Burrow-detecting devices could protect flood defences

BGS scientists have trialled a new way of detecting animal burrows in clay flood embankments. The UK has over 7500km of embankments along its rivers and streams, protecting the communities and infrastructure behind them. 

But these vital flood defences can be weakened when burrowing animals like badgers, rabbits and now beavers move in and weaken their structural integrity. 

New devices being trialled by BGS use electrical resistivity to detect and map burrows in order to help find solutions.

> Read the full article

Date for your diary

The 4th IEA Geothermal Mine Water Energy Symposium will take place from Wednesday 24 to Friday 26 April 2024.

The event will be held in person in the UK and online globally.

We are pleased to announce an open call for contributions for the symposium. The deadline for titles, speakers and a few sentences on the content of your proposed presentation (100 words maximum) is 4pm Monday 26 February 2024.

Requests for more information and offers of presentations should be sent to minewaterthermal_iea@bgs.ac.uk.

On the blog

Moving stones: faults, slopes and sediments Fractured rock along faults can affect how sediment moves on upland slopes, with implications for the design of infrastructure. Geological fieldwork in Scotland is helping us understand the issues – find out how in our new blog.

Hungry like a wolf: new insights from old bones housed in the BGS museum collections BGS scientists are studying the diets of ancient British wolves and how they adapted to changing environments to understand how present-day wolves might adapt to environmental and climate change.

Linking geochemistry and health in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Kakamega-Vihiga gold belt, Kenya   PhD candidate Maureene Auma Ondayo is investigating major and trace element exposure in the environment in Kenya, aiming to reduce exposure of humans to toxic chemicals linked to artisanal and small-scale gold mining.