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New study reveals the anatomy of Uturuncu, the 'zombie' volcano

Researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences have helped to reveal the inner workings of Bolivia’s 'zombie' volcano, Uturuncu. The study used seismology, physics models, and rock composition analysis to identify the causes of Uturuncu’s unrest, helping to alleviate fears of an imminent eruption.

Oxford welcomes new Schmidt AI in Science Fellows

Ten new Fellows have joined the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship programme at the University of Oxford. Now entering its third year, the programme is helping to accelerate the next scientific revolution by applying artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to research across the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematical sciences.

Scientists find evidence that overturns theories of the origin of water on Earth

Department of Earth Sciences researchers have helped overturn the popular theory that water on Earth originated from asteroids bombarding its surface. Instead, the material which built our planet was far richer in hydrogen than previously thought.

University of Oxford establishes Oxford EARTH, a new programme for sustainable resource research

The Oxford EARTH programme (Ensuring equitable Access to sustainable Resources for a Thriving Habitat) aims to address the challenges in natural resources underpinning the net zero energy transition, including critical raw materials needed for the generation, storage and transmission of renewable energy, and the social license needed to extract them from the Earth.

From The Conversation: Ethiopian earthquakes and volcanic eruptions - an earth scientist explains the link

Ethiopia has been hit by several earthquakes and tremors since the beginning of 2025. The earthquakes have sparked fears of volcanic eruptions because they are happening near two active volcanoes. Amdemichael Tadesse, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences, explains what’s happening below the earth’s surface.

New Year Honours 2025

Two academics from MPLS Division have been recognised in the New Year Honours 2025 Lists.

In The Conversation: Water companies now have to release live sewage spill data – here’s why more transparency is the key to cleaner rivers

Alex Lipp, Junior Research Fellow in Geochemistry in the Department of Earth Sciences, explains why the data release is a good thing.

Spectacular new fossil arthropod discovered preserved in fool’s gold

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Luke Parry (Department of Earth Sciences) have unveiled a spectacular new 450-million-year-old fossil arthropod. Besides being an extraordinary-looking new scientific species, the specimens are entirely preserved by fool’s gold.

Computational method could prove a game-changer in tracking down river polluters

A new computational method developed by researchers at Oxford University and Imperial College London uses an innovative new technique to track down the sources of river pollutants. In a case study, the model identified the source of a harmful neonicotinoid pesticide – banned for agricultural use.

Study shows carbon dioxide release from Arctic Canada rocks is accelerating with global warming

Researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences have shown that weathering of rocks in the Canadian Arctic will accelerate with rising temperatures, triggering a positive feedback loop that will release more and more CO2 to the atmosphere.

Half a billion-year-old spiny slug reveals the origins of molluscs

A team of researchers including scientists from the Department of Earth Sciences have made an astonishing discovery of a new species of mollusc that lived 500 million years ago.

New algorithm supercharges climate models and could lead to better predictions of future climate change

Professor Samar Khatiwala, from the Department of Earth Sciences, has led a major advance to solve a critical issue in modelling future climate change. The findings have been published in Science Advances.

Researchers find oldest undisputed evidence of Earth’s magnetic field

A new study, led by the University of Oxford and MIT, has recovered a 3.7-billion-year-old record of Earth’s magnetic field, and found that it appears remarkably similar to the field surrounding Earth today. The findings have been published today in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Oxford researchers uncover remarkable archive of ancient human brains

A new study conducted by researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences has challenged previously held views that brain preservation in the archaeological record is extremely rare.

Researchers discover a coral superhighway in the Indian Ocean

Despite being scattered across more than a million square kilometres, new research has revealed that remote coral reefs across the Seychelles are closely related. A network of ocean currents scatter significant numbers of larvae between these distant islands, acting as a ‘coral superhighway.’

New study reveals insight into which animals are most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change

A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford has used the fossil record to better understand what factors make animals more vulnerable to extinction from climate change. The results, published today in the journal Science, could help to identify species most at risk today from human-driven climate change.

Professor Mike Kendall wins Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal

Head of Oxford University’s Department of Earth Sciences, Professor John-Michael Kendall, has today been awarded the 2024 Gold Medal for Geophysics from the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The award recognises his outstanding work in the field of seismology (the study of earthquakes and seismic waves in the Earth’s interior) and for his support for the next generation of seismic researchers.

From The Conversation: Iceland on high alert for volcanic eruption – what we know so far

Professors David Pyle and Tamsin Mather from the Department of Earth Sciences discuss what might happen next in a sequence of seismic events that started in early 2020 in Iceland, and which has so far culminated in three eruptions.

From The Conversation: Scientists can’t agree on when the first animals evolved – our research hopes to end the debate

Ross Anderson, Research Fellow in Palaeobiology in the Department of Earth Sciences, suggests a new way to estimate the timing of animal origins: considering which kind of rocks could preserve those animals, rather than documenting the oldest animal fossils.

Ancient carbon in rocks releases as much CO2 as the world’s volcanoes

A new study led by the Department of Earth Sciences has overturned the view that natural rock weathering acts as a CO2 sink, indicating instead that this can act as a large CO2 source, rivalling that of volcanoes. The results, published today in the journal Nature, have important implications for modelling climate change scenarios.

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