The first practical electric telegraph networks were deployed during the 1840s and, as solar activity increased during the following years, Victorian telegraph operators began to experience unexplained electrical effects caused by geomagnetic disturbances.

An international group of researchers, led by Lancaster University and including BGS, has re-examined a widely cited account of a train delay in Exeter that was reportedly caused by geomagnetic disturbance from the Sun interfering with railway telegraph systems. The event has previously been cited as potentially the earliest recorded example of space weather affecting human technology, but the team research contradicts this assumption.

The original account described how the 22:05 train departing Exeter in Devon on 18 October 1841 was delayed by 16 minutes when a ‘very intense magnetic disturbance’ interfered with the electric signalling telegraph equipment used to determine whether the railway line ahead was clear. However, the researchers found a critical problem: the railway line referenced in the account did not open until 1846, almost five years after the alleged 1841 incident.

To discover what really happened, the team combined evidence from railway timetables, historical newspapers, solar observations, aurora reports and digitised geomagnetic records. The BGS magnetogram archive shows a strong geomagnetic disturbance on 18 October 1848, alongside reports of sunspots and aurorae seen across the UK and Europe, providing compelling evidence that the date in the original account was a typographical error.

The findings show that, while the Exeter incident remains one of the earliest documented examples of space weather disrupting technology, it was not the first. The earliest credible report currently known to be due to interference with telegraph systems was actually on the Midland Railway in March 1847.

Using BGS historic archive of magnetic records from Greenwich Observatory in London, we were able to confirm that 18 October 1848 experienced very large auroral disturbances. Preserving long-term records is vital for informing research on the vulnerabilities of modern technology.

Dr Ciarán Beggan, geophysicist, BGS.

Space weather is often discussed as a modern challenge because of our dependence on technologies such as satellites, communications systems and electricity networks. What this study shows is that society has been experiencing the effects of space weather on technology for almost as long as electrical technologies have existed.

Prof Jim Wild, Lancaster University School of Physics and Astronomy and lead author of the study.

The research paper is available to read on the .

Founded in 2016, the Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Sciences has established itself as a globally recognised hub for scientific excellence, bringing together expertise, cutting-edge technology and multidisciplinary research to address some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Over its first ten years, the centre has delivered internationally recognised research spanning climate change, marine conservation, geoenergy and the sustainable management of natural resources.

To mark this milestone, colleagues and students at the Lyell Centre attended an anniversary celebration and ceilidh.Guest speakers, including Scottish geologist Iain Stewart MBE and Heriot-Watt University (HWU) new principal Prof Nola Hewitt-Dundas, reflected on the centre’s achievements over the past decade while exploring the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Since opening 10 years ago as a strategic partnership with BGS, the Lyell Centre has built an international reputation for delivering outstanding earth and marine science that help society respond to some of the most significant challenges facing our planet.

Our success has been driven by the excellence of our people and our commitment to translating scientific discovery into real-world impact. As we celebrate this milestone, we are also looking ahead to the next decade of innovation, collaboration and discovery.

Prof Chris Turney, deputy principal of research and innovation at HWU.

Over the last decade, the Lyell Centre has become the Scottish home of BGS. Alongside our colleagues at HWU, it is a site from which our scientists have been able to deliver internationally recognised research. United under the broad spectrum of earth and marine science, the specialisms are wide ranging, from furthering our understanding of geohazards and investigating how groundwater can help mitigate drought risk, to supporting offshore infrastructure through seabed geology mapping.

Since opening, the Lyell Centre has also welcomed a new generation of scientists and is well positioned to continue delivering pioneering research well into the future.

Vanessa Starcher, Lyell Centre head of station, BGS.

Through close collaboration between academia, government and industry, the Lyell Centre has also played a vital role in strengthening Scotland’s research and innovation landscape while contributing to global efforts to address climate and environmental challenges.

Looking ahead, the Lyell Centre remains committed to pushing the boundaries of earth and marine science, advancing the knowledge needed to tackle climate and environmental challenges, and playing a leading role in developing sustainable solutions for a rapidly changing world.

Critical minerals are essential to the UK economy, national security, and clean energy transition. Surging demand for such materials, driven by the UK ambition to become a global leader in digital technologies, will place unprecedented pressure on already vulnerable global supply chains. A (CMIC) presents both the opportunities for innovation-led economic growth and the challenges associated with securing the materials required for data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

Data centres are now recognised as critical national infrastructure in the UK, with more than 90 new facilities planned by 2030, while, quantum technologies and AI have been identified as strategically important technologies. Meeting increasing demand for such digital services requires a growing range of critical minerals and high-purity materials. The growth of these technologies will increase demand for critical minerals including copper, aluminium, rare earth elements and battery materials (such as lithium and cobalt) used in digital technology components and backup power systems. Quantum technologies also require some critical minerals that are more rarely discussed, including niobium, hafnium, bismuth, high-purity silicon and other raw materials such as helium.

CMIC is hosted by the 51���� (BGS) and funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Technology (DBIST). This report highlights the value of data centres, AI and quantum computing to the UK economy and future economic growth and emphasises the importance of critical minerals in their development. The global trade routes that feed the UK with many of the necessary raw materials for cutting-edge technologies are still immature and underdeveloped, relying on exports from a small group of countries. Additionally, many critical minerals are only produced as by-products from the mining and refining of other commodities, such as copper and aluminium, so their production can be affected by the market swings for those major metals. Collectively, these factors can render vital supply chains unresponsive to demand and vulnerable to geopolitical factors.

The report highlights several ways to strengthen resilience, including international partnerships, supply chain diversification and targeted development of domestic capabilities. There are many opportunities for the UK, which should capitalise on its potential to mine, refine, purify and recycle some critical minerals. Nonetheless, international collaboration and strategic partnerships remain essential. In the future, digital technologies will face increasing competition for critical minerals from other sectors that we rely on for our energy, transportation, home and work lives, defence and health care, and we may need to prioritise how our critical mineral supplies are used. The report lead author, BGS Minerals geoscientist Dr Holly Elliott, believes that the need to better understand and forecast the nation mineral supply requirements has never been greater and is central to delivering the country ambitions.

“While some of the materials used in digital technologies have highly concentrated supply chains, there are also opportunities to improve resilience through innovation, international collaboration, diversification of supply and the development of specialist capabilities where the UK already has strengths.

“The UK has already invested in the development of a skilled domestic workforce and created growth zones but, to become a centre of excellence within the digital revolution, we must identify potential bottlenecks and vulnerabilities in the critical mineral supply for the decades to come, and act now.”

Dr Holly Elliott, BGS minerals geoscientist

Many of the materials required for digital technologies, such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, are experiencing significant growth in demand and intensifying competition between key sectors, including low-carbon technologies, aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing. These are all expected to experience their own growth surges in the near future, while the wider adoption of quantum computing is currently an unknown, but likely to be a significant, factor.

Batteries sit at the heart of many of these technologies, with data centres requiring huge, grid-scale batteries to ensure an uninterruptible energy supply in the event of a disruption to mains power. The energy requirements of these facilities is considerable. Based on the findings of a , a 1 GW data centre running continuously could use as much power as up to 3.2 million UK households over the course of a year. The that the UK will need up to 6 GW of AI-capable data centre capacity by 2030, highlighting the true scale of the demand for battery raw materials.

The UK Government will increasingly face the challenge of prioritising how much of the available critical mineral supply will be directed toward the development of AI technologies and data centres while also nurturing fledgling industries such as quantum computing.

Dr Elliott says diversification will be essential to securing reliable and sustainable supplies of critical minerals.

“Whilst the UK has the potential to develop domestic supplies of certain critical minerals, it is unlikely to achieve self-reliance and cannot become a specialist in all parts of the supply chain.

“Access to global supply chains, international collaboration and strategic partnerships therefore remain vital; the opportunity best lies in collaboration and strategic partnerships to offset the risk posed by geopolitical uncertainty.”

Dr Holly Elliott

The report also highlights opportunities for the UK to build on existing strengths in semiconductor technologies, photonics, cryogenics, quantum technologies and high-purity materials. Alongside these established capabilities, opportunities will emerge to develop domestic recycling and secondary supply chains as demand for digital technologies continues to grow.

In terms of primary supply, various prospective UK projects are likely to become more economically viable with the increase in demand, such as:

• lithium resources in Cornwall
• tungsten in Devon
• graphite in Northern Ireland
• nickel, vanadium and the platinum group metals in Scotland

However, Dr Holly Elliott warns that ambition does need to be balanced against realistic understandings of how these supply chains operate.

“Geologically speaking, the Earth is not short of minerals. Scarcity is typically driven by a combination of factors, such as geopolitical access, the economic viability of extraction, and the technological constraints around our ability to refine and process them.

“History suggests that restricted supply but increasing demand creates market opportunities and that supply chains eventually catch up with demand but, in the case of minerals, this can take decades.”

Dr Holly Elliott

As such, enhanced access to global supply chains, international collaboration and strategic partnerships will be vital in the immediate future, offsetting the risk posed by geopolitical uncertainty. Over the longer term, investment that builds on the UK existing technological strengths and development of regions with domestic prospectivity can further strengthen the UK position as the demand for critical minerals intensifies.

Report recommendations

In summary the report recommendations include:

• Isotopic purification and high-purity materials: the UK can build on its strong expertise in isotopic purification to increase domestic commercial production, supporting global diversification and reducing supply risks
• Expand downstream manufacturing capabilities: broadening established industries (including cryogenics, photonics and semiconductors) from design into manufacturing could reduce the UK reliance on imported components
• Critical minerals and processing capacity: the UK should assess viable opportunities in the domestic critical mineral supply chain, including extraction and value-added processing where potential exists
• Quantum-enabling materials: developing domestic capabilities in non-linear materials and crystals would mitigate trade interventions and strengthen supply resilience
• Recycling and secondary supply: developing recycling and processing hubs for electronic waste components would help to establish a secondary supply of the materials for which the UK has limited domestic extraction potential
• Industrial support and enabling environment: there may be a role for targeted support mechanisms to encourage the development or expansion of domestic facilities for primary production, materials refining, isotopic purification and secondary material recovery
• Data, demand visibility and supply chain mapping: encouraging UK companies to report quantified material requirements for key technologies, such as data centres and batteries, would support improved modelling of future demand under different technology adoption and growth trajectories
• Workforce and skills development: further support for workforce development in emerging sectors such as quantum computing would help address shortages in specialist and technical roles spanning engineering, computer science and physics

The full report, ‘’, is available on the CMIC website.

This research was funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology as part of the 2025 to 2026 work programme for CMIC.

Subsidence is the downward movement of the ground and is widespread across Europe. Its causes and effects vary greatly depending on location, creating issues such as home and infrastructure damage, increased susceptibility to flooding and loss of groundwater storage capacity. Climate change could increase these pressures in certain areas through more frequent droughts and heatwaves and changing groundwater recharge patterns.

Satellite radar has changed the way researchers study land movement. Europe Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, particularly the European Ground Motion Service, provides open-access information on ground motion across most of the European landmass. It helps researchers identify areas of subsidence and compare developments across countries. However, to understand why some land is sinking, satellite measurements need to be combined with subsurface knowledge: geology, groundwater levels, soil properties and human activities both above and below ground.

An international group of researchers, led by the Geological Survey of the Netherlands and including experts from BGS, has authored a new paper, , exploring the insights Europe has gathered from decades of studying land subsidence. The paper highlights the fact that such subsidence is not only a scientific concern but also a societal one, which needs a multi-system approach to ensure it is properly managed.

What causes subsidence?

The study describes a wide range of natural and human-induced processes that can contribute to land subsidence, including:

• tectonic movements
• groundwater extraction
• mining
• hydrocarbon extraction
• soft soils
• natural ground compaction

The researchers also point to possible new causes linked to the energy transition. Technologies such as geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, underground gas storage and hydrogen storage all make use of the subsurface. Depending on local conditions and how these systems are operated, such activities may influence ground motion. This makes careful monitoring and integrated assessment essential.

Land subsidence is common across Europe. In the UK, we have measured subsidence up to 2 cm per year in some coastal areas. This has important implications for coastal erosion and long-term impacts from sea level change.

Ekbal Hussain, remote sensing geoscientist.

Better decisions need better data

Better subsurface insight helps governments, industry and society make more informed decisions about water, infrastructure, climate adaptation and the energy transition.

Europe already has an important foundation for this: open data infrastructures, national monitoring programmes and cooperation between geological surveys, research institutes and policymakers. The challenge now is to bring this data together more effectively. By combining satellite observations with subsurface data and physics-based models, governments and industry can better distinguish between possible causes of land subsidence, assess future risks and weigh appropriate measures. It is hoped that this knowledge will support future risk assessment and decision-making across Europe.

Last summer, I completed a research project in partnership with BGS and the University of Warwick. Based at BGS headquarters in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, I worked alongside the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC), gaining first-hand experience of their work and research.

My project focused on using life-cycle assessment (LCA) methods to measure the environmental impacts of a specific product. LCA is a systematic methodology to quantify and evaluate the impacts of a product, service or process throughout its life cycle, from raw material extraction to end of life. The project involved four weeks of LCA training before I conducted my own LCA on a product of my choosing, in this case the composite material carbon fibre (CF).

As a Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student, I have a particular interest in carbon fibre, for which the UK market is rapidly growing (4.9per cent compound annual growth rate). With its unique strength-to-weight properties, it’s an important material for innovation in industries such as aerospace, automotives and renewable energy technologies. However, as its use expands, CF recycling becomes ever more essential.

This raises a question: for a high-polymer content material such as CF, how much more environmentally beneficial is recycling over primary production? To answer this, I set out to perform an LCA on both primary production and recycling of CF, to compare and evaluate their consequences on human and environmental health. This was done by first understanding the primary production and recycling processes and then collating the input and output data from secondary sources.

Recycling performed substantially better than primary production across the majority of impact categories, showing large reductions in:

• climate change (91.5per cent)
• ozone depletion (95.5per cent)
• acidification (91.4per cent)
• particulate matter formulation (86per cent)
• water use (88.7per cent)
• ionising radiation (99.5per cent)
• land use (95.9per cent)
• energy resources (non-renewable) (90.6per cent)

The category ‘material resources’ saw a 29.7per cent gain back into the CF life cycle, due to fibre recovery, and ‘human health: carcinogenic’ performed 21.5per cent worse in recycling compared to initial production, due to the emission of benzene (a known carcinogen) during pyrolysis.

The main contributors of both processes to global warming potential (GWP) through emissions were also evaluated. CF production has a GWP of 31.2 kg CO₂ Eq, caused by:

• feedstock material (52.5per cent)
• electricity (42.8per cent)
• natural gas (4per cent)

The feedstock material evaluated in this assessment was polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibre, which is the most widely used CF. More specifically, the raw material acrylonitrile was used, which contributes 31.58per cent to the total GWP of CF production.

Recycling, on the other hand, has a GWP of 2.69 kg CO₂ Eq, contributed to mostly by:

• natural gas (85.7per cent)
• transport (8.6per cent)
• electricity (5.7per cent)

This comparison highlights the importance of recycling CFs for the health of both the environment and the global population. It also recognises areas with the most impact across both production and recycling, to explore potential improvements in future studies.

Potential improvements I have highlighted are:

• alternative bio-based feedstock materials (lignin)
• net zero energy use
• implementing bio-gas alternatives instead of natural gas
• re-using the byproducts of pyrolysis recycling as fuel back into the process
• implementing alternative recycling operations industrially, such as fluidised bed or chemical recycling

My time researching this topic at BGS has been incredibly rewarding. I have learned so much about the workplace, writing research papers, sustainability and more. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at BGS headquarters; everyone was super friendly and made me feel very welcome.

Thanks go out to Narendra Singh, Gavin Mudd, Evi Petavratzi, Maria Kariuki and the whole CMIC team at BGS for making my placement so rewarding.

Author

Phoebe Brown (undergraduate student)

The origin of the Kinnekulle tephra, a huge volcanic ash layer spread across Norway, Sweden, the Baltic region, Belarus and Poland, has long been a mystery but new evidence may have uncovered the source of the ash for the first time.

Scientists at the 51���� (BGS) and the University of Oslo have studied tiny crystals, smaller than the diameter of a human hair, extracted from boreholes 65 km apart in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The analysis uncovered evidence of a 454 million year old supervolcano, now concealed beneath The Wash on the east coast of England.

Volcanic rocks of comparable age comprise the rugged topography of Eryri (Snowdonia) and the Lake District. A belt of arc volcanism extended from the Lake District towards Belgium in late Ordovician times, when England was separated from Scandinavia by an oceanic basin. The geography was probably comparable to the West Pacific region (Korea–Japan–Indonesia) today.

Using cutting-edge analytical techniques at BGS laboratories, scientists have been able to examine zircon crystals, which form within molten magma before a volcano erupts. Over time, uranium within the zircon slowly decays into lead isotopes, analysis of which enables the age of eruption to be precisely determined. The research reveals that the zircon crystals at both sites were formed at approximately the same time, about 454.4 million years ago. Researchers at the University of Oslo had previously obtained an almost identical age for the Kinnekulle tephra in the Oslo region.

The scientists believe that the near‑identical ages suggest that ash from the eruption plume in what is now eastern England was blown across the Tornquist Sea, which separated England and Scandinavia, and settled on the sea floor of ancient Scandinavia. Further support for this hypothesis is provided by chemical analysis of apatite crystals in both the proposed source and the tephra. During the highly explosive ‘super-Plinian’-type eruption, hundreds of cubic kilometres of rock were launched into the stratosphere by the force of the blast. One of the samples also contained younger zircon grains, dated to 453.70 million years, reflecting a further eruption associated with the collapse of the volcanic caldera.

More than 454million years ago, a supervolcano now hidden beneath some of England flattest landscapes, produced some of the biggest eruptions in recorded Earth history. We believe that, thanks to cutting edge-analysis, we have been able to provide evidence that the source of the ash layer in Scandinavia originated from this supervolcano, reshaping our understanding of England deep geological past.

Tim Pharaoh, BGS, principal author of the paper.

The research paper, ‘, is now available to read.

The analytical work for the the supervolcano project was funded by The  is an integrated analytical platform funded by the , part of UK Research and Innovation ().

The BGS-led MaxStoreUK project invites storage operator, regulator, licensor and Government stakeholders to join our round-table discussion of geological storage policy on Thursday 8 October 2026. The discussion will support evidence-based development of seasonal geological storage of hydrogen policy. Please , your preference for round-table participation and your hydrogen policy priorities.

The objectives of the session are to identify:

• stakeholder challenges and policy priorities
• opportunities for cross-sector collaboration
• relevant funding options, infrastructure and transport and storage needs

The roundtable will ensure that stakeholder insights inform the briefing on policy priorities for UK hydrogen geological storage, to be presented in early 2027.

The workshop is a component of the stakeholder-led programme of the EPSRC-funded MaxStoreUK project to maximise the UK geological storage resource, supporting the transition to net zero. The project is led by BGS with collaborators from the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre and researchers at Heriot-Watt University and The University of Manchester.

The summer drought experienced by the UK in 2022 produced significant speculation about how it may affect the country soil resource. This event highlighted knowledge gaps regarding the wider impacts of drought on soil properties and functions in temperate soils.

In 2024, BGS scientists, in collaboration with the , published a review that pulled together knowledge from studies in the UK and other temperate countries to understand how soils may respond to agricultural and ecosystem drought. The paper, , highlighted where knowledge gaps exist and the focus for future research, including:

• understanding the resistance and resilience of the soil ecosystem to and its recovery from drought, and how these may vary between different soil types
• soil water repellancy
• the impact of wildfires on soils
• how multiple stress factors, such as heat and moisture, impact soil
• the effects of successive extreme events on soil systems, for example drought followed by flooding

Land, an international, cross-disciplinary, open-access journal, recently announced that this research paper has received the , which is granted annually to highlight publications of high quality, scientific significance and extensive influence.

The planet is experiencing more extreme weather events, illustrated by the droughts across much of the country this year. Addressing the knowledge gaps highlighted in the paper will help to identify actions that can be taken to build more resilient ecosystems and help mitigate the impacts of future extreme weather events. We are delighted that Land has recognised the importance of our research through this award.

Dr Andrew Tye, soil scientist at BGS.

The research was funded by the Environment Agency and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

More information on the research paper can be found on the BGS website.