D-Day 80 years later | spiritnow stories [Video]

Flanked by research colleagues, ConocoPhillips Senior Geologist Dallin Laycock scooped up a handful of sand from Sword Beach and sprinkled the granules over a magnet.

“I heard the unmistakable sound of metal hitting the magnet,” Laycock said. “We looked at it under the microscope and clearly saw an oxidized piece of metal. The very first handful of sand I’d picked up had shrapnel in it.”

Like tiny time capsules, the metal fragments are microscopic evidence of the fighting that took place during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. These granular war relics are the focus of an undergraduate research project led by BYU Geology Professor Sam Hudson.

Supporting STEM education

Collaborating with Hudson as volunteers and geological detectives, Laycock and his colleague ConocoPhillips Staff Geologist Erin Pemberton have been lending their time and expertise to help with the educational project, along with Glen Burridge, a U.K. geologist and war history expert.

“Dallin …