Explore the forces shaping our dynamic planet, from plate tectonics and mountains to earthquakes and volcanoes – and how we live with them.
The Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago as dust and rocky material orbiting the young Sun gradually coalesced to form a hot, evolving planet. Since then, the Earth has progressively cooled, with much of its internal heat transported towards the surface through convection within the mantle.
The timing and development of plate tectonics remain subjects of scientific debate, but evidence preserved in rocks at the surface, combined with increasingly detailed images of the Earth’s deep interior, provides important insights into the dynamic processes operating within our planet. These processes continually reshape the Earth’s surface, building mountains and ocean basins while also driving potentially hazardous phenomena such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. In this event, we explore some of these exciting processes, aiming to understand the Earth better and to live better with its hazards.
This event will be led by Professor Mike Kendall, Dr Jess Hawthorne and Dr Jon Wade, all Fellows of St Cross College, Oxford, as part of the college's themed programme this autumn.
Designed for a curious, non-specialist audience, the events will provide plenty of opportunity to put your own questions to our speakers.
Other events in the programme:
- Tuesday 3 November: What causes climate change?
- Tuesday 17 November: The race for critical metals: is there a better way?
- Tuesday 1 December: Should humans move to the Moon?
