Volcano mapping at the end of the Earth (Antarctica)

Abstract:

Whalers Bay lies within the caldera of one of Anarctica’s two active volcanos. In 1970, the British Base-B was abandoned after a series of eruptions blanketed the buildings with ash fall and lahars (mud flows). The flooded caldera is accessed through a narrow (<500m wide) channel called Neptunes Bellows. Port Foster and Whalers Bay are now common stops for cruise ships and the area is visited by thousands of tourists every year. While the volcano is monitored by a Spanish Base on the Island, no studies have been undertaken on the stability of the basalt cliffs that guard the entrance to the caldera. In March 2023, two scientists from the Universities of Aberdeen and Bergen (Norway) spent 8 days camping on the island and flying drones to map the cliffs around Neptunes Bellows to access the risk for collapse in the event of seismic activity related to future eruptions. This talk will detail the geological and human history of Deception Island and detail the work undertaken during this expedition. There will be numerous penguin, seal and whale photos and tales of survival in the harshest environment on Earth. Results can be seen at V3Geo.com https://v3geo.com/model/503

Bio:

Originally from Wales, John did a degree at the University of Cardiff, followed by a PhD at the University of Birmingham. He then spent 10 years in the University of Liverpool as a researcher and junior faculty member working with the StratGroup. He moved to Norway in 2002 and lived in Bergen until 2012. During that time he worked in the Department of Earth Sciences and UniCIPR where he founded the Virtual Outcrop Geology Group. He was also one of the founders of Rocksource ASA an independent Norwegian E&P Company, where he worked in senior management for 6 years.

Since 2012 he has been a Professor at the University of Aberdeen. His current research focuses on virtual geosciences, including the improved use of analogues for understanding the subsurface. In the past 30 years he has worked on outcrops from all over the World with special focus on the western USA. He has supervised over 50 PhD students, published more than a 150 papers and edited 7 books. He currently runs the SAFARI project a major Joint Industry Project (JIP) supported by 9 companies. Over the past 20 years he has pioneered the use of virtual outcrops, collected using lidar and drones in the geosciences.

He is passionate about outreach in the geosciences. He was a co-host on “The Big Monster Dig”, a TV series on geology and palaeontology for C4 and Discovery. He also has numerous other TV and radio credits as a scientific expert.