8th January - Volcanic Terrains across the Solar System

Mapping the Volcanic Terrains across the Solar System

8th January

Dr. Ellen Stofan

6.30 - 7.30 p.m.

Rosalind Franklin Room, At-Bristol

Many planets and moons of our solar system show evidence of volcanic eruptions. The early missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus and Mercury were truly missions of discovery, with great debates in the scientific community on the roles of impacts and volcanic eruptions in shaping their surfaces.
Discover how these alien volcanic features are mapped and interpreted with knowledge and techniques developed from studies of volcanoes on Earth. A perfect way to celebrate BBC Stargazing Live.  
This is a free lecture, suitable for over 12s, and is supported by the University of Bristol.
Book your place!
Book on-line or 'phone 0845 4586499 (working hours)

Shale Gas

Blackpool shale gas deposit is 50% larger than first thought.
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Tribute to Patrick Moore

Click here to see The Geological Society's favourite Patrick YouTube outing.

11th December - WEGA talk

Please click here to see alterations to this talk.

Huge cracks on the Moon

Ebb and Flow, the twin spacecraft that comprise NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, have created a gravity map and other analyses of the moon, and it seems that it is riven by deep cracks. The gravity map reveals an abundance of features never before seen in detail, such as tectonic structures, volcanic landforms, basin rings, crater central peaks and numerous simple, bowl-shaped craters. The map also reveals evidence for fracturing of the interior extending to the deep crust and possibly the mantle. The Moon's crust has an average thickness of between 21 and 27 miles (34 and 43 kilometres), which is about 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 kilometres) thinner than previously thought.

Oldest known dinosaur?

Palaeontologists have found what is likely to be the oldest known dinosaur, filling in an evolutionary gap. Nyasasaurus parringtoni, a new species from 10-15 million years before the previous earliest dinosaur specimens. It walked on two legs, measured 2-3m in length with a large tail and weighed between 20 and 60kg.
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6th and 7th December - Reminders

6th December - Eight Evolutionary Myths: the closing of the Darwinian mind? by Professor Simon Conway-Morris

7th December - deadline for registering for Geology of the North Pennines Field Trip

Further details of both events are on the Bath Geological Society's website