TWO ONE-DAY GEOLOGICAL FIELD COURSES IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE , MID NOVEMBER
Nick Chidlaw has sent me an email about two courses he intends to run in November. Both are in Gloucestershire and both look interesting. See his email below.
=================================
Information on courses
Please note that these course are independent of one another - you can decide to attend either or both, according to your interests and availability.
Tuition fee is £27.00 per person per course.
If you / anyone else you know would like to attend either or both of these courses, please forward cheque payable to me to:
Dr N Chidlaw
8 Silver Street
Dursley,
Glos.
GL11 4ND
Bank trans can be arranged if you do not use cheques - let me know.
Please provide me with your postal address - I will then be able to send you your course handout(s) in good time before the courses run, should they become viable.
The deadline for the minimum number (10) of enrolments for both courses is Thursday 1st November (just over 2 weeks before the courses are proposed to run). Maximum number of enrolments is 30. If the minimum of enrolments is reached by this deadline, the arrangements will continue; if not, the course will be cancelled and fees received will be returned to those who have sent them in, soon afterwards.
Please note that for each course you will need to:
Arrange your own transport (and accommodation such as B&B if you live beyond reasonable commuting distance - tutor can advise)
Bring your own packed lunch(es), and any refreshments (e.g. flask of coffee, fruit juice, mineral water, high energy snacks etc.)
Wear strong footwear with good tread and ankle support, and warm waterproof clothing if weather is poor
Wear hard hats when below rock faces (bring one, or request from the tutor in advance of the course(s) to borrow one)
You would be insured against accident for the duration of both courses.
Please see details of the two courses below. I hope this proposal is of interest to you, and to hear from you soon.
Regards,
NICK CHIDLAW.
ICE AGE & HOT DESERT: (Saturday 17th November)
The Severn Valley immediately north of Gloucester comprises a rural landscape of farmland and scattered villages, punctuated by abrupt, flat-topped hills, and extensive tracts of valley floor over which the tidal river flows south. The geological history of the area is fascinating and contrasting. The oldest strata, c. 200 million years old, are very gently folded into a basin structure and were laid down as hot deserts gave way to shallow tropical seas in Late Triassic / Early Jurassic times. They are exposed in cliffs along the river. The hill tops and valley sides below preserve deposits laid down by a glacier and meltwaters during the Ice Age. At this time, the river progressively cut down its course, at one time reaching below its present level. With the ending of the Ice Age in Britain some 10,000 years ago, and the associated rise in sea level, the river has built up its broad clayey plain, frequently prone to hazardous winter floods. This course comprises a morning walk (c. 4 miles) and an afternoon walk (c. 3 miles), both gently-paced with frequent stops to discuss the geology and landforms.
Volunteer drivers amongst the field party will be required to facilitate the planned walking - do let me know when enrolling if you can help in this regard.
--------------------------------------------
The steep escarpment of Jurassic rocks in the mid Cotswolds looks north-west across the broad low-lying Severn Vale, to the Welsh Borderland hills and beyond. This mainly rural, highly attractive landscape overlies a geological legacy of repeated tectonic plate collision and extension, uplift and erosion going back to Precambrian times. On this course you can learn to recognise these landforms, know of their underlying rocks, and understand how both came into being. Walking about 4 miles between Doverow Hill near Stonehouse across the valley of the river Frome to Selsley Common, we examine exposures of Early and Middle Jurassic strata in old quarries and pits, and lane cuttings. The Early Jurassic rocks here, mostly soft, muddy and sandy sedimentary deposits, were laid down in warm tropical seas overlying an active rift complex before the North Atlantic Ocean basin opened to the west; the overlying Middle Jurassic strata, mostly limestones with highly fossiliferous beds, were deposited when the seas became shallower and clearer and the crustal rifting died down. In later geological times, the Jurassic strata came under north-south tension, causing the rocks to develop parallel sets of faults running east-west, and displacements to occur. During the Ice Age, the River Severn and its tributaries progressively incised their courses, and landslides occurred on the escarpment as it came into being; these landslides continued to take place, notably at the end of the last cold climatic episode.
Volunteer drivers amongst the field party will be required to facilitate the planned walking - do let me know when enrolling if you can help in this regard.
No comments:
Post a Comment