Mendip Rocks!

FULL PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

Urban Geology of London

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Biggest Cave is in Shetland

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Don't forget the Bath Geological Society's talk about the 

Geology of the Shetland Islands on Thursday September 4th

Fish learn to walk

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6th September - Hampshire Mineral & Fossil Show

Sept 4th - Shetland - Scottish geology in the wrong order

Bath Geological Society - September 4th
Shetland - Scottish geology in the wrong order!
Chris Darmon
The Shetland Isles are something of an enigma. Even weather maps often miss them off and few people realise that they are 80 miles north to south! Chris has been visiting them for nearly 30 years and over that time has come to love Shetland, its geology, landscape and people. Only in recent years has the geological story begun to be told with any degree of accuracy and even now there are lots of problems still to be solved.
7.30p.m. 16 Queen Square Bath - everyone welcome - free refreshment
Further details on the website.

Methane leakage from sea floor - N US Atlantic margin

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Lifelong Learning 4 day course - Derbyshire in October

Geology of the Derbyshire Peak District around Castleton
Tutor: Dr Nick Chidlaw
Four consecutive days in October this year: Thursday 2nd –  Sunday 5th  
10.00 am – 5.00 pm each day

Around Castleton, craggy wooded dales and cliff-edged moorlands meet. Here the underlying geology records a legacy from Carboniferous times of tropical limestone reefs which became buried by grit deltas. Later, fluids entered the limestones forming metallic ores and the famous mineral ‘Blue John’. Here also occurs Britain’s deepest-known cave shaft and the landslide-prone Mam Tor, the ‘Shivering Mountain’. Working quarries and natural exposures will be examined. No prior knowledge of the area or geology is assumed.

Please note that you will need to make your own travel and accommodation arrangements, with meeting time and place to be confirmed.
The course is organized through Cardiff University. It carries assessment, which is very difficult to fail!; attendees usually find assessment on these courses useful for consolidating what they have learned.
Tuition fee is £147.00 (Concessionary fee available £118.00). 
Enrolments can be made by ‘phoning 029 2087 0000 or see website.
For more information on course content and specific field locations, contact tutor.
 

Ralph Allen Cornerstone - Bath

 In the Tourist Information Office in Abbey Churchyard, Bath is a leaflet about 'Ralph Allen Cornerstone' which asks on the front, "Where did the buildings of Bath come from?" - and saying "Find out about the fascinating history of Mr Ralph Allen's quarries in Combe Down, source of the stone that built the city of Bath."  The back gives lots of information about this new free resource which starts from the stone's geological origins.

Strange creatures in the Cambrian Burgess Shale

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Also try the Earthlearningidea - Curious creatures

19th August - Sustainable re-use of hazardous material

Western Region GS
Sustainable Re-use of Hazardous Material
Mike Roper, Hydrock
19 August, 6:30pm (refreshments from 6pm)
The talk will be on the reuse of hydrocarbon impacted material dredged from a reservoir on the former BP Llandarcy Oil Refinery. The talk will describe the process by which a hazardous waste material was recovered and then combined with another hazardous waste to produce an inert material that could be reused on site to construct a highway embankment.
Atkins, The Hub (Ground Floor), 500 Park Avenue, Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol, BS32 4RZ.
Everyone is welcome,

Skopelos News

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Ethiopia's Volcanoes

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Field visit to Somerton and Langport - 19th September

SOMERTON AND LANGPORT

Friday 19 September, 10.30 - 3.30

Leaders: Simon Carpenter and Richard Ashley

This meeting visits two working quarries. In the morning we will visit Ashen Cross Quarry near Somerton where the very lowest beds of the Blue Lias are worked. Following a pub lunch in Somerton we will visit Bowdens Lane Quarry near Langport where beds in the White and Blue Lias are worked. 

Please note that this meeting is being held on a Friday, as access to these quarries cannot be obtained on the usual Saturday. Hard hats and high visibility jackets or vests are required and the party will be limited to 16 so bookings are essential. Collecting is permitted. 

Please contact Richard Ashley

Meet at 10.30 am at Ashen Cross Quarry south of Somerton. Grid reference ST 495 275. 

16th - 18th August - Margaret Adler Exhibition

Margaret Adler Exhibition of Paintings
16th - 18th August, 10.00a.m. - 4p.m.
Centre Space, Bristol
Entrance is free and there will be a chance to see the wonderful paintings of this artist as well as some of her stained glass and sculptures.
There will be an opportunity to purchase paintings and cards of her work as well as a fabulous new book depicting the scope of her abilities.
Proceeds from the exhibition will go to the Save the Children fund.
Margaret was a member of Bath Geological Society for many years; she died in May 2012.
Centre Space Gallery, 6 Leonard Lane, Bristol., BS1 1EA
Centre Space is in the heart of Bristol City. It is 20 minutes by foot and 10 minutes by taxi from Bristol Temple Meads. Buses from Bristol Temple Meads are an 8 or 9, from the train station, to the town centre, and the Centre Space is 5 minutes walk from Broadmead.
Car parking can be found at the Galleries car park which is also 5 minutes from the Centre Space.

The Great Schools Geobakeoff!

An A level geology student from Wells Cathedral School

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Sandstone shapes 'forged by gravity'

Erosion by wind and water, it seems, is merely the sharp instrument. The remarkable shapes are controlled by internal stresses and strains within the rock, applied by the pull of gravity.
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