Planetary Design: A Brief Introduction

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In my last post I tried to explain why I study rocks. In my next few posts I will describe my research focus and exactly what I am doing for my PhD thesis. However, in order to better explain this … Continue reading →

Why rocks?

Before I get into telling you about my PhD research I thought I would answer this question, most recently posed to me by a French businessman; and it got me thinking…seriously, why rocks? Following some thought, my answer was power … Continue reading →

A Namibian Interlude

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I have recently returned from a short work placement with SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd, a mining consultancy company. I joined a team who went to Namibia to carry out geological mapping and geochemical sampling as part of a resource exploration … Continue reading →

Xenon in Zircons: Unravelling Their History

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A short time ago I wrote about some of our work analysing the xenon in zircons from the Jack Hills region of Australia, the oldest known material on Earth. If you think trying to unravel xenon contributions from 2 sources … Continue reading →

The oldest thing on Earth

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Jack Hills, Western Australia – a hot, dry and barren place where very little lives. But it is here that the oldest known materials on Earth have survived from shortly after the formation of the Earth until the present day. … Continue reading →