Dr Rebecca Williams' Outputs (33)

Behaviours of pyroclastic and analogue materials, in dry and wet environments, for use in experimental modelling of pyroclastic density currents (2025)
Journal Article
Walding, N., Williams, R., Rowley, P., Dowey, N., Parsons, D., & Bird, A. (2025). Behaviours of pyroclastic and analogue materials, in dry and wet environments, for use in experimental modelling of pyroclastic density currents. Volcanica, 8(1), 261–285. https://doi.org/10.30909/vol/oxkm9163

Modelling pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) is a challenging yet essential element of hazard assessment. PDCs are unpredictable and internal processes are often difficult to measure directly. Analogue experiments have been an important tool for inv... Read More about Behaviours of pyroclastic and analogue materials, in dry and wet environments, for use in experimental modelling of pyroclastic density currents.

The influence of moisture on ash strength: implications for understanding volcanic stratigraphy (2025)
Journal Article
Walding, N., Williams, R., Dowey, N., Rowley, P., Thomas, M., Osman, S., Johnson, M., & Parsons, D. R. (2025). The influence of moisture on ash strength: implications for understanding volcanic stratigraphy. Bulletin of volcanology, 87, Article 39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-025-01821-4

Ash layers within extensive pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits can be important in understanding the evolution of explosive eruptions. If interpreted as ashfall deposits, they may be used to identify hiatus episodes and determine how many pyr... Read More about The influence of moisture on ash strength: implications for understanding volcanic stratigraphy.

The Equator Project Research School and Mentoring Network: Evaluated Interventions to Improve Equity in Geoscience Research (2024)
Journal Article
Dowey, N., Lawrence, A., Raji, M., Jackson, C., Williams, R., Fernando, B., Giles, S., Barclay, J., Brotherson, L., Childs, E., Houghton, J., Khatwa, A., Mills, K., Jameson, G., Rockey, F., Rogers, S., & Souch, C. (2024). The Equator Project Research School and Mentoring Network: Evaluated Interventions to Improve Equity in Geoscience Research. Earth Science, Systems and Society, 4, Article 10123. https://doi.org/10.3389/esss.2024.10123

There is a well-documented racial and ethnic diversity crisis in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) subjects in the Global North that leads to inequities in who does environmental research. The Equator project set out to increase part... Read More about The Equator Project Research School and Mentoring Network: Evaluated Interventions to Improve Equity in Geoscience Research.

Decolonising UK Earth Science (2024)
Newspaper / Magazine
Williams, R., Mills, K., & Lawrence, A. (2024). Decolonising UK Earth Science

Header:
Rebecca Williams, Keely Mills and Anya Lawrence reflect on the recent Decolonising UK Earth Science workshop and how examining our past can shape the future of geoscience.

Lost in Translation? Exploring the journey from press releases to news articles during volcanic crises, and its impact on perceptions (2023)
Thesis
Jones, E. M. Lost in Translation? Exploring the journey from press releases to news articles during volcanic crises, and its impact on perceptions. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4448192

The world in which we communicate has changed rapidly in recent years; information from official bodies can be posted, shared, translated, re-interpreted and disseminated rapidly via online news outlets and social media. The increased use of the inte... Read More about Lost in Translation? Exploring the journey from press releases to news articles during volcanic crises, and its impact on perceptions.

Cohesional behaviours in pyroclastic material and the implications for deposit architecture (2023)
Journal Article
Walding, N., Williams, R., Rowley, P., & Dowey, N. (2023). Cohesional behaviours in pyroclastic material and the implications for deposit architecture. Bulletin of volcanology, 85(11), Article 67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-023-01682-9

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are hazardous, multiphase currents of heterogeneous volcanic material and gas. Moisture (as liquid or gas) can enter a PDC through external (e.g., interaction with bodies of water) or internal (e.g., initial erupti... Read More about Cohesional behaviours in pyroclastic material and the implications for deposit architecture.

Anatomy of a volcanic eruption undersea (2023)
Journal Article
Williams, R., & Rowley, P. (2023). Anatomy of a volcanic eruption undersea. Science, 381(6662), 1046-1047. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk0181

In December 2021, an undersea volcano in the southern Pacific Ocean, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai (hereafter called the Hunga volcano) began erupting. In January 2022 the eruption reached a powerful climax, triggering atmospheric waves that traveled... Read More about Anatomy of a volcanic eruption undersea.

Strategies for making geoscience PhD recruitment more equitable (2023)
Journal Article
Fernando, B., Giles, S., Jackson, C., Lawrence, A., Raji, M., Williams, R., Barclay, J., Brotherson, L., Childs, E., Houghton, J., Khatwa, A., Newton, A., Mills, K., Rockey, F., Rogers, S., Souch, C., & Dowey, N. (2023). Strategies for making geoscience PhD recruitment more equitable. Nature Geoscience, 16(8), 658-660. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01241-z

Admission to doctoral study is a crucial step in the academic pipeline, but discriminatory procedures can disproportionately impact students from ethnic minority backgrounds. We show how these policies contribute to inequity in the geosciences and pr... Read More about Strategies for making geoscience PhD recruitment more equitable.

The Equator Project (2023)
Report
Dowey, N., Giles, S., Jackson, C., Williams, R., Fernando, B., Lawrence, A., Raji, M., Barclay, J., Brotherson, L., Childs, E., Houghton, J., Khatwa, A., Mills, K., Newton, A., Rockey, F., Rogers, S., & Souch, C. (2023). The Equator Project

Widening participation: Lessons from the Equator Research School (2022)
Newspaper / Magazine
Raji, M., Williams, R., & Dowey, N. (2022). Widening participation: Lessons from the Equator Research School

Opener:
Access to geoscience research is not equitable. Munira Raji, Rebecca Williams and Natasha Dowey discuss the Equator Research School, which set out to increase access and participation in doctoral study and beyond for ethnic minority students... Read More about Widening participation: Lessons from the Equator Research School.

How does grain size distribution impact the mobility and deposition of analogue pyroclastic density currents? (2022)
Thesis
Johnston, T. How does grain size distribution impact the mobility and deposition of analogue pyroclastic density currents?. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4224880

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are hot, density-driven flows of gas, rock and ash generated during explosive volcanic eruptions or from the collapse of lava domes. PDCs are able to travel for tens of km, traversing topographic barriers hundreds... Read More about How does grain size distribution impact the mobility and deposition of analogue pyroclastic density currents?.

Characterisation of reverse grading in ignimbrites through image analysis and experimental granular currents (2022)
Thesis
Johnson, M. Characterisation of reverse grading in ignimbrites through image analysis and experimental granular currents. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4320614

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are hot, density-driven fast-moving flows of gas, rock and ash produced by volcanic events such as explosive eruptions, the fallback of eruption columns or the collapse of lava domes. They are deadly geological haz... Read More about Characterisation of reverse grading in ignimbrites through image analysis and experimental granular currents.

Simultaneous fall and flow during pyroclastic eruptions: A novel proximal hybrid facies (2022)
Journal Article
Dowey, N., & Williams, R. (2022). Simultaneous fall and flow during pyroclastic eruptions: A novel proximal hybrid facies. Geology, 50(10), 1187-1191. https://doi.org/10.1130/G50169.1

The deposits of Plinian and subplinian eruptions provide critical insights into past volcanic events and inform numerical models that aim to mitigate against future hazards. However, pyroclastic deposits are often considered from either a fallout or... Read More about Simultaneous fall and flow during pyroclastic eruptions: A novel proximal hybrid facies.

Geology Uprooted! Decolonising the Curriculum for Geologists (2022)
Journal Article
Rogers, S. L., Dowey, N., Lau, L., Sheikh, H., & Williams, R. (2022). Geology Uprooted! Decolonising the Curriculum for Geologists. Geoscience Communication, 5(3), 189–204. https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2021-35

Geology is colonial. It has a colonial past and a colonial present. Most of the knowledge that we accept as the modern discipline of geology was founded during the height of the post-1700 European empire's colonial expansion. Knowledge is not neutral... Read More about Geology Uprooted! Decolonising the Curriculum for Geologists.

Volcanologists—who are we and where are we going? (2022)
Journal Article
Kavanagh, J. L., Annen, C. J., Burchardt, S., Chalk, C., Gallant, E., Morin, J., Scarlett, J., & Williams, R. (2022). Volcanologists—who are we and where are we going?. Bulletin of volcanology, 84(5), Article 53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-022-01547-7

Equity, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) are principles all scientific groups and organisations should strive to achieve as they secure working conditions, policies and practices that not only promote high-quality scientific output but also well-being... Read More about Volcanologists—who are we and where are we going?.

Publishing a Special Issue of Reports from the volcano observatories in Latin America (2021)
Journal Article
Chevrel, O., Wadsworth, F. B., Farquharson, J. I., Kushnir, A. R., Heap, M. J., Williams, R., Delmelle, P., & Kennedy, B. (2021). Publishing a Special Issue of Reports from the volcano observatories in Latin America. Volcanica, 4(S1), I-III. https://doi.org/10.30909/vol.04.S1.ivi

Peer-reviewed publications are the most common way of sharing scientific knowledge internationally. Volcanica is the only fully diamond open access journal in volcanology, publishing peer-reviewed articles without costs to authors or readers. As part... Read More about Publishing a Special Issue of Reports from the volcano observatories in Latin America.

A UK perspective on tackling the geoscience racial diversity crisis in the Global North (2021)
Journal Article
Barclay, J., Dowey, N., Fernando, B., Giles, S., Houghton, J., Jackson, C., Khatwa, A., Lawrence, A., Mills, K., Newton, A., Rogers, S., & Williams, R. (in press). A UK perspective on tackling the geoscience racial diversity crisis in the Global North. Nature Geoscience, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00737-w

Knickpoints and crescentic bedform interactions in submarine channels (2021)
Journal Article
Chen, Y., Parsons, D. R., Simmons, S. M., Williams, R., Cartigny, M. J. B., Hughes Clarke, J. E., Stacey, C. D., Hage, S., Talling, P. J., Azpiroz‐Zabala, M., Clare, M. A., Hizzett, J. L., Heijnen, M. S., Hunt, J. E., Lintern, D. G., Sumner, E. J., Vellinga, A. J., & Vendettuoli, D. (2021). Knickpoints and crescentic bedform interactions in submarine channels. Sedimentology, 68(4), 1358-1377. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12886

Submarine channels deliver globally important volumes of sediments, nutrients, contaminants and organic carbon into the deep sea. Knickpoints are significant topographic features found within numerous submarine channels, which most likely play an imp... Read More about Knickpoints and crescentic bedform interactions in submarine channels.

Volcanological evolution of Pantelleria Island (Strait of Sicily) peralkaline volcano: a review (2021)
Journal Article
Jordan, N. J., White, J. C., Williams, R., Speranza, F., Rotolo, S. G., & Scaillet, S. (in press). Volcanological evolution of Pantelleria Island (Strait of Sicily) peralkaline volcano: a review. Comptes Rendus Géoscience, 353(S2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.5802/CRGEOS.51

Pantelleria volcano has a particularly intriguing evolutionary history intimately related to the peralkaline composition of its explosively erupted magmas. Due to the stratigraphic complexity, studies over the last two decades have explored either on... Read More about Volcanological evolution of Pantelleria Island (Strait of Sicily) peralkaline volcano: a review.

The role of lithospheric thickness in the formation of ocean islands and seamounts: contrasts between the Louisville and Emperor-Hawaiian hotspot trails (2020)
Journal Article
Fitton, J. G., Williams, R., Barry, T. L., & Saunders, A. D. (2020). The role of lithospheric thickness in the formation of ocean islands and seamounts: contrasts between the Louisville and Emperor-Hawaiian hotspot trails. Journal of Petrology, 61(11-12), Article egaa111. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egaa111

The Hawaii-Emperor and Louisville seamounts form the two most prominent time-progressive hotspot trails on Earth. Both formed over a similar time interval on lithosphere with a similar range of ages and thickness. The Hawaii-Emperor seamounts are lar... Read More about The role of lithospheric thickness in the formation of ocean islands and seamounts: contrasts between the Louisville and Emperor-Hawaiian hotspot trails.