NERC ATSC Course, September 2017

 

Last month BOSCORF delivered an engaging NERC funded Advanced Training Short Course to 15 successful applicants. This course was designed for PhD and ECR researchers who will be using a variety of non-destructive data as part of their research. The course ran for two and half days at the NOC, Southampton, and was delivered by a range of academics, industry professionals and BOSCORF staff. The first day of the course covered the range of instruments available at BOSCORF, and a comprehensive overview of both the ITRAX (Ian Croudace) and the Avaatech (Simon Crowhurst) XRF scanners. A special session delivered by Rik Tjallingii from GFZ covered the Xelerate software for calibrating XRF data, Course participants were given an overview of this software, as well as a version to use after the course with their own data. The first day finished with a wonderful meal at the local Wahaca.

The second day included a guided tour of BOSCORF, with an explanation of each instrument, the sample preparation needed and applications of data gathered. The session also included a tour of the fridge, and a sample of cores that cover the range of research that takes place in BOSCORF. This included palaeoclimate studies, geohazards and an unusual cold water coral core.

The final day focussed on the tools that are available to researchers from within the community. These range from an overview of the international core databases, useful websites for core analysis and a suggested reading list for each type of analysis. Much of this material is available through the BOSCORF website, or within our information packs you can download. We also put a heavy focus on using the software that is available to researchers, that will allow you to display and interrogate the data. We produced a new activity using data from a geohazards case study, and a palaeoclimatic case study, with a set of questions to test students understanding of the data, and how to appropriately interpret the signals displayed.

The course participants left with a full pack, including a copy of the recent book “Micro-XRF studies of sediment cores”, software packages and sample datasets to use to develop their skills. This course will hopefully run again in the next two years, in addition to a more introductory course that will run in January 2018. This course, “Techniques and protocols in sediment core description, analysis, data visualisation and interpretation” is open for applications now, and closes on the 15th November 2017 (Course dates: 17-19th January, 2018).

A selection of course photographs are available below.