Earth Sciences UCL

Text reads: UCL ranked #3 in Europe. QS World University Rankings Europe 2026.

UCL has risen two places to be named third best university in Europe according to the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2026. 🥉 This achievement reflects our extensive European partnerships across research, education, and innovation.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3LHcuxz

'Urban geology': How to find fossils (and other discoveries) in your city's buildings If you look closer at the building stones, tiles and pavements of the big city, you can find a hidden world of geology and history, from fascinating fossils to unusual rocks.

Our friend @pavementgeology.bsky.social also featured in a similar BBC article before Xmas

www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

Rock up to London: discovering stones and fossils from around the world on an urban geology tour The city’s architecture travels through time and continents, incorporating everything from slabs of the Italian Alps to meteorites that hit southern Africa 2bn years ago

Great to see a friend of the GA Dr Ruth Siddall @pavementgeology.bsky.social in the spotlight for her geological walking tour of London

Check out the website of London Pavement Geology for more information: www.londonpavementgeology.co.uk

www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/...

#Graduate open events are taking place this Jan & Feb:
🟣 online open days;
🟣 in-person open evening;
🟣 risk, disaster & humanitarian careers event.

Browse/register now: bit.ly/4pt3PMM.

@uclrdr.bsky.social @stsucl.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social @statisticsucl.bsky.social @uclchemistry.bsky.social

These roles are now live! 🚨

Come join the @palaeoverse.bsky.social team at @es-ucl.bsky.social.

Research Software Engineer: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

Community Engagement Coordinator: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

Closing date: 18-Jan-2026

New paper in Environmental Research Communications led by former MSc student Sirui Huang! The study is important for understanding how the properties of Arctic snow are affected as salt migrates in from the sea ice. lnkd.in/erkffTtA

🚨 Pre-announcement! 🚨

We’re hiring for 2 x two-year, full-time roles to join me and the wider @palaeoverse.bsky.social team @es-ucl.bsky.social.

- Research Software Engineer (REF: B04-06999): lnkd.in/eNRBiPnP

- Community Engagement Coordinator (REF: B04-06998): lnkd.in/ejUACCzn

On Day 24 of #MAPSAdvent2025 we share a selection of photos from the #Canadian #Arctic! 🐻‍❄️ Earlier this year an @es-ucl.bsky.social team went to Resolute Bay, #Nunavut, to test out a KuKa band #radar with different polarisations and a range of other equipment: cpom.org.uk/testing-kuka...

#snow #ice

YouTube video by Fjodors Aleksejevs Wave Bureau

"Wave bureau" A short movie for Ocean Physics and Climate Change #GEOL0022 by Fjodors Aleksejevs with amazing photography, music and humour reminding of me of the late David Lynch www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uTB...

This one deserves a price! @es-ucl.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk

Microscope image of silica droplets, or microspherules, found in the rock

Day 13 of #MAPSAdvent2025 🪨 Former MSc Geosciences student Natalie Cheng & Prof @bridgetwade.bsky.social (@es-ucl.bsky.social) studied sediments under the microscope to reveal a layer of microspherules (pictured) from the #Chesapeake impact which hit eastern North America about 36 million years ago.

Dinosaur soft toy wearing a Santa hat attached to Haas TL-1 CNC lathe in the Instrumentation Development Workshop of UCL Earth Sciences department

#MAPSAdvent2025 Day 18: Santa-saurus at @es-ucl.bsky.social exploring Haas TL-1 CNC lathe in the Instrumentation Development Workshop, which is used to manufacture components for the research labs! 🦖🎅

A collage of MAPS Digital Student Ambassadors and some of their project titles

On Day 10 of #MAPSAdvent2025 we share the work of our creative Digital Student Ambassadors! 😊 Get advice on starting university, exam tips, explore STEM power couples & more exciting content: bit.ly/48yMw6w.

#UniversityStudent #UniversityLife #UniStudent @es-ucl.bsky.social @uclrdr.bsky.social

Scientists crush ice cores to predict Antarctica's next big ice crack Ice cores collected from giant Antarctic rifts are helping predict future calving events

On Day 9 of #MAPSAdvent2025 we bring attention to a unique collaboration between @bas.ac.uk & @es-ucl.bsky.social, where #Antarctic #ice undergoes a series of destructive crush experiments under the watchful eye of earthquake & rock physicist Prof Tom Mitchell: www.newscientist.com/video/249090...

A ziphodont crocodylomorph from Villaggio del Pescatore Lagerstätte (Campanian, Italy) Abstract. Crocodylomorph diversity in Europe peaked during the Late Cretaceous, with eusuchians dominating the fossil record. However, ziphodont forms, inc

Great way to start the week! Our notosuchian from Villaggio del Pescatore is out in @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1093/zool...
Congrats Marco Muscioni for another great PhD paper & to all the VdP team🥂🐊 Stay tuned for more croc news in the future! @piginatutu.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social

Scientists reveal what triggered Santorini 'earthquake swarm' Thousands of earthquakes were caused by magma

Some coverage from the BBC on our Santorini swarm paper in Science (www.science.org/doi/full/10....). Features an interactive slider graphic showing the imaged magma dike intrusion using @alomaxnet.bsky.social's Coulomb-based seismicity-stress (CoulSeS) method.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A mysterious swarm of earthquakes that occurred near the Greek island of Santorini early this year was caused by molten rock smashing through Earth’s crust more than 10km below the seafloor, finds a new study involving Dr @seismo-steve.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/no...

Our paper re-evaluating the notosuchian Eremosuchus elkoholicus is out now! This work formed a chapter of my PhD thesis, and sheds some light on the complex evolutionary history of sebecid crocodyliforms 🐊🌎
@es-ucl.bsky.social

Great to have the chance to talk about the conservation palaeobiology of Cuban crocodiles at #2025SVP in Birmingham last week and also to see so many fantastic talks and posters from the other members of the @es-ucl.bsky.social palaeo group! 🦴🐊

New Mexico dinosaurs including Alamosaurus watch the asteroid hit the Yucatán about 3,000 kilometres away, 66 million years ago

New paper today in @science.org: we date the Naashoibito Member (New Mexico) to 66.4–66.0 Ma, coeval with the Hell Creek, with important remarks on pre-extinction dinosaur diversity & regionalisation in North America 🦖🦕☄1/
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Over the moon to receive this certificate and honourable mention from @uclopenscience.bsky.social for 'Open Science & Scholarship' 😁

Thank you for the nomination @es-ucl.bsky.social!

New paper @journalsystpal.bsky.social with Drew Moore @stonybrooku.bsky.social re-evaluating diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur phylogeny + biogeography, including illustrating synapomorphies, with implications for the early evolution of the major lineages: doi.org/10.1080/1477... @es-ucl.bsky.social

YouTube video by Elizabeth Goodwin Radiative Forcing Summary Presentation

A new year of teaching Ocean Physics and Climate Change @ucl.ac.uk @es-ucl.bsky.social and the students are already producing some gems as part of their flipped classroom assignments.

Radiative Forcing by Elizabeth Goodwin:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8bT...

Far side of the moon may be colder than the near side The interior of the mysterious far side of the moon may be colder than the side constantly facing Earth, suggests a new analysis of rock samples co-led by a UCL and Peking University researcher.

The interior of the mysterious far side of the moon may be colder than the interior of the side constantly facing Earth, suggests a new study co-led by Professor Yang Li @es-ucl.bsky.social @uclmaps.bsky.social @pku1898.bsky.social of rock samples collected by China's Chang'e 6 mission

New paper led by @es-ucl.bsky.social PhD student Samantha Beeston (with @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social + others) on the evolution of postcranial pneumaticity in early sauropodomorph dinosaurs + its likely independent acquisition from that of theropods & pterosauromorphs: doi.org/10.1111/joa....

The 58th ESTA Annual Conference Join us at the 58th ESTA Annual Conference for two days of learning, networking, and fun!

One of our affiliated societies - The Earth Science Teachers' Association is holding their 58th annual conference next weekend at @es-ucl.bsky.social in London. Join them for two days of learning, networking, and fun!

Tickets available here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-58th-e...

Hidden chemistry of Earth’s core revealed by how it froze The core would need to be made of 3.8% carbon for it to have begun crystallising. This result indicates that carbon may be more abundant in Earth’s core than previously thought, and that this element could have played a key role in how it froze, offering a rare glimpse into the processes occurring at the heart of our planet.

New research! Scientists have identified a new constraint on the chemistry Earth’s core by showing how it was able to crystallise millions of years ago.

buff.ly/YzhrM1l

@natcomms.nature.com @earthandenvleeds.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social

Day 3, #ICP15 , perspective talk by Bridget Wade @es-ucl.bsky.social The Oligocene - with ice and a twist 🙏🏼

Stunning conditions (and enthusiastic students!) for the first few days of the @es-ucl.bsky.social mapping course in North West Scotland! ☀️ ⛰️ ⚒️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🗺️ #fieldworkfriday

Scientists crush ice cores to predict Antarctica's next big ice crack In Antarctica, two giant rifts, known as Chasm 1 and Halloween Crack, split across the Brunt Ice Shelf. The implications of the cracks are huge as ice shelves hold back huge volumes of landlocked wate...

Prof @tomatronmitch.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social talks to @newscientist.com about ‪crushing Antarctic ice in his lab as part of an NERC-funded project with @bas.ac.uk to understand how the continent's ice may crack in future – with implications for sea level www.newscientist.com/video/249090...

eartharxiv.org/repository/v...
In our new preprint we describe in detail the software & workflows behind www.SewageMap.co.uk! One for the open environmental data nerds out there :) 💩 🧑‍💻 🏞️