ESE staff awarded for educational research, fieldtrips to Dorset and Derbyshire and drilling in the Amundsen Sea

Contents

Publications
Conferences, Lectures and Seminars
Departmental Activities
Awards
Research Grants
Impact and Media
Outreach
Fieldwork
PhD Vivas
New Staff

Publications

Alqahtani, F. A., Jackson, C. A-L., Johnson, H. D., Som, R.B. (2017) Controls on the Geometry and Evolution of Humid-Tropical Fluvial Systems: Insights From 3D Seismic Geomorphological Analysis of the Malay Basin, Sunda Shelf, Southeast Asia. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 87, 17–40.

Amitai, S. and Blumenfeld, R. (2017). Modifying continuous-time random walks to model finite-size particle diffusion in granular porous media, J. Gran. Matt. 19, 1–9. DOI: 10.1007/s10035-016-0694-1.

Bertassoli Jr, D. J., Sawakuchi, A. O., Sawakuchi, H. O., Pupim, F. N., Hartmann, G. A., McGlue, M. M., Chiessi, C. M., Zabel, M., Schefuß, E., Pereira, T. S., Santos, R. A., Faustino, S. B., Oliveira, P. E. & Bicudo, D. C. (2017). The fate of carbon in sediments of the Xingu and Tapajós clearwater rivers, eastern Amazon. Frontiers in Marine Science, 4(44). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00044

Duffy, O. B., Nixon, C. W., Bell, R. E., Jackson, C. A-L., Gawthorpe, R. L., Sanderson, D. J., Whipp, P. S. (2017) The topology of evolving rift fault networks: Single-phase vs multi-phase rifts. Journal of Structural Geology, 96, 192–202.

Huang, L., Ran, X., and Blumenfeld, R. (2016). Vertical dynamics of a horizontally-oscillating active object in a 2D granular medium, Phys. Rev. E 94, 062906.

Jamil, Z., Ruiz-Trejo, E. and Brandon, N. P. (2017). Nickel electrodeposition on silver for the development of solid oxide fuel cell anodes and catalytic membranes. J. Electrochem. Soc. 164(4), D210–D217.

Ghail, R. C., Hall, D., Mason, P. J., Herrick, R. R., Carter, L. M., and Williams, E. 2017. VenSAR on EnVision: Taking Earth Observation radar to Venus. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, available online http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2017.02.008.

Scanziani, A., Singh, K., Blunt, M. J., and Guadagnini, A. (2017). Automatic method for estimation of in situ effective contact angle from X-ray micro tomography images of two-phase flow in porous media. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 496, 51–59.

Moore, R. E. T., Larner, F., Coles, B. J., Rehkamper, M., (2017). High Precision Zinc Stable Isotope Measurement of Certified Biological Reference Materials Using the Double Spike Technique and Multiple Collector-ICP-MS. Anal Bioanal Chem, DOI: 10.1007/s00216-017-0240-y

Wilson, D. J., van de Flierdt, T., Adkins, J. F. (2017). Lead isotopes in deep-sea coral skeletons: ground-truthing and a first deglacial Southern Ocean record. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.01.052

Vance, D., Little, S. H., de Souza, G. F., Khatiwala, S., Lohan, M. C., & Middag, R. (2017). Silicon and zinc biogeochemical cycles coupled through the Southern Ocean. Nature Geoscience, 10, 202–206.

Conferences, Lectures and Seminars

PhD student Rebekah Moore attended the launch of the Cancer Research Centre of Excellence (CRCE) at the Royal Geographical Society on Wednesday 22 February. The CRCE is a strategic partnership between Imperial College London and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, to advance the detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Established in May 2016, the CRCE harnesses the complementary expertise of both partner organisations, bringing together critical mass and excellence from all Imperial faculties and world-leading basic and translational scientists from the ICR. The launch event was very well attended (over 200 cancer researchers and clinicians from Imperial College and the ICR) and was an excellent networking opportunity, paving the way for five successful years of cancer research.

Chris Jackson completed Leg 1 of his Geological Society of America, James B. Thompson, Distinguished Lecturer Tour (28 January–11 February). Chris visited Ohio State, Rutgers, Oklahoma State, University of Hawaii and Colorado School of Mines, presenting a range of talks on salt tectonics, 3D seismic reflection data, and igneous geology. On his tour, Chris visited active volcanoes and watched humpback whales; photos, videos and a day-to-day diary can be found on his blog with updates also posted on Twitter (@seis_matters). The second Leg of his tour begin on April, 15.

On February 28, Chris Jackson later gave a departmental seminar at Leeds University. His talk was entitled ‘How Do Normal Faults Grow?’, presenting material contained in a recent paper he and Rebecca Bell published in a Geological Society of London Special Publication.

Departmental Activities

On 8 March, 2017 it is International Woman's Day. In keeping with the theme of Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace, ESE invites all staff and students to attend a ‘Deskercise’ session at 11.30 am in G39, facilitated by Ethos. In the digital age, chances are most of us are deskbound at our workstation and get too little movement during the working day. Fitting time to go to the gym in between work and home life could be strenuous with a 9-to-5 routine, but exercise doesn’t always require a gym membership and changing into shorts and trainers. To combat the adverse effects desk jobs have on our weight, back, wrists, eyes, neck, and muscles, come and join us for a quick desk stretch session that can help you relief the pressure on desk bound work.

The exercises you will learn will be low impact/intensity and individuals of all fitness levels can participate. Space is limited, so follow this link to register. 

PhD Students and Staff should also come to morning coffee to receive 1 of their 5-a-day and a free pen to mark the occasion.

Awards

The department is excited to announce that Emma Passmore and Peter Fitch have been awarded for their postgraduate studies in the Educational Development Unit at Imperial College. On Thursday, 23 February, Vice Provost (Education) Simone Buitendijk presented awards to Emma and Peter for their work during 2015–2016. Emma received the Routledge Education Prize for best Postgraduate Diploma library project, and Peter was awarded the Rees Rawlings Prize for best Postgraduate Certificate portfolio.

Research Grants

A cross-faculty, £1.9m SPIN-lab proposal has successfully aquired funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). This grant was led by Sandrine Heutz (Materials) with co-investigators: Adrian Muxworthy, Andrew Ashley (Chemistry), Lesley Cohen (Physics), Bill Rutherford (Life Sciences) and Klaus Hellgardt (Chemical Engineering). This is a multi-user facilities grant, with funding for both a Quantum Design Magnetic Properties Measurement System (MPMS) and an Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) instrument.

Impact and Media

Susan Little was co-author of a paper published in Nature Geoscience this month investigating the effects of diatoms on ocean chemistry. The work received coverage on the Imperial College website and through ETH Zürich.

Outreach

Dominik Weiss and PhD student Robin Thomas gave a presentation entitled “Managing Radioactive Waste Safely” at the Natural History Museum on 24 February. Here they discussed some of the research being conducted on radioactive waste disposal within the HydroFrame project. HydroFrame is a 25-scientist project involving ESE and the Universities of Leeds and Birmingham, funded by NERC, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and the Environment Agency. Robert Zimmerman is the HydroFrame principal investigator.

Fieldwork

On 3–6 February, Metals and Energy Finance students braved chilly temperatures on the Dorset Coastline to learn about rocks of the Wessex Basin in the context of petroleum system geology. The trip, led by Peter Fitch and assisted by demonstrator Amelia Davies, was a success and well enjoyed. Fortunately, the weather held off, giving students a sunset photo opportunity after observing carbonates at Portland Bill

Metals and Energy Finance Students at Portland Bill

41 MSc Petroleum Geoscience students enjoyed the splendid vistas and amazing geology of north Derbyshire on the ‘deep-water sedimentology and stratigraphy’ field course (February 17–18).

MSc Petroleum Geoscientists in Derbyshire

Led by Daan Beelen, Al Fraser, Carl Jaquemyn, Chris Jackson and PhD students Harya Nugraha, Isaac Odeh and Nan Wu, the students focused on Upper Carboniferous deep-water sandstones (Alport Castles and Mam Tor) and their updip equivalents, the Millstone Grit.

Tina van de Flierdt and PhD student Patric Simoes Pereira have embarked on a research expedition on the German ice breaker, Polarstern. 

Tina and Patric are sailing to the Amundsen Sea to drill records of the past stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Weekly updates and a blog on their voyage can be found following this link from the Alfred-Wegener Institute. 

PhD Vivas

The department is delighted to announce that Dr Azli Abu Bakar passed his PhD viva on February 20 with no corrections. Azli’s Shell-supported PhD was supervised by Howard Johnson and Chris Jackson, and was entitled ‘The impact of syn-rift halokinesis to sediment deposition and distribution: A case study in the Central North Sea Basin, UK’. Azli has now completed his BSc, MSc and PhD at Imperial College.

New Staff

The department would like to welcome Professor Frank Peel, who has recently been made a Visiting Professor. Frank has worked in the oil industry for many years, currently holding a Visiting Scientist position at the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory (AGL) at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), UT Austin. Having an active interest in salt tectonics and sedimentary basin development, Frank will continue his ongoing collaboration with Chris Jackson and other members of the Basin Research Group (BRG), as well as developing new collaborators. Frank will contribute to teaching and project supervision at undergraduate and postgraduate level.