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Geoscience Seminar - Dr Simon Carr, School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Title: The right tool for the right job: unlocking fundamental Earth-system processes through X-Ray Computed Tomography

Info about event

Time

Wednesday 21 March 2018,  at 13:15 - 14:15

Location

Geoscience auditorium 1671-137

Figure 1: Contrasting pore-networks in natural vs restored saltmarsh sediments in the Thames Estuary, UK. Differences in pore network efficiency fundamentally constrain the hydrology and ecological structure and function in restored saltmarshes.

The Earth system is a wonderful, complex and multidimensional entity, with dramatic spatial and temporal variations in processes, dynamics and interactions. Yet, most of the tools we use as Earth scientists to understand this complex Earth system are extremely crude, typically offering at best partial, non-dimensional and often destructive representations of reality. Whilst at a landscape scale, technical advances in remote sensing and imaging are yielding superb datasets, we still have not adequately transposed this to understanding the fundamental processes that operate within the Earth system. For this, we typically need to explore the microscopic properties of sediments and soils. This presentation will introduce how the application of 3D Computed X-Ray Tomography is being applied to a range of sedimentary environments (glacial, lacustrine, coastal) to address key research questions. It will also demonstrate how some existing methods of understanding such environments yield inherently biased results, and that the interpretation of such data should thus be treated with extreme caution.

 

All are cordially invited to attend, coffee and cake as usual.