Tuesday 21 March 2023

2 Nick Chidlaw Indoor Courses

 2 Nick Chidlaw Indoor Courses

The Lizard and Anglesey

Nick Chidlaw has asked me to publicise two course he proposes to run in late April. These are independent of one another: enrollees can choose to do both or either, according to their availability / interests.  

The courses will be held at Chantry Community & Arts Centre, 52 Castle St, Thornbury, Bristol BS35 1HB, UK (www.thechantry.org.uk)

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 THE GEOLOGY OF THE LIZARD PENINSULA, CORNWALL:  400 million year old crustal and mantle remnants from a closed ocean 

Saturday 22nd April 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

The Lizard Peninsula includes ocean crust rocks and upper mantle rocks that were metamorphosed in an ocean basin setting, and later obducted onto continental crust as the ocean basin closed. This closure is referred to as the Variscan Orogeny, and marks a major tectonic plate collision that affected what is now the British Isles and central Europe, notably towards the end of the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago. Other rocks on the Lizard formed in this ocean setting include 'turbidites' deposited from successive clouds of descending sediment, and coarser material laid down by underwater landslides. There are also some discrete igneous intrusions and slices of older crustal units present.   

No previous knowledge of geology or the area will be assumed.   
 

Tuition fee: £30.00 

Contact tutor Dr Nick Chidlaw nickchidlaw@gmail.com to enrol and for any queries. 

Deadline for course viability: Thursday 6th April. If the course has become viable (minimum of 10 enrolments) by this date, enrolments will be able to continue until 1 week before the course runs (Saturday 15th April). 


 Serpentinite rock, Kynance Cove. It was formed through alteration of rocks originating in the earth's upper mantle. 


Cross section reconstruction of the developing plate collision at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary about 360 million years ago. 

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GEOLOGY OF THE ISLE OF ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES 

Sunday 23rd April 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

The geology of Anglesey, or Ynys Mon, is of international significance, it being designated a 'Global Geopark' by UNESCO.  Much of the island is composed of Precambrian - Cambrian rocks, formed during tectonic plate collision; these include 'blueschist' rarely seen elsewhere in the British Isles, and submarine landslides containing blocks over 1 km in size. In Silurian times, copper ores were emplaced at Parys Mountain, and these have been exploited by man since the Bronze Age. Old Red Sandstone containing ancient soils, and fossiliferous rocks of Carboniferous age, are also present.   

No previous knowledge of geology or the area will be assumed.    

Tuition fee: £30.00 

Contact tutor Dr Nick Chidlaw nickchidlaw@gmail.com to enrol and for any queries. 

Deadline for course viability: Thursday 6th April. If the course has become viable (minimum of 10 enrolments) by this date, enrolments will be able to continue until 1 week before the course runs (Sunday 16th April).  


 'Pillow' structures in spilite lava. Bodorgan Formation (Late Cambrian - Early Ordovician age), Llanddwyn Bay, in the SW of Anglesey. 


The Great Opencast at Parys Mountain, NE Anglesey. Some 300,000 tonnes of copper ore are estimated to have been extracted at Parys Mountain between the mid 18th century and late 19th century. Great quantities of metallic ores remain untapped at depth in the subsurface.  

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