The department has 6 Multi-Collector Mass Spectrometers, 2 ICP Mass Spectrometers, specialised geochemistry, biogeochemistry and petrology laboratories including clean suites, a workshop for sample preparation and a library with c. 10,000 volumes (as well as map collections).

[1] Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford dates back to the 17th Century with the work of naturalists such as Edward Lhuyd and Robert Plot.

However, the first formal appointment was in 1813, with William Buckland designated as Reader in Mineralogy, and later Professor of Geology.

[6] The establishment of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 1860[7] was influential in the history of Geology at the University, and has collaborated closely with the Department of Earth Sciences (established as the School of Geology in 1888[8]) ever since.

The School was based in the museum until 1949, where it moved into a new building opposite Keble College (now occupied by the Department of Computer Science).