BGS News

ESRC Doctoral Training Centre +3 Studentship: Investigating public engagement with mineral extraction: the role of place attachment and environmental values Ref: 929

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT

The College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Exeter is pleased to offer a +3 studentship funded by the ESRC and the British Geological Survey as part of the Environment, Energy and Resilience interdisciplinary pathway of the South West Doctoral Training Centre for entry in 2012/13. Successful applicants will benefit from working within a lively research environment within Geography (Streatham Campus, Exeter) at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter.

Closing date: 17 Febuary 2012

Ripon 'Auction Mart' Development

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Since 1982, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has been instrumental in making the council, residents and central government aware of the ground stability problems that affect parts of Ripon.

The BGS are aware that the Auction Mart site, North Road, Ripon, is the subject of a planning application. Last year (21 November 2011) the BGS were offered copies of the site investigation information and are on record in the reply as having stated that:

'This part of Ripon is particularly problematical and very difficult to investigate and interpret, it may be a challenge to develop and some of the site may be too dangerous to build on.'

BGS Seismic Alert : Buncrana, Donegal, Ireland 26 January 2012 01:04 UTC 2.2

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:01:09 GMT

Depth 5.6 km; Lat/Long 55.172° North ,7.556° West; Felt Buncrana and surrounding villages

Permitting and regulation of shale gas operations

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Exploration and production of shale gas from onshore UK requires the operator to obtain licenses from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The operator must also meet a number of strict regulatory requirements set by the Environment Agency (EA) or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland).

The operator must also obtain planning permission from the relevant local authority to permit the surface operations required to explore for and extract shale gas.).

More about Permitting and regulation of shale gas operations

Geomagnetic Storm Warning | 23 Jan 2012

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Following recent observations of solar activity there is an increased risk of a geomagnetic storm from 24-JAN-2012 to 25-JAN-2012.

An energetic M-class solar flare erupted on the Sun earlier today. This was associated with a coronal mass ejections (CME) that is expected to arrive at Earth tomorrow.

There is an increased chance of viewing the aurora during local night time hours assuming dark and clear skies, though this is dependent on the configuration of the interplanetary magnetic field embedded in the solar wind.

For updates and further information go to BGS Geomagnetism or for tips on Viewing the Northern Lights in the UK

Our data | Free, licensed and premium services

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 GMT

The BGS is a data-rich organisation with over 400 datasets in its care including environmental monitoring data, digital databases, physical collections (borehole core, rocks, minerals and fossils), records and archives.

Search our data collections for our free services in OpenGeoscience, our licensed datasets in Digital products or our premium data services including GeoRecords or GeoReports.

Darwin's 'lost' fossils found

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

A treasure trove of fossils including plant specimens collected by Charles Darwin, have been rediscovered. The fossils, which have been lost for 165 years, were unearthed in an old cabinet at the British Geological Survey's vast fossil collection. They have now been registered and photographed and are available for viewing by the public through a new online museum exhibit released today: www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/geologyOfBritain/archives/jdhooker/

Dr Howard Falcon-Lang, a palaeontologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, made the discovery. He recalled, 'While searching a cabinet for fossils from the Bristol Coalfield, I spotted some drawers marked unregistered fossil plants . I can't resist a mystery, so I pulled one open. What I found inside made my jaw drop.'

Download the full Press Release

Darwin's 'lost' fossils | Hooker slides

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Recently, a collection of 'unregistered fossil plants' was found in one of the Survey's windowless vaults in Keyworth, in central England.

These comprise hundreds of beautiful thin sections of fossil wood dating from the early nineteenth century.

The collection was assembled by botanist Joseph Hooker (Darwin's best friend) while he was briefly employed by the Survey in 1846.

More about Joseph Hooker

Geophysical baselines

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMT

The project undertakes the maintenance and delivery of non-seismic UK geophysical data together with relevant research on geoscientific, environmental and resource applications.

Transport geotechnics and geophysics

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

The BGS is working with industry and academia to develop geoscience tools for strategic railway planning and performance monitoring that includes:

Efficient rail performance requires that constant and level rail track geometry be maintained. The geotechnical properties of the subgrade — the native material or bedrock underneath the track — exert huge control over the performance of our railway network.