Geology Today最新文献

Building stones demand our attention, from the simplest stone hut to the finest palace. Those of Manchester in northwest England have received deserved attention, but those of nearby Salford less so. This short stroll through Salford, close to the city's university, demonstrates some of the geological gems that have hitherto been largely ignored.

Civilization has always relied on geological materials and it would not exist as we know it without the use of minerals. For the foreseeable future, minerals will remain fundamentally important commodities. As technology changes, so does the demand for different mineral commodities. For example, as we enter the era of the battery revolution, expedited by vehicle electrification and a reduction in the burning of traditional fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), demand for minerals used in battery technologies is predicted to increase significantly. In 2022 alone, the global mining industry had a value of over 2000 billion US dollars. Where such huge amounts of money are involved, it is unsurprising that criminal activity follows. Criminal activity in the mining, minerals and metals industries includes illegal mining and smuggling, theft (including adulteration and substitution), illegal trade in conflict minerals, fakes, fraud and environmental crime (e.g. pollution, contamination and degradation of the land, air and water). In this article, we provide an overview of the types of criminal activities associated with geological materials and the potential role of forensic geologists in mitigating the associated risks.

Forensic geoscientists assist with the investigation of locating and characterizing suspected illegal activities and provide evidence for criminal or civil courts of law. Geoforensic search in terrestrial environments can be challenging, depending on the item(s) of interest that are being looked for, the available search teams, the equipment deployed and the search area(s) itself. This article briefly details the current efforts that geoscientists are making to assist these terrestrial investigations, and provides some relevant case studies and discusses future developments.

Geoforensic trace evidence studies can be crucial for law enforcement and civil/criminal prosecution and defence, to test potential links between suspect(s), crime scenes or forensic object(s). In addition, trace geological evidence can be used to identify forensic sites of interest such as clandestine graves of murder victims. However, geoforensic trace evidence also has applications in a range of other investigations. This article briefly details the current geoscientific methods used to assist in such investigations and uses recent case studies to illustrate their use.

Geoscientists are being increasingly asked by law enforcement, environmental agencies and even wildlife trusts to investigate suspected illegal activities in and around water bodies for criminal or civil investigations. Searches and surveys in aquatic environments can be challenging, depending on the item(s) of interest that is being looked for, the available search teams and equipment and the search area. This article will briefly detail the current work of geoscientists in assisting these aquatic investigations, provide some relevant case studies and discuss future developments.

Damage and destruction caused by the 2021 eruption of the Tajogaite volcano on La Palma was unprecedented relative to other historical eruptions of the last century (1909, 1949, 1971, 2011) in the Canary Islands. The devastation caused by the eruption was not a result of eruption magnitude, which was only marginally larger than other historical events, but instead an increasing vulnerability due to population growth and increasing rural land use on the slopes of the volcanically active Cumbre Vieja Ridge. Since future eruptions along the Cumbre Vieja are inevitable, it is imperative that actions are taken to ensure the safety of the island's growing population. While civil protection and emergency services managed to avert loss of life from direct volcanic impacts in 2021, loss of property for many people in the affected area remains a grave issue and requires targeted measures to safeguard against human suffering from similar future events.

Jamoytius kerwoodi was a primitive, eel-like jawless fish that lived in the Early Silurian period (444–433 myr) and lived over a stagnant bottom environment, at the transition from a marine-influenced, probably brackish-water, deep-water basin to a shallower water, less saline and probably freshwater basin. Jamoytius lacked teeth and was most likely a free-living herbivore grazing on floating plants, as were possibly many of its euphanaropid relatives. The palaeoenvironment in which it lived compares well with that of living lampreys, especially as their ectoparasitic mode of life may have evolved from ancestral grazers.

Italian mastery of decorative stones can be traced through a variety of techniques, from the period of the Roman Empire through to the nineteenth century at least. Roman mosaic work was found across the Roman Empire, and the remains of mosaics are widely admired. In Roman Britain, artisans adapted their classic stone palette through the use of local stones, delivering greys, green and browns. Post-Roman artistry is seen through the reuse of broken stones known by Cosmati mosaicists; the Cosmati pavement in Westminster Abbey, London is one of the best known of its type. Hardstone work—Pietre Dure—employing many stones in intricate detail, was brought back from Italy by all those on the Grand Tour in eighteenth century Europe are to be found in many grand houses. Finally, the incredible ledger stones of the Knights of St John in Malta are yet another example of the high art and craft of the Italian masters of decorative stone.