May 2nd and May 4th - Ocean floor & Geology of the Coal Measures

May 2nd - Bath Geological Society
7.30 p.m. BRLSI, 16 Queen Square, Bath
'Seeing beneath the waves - mapping the ocean floor'
Dr. Philippe Blondel, Deputy Director, Centre for Space, Atmospheric & Oceanic Science Department of Physics, University of Bath
Oceans make up most of the Earth and can only be mapped using sound. The last decades have seen tremendous improvements in both our knowledge of the “Blue Planet” and in our capabilities to explore it. Based on the speaker’s own research, this talk will present the latest sensors and their main discoveries around the world, in particular at mid-ocean ridges, tsunami-generating areas offshore Spain and Portugal and fragile marine habitats such as deep-sea coral reefs and Arctic fjords.
Everyone is welcome - visitors £4 - free refreshments.

May 4th - West Country Geology field trips
Geology of the Coal Measures and associated extractive industries of Coal, Pennant Sandstone and Iron-ore in the Coalpit Heath Basin
Trevor Thompson
We shall be looking at the relics of coal mining in the area and then proceed to Huckford Quarry (disused) where Pennant Sandstone is exposed
Meet at 2.00p.m. "The Garden Shop"(ST669802) where the A432 Bristol to Chipping Sodbury Road goes under the Railway at Coalpit Heath (south side). We will meet in a marquee in the site where Trevor Thompson will give a short presentation on the industrial archaeology and geology of the area. Coffee will be provided but there will be a fee of £3 per head for this and the use of the facilities. We expect to finish at about 4.30p.m. Hard hats are not necessary - members own choice.
Contact Bristol NATs - Geology section or 07743125206 on the day

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16th May - Museum collection, Earth Science Dept. Bristol

As part of Bristol Museum's 'at Night' event the museum Collection of the Earth Science Dept in Bristol is opening its doors: 
Alight - The unexpected in the dark
16 May 2013
Explore what comes to light in the collection stores and lay your hands on some extraordinary crystals and fossils as part of Museum's 'at Night'. You can also join us underground for a tour of the basement collection where Cabot Institute artist-in-residence Neville Gabie is 'Archiving Oil'.
This is also a unique opportunity to enjoy a view across the city of Bristol by night as part of the Wills Memorial Tower Tours. Tours start at 6.30pm and 8.30pm and will take about 1 hour. Advance booking required.
Details posted on Dept's facebook page

Iain Stewart to open Box Rock Circus

Iain Stewart, professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth but better known as a television presenter will open Box Rock Circus on Tuesday 14th May at 11.45 a.m.
Please come!

Flood basalts

This is worth reading - from the Geological Society blog.

Schoolboy finds 300 million year-old fossil

An Oxford schoolboy has discovered what appears to be an extremely rare fossil of footprints from more than 300 million years ago. Ten-year-old Bruno Debattista, who attends Windmill Primary School in Oxford, brought a piece of shale rock containing what he thought might be a fossilised imprint to the after-school club at Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History. Experts were astonished to find that it appeared to contain the trackways left by a horseshoe crab crawling up the muddy slopes of an ancient shore around 320 million years ago. Footprints of this age are incredibly rare and extremely hard to spot. Still more impressive is the fact that Bruno had a hunch they might be some kind of footprints, even though the specimen had some world expert geologists arguing about it over their microscopes.
Bruno’s fossil has been confirmed by the Museum as likely showing footprints of a pair of mating horseshoe crabs laid down during the Carboniferous period, some 308-327 million years ago. At this time, the sea was slowly being sealed off as the Earth’s landmasses crunched together to form Pangaea. Bruno and his family have decided to donate the fossil specimen to the Museum’s collection.

 The Natural History After-School Club is run by the Museum’s education department and encourages Year 6 children to develop their interest in the natural world, in the hope that some might become the next generation of geologists and zoologists.

Fracking 'not significant' cause of large earthquakes

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