The British Geophysical Association and the Near Surface Geophysics Group of the Geological Society of London are pleased to announce that 2019’s New Advances in Geophysics meeting will focus on Geophysics in the Critical Zone: Modern Approaches to Characterising Near-Surface Materials – the upper 10s of metres of the ground that dominate our interactions with geology.

The drive towards sustainable economic development requires, more than ever, an understanding of the relationship between society and the geology on which it is built.  The properties of the near-surface environment, and the processes acting in it, affect us daily – in the foundations of our cities and future energy generation, the aquifers which store our water, and the soils that grow our food and preserve our history.

The near-surface represents a uniquely challenging environment for geophysical surveys, comprising diverse natural and man-made materials, extreme changes in local ground conditions, and a complex range of subsurface processes. Nonetheless, geophysicists have developed methods to address these challenges.  This meeting highlights modern geophysical approaches to understand the near-surface environment, and showcases future directions for the discipline.

Abstract submissions will open in mid-May.