Simon Conway-Morris (Cambridge University). Doug Branch had a post-lecture 'strokey beardy' conversation about
evolution and the randomness of genetic mutations!

GOOGLE EARTH

http://www.gearthblog.com/

Get more out of Google Earth!

NASA: EARTH FROM SPACE, AT NIGHT

Click on the link to see amazing pictures (and animation) of Earth at night. Stitched together to give a cloudless view of the Earth.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20624958

THE FIRST DINOSAUR?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2242981/Scientists-dinosaur--say-similar-size-golden-retriever-5-foot-tail.html
Thanks George for the link. This is our first post from the Daily Mail website!

SEDIMENTARY MOVIE CLIPS

Follow the link to see short movies of sedimentary processes like ripple formation, turbidity currents etc

Revision for Y13, we are about to do it in Y12.

http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/sed_video_downloads.htm

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

A poster, hilarious!

What an amusing T Shirt!

FAULTS, FOLDS & UNCONFORMITIES

Hercynian folds near Bude, Cornwall

Is it time to revise Geological Structures?

Have a look at this website to smooth out your folds or correct your faults: 

http://reynolds.asu.edu/blocks/mainmenu.htm

FIRST LIFE BACK ON BBC4

David Attenborough's brilliant 2 part series 'First Life' is being repeated this week on BBC4 

(Thursday 6th Dec & Saturday 8th Dec at 8pm)

Essential viewing for Y13 Geology in particular. You will have seen some of it in class.

Record it, iplayer it, watch it!

VOLCANO GUIDE

£14.80 very well spent at 'Amazon'. 

Would like to show you the copy I have just bought, 

but Mrs Rowley has confiscated it to wrap it up for Christmas!

Thank you to an 'Amazon' officianado (Mr Boot) for recommending it.