3D model of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano

Make your own 3D model of Iceland's most famous recent volcano. Click here to read all about the eruption and the subsequent volcanic ash plume - see satellite images and an explanatory video clip.

May 6th - Where Plates go

Have a break from the details of election day and come to the Bath Geological Society's lecture at 7.30 at the BRLSI, Queen Square, Bath. Where Plates go will be discussed by Prof. Tim Elliott from the University of Bristol.
Plate tectonics is a grand paradigm in Earth Sciences that ties together many disparate observations. In order to conserve the Earth's surface area, the creation and movement of oceanic plates is necessarily accompanied by their return (subduction) into the underlying mantle (that comprises 80% of the Earth by volume). The initial passage of the plate into the mantle can be observed seismically, but thereafter the fate of plates remains enigmatic. Do they sink and pile up at the bottom of the mantle or simply get mixed back up in convective flow? In order to attempt to resolve this question geochemists have used an increasingly wide range of natural tracers to see if any hint of ‘recycled’ oceanic crust is ever resampled at the surface. This talk will review some of the techniques behind this endeavour and report on its mixed success.
Everyone is welcome - visitors £4.00 including free refreshment.

Also - don't forget our trip to Tintern Quarry next Saturday, May 1st.

May 1st - Tintern Quarry

A visit to Tintern Quarry - Saturday May 1st
Leader: David Owen, Head of Geology, Gloucestershire Geology Trust
Tintern Quarry exposes the thickest section of Carboniferous Limestone in the area. The quarry face itself is some 400 ft high, with several benches and haul roads. In the base of the quarry is the Lower Dolomite which has some good dolomite crystals in it. A forestry track circling the quarry provides safe and easy access to a full sequence from Lower Dolomite, through Crease Limestone, Whitehead Limestone, Lower Drybrook Sandstone, Drybrook Limestone and Upper Drybrook Sandstone.
The junction between Lower Dolomite and Crease Limestone is uncertain in this area as dolomitisation has affected both units to a high degree. The Whitehead Limestone is variably porcelaneous, mudflake breccia and dolomitic mudstone, with many stromatolites and a significant palaeosol at the top. Lower Drybrook Sandstone is a coarse gritty sandstone but there are some curious features exposed in the track cutting that the leader will invite suggestions about. Drybrook Limestone is partly oolitic, partly porcelaineous and has palaeokarst within it (nearby is an area of limestone pavement which we could visit if we have time).
Meet at 10.30 am at Tintern Quarry (SO 550 984) Please wear stout walking shoes and suitable outdoor clothing. Bring a packed lunch.
This trip is organised by the Bath Geological Society - free to members of Bath GS, WEGA and Bristol NATs. Visitors £2 - everyone welcome. Please contact the field secretary so he knows to expect you - 07712 776117.

Dates for your diaries - 8th and 9th May

Saturday 8th May, 2.00 p.m. - Isobel Geddes, Wiltshire Geology Group, is leading a field trip around Alton in the Pewsey Vale. Further details can be found on the website.

Sunday 9th May, 2 - 4.oo p.m. - Behind the scenes at the Museum
Leaders: Philip Powell and Nina Morgan
A rare opportunity to visit the historical archives behind the scenes at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH). The Museum is home to some of the largest collections of maps, letters, diaries and other material related to important nineteenth century geologists, including William Smith, John Phillips and William Buckland. The material that will be on show is rarely displayed to the public.
This event - which is open to all - is organised by The History of Geology Group (HOGG), a group affiliated with the Geological Society of London.
Cost & booking: For space reasons, numbers will be limited to 10. Cost is free to HOGG members; £15 to all others, to include a year's membership of HOGG. (It is not necessary to be a Fellow of the Geol. Soc. to join HOGG). Click here for more information or to register for the visit.

Bytham River Deposits of Lincolnshire - May 15th

This trip is organised by the The Geologists' Association
Bytham River Deposits of Lincolnshire
Saturday 15th May
Leaders: Professor Jim Rose and Jenni Turner
We will be looking at sediments of the ancient Bytham river (pre MIS 12 age) and at evidence for organic deposits between Tills (MIS 12 and 10 age). MIS age refer to quartz luminescence dating for the Anglian glaciation.
Start at 10.30 hrs at the Castle Bytham site - packed lunch or local hostelry, expecting to end about 16:00.
You will need a hard hat and hi-vis jacket.
Cost and Booking: Numbers may be limited. Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford at the GA office. Register with Sarah sending an administration fee of £5 per person to confirm your place.

Click here to view earlier GA trips.

The Role of the Conceptual Model in the Mode of Landslip Failure
Wednesday 21st April, 6.00 for 6.30pm
Dr Kevin Privett, Hydrock Group Ltd
The conceptual ground model is a vital tool in engineering geology. If used correctly, it illustrates the main issues and forms the basis for good technical designs. It can save you money - if you get things right the first time. It can help satisfy regulators that an appropriate approach will be taken.
A model is a living document that evolves with a project; a synthesis of all available data into an understanding of site conditions; how it works - not just what it looks like.
This presentation is a case history in the determination of the mode of failure in landslipped terrain for the design of a large infrastructure project. A strategic infrastructure development is planned on an active coastal landslide complex in southern England, the design of which must
take into account ground movements over the next 100 years. The presentation will highlight the activities undertaken to develop a conceptual ground model of the landsliding so as to predict the nature of future movements: extensive desk study, boreholes up to 100m deep, the integration of geomorphological mapping, hydrogeological modelling, surface & downhole geophysics, bathymetric and Lidar survey, high resolution stratigraphy and geological assessment, deep 3D geological modelling and FLAC slope stability modelling.
Venue: S H Reynolds Lecture Theatre (Room G25), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ
Refreshments will be available from 6 pm in the common room opposite G25.
Notes: For any enquiries regarding this event please contact the
Western Regional Group

BRLSI On-line Museum

Have you seen the BRLSI on-line Museum widget? It's on the home page of the BRLSI website. It's brilliant - a new fossil is appearing every day at the moment.

Friends of the The Geological Society

Did you know that the Society now offers a way for geological enthusiasts to become involved, through the ‘Friends of the Society’ scheme? The scheme is open to all those with an interest in geology at a non-professional level.
For just £35 a year, Friends receive Geoscientist, discounts on Special Publications and library use, and an evening event among other benefits. Please tell your friends so that they can become ours!

Websites of interest

The following websites have been sent by our readers.

This guy takes photos from space using a weather balloon and lots of string.

Early tracks

Velociraptor's cousin!

Spaces on two GA field trips

There are a few spaces left on the following trips organised by the Geologists' Association:- 16 - 19th April - 'A long weekend on the Yorkshire Coast' led by John Hudson.
Details and dates are still to be confirmed once tide info is available. We will be based in Scarborough and the trip will provide an opportunity to study the world famous sections exposed on the Yorkshire coast. There will be ample opportunities for fossil collecting.
Equipment: You will need a hard hat.
Cost and booking: Numbers will be limited to 20. Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford at the GA office. Register with Sarah sending an administration fee of £10 to confirm your place. Please note the GA will not be booking accommodation. We will arrange a group dinner on the Saturday evening if there is sufficient interest.

24th April - Coal Measures and Ammonites led by Simon Carpenter and Alan Bentley.
It is essential to contact the GA office on 020 74349298 to make sure there is space.