Upcoming Talks (<front>)

Abstract not available

• Speaker: Edward Hinton, Uni of Melbourne Australia
• Thursday 04 July 2024, 11:30-12:30
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Ed Hinton
• Thursday 04 July 2024, 11:30-12:30
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

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John Scott Russell’s discovery of solitary waves on the Union Canal in 1834 is one of the most famous anecdotes in fluid mechanics, retold in many textbooks and commemorated in the name of a bridge. But what research programme was Russell involved in, what were the results, and how closely is it connected to the world’s first fatal motor-vehicle accident?

Drawing on contemporary records as well as more recent scholarship reveals the tensions in the background to both Russell’s experiments and his multiple versions of the discovery story, and helps us to reconstruct a complicated and sometimes shady episode at the interface of science, engineering, and industry.

• Speaker: Dr David Pritchard, University of Strathclyde
• Tuesday 02 July 2024, 15:00-16:00
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

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In the early earth, the lava ocean finally solidifies into a single lithosphere, and this stagnant lithosphere insulates the underlying mantle, leading to thermal expansion, partial melting and a geoid bulge, which causes the breakup to trigger the onset of plate tectonics. The global scale breakup of Earth should behave with the thermal equilibrium being disturbed, with cooling and warming occurred many times in geological history. However, what caused the exceptionally warm and cold periods are still unknown. The speaker presents a simple model of Earth Evolution as a thermal system, trying to answer many of the questions raised during Earth’s

• Speaker: Chun'an Tang - Dalian University of Technology
• Monday 17 June 2024, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Bullard Laboratories Wednesday Seminars; organiser: Janneke de Laat.

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Earth’s climate is changing rapidly under the effect of global warming, leading to more frequent and severe extreme weather events [1,2]. These weather extremes, in turn, are exacting heavy socioeconomic and environmental tolls [3], prompting an urgent need for better understanding and predicting them. In this talk, we present some recent results obtained for the tropical Indo-Pacific region, using human-understandable methods (or taking a human view), namely dynamical system theory. In particular, we show that changes in weather patterns are leading to more weather extremes, namely heatwaves and extreme precipitation. We then present the use of explainable AI tools (i.e., machine view) to investigate the onset and precursors of these extremes. More specifically, we try to bridge existing human knowledge (human view) and “AI knowledge” (machine view) to better understand the behaviour and predictability of weather extremes.

• Speaker: Gianmarco Mengaldo -- NUS, Singapore
• Wednesday 12 June 2024, 12:00-13:00
• Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Bullard Laboratories Wednesday Seminars; organiser: Adriano Gualandi.

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Earth’s climate is changing rapidly under the effect of global warming, leading to more frequent and severe extreme weather events [1,2]. These weather extremes, in turn, are exacting heavy socioeconomic and environmental tolls [3], prompting an urgent need for better understanding and predicting them. In this talk, we present some recent results obtained for the tropical Indo-Pacific region, using human-understandable methods (or taking a human view), namely dynamical system theory. In particular, we show that changes in weather patterns are leading to more weather extremes, namely heatwaves and extreme precipitation. We then present the use of explainable AI tools (i.e., machine view) to investigate the onset and precursors of these extremes. More specifically, we try to bridge existing human knowledge (human view) and “AI knowledge” (machine view) to better understand the behaviour and predictability of weather extremes.

• Speaker: Gianmarco Mengaldo -- NUS, Singapore
• Wednesday 12 June 2024, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Bullard Laboratories Wednesday Seminars; organiser: Adriano Gualandi.

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A unique feature of the Earth compared to the other rocky planets of our solar system is the operation of plate tectonics at the present day. However, how and when Earth developed into this present-day state is unclear. Key to deciphering Earth’s long-term tectonic evolution is the growth of the first continents, as these represent the oldest extant rock record providing our best window into the geodynamic processes of the very early Earth. Early continental crust has been proposed to form by a variety of mechanisms, some involving plate tectonics and some not. End-member models of early continental crust formation include melting hydrated mafic rocks at the base of a thick, volcanically active oceanic crustal plateau, a process not requiring plate tectonics, and melting of mafic crust during subduction, a process compatible with plate tectonics. I use numerical models of early Earth mantle convection and crust formation, combined with key geochemical observations, to provide new constraints on these models. I show that continental crust formation by slab melting during subduction can only occur when subduction is sluggish and present a new mechanism for such subduction on the early Earth. I further show how continent formation by ocean plateau melting and by slab melting can combine to explain observations from the Archean geologic record, with implications for Earth’s long-term tectonic evolution.

• Speaker: Brad Foley -- Penn State University
• Wednesday 05 June 2024, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Bullard Laboratories Wednesday Seminars; organiser: Adriano Gualandi.

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The oldest known hominin remains in Europe [ca. 1.5 to 1.1 million years ago (Ma)] have been recovered from Iberia, where paleoenvironmental reconstructions have indicated warm and wet interglacials and mild glacials, supporting the view that once established, hominin populations persisted continuously. We report analyses of marine and terrestrial proxies from a deep-sea core on the Portugese margin that show the presence of pronounced millennial-scale climate variability during a glacial period ca. 1.154 to 1.123 Ma, culminating in a terminal stadial cooling comparable to the most extreme events of the last 400,000 years. Climate envelope–model simulations reveal a drastic decrease in early hominin habitat suitability around the Mediterranean during the terminal stadial. We suggest that these extreme conditions led to the depopulation of Europe, perhaps lasting for several successive glacial-interglacial cycles.

Building doors are card operated, so latecomers may not be able to access the venue.

• Speaker: Vasiliki Margari, University College London
• Wednesday 05 June 2024, 17:30-19:00
• Venue: Small Lecture Theatre, Department of Geography, Downing Site.
• Series: Quaternary Discussion Group (QDG); organiser: Jinheum Park.

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The oldest known hominin remains in Europe [ca. 1.5 to 1.1 million years ago (Ma)] have been recovered from Iberia, where paleoenvironmental reconstructions have indicated warm and wet interglacials and mild glacials, supporting the view that once established, hominin populations persisted continuously. We report analyses of marine and terrestrial proxies from a deep-sea core on the Portugese margin that show the presence of pronounced millennial-scale climate variability during a glacial period ca. 1.154 to 1.123 Ma, culminating in a terminal stadial cooling comparable to the most extreme events of the last 400,000 years. Climate envelope–model simulations reveal a drastic decrease in early hominin habitat suitability around the Mediterranean during the terminal stadial. We suggest that these extreme conditions led to the depopulation of Europe, perhaps lasting for several successive glacial-interglacial cycles.

Building doors are card operated, so latecomers may not be able to access the venue.

• Speaker: Vasiliki Margari, University College London
• Wednesday 05 June 2024, 17:30-19:00
• Venue: Small Lecture Theatre, Department of Geography, Downing Site.
• Series: Quaternary Discussion Group (QDG); organiser: Jinheum Park.

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Observations of diapycnal upwelling and interior exchange along the ocean’s sloping bottom boundary:

Recent theories suggest that deep-ocean upwelling, vital for maintaining the abyssal overturning circulation, is confined to a bottom boundary layer on the ocean’s sloping seafloor. However, direct evidence of near-boundary upwelling and the processes that cause it are lacking. This talk presents findings from a field campaign conducted in a typical continental slope canyon, which focused on directly observing the turbulent processes within the near-boundary region. Using a passive dye release, we observed rapid diapycnal upwelling at a rate approximately 10,000 times higher than the global average needed to sustain the circulation. Long-term observations from moorings suggest that the upwelling was driven by the convective breaking of the internal tide. We also find that three-dimensional processes are crucial, noting adiabatic exchange between the boundary region and the interior at tidal and longer timescales. This exchange re-stratifies the boundary, making mixing efficient and allowing for diapycnal upwelling.

Bio:

Bethan Wynne-Cattanach is a post-doctoral researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the Multiscale Ocean Dynamics group. She is currently visiting the University of Cambridge as a David Crighton Fellow. Her research focuses on submesoscale and turbulent processes driven by flow-topography interactions and how these lead to water mass transformation. She has been involved in several observational field campaigns, including looking at island wake dynamics during the Flow Encountering Abrupt Topography (FLEAT) Experiment and tidally-driven upwelling as part the Boundary Layer Turbulence and Abyssal Recipes (BLT) Experiment.

• Speaker: Bethan Wynn’s-Cattanach, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Thursday 06 June 2024, 11:30-12:30
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Bethan Wynn’s-Cattanach, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Thursday 06 June 2024, 11:30-12:30
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

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Monitoring seismic activity in diverse environments and scales poses different technical and scientific challenges. This presentation will highlight case studies illustrating seismic monitoring in varied contexts. Specifically, it will cover three case studies: the Irish National Seismic Network’s (INSN) national-level monitoring in Ireland, the Montserrat Volcano Observatory’s (MVO) surveillance of the Soufriere Hills Volcano, and recent work at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) to monitor microseismicity within an active mine. Each case study will detail key scientific findings, monitoring objectives, and associated challenges. Additionally, the talk will compare and contrast the approaches employed, highlighting both differences and similarities.

• Speaker: Patrick Smith -- Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
• Wednesday 29 May 2024, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre (virtual).
• Series: Bullard Laboratories Wednesday Seminars; organiser: Janneke de Laat.

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Tectonic processes at Earth’s surface, are driven by convection deep in Earth’s mantle. Seismic tomography using earthquakes is the main tool to directly image the lower mantle. Such images show two large continental size regions just above the core mantle boundary, one located under the Pacific and the other one under Africa. These two regions have low shear wave velocity, but their role in mantle convection as either a thermal plume or a stable compositional pile is still heavily debated. Here, I will show that the key to unravelling the nature of these two regions are whole Earth oscillations. These normal modes do not only provide shear wave velocity, but also additional information such as their density and attenuation. We find that the low velocity regions are partially dense at their base and have weak attenuation, requiring puzzling new interpretations in terms of mantle dynamics.

• Speaker: Arwen Deuss - Utrecht University
• Wednesday 22 May 2024, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Bullard Laboratories Wednesday Seminars; organiser: Lisanne Jagt.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Sanne Cottaar, University of Cambridge
• Tuesday 21 May 2024, 12:00-13:00
• Venue: Department of Earth Sciences, Tilley Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Department of Earth Sciences Seminars (downtown); organiser: David Wallis.

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Among the most difficult issues in CFD is the very wide range of scales involved in some problems. Attempts at investigating the dynamics contact line have been made coming from various theoretical and numerical frameworks, the closest to first principles being molecular dynamics, while diffuse interface methods and sharp interface methods with several variants have also been put forward. Experiments are obviously difficult. Efforts made on a number of typical cases, including plunging and withdrawing plates, a sheared droplet, sessile droplets on oscillating or accelerating substrates, menisci in nanopores and the hydrodynamics assist problem. The issues involved in nucleate boiling and accelerated sessile droplets will be addressed both from the point of view of experiments (performed by various colleagues from MIT and Tokyo University) and from the point of view of simulations.

I will also show recent developments in the Basilisk code allowing to simulate contact lines on complex curved boundaries, using the immersed boundary method and an appropriate contact angle boundary condition, and inside porous media.

• Speaker: Stephane Zaleski, Institut Jean Le Rond ∂’Alembert, Sorbonne Université
• Thursday 23 May 2024, 11:30-12:30
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

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Earth’s atmospheric CO2 concentration for the Phanerozoic Eon (the last 540 million years) has been estimated from proxies and models with varying degrees of success, resulting in considerable discrepancies between estimates. Recent advances in applying boron isotopes to foraminifera have revolutionised our understanding of Cenozoic CO2 levels (the last 66 million years) leading to a growing consensus for Earth’s more recent history. However, questions remain about the limitations of the boron isotope proxy as dependent on the extent of preservation of marine sediments and, consequently, deep-time boron-based reconstructions from Earth’s rock record have been regarded as controversial. In this talk, I will make the case that the boron isotope composition of well-preserved brachiopod shells provides a robust tool for extending our knowledge of CO2 throughout the Phanerozoic, and by showcasing new Mesozoic and Palaeozoic records I will review the role of CO2 in Earth’s major climate transitions and mass extinction events.

• Speaker: Hana Jurikova, University of St Andrews
• Tuesday 28 May 2024, 12:00-13:00
• Venue: Department of Earth Sciences, Tilley Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Department of Earth Sciences Seminars (downtown); organiser: Dr Rachael Rhodes.

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Earth’s atmospheric CO2 concentration for the Phanerozoic Eon (the last 540 million years) has been estimated from proxies and models with varying degrees of success, often resulting in considerable discrepancies between estimates. Recent advances in the applying boron isotopes to foraminifera have revolutionised understanding of Cenozoic CO2 levels (the last 66 million years), although gaps still exist. However, questions remain about the limitations of the boron isotope proxy as dependent on the extent of preservation of marine sediments and, consequently, deep time boron-based reconstructions from Earth’s rock record have been regarded as controversial. In this talk, I will make the case that the boron isotope composition of well-preserved brachiopod shells provides a robust tool for extending our knowledge of CO2 throughout the Phanerozoic, and by showcasing new Mesozoic and Palaeozoic records I will review the role of CO2 in Earth’s major climate transitions and mass extinction events.

• Speaker: Hana Jurikova, University of St Andrews
• Tuesday 28 May 2024, 12:00-13:00
• Venue: Department of Earth Sciences, Tilley Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Department of Earth Sciences Seminars (downtown); organiser: Dr Rachael Rhodes.

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The Turkana Depression is a broad, topographically-subdued, region between the elevated Ethiopian and East African Plateaus. The Depression is unique in East Africa for being host to a NW-SE-trending failed Mesozoic (Anza) rift system through which the near-orthogonal, N-S-trending East African Rift subsequently developed. Whether the Depression’s low-lying nature is a result of a significantly thinned crust instigated by its multiple rifting phases, or instead due to a lack of dynamic mantle support is debated. Also poorly understood is the extent to which Cenozoic rifting and magmatism have developed across the Depression during the linkage of other comparatively narrow East African Rift zones to the north and south. Utilising data from the 2019-2021 Turkana Rift Arrays Investigating Lithospheric Structure project and surrounding networks, receiver function analysis and its joint inversion with surface-waves, are used to probe Moho architecture and the lithosphere-asthenosphere system.

• Speaker: Ian Bastow, Imperial College London
• Wednesday 15 May 2024, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre.
• Series: Bullard Laboratories Wednesday Seminars; organiser: Megan Holdt.

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Transcatheter valve replacement is a revolutionary, minimally invasive alternative to surgery for patients with heart valve disease. With over 1.5 million procedures performed worldwide and expectations of a sharp increase in the coming years, there is growing concerns about the rise in adverse events such as coronary obstruction and valve thrombosis. It is anticipated that the interaction between the implanted transcatheter heart valve with patient-specific anatomy may give rise to unfavourable hemodynamics, contributing to these adverse events. In this seminar, we will explore the role of computational modelling and simulation in improving our mechanistic understanding of these events, and as a tool to assist clinicians in patient selection and pre-procedural planning, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

• Speaker: Shelly Singh-Gryzbon, Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge
• Thursday 09 May 2024, 11:30-12:30
• Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
• Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.

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The oldest known hominin remains in Europe [ca. 1.5 to 1.1 million years ago (Ma)] have been recovered from Iberia, where paleoenvironmental reconstructions have indicated warm and wet interglacials and mild glacials, supporting the view that once established, hominin populations persisted continuously. We report analyses of marine and terrestrial proxies from a deep-sea core on the Portugese margin that show the presence of pronounced millennial-scale climate variability during a glacial period ca. 1.154 to 1.123 Ma, culminating in a terminal stadial cooling comparable to the most extreme events of the last 400,000 years. Climate envelope–model simulations reveal a drastic decrease in early hominin habitat suitability around the Mediterranean during the terminal stadial. We suggest that these extreme conditions led to the depopulation of Europe, perhaps lasting for several successive glacial-interglacial cycles.

Building doors are card operated, so latecomers may not be able to access the venue.

• Speaker: Vasiliki Margari, University College London
• Wednesday 05 June 2024, 17:30-19:00
• Venue: Small Lecture Theatre, Department of Geography, Downing Site.
• Series: Quaternary Discussion Group (QDG); organiser: Jinheum Park.

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