Project News
2011 News
New airborne survey
31 May 2011
As part of the Tellus Border project an airborne geophysical survey will be flown over the six northern counties of the Republic of Ireland: Counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo. A contract has been awarded to Sander Geophysics of Ottawa, Canada, who will use the same geophysical aircraft and equipment that were used in the Tellus surveys of 2005/6. The operation will start in the summer.
Tellus Border is funded by the INTERREG IVA programme of the European Regional Development Fund.
Link: Sander Geophysics
PDAC 2011
6-9 March 2011
Visit the Ireland stand at PDAC Toronto, the world's biggest mining convention! As usual, the stand is mounted jointly by GSNI and the Energy and Mining Division of the Republic's Department of Energy, Communications and Natural Resources.
Link: PDAC website
Irish Geological Research Meeting
20 February 2011 Tellus featured prominently at the annual Irish Geological Research Meeting held in Galway, 18-20 February. Mohammednur Desissa and Mark Patton presented the results of a new interpretation of basement geology, based on Tellus aeromagnetics. Mike Young described the new 'Tellus Border' project and, with Alex Donald, showed a poster of the newly developed 3D geological model of Belfast. Joint GSNI/GSI/BGS posters featured the recently launched website of Historical Maps of Ireland and the progress of a crustal scale 3D model of Britain and Ireland.
Link: IGRM Programme (PDF)
Tellus Border
15 February 2011
The latest phase of the Tellus campaign, 'Tellus Border' was launched this week in Belfast and Dublin. Tellus Border will extend the Tellus surveys into the six northern counties of the Reublic of Ireland, continue analysis of existing data over Northern Ireland, and incorporate three post-doc research projects into wetlands eco-hydrology, soil carbon and peat, and behaviour of pollution plumes in the near-surface. The project will be managed jointly by a partnership of GSNI, GSI, Queen's University, Belfast and Dundalk Institute of Technology.
The cross-border project has been funded by the INTERREG IVA development programme of the European Regional Development Fund, which is managed by the Special European Programmes Body (SEUPB). This is the largest of the latest awards under the Environment theme of INTERREG IVA and is part funded by the Department of the Environment of Northern Ireland and by the Republic of Ireland's Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
In Belfast, Ministers Arlene Foster MLA and Edwin Poots MLA gathered at Stormont to launch the project with the Vice Chancellor of Queen's University, Peter Gregson, and GSNI Acting Director Terry Johnson. Project staff and senior management of SEUPB were present. At the same time, at Kildare House in Dublin, the project was launched by Minister Conor Lenihan TD with GSI Acting Director Dr Pat O'Connor, Dr Valerie McCarthy of Dundalk Institute of Technology and project staff.
Welcoming the launch of the EU-funded project Pat Colgan, Chief Executive of the SEUPB, said: “Upon completion, this innovative project will inform and improve sustainable land management practices across Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland. It has been supported under the cross-border infrastructure element of the EU’s INTERREG IVA Programme which is encouraging sustainable development in a number of sectors including environmental protection.”
Link: U.TV news story
Link: Northern Ireland Government Press Release
Birth of Britain
31 January 2011
Tellus maps featured in the highly acclaimed Channel 4 programme, 'Birth of Britain' series, in the edition titled 'Gold'. The inimitable Tony Robinson traced the history of gold exploration since the Bronze Age in Britain and Ireland. The film showed Garth Earls, until recently GSNI's Director, taking Robinson prospecting up a stream section near the Curraghinalt gold deposit in County Tyrone.
Link: Birth of Britain on the Channel 4 website.
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