Dr Stuart Kearns

Research summary

My principal research interest is the investigation of signals resulting from the electron beam interaction with geological materials. Specifically this is applied to a diverse range of problems such as the mineralogy of exceptionally preserved fossils, from the Cambrian Burgess Shale to the Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China, and the mineralogy and petrogenesis of carbonatite ash deposits.

I experiment with novel techniques in electron microscopy as applied to a range of materials: Variable Pressure SEM offers the possibility of non-destructive analysis of rare and precious fossil material; cryogenic electronprobe microanalysis is applied to the quantitative analysis of volcanic glass and ...

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Recent publications

• Cunningham, JA, Thomas, C, Bengtson, S, Kearns, SL, Xiao, S, Marone, F, Stampanoni, M & Donoghue, PCJ 2012, ‘Distinguishing geology from biology in the Ediacaran Doushantuo biota relaxes constraints on the timing of the origin of bilaterians’. Proceedings of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences, vol 279., pp. 2369-2376
• Kearns, SL & Buse, B 2012, ‘X-ray microanalysis of volcanic ash’. in: EMAS 2011: 12TH EUROPEAN WORKSHOP ON MODERN DEVELOPMENTS IN MICROBEAM ANALYSIS. Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft & IOP Publishing Ltd, BRISTOL, pp. -

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View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system