Tuesday 26 April 2016

May 5th - Lucky Planet

Bath Geological Society - May 5th
The "Lucky Planet"
Prof. David Waltham, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University London

Humankind has long fantasized about life elsewhere in the universe. And as we discover countless exoplanets orbiting other stars—among them, rocky super-Earths and gaseous Hot Jupiters—we become ever hopeful that we may come across extraterrestrial life. Yet even as we become aware of the vast numbers of planets outside our solar system, it also becomes clear that Earth is exceptional.
Further details.
7.30 p.m. BRLSI, 16 Queen Square Bath
Everyone welcome. Visitors £4. Free refreshments

Ancient warm climate helps predict future

Dino-Brexit - dinosaur migration our of Europe

Monday 18 April 2016

April 23rd - Sully Island and Lavernock Point and copy of talk on Chernobyl, April 7th

Saturday 23rd April
Sully Island and Lavernock Point

Leader: Professor Maurice Tucker, University of Bristol and Bath Geological Society
The Triassic rocks near Sully and Penarth (50 miles west of Bristol), near Cardiff, were deposited around the edge of a lake or inland sea in which the Mercia Mudstone/ Keuper Marl was deposited. The Trias overlies the Carboniferous limestone which locally created hills and cliffs around the lake; wave-cut shore-platforms and wave-notches were cut into the limestone cliffs, and screes of Carb Lst debris were formed, locally reworked into beach gravel breccias. A range of shoreline limestones was developed – with stromatolites, ripples, tepees, birdseyes, and these are interbedded with soils (calcretes) and evaporites, mostly gypsum-anhydrite, since replaced by dolomite and quartz. Dinosaur footprints are also present in the muddy marginal lacustrine sediments.
The day is dependent on the tides and we shall visit Swanbridge, Sully Island, Bendrick Rock and Lavernock Point.
Meet at 10.30 a.m. at the public car-park at Swanbridge, near the Captain’s Wife pub (postcode CF64 5UG), opposite Sully Island.
Travel via the M4 to junction 33, then head south towards Barry on the A4232, A4050, A4231 and B4267 through Sully to Swanbridge. AA Route planner suggests 1 hr 30 mins and ~65 miles from Bath.
Contact the field trip officer to book your place.
 £2 for visitors, free to members of Bath GS, WGG, WEGA and Bristol NATS (Geology).

Bath Geological Society's lecture on April 7th
Chernobyl exclusion zone - 30 years on by Dr. Lorraine Field, British Geological Survey
Download a copy of the talk here.

Friday 15 April 2016

June 22nd - Vale of Wardour field trip

Bath Geological Society - West Country Geology field trips
Vale of Wardour
Isobel Geddes and Steve Hannath, Wiltshire Geology Group
Wednesday 22nd June
This field trip involves a walk of around 5 miles which will take us across the vale from one side of the eroded anticline to the other. The walk will start at Dinton in the National Trust car park for Philips House on St Mary’s Rd, (SP3 5HH, OS sheet 130 009316) and finish with a pub lunch at the Wyndham Pub in Dinton on the Hindon Rd (SP3 5EG, OS130 019315). Those who say they wish to attend will be sent a menu in due course so that lunches may be ordered ahead of time and be ready for the end of the walk.
We shall meet at 10.00, the walk taking about 2.5/3 hours.
WGG Guide on the Vale of Wardour would be a useful reference; available on the day (£1.95).
You are welcome to join us on a first come first signed-up basis. We have put a limit on numbers so an early response is recommended.
Visitors £2, free for members of Bath GS, WGG, WEGA and BNS.
Bookings and further details

Thursday 14 April 2016

19th April - GWR Electrification

Piles, Piles, and More Piles!
Great Western Railway- Geotechnical Engineering for Electrification

19th April 2016, 6.30pm - Refreshments from 6pm
The Western Regional Group is pleased to invite Jon Esser to give an overview of the Great Western Electrification Programme from the perspective of the geotechnical discipline and also drawing on some wider project challenges.
The Great Western Electrification Programme (GWEp) aims to electrify one of Britain’s oldest and busiest railways, providing greener, more reliable journeys and improving connections across southern England and South Wales. Electrification will improve services and help support economic growth across many of our cities and towns.
Using case studies from the GWEp network, Jon will be presenting the main considerations and challenges that have been faced by the geotechnical team, from initial design development through to detailed design and during installation.
For full details, please download the FLYER
Venue: The Hub, 500 Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol, BS32 4RZ
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Mysterious stone sphere

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