Jennifer Quye-Sawyer: Fieldwork in Calabria, Italy – Quanitfying rates of Quaternary uplift
In many places throughout the world there is evidence for vertical motions of the earth’s surface caused by a range of geologic processes. To quantify long term rates of uplift the age of landscapes must be precisely known. The decay of cosmogenic nuclides allows the time since sediment burial to be calculated; this technique is suitable for deposits formed during the Plio-Quaternary (~5 Ma to present). Fieldwork was undertaken during June 2016 in Calabria, Italy to enhance our understanding of regional uplift in this area. 39 samples have been collected for cosmogenic burial dating, and will be used alongside fluvial erosion modelling to quantify the contributions of the different processes which have shaped the landscape for the last ≈1 Ma
Boris Ochoa Tocachi: Travelling for business, but this business is a pleasure
Pursuing doctoral studies is more than being in an office on a 24/7 basis. This research has provided me the opportunity to visit beautiful remote places to carry on fieldwork that otherwise would be prohibitively expensive. I want to share with you, not only what we do in the field to collect data, but what I have experienced during these days sharing with local communities. Scientists are often received as saviours in many of these places, and it should be our compromise to return this hospitality with useful and usable knowledge product of our research. We certainly travel for business, but this business is a pleasure.
About the Series
The Changing Planet seminar series is run by students and staff on the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet (SSCP) Doctoral Training Program. The aim is to complement the diversity of environmental research here at Imperial College London and promote links to the broader community in UK and beyond. It offers the chance to hear the latest in understanding, adapting to and mitigating environmental problems.
~ A wine reception will follow the seminar