VOLCANIC LANDFORMS

Excellent websites for volcanoes:
http://www4.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/volcanic_landforms/outline.html

& more general geology:
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/navigation/home.cfm

PAST PAPERS & MARKING SCHEMES

Past papers and marking schemes can be found on the P drive. 

Geo/Geology Geo/6th form access/Geology Past papers and mark schemes

You might like to save them to a memory stick before the Easter holidays.

KT BOUNDARY

The space rock that hit Earth 65m years ago and is widely implicated in the end of the dinosaurs was probably a speeding comet, US scientists say.

Researchers in New Hampshire suggest the 180km-wide Chicxulub crater in Mexico was carved out by a smaller object than previously thought.The space rock gave rise to a global layer of sediments enriched in the chemical element iridium, in concentrations much higher than naturally occurs; it must have come from outer space.

The team suggests that frequently quoted iridium values are incorrect. Using a comparison with another extraterrestrial element deposited in the impact - osmium - they were able to deduce that the collision deposited less debris than has previously been supposed.

The recalculated iridium value suggests a smaller body hit the Earth. So for the second part of their work, the researchers took the new figure and attempted to reconcile it with the known physical properties of the Chicxulub impact.

For more information follow the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21709229

CAMERON SINKS TO NEW DEPTHS

Though one member of Y9 thinks it was David Cameron, the film producer James Cameron has released footage of the Marianas Trench from his dive last year. 
This is a teaser for a longer film to be released later this year.

Video Clip:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17013285
Guide to the ocean depths:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17521115

SEE YOU IN LONDON CHARLIE!

Charlie Bacon (left W.C.S. in 2001) will be representing the Western Region of the Geological Society at their competition for 'Early Years Geoscientists' at the Geol Soc in London on the same night as the Schools' challenge.

He read Geology at  Durham University before doing an MSc in Hydrogeology at Birmingham. After that he has been working as a Hydrogeologist with Golder Associates since 2007.  This has been an extremely varied role and a mix of fieldwork and office work, as well as projects abroad. He has  been abroad on projects in India, multiple parts of Africa and all over the UK.

He is a part-time PhD student at Bristol university since Oct 2010 and aims to complete his PhD by October 2014. 

His  research is based on investigating the geochemical reactions between dissolved metals and different natural oxides in the caves of the Mendips.

 

GEOLOGY CATCHPHRASE

Thanks to Jonny & Ginny for this (and other) magnificent efforts!

https://docs.google.com/a/wells-cathedral-school.com/presentation/d/1dY5v_RW-DlI4AFcMz-pU_Zjjd0pevVbrqlAl9TDgAPI/edit#slide=id.gb4989de3_00

Mariana Trench: Deepest ocean 'teems with microbes'

An international team of scientists found that the very bottom of the Mariana Trench, which lies almost 11km (7 miles) down in the Pacific Ocean, had high levels of microbial activity.

The underwater canyon was once thought to be too hostile an environment for life to exist.

But this study adds to a growing body of evidence that a range of creatures can cope with the near-freezing temperatures, immense pressures and complete darkness.

In 2010, the scientists sent an unmanned submersible down into the vast underwater canyon, where it collected samples of the murky sediment that cakes the sea floor.

An analysis of the levels of oxygen in the sample revealed the presence of a large number of microbes.

For the full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21806406

For the excellent article: 'RACE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE MARIANAS TRENCH ' FULL STORY CLICK THE LINK: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17041438