We have an active research group in this area supported by some of the best laboratories and equipment in the country and we welcome interested applicants from non-geoscience degrees. This year we will be offering projects in a number of differing applied specialisms. Students working on these projects would have the opportunity to study relevant modules from the Masters degrees in Engineering Geology and Environmental Geochemistry. Potential projects of interest include laboratory investigations of utilising natural organic matter, soil minerals and by-products in attenuating toxic metals in industrially contaminated soils and the use of geostatistics in both contaminated land risk assessment and for designing effective sampling strategies. Research in this area is facilitated by periodic sampling in the field combined with various wet geochemical techniques and chemical analyses.
Barriers are important for containment and active treatment of contamination.
Projects include investigation of desiccation and cracking of clay soils, not only a hot-topic for landfills, but also relevant to subsidence. There are a number of potential projects in the field of blasting, slope stability and hard-rock tunnelling. 31st October 2000.