Seminars
Semester 2, 2012
Venue is seminar Room 310, Irvine Building, School of Geography & Geosciences (unless otherwise specified).
Seminars are for all members of the Earth Sciences Department and School of Geography & Geosciences. Honours students are strongly encouraged to attend.
Academics and students from external institutes are most welcome to attend. Please email Jen Chambers (jc116@st-andrews.ac.uk) if you are interested.
You may also wish to look at seminars offered in other parts of the School of Geography & Geosciences; these are listed on http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/gsd/news/seminars/.
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Dorian Abbot (University of Chicago)
Understanding Snowball Earth Events
The Neoproterozoic glaciations (~630 and ~710 Ma), during which ice sheets flowed into the ocean at the equator, represent the most extreme climatic event on Earth in at least the past 2 Gyr. These glaciations tie together the diverse fields of geology, geochemistry, climate dynamics, paleontology and astrobiology. Nevertheless, crucial aspects of Neoproterozoic glaciations remain poorly understood. In particular there are outstanding questions about the cause of the glaciations, the conditions during the events, the way life survived them, and their termination. I will describe my recent work on these questions, including a theory for the effect of dust on deglaciation and a newly proposed climate state that is nearly, but not completely, ice-covered, which could allow consistency with geological data and the survival of life through the glaciations.
2010-2011 Earth Sciences Seminars timetable
2011-2012 Earth Sciences Seminars timetable
16th February half-day symposium poster: Insights into Earth Processes from Geochemistry
16th March half-day symposium poster: The Pulses of the Earth
What a few people have said about the Insights symposium:
...it was a pleasure and thoroughly stimulating to be part of such an endeavour. I think all who attended really enjoyed the spirit and friendly atmosphere ... John Gamble, University College Cork
It was a great day - I learned a lot! And what a day it must have been for the students to listen to such high quality presentations? It was just the right size, and the half day was just enough for the attendees to be able to last the pace for a whirlwind tour of some excellent research. Adrian Boyce, SUERC
Had a great time - thanks so much for inviting me. Ended up bumping into a small group of students in the pub. They were marvellous - enthusiastic and a great credit to the Dept. Jon Davidson, Durham University
That was such a fun afternoon ... What a great visit to St Andrews. Terry Plank, Columbia University
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