Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Pyle

@davidmpyle.bsky.social

1.8K followers 1.3K following 110 posts

Volcanologist at the University of Oxford: volcanic histories, imaginaries, resources and futures. https://curatingcrises.omeka.net/ https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/rethinking-natural-resources/ https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/vesuvius-22 .. more

Videos

Environmental science 32%

Geology 30%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by David Pyle

Dr. Thomas Ronge @thomasronge.bsky.social · 2d

🚨New publication🚨
A new Exp398 study led by @abigaillily.bsky.social showed that caldera volcanism is associated with rifting on the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, Santorini and Kos Volcanoes may be coupled by regional lithospheric stresses...
#NSFfunded
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Research vessel JOIDES Resolution off the Greek village of Oia, Santorini.

5 13

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · 2d

Great new paper from Abigail Metcalfe and the IODP398 team!
@ukiodp.bsky.social #Santorini

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Tectonic modulation of caldera volcanism on the South Aegean Volcanic Arc

Many highly hazardous, caldera-forming explosive eruptions occur in extensional tectonic regimes, but the role of lithospheric rifting in modulating c…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 6

Reposted by David Pyle

Jenni Barclay @volcanojenni.bsky.social · 3d

We’re advertising a PhD studentship for folks with good knowledge of Caribbean culture and society, with background in geography, human geography, humanities or interdisciplinary geosciences as part of our @leverhulme.ac.uk funded ‘volcanic histories’ project

Summary of what the PhD student will do. QR code in bottom LHS. Project part of our Leverhulme Trust funded project volcanic histories and the student will examine the cultural markers and response to to volcanic activity across the Eastern Caribbean. Understand local ways of knowing and remembering volcanic activity. Integrate scientific. And community knowledge for DRR - joining an interdisciplinary team from several universities.

26 17

Reposted by David Pyle

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · 9d

#MinCup25 Final: After a month of learning and laughter, we’re at the final match to determine the 2025 Mineral Cup Champion! We have blue blades of #kyanite up against optical magician #tugtupite.

Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r5...
Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

Vote in 2025 Final Match — Mineral Cup

Click here to vote in Kyanite vs Tugtupite Photo credits: John Sobolewski and Parent Géry

www.mineralcup.org

28 68 170

Reposted by David Pyle

Jenni Barclay @volcanojenni.bsky.social · 14d

www.beinghumanfestival.org/events/missi...
Volcanic crises! Archives! The ‘real story’ between the lines.

We’re performing a ‘staged reading’ and exploring two crises on #montserrat - with two wonderful playwrights as part of #beinghumanfestival. Come see us in London and also 1/2

Missives - London

A crisis unravelling in letters. Many enquiries have tried to ‘learn lessons’ from crises provoked by natural hazards. Often, disaster is rooted in the misfiring communication and stalled decision-mak...

www.beinghumanfestival.org

1 4 4

Reposted by David Pyle, Jenni Barclay

Dr Jazmin Scarlett @grumpyvolcano.bsky.social · Sep 4

If anyone is interested, the paper from my postdoc I left (coming up to 3 years now?!) got published: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Just FYI I've forgotten everything and so removed from academia now, so please direct any questions to @volcanojenni.bsky.social @davidmpyle.bsky.social

Science in a crisis: Assembling volcanic knowledge in twentieth century Montserrat

In the 1930s Montserrat, part of the British Leeward Islands colony, experienced a prolonged period of seismic unrest which many on the island interpr…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 4 12

Reposted by David Pyle

International Continental Scientific Drilling Program ICDP @icdpdrilling.bsky.social · Sep 1

Congrats 🎉 BVDP project (South Africa) finalized! Final depth: 1877.2 m depth on 23rd August 25. Congratulations to the successful team! 👍 Important goals achieved⚡now preparing for sampling and for publishing exciting new insights into the Bushveld Complex! ℹ️ www.icdp-online.org/projects/by-...

4 7

Reposted by David Pyle

Abby @abigaillily.bsky.social · Aug 13

An unexpected discovery of IODP Exp 398! 200 m of ash from the Kos Plateau Tuff eruption buried in the basins around Santorini, read how it got there in our new paper in Science Advances 🌋
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Submarine ash megabed fed by far-traveled, shoreline-crossing pyroclastic currents from a large explosive volcanic eruption

Volcanic ash from an eruption in Greece poured into the sea, forming a bed 200 m thick in a submarine basin far from the volcano.

www.science.org

1 8 8

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Aug 13

We see the same pattern!

Reposted by David Pyle

Royal Society of Chemistry @rsc.org · Aug 7

Don’t miss the Kathleen Lonsdale Public Lecture!

Commemorating 200 years since Faraday isolated benzene, celebrating Lonsdale's contributions in crystallography, activism & science communication.

Free to attend, all welcome.

Register: buff.ly/IIDjsC2

#Science #London #Chemistry #WomenInSTEM

2 9

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 26

Colonial-era yellow firebrick, manufactured by Rufford & Co., Stourbridge, and imported to #StLucia where it was used in the bakery near Fort Rodney, Pigeon Island.

Photograph of some bricks, one of which is made from yellow clay with the partial impression [RU]FFORD [STOU]RBRIDGE, near the colonial-era bakery building on Pigeon Island, St Lucia.

Photograph from Fort Rodney, St Lucia, of Signal Peak, Pigeon island. Bright red flowers of the Flamboyant trees in the foreground.

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 18

Director of the Montserrat Tourism Authority, Rosetta West Gerald highlighting the #Montserrat Mural Tour; featuring four murals created in 2023 during the Curating Crises project curatingcrises.omeka.net/exhibits/sho...

Rosetta West Gerald speaking at a podium in front of a slide on the Montserrat Murals tour

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 18

Closing presentations at #SHV30 on the themes of geoheritage, and imagining new opportunities for volcano tourism and geopark development on the island of #Montserrat.

Photograph of Rosetta West Gerald at a podium presenting on tourism opportunities on Montserrat.

Photograph of Sherene James-Williamson at a podium talking in front of a slide titled geosite, geopark and geoheritage.

1 9

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 17

Subtweet incoming.. an administration that designs a form required for ‘entry’ that contains 74 mandatory questions is an administration that has either forgotten its purpose, or that doesn’t actually want engagement.

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 16

Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, with a haze descending across the buried city of Plymouth. #SHV30

Photographic view across the sea of southern Montserrat, with the hazy green hill of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in the background, blue sky and clouds above.

1 2 19

Reposted by David Pyle

MPLS Division, University of Oxford @mplsoxford.bsky.social · May 20

LATEST: Oxford MPLS Professors Mike Giles, Philipp Kukura, Philip Poole, David Pyle and Shivaji Sondhi have been elected to the @royalsociety.org as new Fellows.

The 5 join illustrious scientific ranks that include Hawking, Newton, Chandrasekhar and Hodgkin.

➡️ Find out more: tinyurl.com/mvpm9zaw

Oxford MPLS Professors Mike Giles, Philipp Kukura, Philip Poole, David Pyle and Shivaji Sondhi with the dome of the Radcliffe Camera in the background (image by John Cairns).

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 15

Current Montserrat Premier, Reuben T Meade, with his vision for the future. ‘Montserrat Still Home, Still Nice, Still Paradise’. #SHV30

Photograph of Reuben Meade at the podium, reflecting on his times as Chief Minister and Premier.

1 2

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 15

Frank Savage - Governor in 1995 - and Reuben Meade - Chief Minister in 1995 - with reflections on the start of the eruptive crisis in 1995. #SHV30

Photograph of Frank Savage in a pink shirt and linen jacket, and the Honourable Reuben T Meade, adjusting the microphone, on a stage in front of the SHV30 banner. Savage explains ‘my business suit is still on holiday in Antigua’.

1 2

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jul 14

Turning magma into momentum - #SHV30 kicks off on the island of Montserrat, marking the 30th anniversary of the start of the Soufriere Hills Volcano eruption. @mvoupdates.bsky.social

Photograph of Dr Graham Ryan, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory standing in front of the SHV30 banner at the opening ceremony of the Soufrière Hills 30 years on conference, Montserrat

Photograph of Dr Pat Joseph, director of the UWI seismic research centre, in front of a slide of volcano education and outreach projects on St Vincent, during the opening plenary lecture at SHV30, Montserrat

Photograph of a discussion panel, sitting in front of the SHV30 banner. Left to right, Prof Richie Robertson (UWI SRC), Prof Jenni Barclay (University of Bristol), the Honorable Dr Keith Rowley (former prime minister, Trinidad and Tobago) and Dr JC Komorowski (head of observatories, IPGP).

2 10

Reposted by David Pyle

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · Jul 2

Oxford North, the city's new £700m innovation district, has launched Engage, its art, culture and legacy programme focusing on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts & mathematics). It will be delivered by IF Oxford, in collaboration with Modern Art Oxford, Creation Theatre & Fusion Arts.

Oxford North launches Engage STEAM programme with IF Oxford, Modern Art Oxford, Creation Theatre and Fusion Arts | News | Oxford North

Oxford North, the new global innovation district in Oxford, has launched Engage, its art, culture, social value and legacy programme which focuses on STEAM...

www.oxfordnorth.com

1 2 7

Reposted by David Pyle, Louis Moresi

Andrew Alden @geology.bsky.social · Jun 25

RIP volcanologist Wes Hildreth, dead in a Nevada car crash south of Mina. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Hil...

2 11 32

Reposted by David Pyle, Matthew J. Collins

Montserrat Volcano Observatory @mvoupdates.bsky.social · Jun 25

On 25 June 1997, pyroclastic flows from a sudden dome collapse at Soufrière Hills devastated several villages. 19 lives were lost, and 5 others severely injured. We remember them today and reflect on the impact of this tragic event in our shared history. #Montserrat #SHV30

4 8

Reposted by David Pyle

Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · Jun 25

NEW: Amid reports that America's bunker-busters may not have destroyed the deeply-buried site at Fordo, here's a look at the science of earth-penetrating weapons.

It turns out geology matters a lot.

www.npr.org/2025/06/25/n...

Why America's giant bunker-busting bombs may have failed to reach their target

Reaching Iran's most fortified nuclear enrichment site is a challenge, even for the world's biggest conventional weapons.

www.npr.org

7 33 83

Reposted by David Pyle, Gavin L. Foster

Emma Watts @wattsvolcanology.bsky.social · Jun 25

New paper alert🚨

In this new article in @natgeosci.nature.com we use a multidisciplinary approach (geochemistry, geophysics and mathematically modelling) to see pulsing in the mantle plume beneath Afar and how the flow varies along the rift See the 🧵 below:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mantle upwelling at Afar triple junction shaped by overriding plate dynamics - Nature Geoscience

The mantle upwelling beneath the Afar rift may be influenced by tectonic processes in the overriding lithospheric plates that shape the distribution of both the compositional heterogeneities and abund...

www.nature.com

3 12 43

Reposted by David Pyle

Paul Barrett @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social · Jun 25

Nice article on our new little dino, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, named today by @tweetisaurus.bsky.social and me, and to be unveiled in a new permanent display @nhm-london.bsky.social tomorrow: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Natural History Museum to display rare dog-sized dinosaur

The dinosaur was mislabelled and misunderstood - but scientists now realise how special it is.

www.bbc.co.uk

1 30 88

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jun 24

Great to see the first outcomes of a digital archives project led by Martin Mahony @ueaenv.bsky.social, with #Montserrat National Trust, @mvoupdates.bsky.social @dlocaribbean.bsky.social @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy

Here is 'SeismiCity News', from 1997 to 1998 dloc.com/title-sets/A...

Reposted by David Pyle

Montserrat Volcano Observatory @mvoupdates.bsky.social · Jun 23

SHV30 Field Trip Feature: Montserrat Community Murals Tour!

Explore the north through murals that tell stories of culture, memory & resilience. Art meets volcanic history.

Be part of SHV30: www.mvo.ms/shv30
#SHV30

1 4

David Pyle @davidmpyle.bsky.social · Jun 23

Marking the 30th anniversary of the start of Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption (July 1995), with a reception in the Speaker’s rooms, Westminster

The Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle addresses a full room in speaker’s house, with many representatives from the Montserratian community in the UK and Montserrat. Hoyle was the first speaker to visit Montserrat.

Reposted by David Pyle

Montserrat Volcano Observatory @mvoupdates.bsky.social · Jun 22

#SHV30 is bringing the world to #Montserrat!

Participants from 15+ countries — including Jamaica, Argentina, Italy, UK, USA, New Zealand & more — will gather to reflect, reconnect & look ahead.

🗓️ July 14–18, 2025
🎟️ Register: www.mvo.ms/shv30

3 7

Reposted by David Pyle

Jenni Barclay @volcanojenni.bsky.social · Jun 19

We are looking for a new researcher @UoBEarthSciences ! (36 months funded) if you like 🌋, are good at analysing. 🪨 and enjoy working in large collaborations. Then come and join us! This post is an important part of a new UK NERC funded Large Grant..

www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol

www.bristol.ac.uk

1 15 23