Tuesday 20 December 2016

Volcanic photos

Photos of this years volcanic activity

There are lots of reviews of the year appearing - HERE is the 2016 review of volcanoes. This has some fantastic photos.

Among the photos is one of tourist activity at the Cerro Negro volcano, in Leon, Nicaragua.



I was there in 2006 when things were not quite so organised.


Thursday 15 December 2016

Turbidity Current Studied

Turbidity Current Studied


The BBC reports on a study of a turbidity current in Monterey Bay, California, using a BED (Benthic Event Detector). These were placed on the sea bed in anticipation of a turbidity current occurring. And one did on the 15th January this year.

Details of how it was done are given but few measurements. Read it on the BBC website HERE.

A visualisation of Monterey Canyon falling away from the California coast

Earth Heritage Extra 5

Exploring geological language in the Welsh landscape


Earth Heritage Extra number 5 is now out and available for download HERE. It is all about Welsh place names and their relationship to local geology. Lots of interesting stuff!

Pen y Fan, the highest of the Brecon Beacons © Joe Cornish National Trust

Tuesday 13 December 2016

Finding micrometeorites in city gutters

Searching Gutters for Stars

The Economist reports on something you could do over the holiday - start by clearing your gutters!

The link to the Economist is HERE. Because Economist articles tend to disappear with time I have copied it below


“spherules”, each around 300-400 microns in diameter (a few times the width of a human hair).

Finding micrometeorites in city gutters

An amateur enthusiast advances planetary science


ABOUT 4.6bn years ago, a spinning disc of gas and dust began to coalesce into balls of matter. The largest sphere, at the disc’s centre, collapsed under its own gravity to form the sun. Other clumps of dust, scattered around its periphery, became planets and asteroids. In planets, this dust has long-since metamorphosed into rock. But in many asteroids, it is still more or less intact. As a consequence, when asteroids collide, some of it is liberated—and a small fraction of that material eventually falls to Earth as micrometeorites. This micrometeoritic dust arrives at a rate of around six tonnes a day. Spread over Earth’s surface, that amounts to just one particle per square metre each year.

Researchers go to great lengths to gather these grains, because they can reveal details of the solar system’s composition and history. They normally collect them by dredging up ooze from the ocean bed, then sifting and filtering it to find a few precious particles, or by melting tonnes of ice from the Antarctic to see what precipitates. Those two locations have the advantage of being isolated and reasonably free of dust from industrial sources. Now, in a study just published in Geology, a group of researchers have identified about 500 micrometeorites from an unlikely source: gutter sediment from the roofs of buildings in two of Europe’s capital cities.

Enthusiastic amateur astronomers have claimed to have found cosmic dust in such urban slurry before. Professional scientists, however, tend to be sceptical of such claims, and none has been verified. Jon Larsen, a Norwegian musician, refused to be discouraged. He collected detritus from gutters in his hometown, Oslo, and also from rooftops in several cities that he visited to play jazz or to attend conferences. Micrometeorites contain magnetite, a naturally magnetic form of iron oxide, commonly known as lodestone.

Mr Larsen’s first step was therefore to pass his slurry, about 300kg of it, past a magnet and keep anything that stuck. He then examined the 30kg or so of debris that resulted under a microscope, to hunt for cosmic dust. Micrometeorites melt as they zip through Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of around 12km a second. The globules then cool into spherical grains, and the minerals of which these are composed take on a distinctive stripy appearance (see picture). An experienced eye, such as Mr Larsen’s, can thus pick them out from other particles, which tend to be jagged and lack these markings. Altogether, he found about 500 of these “spherules”, each around 300-400 microns in diameter (a few times the width of a human hair).
To confirm that the spherules were indeed micrometeorites Mr Larsen needed both expertise and more heavyweight equipment than he had at home. He therefore turned to Matthew Genge of Imperial College, London and his colleagues. They analysed 48 items from Mr Larsen’s Oslo and Paris collections under a scanning electron microscope. They were able to confirm that the composition of these matched that of micrometeorites, which tend to be rich in olivine, a greenish semi-precious gemstone. Most tellingly, Mr Larsen’s samples contained iron and nickel alloys common in micrometeorites, but rare in Earth-bound rocks because these metals oxidise rapidly.

Micrometeorites dredged from the sea may have fallen to Earth any time within the past 50,000 years or so, depending on the depth of sediment recovered. Likewise, those found in Antarctic ice may have arrived up to a million years ago. In both instances the recovery technique mixes old and new, so it is impossible to identify specimens that have arrived in the past few decades. Some of the micrometeorites Mr Larsen has collected, on the other hand, must have touched down less than six years ago, because the gutters they came from were cleaned then.

Intriguingly, these recent arrivals are more densely striped than an average specimen plucked from Antarctica or the ocean floor. That, Dr Genge says, suggests that they arrived at particularly high velocity. The speed with which they hit the atmosphere is dictated by the combined gravitational forces on them of the solar system’s planets. That they are apparently arriving faster now than in the past may be because the planets’ orbits are in slightly different positions relative to each other than they were a million years ago.

That is to be expected. Planetary orbits are elliptical, rather than circular, and their gravitational interactions with one another may cause the shapes of these ellipses to change over the years. On Earth, such changes are believed to contribute to the waxing and waning of ice ages. If micrometeorites could be collected from conventional sources in ways that recorded when they had arrived, that might aid understanding of similar changes in the orbits of other planets.
Even if this proves difficult, Dr Genge and Mr Larsen hope the guttering of the world’s roofs will prove a useful third source of micrometeorites for general study. Oscar Wilde once wrote, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Little did he suspect that looking in the gutter itself would also yield a little of the stuff from which stars are made. 

Monday 12 December 2016

Ice Ages - a thing of the past?!

Ice Ages and Wobbly Orbits

Here is a discussion of the effects perturbations of the earths orbit. The conclusion is that global warming may save us from an ice age. But I don't think that makes it a good thing!


Saturday 10 December 2016

Dinosaur tail in amber

A Feathered Dinosaur Tail with Primitive Plumage Trapped in Mid-Cretaceous Amber

This has appeared in several places. The original paper can be found HERE. It is in the Economist HERE. But the BBC has the most approachable version HERE.



Mike Benton on the radio

Mike Benton on the BBC World Service

I came across this and thought it was very good. Mike talks about his work in palaeontology, geology and lots of other stuff. His talk will disappear soon so download it from THIS link. You will need to save it to someplace on your computer then play it.

Friday 9 December 2016

Next Week 12th to 18th December 2016

NEXT WEEKS EVENTS


12th December to 18th December 2016


The following is an extract from Bristol Geology Calendar

More details can be found in the Calendar and on the web sites of the relevant Society or organisation.

Monday



Tuesday

19:30      WEGA Lecture
When     Tue, 13 December, 19:30 – 21:00
Where     Earth Sciences Lecture Theatre, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, United Kingdom (map)
Description    Three research students - various topics

Wednesday



Thursday

19:30      Thornbury Geology Group meeting
When     Thu, 15 December, 19:30 – 20:30
Description      Thornbury Geology Group, The Chantry, Thornbury, 7.30pm, contact 01454 416882 The group is is an offshoot of Thornbury and District Museum and we welcome new members. Previous geological knowledge can be helpful but is not necessary as members are very willing to share their own knowledge with anyone keen to learn more about Earth Science. The group is loosely following a pre-recorded lecture series which is supplemented by use of other material and geological specimens. On occasions a guest speaker will talk on their specialist topic. Costs are met from attending members' monthly contributions and the group does not have membership subscriptions or a committee

Friday



Saturday



Sunday

Friday 2 December 2016

Next Week 5th to 12th December 2016

NEXT WEEKS EVENTS


28th November to 4th December 2016

The following is an extract from Bristol Geology Calendar

More details can be found in the Calendar and on the web sites of the relevant Society or organisation.

Monday

19:30
 Dave Green - Palaeontology and Evolution
WhenMon, 5 December, 19:30 – 22:30
WhereWynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester (map)
DescriptionPalaeontology and Evolution. This will be a mainly practical class, focussing on the preservation, identification and classification of fossils, and an account of the evolution of life on Earth. Starts Mon 19th September for 10 weeks (not 17th or 24th Oct), until 5th December Held at Wynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester from 7.30-9.30pm on Mondays. Cost £70 (including tea, coffee etc at breaktime!).

Tuesday

18:30
 Geological Society - Western Region
WhenTue, 6 December, 18:30 – 19:30
WhereUniversity Walk, Queen's Building, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, UK (map)
DescriptionChristmas Social: Geological Quiz and Meal

Wednesday

19:30
 South Glos Mines Research Group - Talk
WhenWed, 7 December, 19:30 – 21:00
WhereMiners Institute (aka Coalpit Heath Village Hall), 214 Badmington Rd, Coalpit Heath, BS36 2QB (map)
DescriptionBristol Locomotive Builders: 1841-1958 - Dr Martin Murray and David Martin For details contact Roger Gosling tel. 01454 883607

Thursday



Friday

19:00
 Cheltenham Mineral and Geological Society
WhenFri, 9 December, 19:00 – 21:00
WhereShurdington at The Century Hall (map)
Description Sale, Quiz, and Raffle

Saturday

11:00
 South Wales Geologists' Association - Lecture
WhenSat, 10 December, 11:00 – 12:00
WhereLectures at Cardiff University are held in the Department of Earth Sciences in the "Main Building". We meet in the Earth Sciences staff room and lectures are held in Lecture Theatre 1.25. (map)
DescriptionSaturday 10th December: (Cardiff) From the depths: How cave precipitates (speleotherms) tell us about past environments and climates. Professor Ian Fairchild (Birmingham)

Sunday

Wednesday 30 November 2016

Siccar Point - the birthplace of modern geology

The Geological Survey explains Siccar Point


A rather good video concerning Siccar Point - one of the birthplaces of (British) geology. Click the full screen button at the bottom right of the video.







Monday 28 November 2016

Water in the mantle

Water in the mantle

New Scientist has an article about water (well actually hydroxyl ions) in the mantle and at a considerable depth - 1,000 km. All from a tiny inclusion in a diamond.



You can find the article HERE.

Sunday 27 November 2016

Field Course on the Lizard

PROPOSED 4 DAY FIELD COURSE "FIELD GEOLOGY ON THE LIZARD PENINSULA, CORNWALL"

Nick Chidlaw is proposing to lead the above course in June 2017. details below the photo.


Kynance Cove, near Lizard village

Lifelong Learning 4 day course

Field Geology on the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall



June 2017: Sunday 25th – Wednesday 28th
10.00 am – 5.00 pm each day. 

The Lizard is composed of metamorphic rocks formed in a plate collision zone during Devonian and Carboniferous times. Much of the peninsula consists of what is widely recognised as parts of ancient ocean crust, the remainder being altered sediments (including some formed by underwater landslides), discrete igneous intrusions and slices of older crustal basement. These rocks, of which serpentine is the most famous, are superbly exposed in cliffs and quarries in a highly attractive coastal setting.  

No prior knowledge of the area or geology is assumed.

Please note you will need to make your own travel and accommodation arrangements, with meeting times and places to be confirmed.  

The course is organised through Cardiff University. If 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 £160.00  (concessionary fee available £128.00).

Enrolments can be made by ‘phoning 029  2087  0000  or see website www.cardiff.ac.uk/learn

For more information on course content and specific locations, contact tutor

Saturday 26 November 2016

Next Week 28th November to 4th December 2016

NEXT WEEKS EVENTS


28th November to 4th December 2016

The following is an extract from Bristol Geology Calendar

More details can be found in the Calendar and on the web sites of the relevant Society or organisation.

Monday

19:30
 Dave Green - Palaeontology and Evolution
WhenMon, 28 November, 19:30 – 22:30
WhereWynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester (map)
DescriptionPalaeontology and Evolution. This will be a mainly practical class, focussing on the preservation, identification and classification of fossils, and an account of the evolution of life on Earth. Starts Mon 19th September for 10 weeks (not 17th or 24th Oct), until 5th December Held at Wynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester from 7.30-9.30pm on Mondays. Cost £70 (including tea, coffee etc at breaktime!).

Tuesday



Wednesday

19:30               Bristol Nats Geology Lecture - Deserts and Dinosaur Discoveries
WhenWed, 30 November, 19:30 – 21:00
WhereS H Reynolds lecture Theatre, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol, BS8 1RJ (map)
DescriptionDeserts and Dinosaur Discoveries Dr Cindy Howells Wednesday 30 November, 7.30pm Wales is geologically diverse, and well known for its rich Palaeozoic fauna, but the recent discovery of a new dinosaur has highlighted the importance of the local Mesozoic sections. Cindy Howells is the Palaeontology Curator at the National Museum of Wales and is well qualified to talk about recent dinosaur discoveries in South Wales and the world in which these animals lived. The meeting will take place in the S H Reynolds lecture Theatre, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol, BS8 1RJ. For those unfamiliar with this venue: Enter the Wills Building via main entrance under the University Tower, let the people on the desk know that you have come for the BNS meeting and walk ahead between the two staircases. Turn right when you reach some display cases. The lecture room is on your left.

Thursday

19:30
 Bath Geol Soc Lecture
WhenThu, 1 December, 19:30 – 20:30
Where16 Queen Square, Bath (map)
DescriptionFirst Footfall: the Colonisation of Land Dr. Ken McNamara, Sedgwick Museum, University of Cambridge The colonisation of land and the establishment of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems was one of the most important events in the evolution of life. Yet we have a poor understanding of the identities of the colonisers, how they interacted with one another and even exactly when it happened. The early Silurian (about 430 million years) Tumblagooda Sandstone in the Southern Carnarvon Basin in Western Australia contains a rich trace fossil fauna that has the potential to shed much light on the identities of the first colonisers of land. Deposited before vascular plants had evolved on land, the extensive fossil trackways and burrows comprise a range of trace fossils attributed mainly to arthropods, but their exact identity remains enigmatic. The arthropod tracks range in size from a few millimetres to more than 30cm in width; some extendfor many metres. These larger forms must have been made by animals well in excess of 1 metre in length. Candidates for these first colonizers include the giant scorpion-like eurypterids, euthycarcinoids and synziphosurids. A number of different types of burrows have been described that have been interpreted as dwelling, feeding and hunting burrows. Study of the associations of different burrow types is enabling the trophic structure of this early terrestrial ecosystem to be established. Finally, in this talk I will also describe how the Tumblagooda Sandstone provides evidence for oldest known land animal and the earliest evidence for the presence of vertebrates on land.

Friday



Saturday

OUGS - Severnside - Day of Lectures
WhenSaturday, 3 Dec 2016
WhereYMCA Conference Centre, Mendalgief Road, Newport NP20 2HF. (map)
DescriptionDay of Lectures Our Day of Lectures will take place at the YMCA Conference Centre, Mendalgief Road, Newport NP20 2HF. Contact: Jan Ashton-Jones [janaj1009@gmail.com]

Sunday


New Zealand Earthquake

Video of the results of the New Zealand earthquake

This video has been brought to my attention and it is well worth seeing!


You can see it on You Tube HERE

Thursday 24 November 2016

Vallis Vale 1968

Pictures of Vallis Vale from 1968


A source has forwarded me these photographs of Vallis Vale, taken on a wet day in 1968. I think the railway line is long gone.






Avon RIGS Update

Avon RIGS Group Blog - updated

You can download the pdf of Avon RIGS booklet on the geology of South Gloucestershire from this PAGE. Paper copies are no longer available but the pdf is a good substitute.


Monday 21 November 2016

Himalayas video

Himalayas in the Laboratory


I came across this and it looks wonderful! Immensely complicated layer cake geology! Play the video on this page but it deserves to be full screen so press the full screen symbol at the bottom right of the video. I don't pretend to understand it but it gives lots of references if you want to follow up. 





You can get more of these videos HERE.

Welsh Dinosaurs

Welsh Dinosaurs - Bristol Nats Lecture

Bristol Naturalists’ Society Geology Section is holding a lecture on Wednesday 30th November. Details are:-

Bristol Naturalists’ Society Geology Section Lecture at 7.30pm on
Wednesday 30 November at University of Bristol School of Earth Sciences

“Deserts and Dinosaur Discoveries” by Dr Cindy Howells of the National Museum of Wales
Wales is geologically diverse, and well known for its rich Palaeozoic fauna, but the recent discovery of a new dinosaur has highlighted the importance of the local Mesozoic sections. Cindy Howells is the Palaeontology Curator at the National Museum of Wales and is well qualified to talk about recent dinosaur discoveries in South Wales and the world in which these animals lived.

The meeting will take place in the S H Reynolds lecture Theatre, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol, BS8 1RJ. For those unfamiliar with this venue: Enter the Wills Building via main entrance under the University Tower, let the people on the desk know that you have come for the BNS meeting and walk ahead between the two staircases. Turn right when you reach some display cases. The lecture room is on your left.

Anyone interested in geology, fossils or Dinosaurs is welcome to attend. There is no charge.



Sunday 20 November 2016

Darwin Award contendor

Man's body 'dissolved' by Yellowstone hot spring after seeking place to swim

There have been several reports about this recently - The Guardian, The Sun (who say the man was a geology graduate! - but they get the state wrong), The Chicago Tribune, The BBC, among others. 

The man died on the 7th June, 4 days after WEGA visited the place that he died. 

WEGA at the Porcelain Basin - we stayed on the paths!

Saturday 19 November 2016

Next Week 21st to 27th November 2016

NEXT WEEKS EVENTS


21st to 27th November 2016
The following is an extract from Bristol Geology Calendar
More details can be found in the Calendar and on the web sites of the relevant Society or organisation.
The exhibition about mining and quarrying in the Yate area continues throughout the week at Yate & District Heritage Centre, Church Road, Yate, BS37 5BG (map)

Monday

19:30
 Dave Green - Palaeontology and Evolution
WhenMon, 21 November, 19:30 – 22:30
WhereWynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester (map)
DescriptionPalaeontology and Evolution. This will be a mainly practical class, focussing on the preservation, identification and classification of fossils, and an account of the evolution of life on Earth. Starts Mon 19th September for 10 weeks (not 17th or 24th Oct), until 5th December Held at Wynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester from 7.30-9.30pm on Mondays. Cost £70 (including tea, coffee etc at breaktime!).

19:30
 Teme Valley Geol Soc Lecture

WhenMon, 21 November, 19:30 – 21:00
WhereMartley Memorial Hall, Martley, Worcestershire WR6 6PQ (map)
DescriptionMining the Heritage A talk by noted geological ambassador and expert Graham Worton on the geology and history of Dudley and the Wren’s Nest heritage site


Tuesday


Wednesday


Thursday

19:30
 Dave Green - Geology of the Wye Valley
WhenThu, 24 November, 19:30 – 20:30
WhereHeld at 6th form and adult education centre John Kyrle High School, Ross on Wye (map)
DescriptionGeology of the Wye Valley and its tributaries This 10 week course, starting on Thursday September 22nd, aims to familiarise you with the geology of this part of western Britain. A 10 week, class-based course (with the possibility of day or residential field trip(s)). The course will examine the geology of the Wye and its tributaries (including the Ithon, Lugg, Arrow, Frome, Honddu, Dore, Garron, Monnow and Troddi) from its source on Plynlimon to the sea; including places such as Rhyader, Builth Wells, Llandrindod Wells, Leominster, Kington, Presteigne, Hay, Hereford, Ross and Chepstow. The geology covers a vast range of geological time – from the late Pre Cambrian (the oldest rocks in southern Britain, dated at 715 million years), through Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous to the Triassic (200 million years), a journey which took us from near the South Pole, across the Equator to 30oNorth Held at 6th form and adult education centre John Kyrle High School, Ross on Wye. Cost £45. Contact Paul Mason on 01989 760399. Enrol before 15th September.

Friday

Dave Green - Field Course, Charnwood
When25 – 27 Nov 2016
DescriptionField Course: 25th – 27th November (and possibly Monday 28th too) Geology of the Charnwood Forest area £30 deposit by end of October or sooner. Charnwood Forest was for long known as the “nearest hard rocks to London” – an inlier of ancient, and much-quarried, PreCambrian igneous rocks protruding through the younger sedimentary rocks much more typical of the East Midlands. Known also for the first discovery of PreCambrian fossils by a schoolboy in the 1950s – or was it his sister? – and for the origin of the term “Charnian” to describe a NW to SE trend of folding found in the area. Register at http://www.geostudies.co.uk/

Saturday

Dave Green - Field Course, Charnwood
When25 – 27 Nov 2016
DescriptionField Course: 25th – 27th November (and possibly Monday 28th too) Geology of the Charnwood Forest area £30 deposit by end of October or sooner. Charnwood Forest was for long known as the “nearest hard rocks to London” – an inlier of ancient, and much-quarried, PreCambrian igneous rocks protruding through the younger sedimentary rocks much more typical of the East Midlands. Known also for the first discovery of PreCambrian fossils by a schoolboy in the 1950s – or was it his sister? – and for the origin of the term “Charnian” to describe a NW to SE trend of folding found in the area. Register at http://www.geostudies.co.uk/

Sunday

Dave Green - Field Course, Charnwood
When25 – 27 Nov 2016
DescriptionField Course: 25th – 27th November (and possibly Monday 28th too) Geology of the Charnwood Forest area £30 deposit by end of October or sooner. Charnwood Forest was for long known as the “nearest hard rocks to London” – an inlier of ancient, and much-quarried, PreCambrian igneous rocks protruding through the younger sedimentary rocks much more typical of the East Midlands. Known also for the first discovery of PreCambrian fossils by a schoolboy in the 1950s – or was it his sister? – and for the origin of the term “Charnian” to describe a NW to SE trend of folding found in the area. Register at http://www.geostudies.co.uk/