Our Restless Earth

Glaciers are some of the most erosive forces on the planet. They can pulverise rock into tiny clay particles (AKA ‘mud’!). In doing so, they leave behind a geological legacy of their past behaviour. Through the medium of mud, we’ll delve into Ice Age environments to explore how glaciers have responded to past climate change and how they might behave under the on-going climate crisis.

Plastic is fantastic. It’s versatile, lightweight, strong, and relatively cheap. It protects fresh food, medical products, and reduces transport costs. But the properties that make plastic so useful are the same properties that make it persistent in the natural environment. Plastics pervade all environments, from the highest mountain tops to the deepest ocean trenches. Using a series of demonstrations, we’ll explore the pathways and transport mechanisms that enable plastic to reach the deepest parts of our oceans. We’ll consider the fate of plastic, and whether it really matters.