Saturday, 15 February 2020

17th February to 1st March 2020


NEXT WEEKS EVENTS

17th February to 1st March 2020


THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXTRACT FROM BRISTOL AND WEST COUNTRY GEOLOGY CALENDARS

MORE DETAILS CAN BE FOUND IN THE BRISTOL AND THE WEST COUNTRY CALENDARS AND ON THE WEB SITES OF THE RELEVANT SOCIETY OR ORGANISATION.


MONDAY 17TH

Geostudies Field Course - Mallorca
When
17– 24 Feb 2020
Description

The Geology of  Mallorca 

 Mallorca  is an extension of the Alpine range of the Betic Cordillera. Rocks ranging in age from the Carboniferous to  the Pleistocene are mainly sedimentary and have been severely affected by thrusting and folding during the Miocene, producing two ranges of mountains – the Sierra  Norte and Sierra de Levante, separated by a fault guided valley preserving younger sediments. 

Dave Green, Joys Green Farm, Forge Hill, Lydbrook, Glos GL17 9QU  Tel 01594 860858   
e-mail davegeostudies@gmail.com 

tuesday 18th

GEOSTUDIES FIELD COURSE - MALLORCA
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Geol Soc Western - Lecture
When
Tue, 18 February, 18:00 – 20:00
Where
The Hub, 500 Park Ave, Aztec W, Almondsbury, Bristol BS32 4TR, UK (map)
Description
Talk - The Engineering Geology and Geomorphology of Hot Deserts by Professor Jim Griffiths, Plymouth University  

The Western Regional Group is pleased to welcome Professor James Griffiths, Emeritus Professor of 
Engineering Geology & Geomorphology, University of Plymouth. Jim received the prestigious Glossop Medal 
from the Geological Society in 2013 and has over 15 years’ industry experience and over 20 years in 
academia working in geology and geomorphology.  

Over the past 40 years considerable understanding and experience has been gained of the 
geomorphological processes and ground characteristics peculiar to hot desert regions, and the effects these 
have on engineering design and construction. This work was summarized by Engineering Group Working 
Party on Hot Deserts in EGSP 25 (Walker 2012). The Working Party brought together a team of practicing 
engineering geologists, applied geomorphologists, geotechnical and civil engineers with a wealth of varied 
but complimentary experience of working in hot deserts. The report covered: desert environments; processes 
and landforms; hazards and the desert ground model; soil and rock description and characteristics; site investigation; engineering  behaviour of desert soils; construction  materials; and engineering design and  construction.   

This presentation will be on the engineering  geological and geomorphological aspects of  hot deserts conditions and the way these  disciplines inform engineering design. The  presentation will be by Professor Griffiths who  co-authored three of the ten chapters in the  report and will draw on the all aspects of the  findings of the Working Party.  

Walker, M.J., (ed.) 2012. Hot Desert Engineering Geology and Geomorphology.  
Geological Society Engineering Geology Special Publication, 25, pp.424. 

wednesday 19th

GEOSTUDIES FIELD COURSE - MALLORCA

thursday 20th

GEOSTUDIES FIELD COURSE - MALLORCA
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Thornbury Geology Group, 7.30pm, The Chantry, Thornbury
When
Thu, 20 February, 19:00 – 21:30
Description
Thornbury Geology Group, 7.30pm at The Chantry, Thornbury, and every 3rd Thursday in the month.  

friday 21st

GEOSTUDIES FIELD COURSE - MALLORCA

saturday 22nd

GEOSTUDIES FIELD COURSE - MALLORCA

sunday 23rd

GEOSTUDIES FIELD COURSE - MALLORCA

monday 24th

GEOSTUDIES FIELD COURSE - MALLORCA
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Geostudies Lecture Course - Germany
When
Mon, 24 February, 19:30 – 21:30
Where
Wynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester (map)
Description
The Geology of Germany 

 Monday 13th for 10 weeks (not 17th Feb) until 23rd  March. Held at Wynstones School, Stroud Road, Whaddon, Gloucester from 7.30 - 9.30pm on Mondays. 

Like Britain, Germany consists of a number of exotic Terranes, derived from different continents and amalgamated together by plate tectonic collisions. Northern Germany is part of Avalonia, which amalgamated with the East European Craton (Baltica) along the Tornquist suture in the east. A great deal of this area is plastered by thick Quaternary glacial sediments. 

Central Germany is part of Armorica, which collided with the north during the Variscan orogeny. There is, in places, thick Mesozoic unconformable cover. The extreme south is part of the Alpine orogeny, but its effects were transmitted northwards to affect and reactivate older structures. There was extensive volcanic activity during the Tertiary, and some famous asteroid impact sites. 

Cost £75

tuesday 25th


wednesday 26th

Bristol Nats Lecture
When
Wed, 26 February, 19:30 – 21:00
Where
Room 1.5 Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol (map)
Description
Trains and Trilobites
Talk by David Clegg
Geological journeys in Canada including the Burgess Shale

thursday 27th

Geostudies Lecture - Uniformitarianism
When
 19:30 – 21:30
Where
The Chantry, Thornbury (map)
Description

The Limits of Uniformitarianism.


The science of geology is heavily dependent on the principle of uniformitarianism – the idea  that geological conditions and processes have remained substantially unchanged through geological time, meaning that we can interpret the past on the basis of our understanding of the geological present. But how accurate is this principle? To what extent were conditions and processes different in the past? Are present conditions and processes typical? How well do we understand present processes? And there are also spatial features to consider; A casual examination of a modern sedimentary or volcanic environment reveals rapid and wide-ranging changes in facies over a small area. Our evidence of past environments is largely based on small, possibly unrepresentative, exposures of tiny fractions of those past environments. Are we justified in using evidence from the past to interpret the present and future, such as climate change?  Held at The Chantry, Thornbury, in the Hanover Room.  First meeting 7.30 – 9.30, Thurs 16th  January until April 2nd  (not Thurs 20th Feb or 19th March). Cost £75


Programme

What do we mean by Uniformitarianism? Origin of the term and the historical context in which it arose and developed as a counter to “Old” Catastrophism.

What are the main problems with Uniformitarianism? The rise of “New” Catastrophism in the later part of the 20th century. Problems of direction, cyclicity, punctuation, gradualism in the following fields of geology:

Uniformitarianism and sedimentation. Have conditions changed over geological time? How representative in terms of coverage and completeness is the sedimentary record?

Uniformitarianism and volcanicity, earthquakes, intrusion and landslides (Mar 13)

Uniformitarianism and the solar system – external processes affecting earth geology (Mar 27)

Uniformitarianism and major environmental change (such as climate and sea level changes) (Mar 5)

Uniformitarianism, evolution and mass extinction (Mar 12)

Uniformitarianism and tectonics – was plate tectonics a relatively young development? Is the Wilson (supercontinent) Cycle real? (Mar 26)

Geomorphology and Uniformitarianism (Apr 2)

Is the present the key to the past? (or in reverse?)

friday 28th


saturday 29th

Bath Geol Soc - Field Trip
When
Sat, 29 February, 10:30 – 12:00
Where
Brown's Folly Car Park (G.R. ST 798663) (map)
Description
Brown's Folly Nature Reserve
Leader: Graham Hickman, Bath Geological Society
The annual, morning clear-up of the Great oolite exposures on the SSSI reserve near Bathford. Bring your secateurs and hedge trimmers to cut back the vegetation and clean up the outcrops, or just take the opportunity to visit the sites and talk about geology.

Meet at 10.30 a.m. at Brown's Folly Car Park (G.R. ST 798663). Strong boots, waterproofs and hard hats are required.

sunday 1st



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