Houdini Gases Unchained – Hidden Helium Gas Fields

Helium and hydrogen gases are essential, however production is chained to a large carbon footprint while, additionally, helium supply is in crisis. Together, these reasons mean that identifying alternative, carbon-free sources of natural helium has become critically important.
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Large-scale fossil study reveals origins of modern-day biodiversity gradient 15 million years ago

Researchers have used nearly half a million fossils to solve a 200-year-old scientific mystery: why the number of different species is greatest near the equator and decreases steadily towards polar regions.
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New study shows that most plastic debris on Seychelles beaches comes from far-off sources

A new study led by Oxford Earth Sciences has developed a high-resolution model to quantify the sources of plastic debris accumulating on beaches across the Seychelles and other island states in the western Indian Ocean. The results, published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, demonstrate that most of this waste originates from distant sources and not from the islands themselves.
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Research Groups

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Marine Geology and Geophysics

We are an active group interested in the structure and evolution of the world's ocean basins and their margins. To date, we have participated in 14 research cruises on the RRS Charles Darwin, RRS Ja
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Stratigraphy and Sedimentology

Stratigraphy and sedimentology are fundamental to our understanding of Earth history because sedimentary strata form the principal archive of past events, climates and environments. Research in Oxford
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Beneath Britain

About Beneath Britain is a joint initiative between UKOGL and the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford, led by Malcolm Butler and Joe Cartwright. Its aim is to broaden the use of UKOGL’s databa
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Noble Lab

Our group uses the unique properties of the noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton and xenon) to understand the role that fluids and gases play in geological systems. The noble gas abundance and
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Volcanology and Igneous Petrology

Oxford is a leading centre for research in volcanology. Much of our work builds on collaborations with researchers both in the UK, and internationally. Within Oxford, volcanology is an important compo
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Ocean Biogeochemical Modeling

We use numerical models, mathematical theory and analysis of data to study the ocean's carbon cycle and its interaction with physical circulation and climate. Our research ranges from exploiting obser
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Environmental Proxies In Karst

The Environmental Proxies In Karst group, led by Dr Chris Day, develops and applies proxies for understanding environmental processes in the top few tens of meters of the Earth’s surface. This small
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Oxford Biological Oceanography

Our research team studies the microscopic flora of the oceans (phytoplankton) which account for half of the photosynthesis on our planet and provide the base of the marine food chain.  Our group inve
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Magmas and Ore-forming Systems

The Magmas and Ore-forming Systems (MOSt) research group explores links between magmatic processes within the other, such as those that drive volcanic eruptions and form planetary crusts, and ore-form
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Seismology

Welcome! We perch so thin and fragile here upon the land And the earth that moves beneath us, we don't understand Justin Sullivan We work on a wide range of topics within seismology
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Shell-Oxford Research Collaboration

Shell and Oxford University signed a major collaborative research agreement in 2012 in which Shell generously undertook to support fundamental research into the deposition, diagenesis, deformation and
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Earthquake Mechanics

In the earthquake mechanics group, we are interested in the physics of slip on faults: in why some faults slip slowly and steadily, others slip in large earthquakes, and still others slip in episodic
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Active Tectonics and Earthquakes Research

Our work combines remote sensing, fieldwork, and laboratory analysis of samples to study active tectonics, faulting, and earthquakes within the continents. Within the Department of Earth Sciences we c
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EMeRG - Eastern Mediterranean Research Group

What is EMeRG? EMeRG is the Eastern Mediterranean Research Group at the Department of Earth Sciences in the University of Oxford. EmeRG is composed of world leading experts in Basin Analysis, Earth R
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Isotopes and Climate

Our group uses geochemistry, particularly isotope geochemistry, to study the surface environment of the Earth now and in the past, and to learn about the processes shaping the surface of the planet we
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Palaeomagnetism and Rock Magnetism

The Palaeomagnetism and Rock Magnetism Group at the University of Oxford using the magnetism of natural samples to explore a broad spectrum of problems in Earth and Planetary Sciences. These involve t
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Geodynamics

The FoaLab is a group of researchers and students working together to elucidate geophysical processes involving fluid mechanics and phase changes. Our research interests include magma/mantle dynamics
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Vertebrate Palaeobiology

Vertebrates play key ecological roles in virtually all Earth's surface environments today, and have a rich fossil record spanning more than 500 million years of deep time. Vertebrate Palaeobiology res
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Experimental Petrology

Experimental petrology is a field of research concerned with experimentally determining the physical and chemical behaviour of rocks and their constituents. Since the Earth's mantle and core are no
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Ocean Biogeochemistry - Oceanbug

Welcome to the Oxford OceanBug research page! OceanBug is the Oxford group based in the Earth Sciences department researching marine biogeochemistry. Our research interests span from developing i
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The Hard Rock Group

The Hard Rock Group's projects cover a broad range of research activity. For further detail see the Projects pages on our main site. Fundamental metamorphic processes (Dave Waters) Tectonics o
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Physical Oceanography

The Physical Oceanography group uses analytical theory, numerical models and ocean observations to understand the circulation of the oceans and their role in the climate system. It includes scientists

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