A burp and a hiccup; the volcanic contribution of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
Of the two certainties in life, volcanoes offer the most excitement (death and taxes are basically the same thing). They […]
Contrails, analogues, and visualizing groundwater flow
How to picture groundwater flow beneath the surface. Analogues and analogies. Standard dictionaries define these as a comparison, correspondence, or
A misspent youth serves to illustrate groundwater flow
The mystery of groundwater flow solved! Groundwater is always on the move. Under some conditions, in fractures or other large
Tsunamis behave as shallow-water waves
Tsunami statistics make grim reading, which is why I am not going to quote any. There are some great documentaries
Stabilisation of an architectural icon; the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Sunday in Pisa proved to be a welcome change from the usual tourist-cramped, shoulder-barging throngs of popular attractions in Tuscany.
A measure of the universe; Renaissance slide-rules and Heavenly spheres
Measurement is a cornerstone of science, in fact of pretty well everything we do: How far? How fast? How long?
Galileo’s finger
“Their final resting place…” a sepulchral phrase, redolent of a fate that awaits us all. There is no doubt as
The life of a Tuscan wall
Montefioralle, Chianti country, Tuscany, Italy, and from where I’m sitting (happily sampling a Chianti Classico) I see rolling, wooded hills,
A very British Library
Being acquainted with things that are really ancient, is an everyday experience for a geologist; fossils and other flotsam of
There are two sides to every fault
In 1940-41, Harold Wellman, a creative but somewhat irreverent New Zealand geologist, along with his colleague Dick Willett, discovered a