List of Guides Produced by the GA

No. GUIDES PRICE FOR MEMBERS 2 of the Lake District (1990) £13.00 6 Geology around the University Towns - Liverpool (1982) £2.00 7 Geology of the Manchester Area (1991) £11.00 10 North Coast of Cornwall - Bude to Tintagel (1970) £4.00 26 Geology of the Peak District (1999) £11.00 27 Geology of South (2002) £11.00 31 West Cornwall (2005) 2nd Edition £6.00 32 Isle of Arran (1989) 2nd Edition £11.00 34 Coast (2000) 3rd Edition £15.00 38 The Plymouth Area (1978) £1.00 39 Lleyn Peninsula (1981) £4.00 40 Anglesey (1981) £4.00 41 Jersey (2003) £7.00 42 Mallorca (1990) CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT £6.00 43 Costa Blanca, Spain (1990) £6.00 45 Onny Valley, Shropshire, Geology Teaching Trail (1992) £4.00 46 Isle of Man (2007) £11.00 47 The Coastal Landforms of West Dorset (1992) £11.00 49 Tenerife (2003) £11.00 50 Southern Cyprus (1994) £11.00 51 Field Guide to the Island of Bute, Scotland (1995) £11.00 52 Iceland (1994) £11.00 53 Eastern and Central Jamaica (1995) £5.00 54 The Aberystwyth District (1995) £11.00 55 Early Cretaceous Environments of the Weald (1996) £11.00 56 The Castleton Area, Derbyshire (1996) £11.00 57 The Chalk of Sussex and Kent (1997) £11.00 59 Hadrian's Wall (1997) £11.00 60 Isle of Wight (1998) £11.00 61 Geology of the Western Front (1999) £11.00 62 Geology of Lanzerote, Canary Islands (2000) £6.00 63 Geology of the East Midlands (2003) £8.50 64 D-Day Landings in Normandy, 1944 (2003) £11.00 65 The Origins of Stratigraphy (2004) £6.00 66 Watchet and its Neighbourhood, Somerset (2006) £5.00 67 The Dalradian of Scotland (2009) £15.00 Dinosaur Stamps of the World by S Baldwin & B Halstead £3.00 Rockwatch Guide No. 1 'A Pocket Guide to the London £3.50 Clay exposed on the North Shore of the Isle of Sheppey, Kent' by Adrian Rundle

Please add £1.00 postage to orders and send with a cheque made payable to 'The Geologists' Association' to The Geologists' Association, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0DU Geologists' Association Guide No. 67 Published 2010 in the new format The Dalradian of Scotland By Jack Treagus

The Dalradian Supergroup of mainland Scotland occupies most of the area generally known as the Grampian Highlands, geographi- cally bounded by the Great Glen Fault to the north and the Highland Border Fault to the south. The Dalradian of Scotland offers the greatest variety of metamorphic rocks to be found in the British Isles. There are sedimentary rocks ranging in composition from and mudstones to conglomerates, often with beautiful- ly preserved sedimentary structures providing evidence of the depositional environments. A complete range of metamorphic conditions has affected these rocks giving rise to slates, phyllites and schists, quartzites, gneiss- es, amphibolites and marbles. The range of temperature and pres- sure conditions that were involved has induced the growth of por- phyroblasts of a wide range of minerals from chlorite to kyanite and sillimanite. This area provided the earliest descriptions of the con- ditions of growth of metamorphic minerals and their relationship to the structural history - the well-known Barrovian metamorphic zones. This guide provides three traverses across the Dalradian rocks, in the southwest, centre and northeast of Scotland, comprising a total of 22 separate excursions. The traverses are based on major routes with the exposures on roadside cuttings, stream sec- tions and pleasant coastal areas being reached via quiet minor roads. The author, Jack Treagus, was a lecturer in Geology at Manchester University. The area of his PhD was in the Dalradian of Perthshire at a time, the early 1960s, when refolding was being rediscovered and he had to disentangle the effects of four episodes of deformation. This led to a life-time's fascination with these rocks and ultimately to the publication of this Guide. He was recently awarded the Clough Medal by the Edinburgh Geological society for his work on the Dalradian.

ISBN 9780900717857 Recommended Retail Price: £19.00 GA Members Price: £15.00

See back page for a complete list of guides

Circular continued...... April 10 Tour of Ketton Cement works and fossil Westmorland Geological Society hunt. January 20 Exploring the geology under Glasgow - May 1 & 2 Weekend away to the Edinburgh area - Dr Dairmid Campbell. Shropshire Geological Society Dr. Ian Sutton. March 17 The Holocene landscape of Morecombe March 10 British earthquakes Dr Ian Stimpson June 12 "Lake Harrison Does it Hold Water?" A look Bay - Dr Richard Jones. March 27 Field trip: Clee Hill, to be led by Michael at the post glacial effects on the Midlands' landscape Contact Brian Kettle email: mr.briankettle@tis- Rosenbaum. Walking (one mile); some rough - Dr. Martyn Bradley. cali.co.uk ground; local cafés should lunch be required. July 17 Bradley Fen. Perhaps a last chance to look The Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club April Field trip: Darwin in Llanymynech, - Gordon for fossils in this pit which usually produces March 26 Two Hundred Years of British Hillier and Jeanette Bolton some interesting finds. Metamorphism by Richard Edwards. April 17 Field trip: Secret Stones (Craven Arms), to Contact: Bill Learoyd on 01780 752915 email: bill- April 24 The Olchon Valley - Dr Richard Bryant. be led by Michael Rosenbaum. Contact Karen [email protected], [email protected]; May 23 Lumps, Bumps, Hollows and Humps - Whitaker - [email protected]. Ussher Society Duncan Hawley. www.shropshiregeology.org.uk Contact Clive Nicholas 01392 271761. June 19 Aust Cliff and Manor Farm - Simon Sidcup Lapidary and Mineral Society Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group Carpenter. Meets every Monday evening at Sidcup Arts Centre. March 24 Speaker to be confirmed Contact Sue Hay on 01432 357138 or svh.gab- Contact Audrey Tampling 020 8303 9610 Email: Contact: Chris Hodgeson 01926 511097. bros@btinternet .com [email protected]. Contact Martyn Bradley 01926 428835. Email: Yorkshire Geological Society Southampton Mineral and Fossil Society [email protected]. March 27 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, September 5 Hampshire Mineral & Fossil Show - www.wgcg.co.uk Notts.: Planning for Climate Change time: 10:00 to 16:30 Venue: Lyndhurst Wessex Lapidary and Mineral Society May 8 or 9: Yorkshire Geology month excursion to Community Centre, High St., Lyndhurst, Hants. March 9 Club night. Members finds from Barton- Ingleborough - David Turner. Admission: Adults £1, accompanied children on-Sea field trip. June 12 -13: Weekend field meeting in Teesdale: under 14 and Rockwatch members free April 13 Tenerife geology and scenery - Alan new ideas on mineralization in Teesdale - Brian Contact: Gary Morse, 01489 787300 Email: Holiday. Young. [email protected] May 11 Chalk fossils from Dorset and Devon - Contact Trevor Morse 01833 638893 Web site: http://members.lycos.co.uk/SMFS/smf- Martin Vine. www.yorksgeolsoc.org.uk sshow.htm June 8 Cementation Brass and Electroforming - Rob Contact Gary Morse 01489 787300. Dunster. Stamford and District Geological Society Contact Pat Maxwell 02380 891890 email: March 10 A.G.M. and members' evening [email protected] GA magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 23 Iain wanted to talk to us about his new series, and to use this as a vehi- cle to think about broader issues. Firstly, there are problems with put- ting mainstream geology across to programme makers and people; we need to appreciate what the media want from us and what their agenda is? Secondly, there are changes, issues, even "what is geology?"

Geoscience programmes began with Story a few years ago. In comparison with biology and other sciences, geology is relatively new on television. Our key point is that geol- ogy describes our planet, which is Members celebrating 50 years of the South Wales Group fantastic, and we can constantly sur- Once the applause died down after Geologists' Association) who gave the prise people about what it holds. Iaian’s talk, questions brought out lecture on the occasion of the Group's even more interesting points, includ- 25th anniversary celebrations and Iain gave more about the reasons ing the need to reduce growth in undoubtedly, with Iain's accent, a and the background for the series. He those countries with the highest pop- Scotsman speaking at the Group's presented us with several challenges. ulation and carbon footprint - notably 50th celebrations on 23 January Geologists are the people who under- the USA! which has one of the high- 2010. stand the planet best, and should est such growths and footprints in the therefore be looking after it. We can The speaker was thanked again, do a lot more with the knowledge we with much applause. have. We were challenged to be more positive and forthcoming about the 56 members went on to the second evidence of geoscience. In energy, part of the day's celebrations, lunch water, hazards, and climate change, at the Park Plaza Hotel. We were geoscientists have a central role to joined by two members of the late play. founder Chairman Doug Bassett's family, Menna and Sian. We were Climate change featured promi- served an excellent lunch with wine. nently, as to be expected. A new point was the postulation that the After plenty of photos, it was time present interglacial is different from for the toast. The President welcomed any other. 5-7,000 years ago both Menna and Sian in memory of the founding Chairman Doug Bassett, who had sadly died just two months previously. He presented Iain Stewart with a bottle of wine as a token of appreciation of his memorable talk, and presented Programme Secretary Steve Howe, Programme Secretary Steve Howe with a bottle of wine as a token of appreciation for all the work world. Why do people rebuild in he had done in arranging such a suc- exactly the same places after an cessful and enjoyable day. earthquake, as they did before - for example Bam in Iran, a World Members, guests and then Heritage site? The education of women is really important; educate women, women then want fewer children, later on in their lives.

The President Alun Thomas thanked the speaker at length, followed methane and carbon dioxide began to by Alun Thomas who rise; in previous interglacials they gave a short account had started to decrease at this stage. of a Welshman, an 5-7,000 years ago was the beginning Englishman and a of mass deforestation and agricul- Scotsman. In brief, it Toasting the next fifty years of the Group ture. In the late 20th century, was a Welshman methane and carbon dioxide have (Professor David Williams) who gave raised their glasses to toast the next increased even more. We are at a the first lecture on January 23 1960, fifty years of the Group. really important point in time. it was an Englishman (Professor John Knill, also then President of the L Garfield 22 GA magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 50th Anniversary Meeting - 23 January 2010

The fiftieth anniversary celebrations Over the years, membership has ing Honorary Life Membership of the of the Geologists' Association - South varied between 150 and 200. Today it Group to: Geraint Owen - in recog- Wales Group / Cymdeithas y is around 180. In recent years, the nition of his outstanding support for Daearegwyr - Grwp De Cymru were Group has undertaken a wider range and contributions to the Group in his held on 23 January 2010, 50 years to of activities, moving away from sym- capacity of Committee Member since the day after the inaugural meeting posia and conferences towards more 1988, Hon Field Secretary (1989- on 23 January 1960. field visits, interpretive leaflets and 1990), Secretary (1990-2009), co- field guides (eg Walking the Rocks), author of Walking the Rocks and The first part of the celebrations and more public events such as the Walks Leaflets and in recognition of took place in the Wallace Lecture National Eisteddfod, Cardiff's Out of his many contributions to the inter- Theatre, Cardiff University. Following the Woods Festival, the GA reunion pretation and understanding of geolo- refreshments, around 200 members, (held in Cardiff in 2004) and our own gy and the public understanding of guests and visitors filled the lecture Geofest in 2008. A poster has been science." room to overflowing, whereupon the produced with a summary of our first Group's President, Nigel McGaw, wel- 50 years activities. Geraint thanked the Group warmly. comed everyone to this historic meet- He said it was a tremendous honour, One person has made an outstand- to joining the Group’s other Honorary ing contribution over these 50 years. Members,Alun [Thomas] and Mike has witnessed all of the 50 years, was there right at the beginning, has been a long-standing member of the committee (33 years), including as secretary for (23 years), Chairman from (1990 to 1992), and Vice Chairman (from 1988 to 1990), has contributed in many more ways with lectures, field trips, and publications, and has been an Honorary Member (since 1990). The Group was delight- ed to make a SPECIAL 50-YEAR President, Nigel McGaw AWARD in recognition of this contri- bution, to our guest Mr. Alun J. ing, a BIG DAY for the Group, with a Thomas. This will be presented at the BIG SPEAKER. forthcoming AGM in March. Professor Iain Stewart

Nigel explained how the Group, after The Group was also delighted to [Bassett]. He felt really honoured and a couple of preliminary meetings, present Honorary Membership to Dr flattered, feeling his main success held its inaugural meeting on 23 Geraint Owen in recognition of his had been to devolve his responsibili- January 1960. He welcomed our hon- long and distinguished service to the ties!! oured guests for the day, two people Group over the years. The committee who had been involved in the actual has benefited greatly from his knowl- The President introduced the guest starting up of the Group right at the edge and researches, and we hope speaker, Professor Iain Stewart, to beginning, Alun Thomas who had sec- this will continue in the future. talk on ‘How Earth Made Us’. The onded Doug Bassett as the Geraint is the Group’s 6th Honorary Group was very grateful to Iain for first/founder chairman, and George Member. The President presented a coming along to help celebrate the Askey the first secretary. mounted scroll to Geraint: day's occasion. Iain has been bringing At the inaugural meeting, Professor "The Committee and members of the geology to people, through television, David Williams of Imperial College, Geologists' Association South Wales over the last eight years. His own President of the Geologists' Group have great pleasure in award- research is into geological hazards, Association (1958-1960) gave the and their effects on people and on first lecture, on mineral exploration. history. His latest television series The first AGM was held in April 1960, How Earth Made Us started the previ- and the first field meeting soon after ous Tuesday. Iain was presented with along the Southerndown coast with the Geologists' Association Halstead around 80 people. Medal last year, for "work of out- standing merit to further the objects Nigel said that there was not time of the association and to promote to do justice to all the people involved geology". and the events that had taken place over the years, but we are very grate- There followed a most interesting, ful to our founding fathers, those who informative, stunningly illustrated, set the Group up, the BEDROCK of entertaining and thought-provoking today's Group. presentation. Dr. Geraint Owen receiving his award GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 21 Getting the most from the PGA

The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association is among the oldest of geological journals, the first volume having been produced in eleven parts over the period 1859-65. This year's volume, of which the first issue is imminent, will be its 120th. Over the years, it has included numer- ous important papers on physical geology and geomor- phology; stratigraphy; palaeontology; petrology; struc- tural geology; the history of geology; and records of field excursions, both in the UK and abroad, many of which are today invaluable as they often record details of sites which are either no longer exposed and/or accessible. The journal's contents over the years were recently summarised in "The PGA Illustrated", GA Magazine, 7 (4), 7-9, 2008. Now all this can be at your fingertips, thanks to Elsevier, the new publishers of the Proceedings, who have generously scanned the entire run of the journal, including the "Jubilee Volume," Geology in the field, published in 1910. If you are a GA member then you can browse this entire contents, and download articles of interest to you, completely free of charge. To access the articles, all you need to do is to sign up to the GA section of Elsevier's ScienceDirect site, via the internet. This is done as follows: (5) To access the database itself, go to the Society Member's site: (1) Go to: https://www.sciencedirect.com/pgeola/act- vate/member (make sure that you type https:// not http://www.sciencedirect.com/pgeola http:// when doing this). This will open a new window. (note that this is accessed using http:// not (2) This asks you to enter your name and your GA mem- https://). This will produce the Proceedings of the bership number. When you input your GA membership Geologists' Association homepage. number, please put a zero in front of it, e.g. enter XXXX as 0XXXX, etc. (If you unsure of your membership num- (6) You now enter your new username and your chosen ber, please contact Sarah Stafford at the GA office: password into the two little boxes in the greyish "Athens [email protected]). Login" field at the very top right of the screen. You can now begin searching all the volumes of the PGA to date (3) Once your name and membership number have (including proofs of articles in press). 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For any technical terms "sciencedirect" and "proceedings of the geologists access problems at this stage, e-mail Elsevier's association", the Elsevier PGA option should come up at ScienceDirect team for help, naming the Proceedings of the top of the list, choosing this will take you to the right the Geologists' Association and the fact that you are a page. member of the Geologists' Association in your commu- Enjoy checking out our journal's fascinating con- nication ([email protected], if you are in Europe, tents! the Middle East or Africa; [email protected], if you are in North, Central or South America; sginfo@sci- encedirect.com, if you are in Asia (except Japan), the Richard Howarth Pacific or Australia; or [email protected], if you are in Chairman, Publications Committee Japan). 20 GA magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 The February Lecture That the period was a late geological one, and anterior to the surface assuming its present outline, so far THE HENRY STOPES as some of its minor features are MEMORIAL LECTURE concerned".

The Frenchman, Boucher de Professor Clive Gamble Perthes, had already described simi- Royal Holloway College lar finds from the Somme valley, but his work was not being taken seri- ously. Prestwich therefore proposed Breaking the time barrier of a Geological Society field trip to Human antiquity investigate. In the event only Evans joined him and their first site visits Dating the past has now become were unsuccessful, but after some so commonplace that one forgets confusion, resolved by using the new how recent this development has communications technology of train and telegraph, they arrived at a pit been and to illustrate this Professor advances in dating have greatly in St Acheul. This provided the nec- Gamble took us back to 1859. lengthened the time scale for these essary evidence, with an artefact in Technology was advancing with events from a few thousand to sev- situ within a clear stratigraphic set- improved physical (railways) and eral million years and it is now pos- ting. Remarkably for the time, the electronic (telegraph) communica- sible to relate changes in technology exposure was photographed and tions, but Geology was still con- to the evolution of hominims. There fully met Prestwich's criteria. strained by the rigid idea that the was a rapid increase in brain size Publication was rapid with papers to age of Earth was limited to 4004 BC. around 600,000 years ago at what The Royal Society (Prestwich - refer- Geologists knew this could not be Professor Gamble proposed might be ees Lyell and Murchison), The true, especially with regard to the called the "Stopes Line". This pro- Society of Antiquaries (Evans), The history of mankind, but it was diffi- duced a paradox because the Geological Society (Flower) and The cult to prove otherwise. At this point increase in brain size had clearly British Association (Lyell), the latter two businessmen interested in geol- outstripped the development of providing the final seal of approval ogy entered the scene. Both technology. Another factor, there- (in front of Prince Albert). The dis- became eminent in their own fields, fore, must have been at work, which covery led to the reappraisal of but in 1859 they were still at an could perhaps have been the devel- British finds, especially those from early stage of their careers. They opment of a wooden or textile tech- Hoxne (1797), and firmly estab- were Joseph Prestwich (1812-1896) nology that would not have survived lished the idea of the Palaeolithic. and John Evans (1823-1908). in the geological or archaeological The year ended with the publication record. However there was scant of On the Origin of Species by The story began in 1858 when evidence for this and the more likely Darwin and marked a watershed in Falconer reported an undisturbed explanation seemed to be the impe- the history of human thought. cave site near Brixham to the tus for the development of language, Amazingly, both the photograph and Geological Society. It was excavated culture, and the mental skills needed the actual stone tool have survived, using a grant from the Royal Society to survive in primate social groups the latter being found in the collec- overseen by a committee that that have made Homo sapiens the tions of the Natural History Museum included Prestwich and Lyell. A pre- single and most successful hominin still bearing Prestwich's original historic fauna and stone tools were on the planet. found but the disturbed nature of the label. cave deposits gave rise to doubts The text of much of Professor In conclusion, Professor Gamble about relative ages. So the question Gamble's lecture can be found at his looked at some of the social conse- of early Man living contemporane- web site at: quences of these discoveries. The ously with extinct mammals was still http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/Gamble/. open - at least in the minds of the initial reaction had been to use sceptics. In answer to this, Lyell's dictum "the present is the key Prestwich came up with four criteria to the past" and look around the Dave Greenwood that needed to be satisfied. These world for similar cultures. These were "1. That the flint-implements were found in outlying places such are the work of man; 2. That they as Tasmania where the natives were were found in undisturbed ground; still making stone tools very similar 3. That they are associated with the to those found in Europe and at the remains of extinct Mammalia; 4. time that seemed to provide an ade- quate explanation. But modern

SEE PAGE 7 FOR INFORMATION ON THE ANNUAL DINNER AND PAGE 5 FOR THE SEPTEMBER ONE-DAY MEETING

GA magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9,No. 1, 2010 19 The January Lecture by quakes, up to magnitude nine (Alaska) Dr Saskia Goes,Imperial College and violent vulcanicity (Mount St Helens) along parts of the zone. Extensional zones were quieter in Sinking slabs - moving plates terms of seismicity, but had volcanic activity along their full length. Some of Over the past 40 years plate tecton- these differences appear to be related ics has accounted for many of the to the type of plate collision i.e. structural features of the earth that whether a continental plate is overrid- puzzled earlier workers. However, the ing a subducting oceanic plate or question of plate movement and what whether both plates are oceanic. In happens in a subduction zone remains addition to the type of plates involved to be fully explained. This formed the in a collision, other factors are also basis of the talk by Dr Goes who out- thought to affect the resulting stress lined current thinking on the subject. regimes. at the upper/ lower mantle boundary In 1912 Wegner had envisaged the The relative speed of colliding plates whilst others descend through the granitic continents (SiAl) ploughing also varied. It has been observed that lower mantle to the top of the core. through the lower basaltic crust (SiMa) in general plates with older rocks at The evidence came from computerised - something that had to be ruled out on their margins tended to move faster seismic tomography (similar in princi- the grounds of the strength of basalts than those with younger material. This ple to medical CAT scanning) that alone. Later, in 1944, Holmes had sug- was probably because older plate enabled zones within the earth to be gested that the continents were "float- material, being cooler, denser and mapped in terms of seismic velocities ing" on the mantle and were moved by more rigid, sinks into the upper mantle that were related to the relative tem- convection cells in the latter, an idea more rapidly. The correlation was not perature, areas of higher seismic that proved to be closer to the truth. perfect and there were some anom- velocity correlating with colder materi- Recent advances in seismology had alies such as the Farallon Slab in North al. This also provided a snapshot in given us a much clearer idea of what America that did not fit this thesis. time as illustrated by two diagrams was happening and it was now possible Dr Goes concluded by considering showing conditions at 500 km and to measure the physical properties of the forces involved in plate movement. 1325 km into the mantle. The first plot the earth from crust to core. This has The Mid-Ocean Ridges, where new gave evidence of a plate that had shown that the crust and the part of crust is being formed, are higher and begun to descend during the last 10- the upper mantle that make up the hotter than their surroundings. This 20 Ma, whilst the latter was around tectonic plates are strong and rigid, provides the initial driving force as 100-150 Ma old and revealed the rem- and are underlain by the rest of the older material moves away under the nants of the subduction zone that had upper mantle which is much weaker influence of gravity. At the same time formed during the closure of the Tethys and more plastic. There is a marked the plate cools and becomes more Ocean. discontinuity at around 670 km at the rigid. The second factor was how the Overall this was a most stimulating top of the lower mantle which rests on plate sank into the mantle once a sub- lecture and produced some lively dis- the outer core at about 2,900 km. The duction zone had been established. cussion. Those of us who studied geol- boundary between the upper and lower Here it could be shown that the speed ogy before the mid-1960s must thank mantle was particularly significant and depended on the mass of the descend- Dr Goes for explaining some of the no deep earthquakes had ever been ing plate and the viscosity of the man- remaining mysteries of plate tectonics, detected below 700 km. tle, with the descending section drag- but, as so often happens, the resolu- There are various types of subduc- ging the rest of the plate along with it. tion of old problems has raised new tion zones and it was stressed that any The descending plate then set up con- questions that need to be answered. theory for their formation would have vection cells in the mantle, although it However, there is no doubt that, in the to explain both compressional, subduc- had to be admitted that there was a fullness of time, they will be solved. tion zones (eg west of South America) certain amount of "chicken and egg" and extensional zones (eg Marianas). involved in this relationship. Dave Greenwood Compressional subduction zones were The destiny of the descending plate characterised by very large earth- varied, with some plates flattening out w The winners of the ENI Geological Challenge for 2009 were present- ENI Presentations 2009 ed with their awards at the February meeting of the GA. This award recognises the achievemenets of individuals or groups in the field of conservation, interpretation or field geological educaction in the UK. This year there were joint winners which the judges said “involved presenting geology in a novel way, one through a temporary exhibition on the Orkney island of Westray and the other a permanent ‘geological hut’ in a Derbyshire village”.

David Leather receiving his award for the exhibition on Island of Albert and Jill Benghiat receving their award for their Derbyshire Westray from Chris Diamond of Down to Earth, (one of the judges) display from Chris Diamond and Marco Serazzi of ENI

18 GA magazine of the Geologists’ Association Issue 9, No.1 , 2010 The December Lecture by A country-wide survey revealed that The only solutions to the problem there was no systematic pattern to the appeared to be the installation of Dr Karen Hudson-Edwards, arsenic contamination with adjacent treatment plants to remove the arsenic Birkbeck College. wells having very different levels of the or to tap aquifers lower in the succes- element, some considerably above the sion, both of which were being active- then accepted limit of 50 µg/l. Suspect ly pursued. Arsenic Polluted wells had been marked by a system of Dr Hudson-Edwards concluded her Groundwater: Science and painted colour codes but this had not talk with a quick review of other forms always solved the problem because the of arsenic pollution including direct Sustainable Development. local population was still tempted to input from volcanic sources; anthro- use the nearest source of "clean" water pogenic sources from past and present In a change to the published pro- Turning to her own work in West mining activities; and the release of gramme, Dr Karen Hudson-Edwards Bengal, carried out in collaboration arsenic from sediments containing gave an interesting talk, at very short with Professor John McArthur at UCL interbedded volcanic ash, a problem notice, about her work in the Indian and several other colleagues, Dr that was particularly prevalent in parts sub-continent on problems of arsenic Hudson-Edwards said that originally of Argentina. pollution. there was no agreement as to the More research into the problem was The change came about because source of the arsenic and there were needed particularly in view of the Karen's husband, Dr Stephen Edwards, two opposing theories. These were acceptable level of arsenic in drinking had been taken ill after returning from either that the arsenic was being water being lowered by the US fieldwork in Africa. released into the environment by the Environmental Protection Agency in Dr Hudson-Edwards is currently atmospheric oxidation of pyrite or it 2002 from 50 µg/l to 10µg/l. This stan- working in West Bengal, but she began came about during the reduction of dard was implemented in 2006 and her lecture with an outline of the work iron oxides by organic material in the there were now proposals to reduce it that had been done in nearby sediments. The evidence was still further to as low as 1 µg/l with a Bangladesh. inconclusive, but work by her research Maximum Contaminant Level Goal Health problems associated with the team had shown that there was a clear (MCLG) of zero. bacterial and viral contamination of change in the colour of the host sand- For further information please visit surface waters had led to a programme stones from pale orange to grey over the London Arsenic Group website at of shallow well construction resulting in time, which strongly favoured the http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/research/lag/ the sinking of over one million wells reduction hypothesis. as/index.htm. into Holocene and Pleistocene sedi- Observations over time also suggest- ments across the whole country. This ed that a reaction front was working its Dave Greenwood. had solved the immediate problem way through the source rocks around linked to pollution, but after a period of the wells, but the situation was further about ten years there had been a spate complicated by the very large season- of disfiguring skin diseases that were al variations in the level of the water quickly identified as being the result of table. arsenic poisoning.

through them, looking found it fascinating that millions of up the longer words in years ago, far out in the sea, a crea- a dictionary, and mak- ture had died and been pressed into ing a list of all the sci- a fossil. And by chance and luck, that entific terms and Latin fossil, through various means, had names I did not under- arrived on the beach for me to find. stand to show to the woman at the library It wasn't without its penalties when I returned. though. I recall one occasion where a rock I was trying to break fell from It wasn't long before the bank onto my discarded coat, simply reading the the- smashing my mobile phone, and sev- ory about the fantastic eral where I was so engrossed with places to find speci- the rocks under my feet, I wasn't mens wasn't enough. looking where I was going and On the way back from walked straight into the sea. Sidmouth, where we My First Ammonite continued...... spent our half terms with ancient rel- Over the years my collection has atives, I'd beg my parents to stop off grown hugely, including many more After an initially shaky start, my at Lyme Regis and Charmouth. Whilst from beaches near to where I found attention was forever hooked. Whilst my family sat grumbling in the car, I that first fossil; Belemnites, my fossil collection grew, so did my would fight my way through the often Nautilods, Bivalves, the literary consumption. I moved on to torrential rain and wind, along the Carboniferous that the care- crumbly fat textbooks, which I beach, peering in between huge taker so affectionally referred to as checked out of the local library, under boulders and under the top layer of "Cuddy's beads". However, that first the watchful eye of the librarian, loose pebbles, for the distinctive grey ammonite will always have a place on who, by a small stroke of luck, had colourerd nodules, splat- the shelf, despite being surrounded been a palaeontology teacher before tered with lighter white patches. At by far superior specimens, as the her retirement three years previous- Lyme Regis I collected iron pyrite object that truly opened my eyes to ly. The print was small and scientific, ammonites by the dozen, and each the wonders of the fossil world. really much too hard for a child of my new one was just as amazing to me age, but I diligently ploughed in every detail as the previous one. I GA magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 17 The First Ammonite by Gemma Robson Rockwriter for 2009 "Rocks are records of events that about how much more there could be took place at the time they formed. to this. They are books. They have a differ- ent vocabulary, a different alphabet, Then, for my ninth birthday I but you can learn how to read them." received a book from a well meaning John McPhee but completely clueless uncle entitled "Local fossils: how to find them", I remember the first time I discov- selected desperately as a present ered a complete ammonite very after spotting the ammonite in my clearly. The images are printed in my room. Being an average nine year head like a series of photographs, old, such a gift did not interest me in documenting each stage of the dis- the slightest, and it wasn't until my covery. As a child I spent many brother began to read it that I did happy hours playing in the aban- also, being a competitive child who doned quarries that were scattered hated to be outdone by anyone, least about the countryside. Despite hav- of all my own sibling. The book was ing spent years playing pirates, more of a pamphlet really, worn in knights and explorers (I despised some places, as it had passed princesses for being such wimps) it through the hands of several of my wasn't until I was nine that the true older and less careful cousins first. It brilliance of the area was revealed to was tattered and old and damaged me. and utterly, totally, irrevocably were indeed dead, St Hilda cut all enthralling. I had had no idea that their heads off, which explained, he I discovered a strange type of rock, such things as fossils existed before, said, why the objects had no visible dark grey, but with huge white and the idea that underneath my head. This tale inevitably led onto the splodges around the top and sides. unknowing feet, indeed, in my very stories of other Saints, such as St For no other reason than to satisfy bedroom, lay the imprinted remains Cuthbert, who used stone beads as a my childish curiosity, I decided to of creatures that had walked the rosary. Although we enjoyed being look inside, and endeavoured to earth millions of years ago was told stories, they never varied, nor break it open. Finding a suitable almost too unbelievable to be true. were we particularly interested in the sized stone to break it wasn't diffi- My brother and I had, of course, exploits of such people. So, eventual- cult, and I arranged the rock careful- found several fossils amongst the ly, even the lure of a free ice-cream ly on top of the dry mud bank on overgrown weeds and broken rocks was not enough to hold our interest, which I had been sitting. I hefted the left over in the quarry, tiny partially and we stopped going. stone to chest height, and dropped it visible snail shell type things printed on the limestone. It cracked down in the jagged side of rocks. Not Suddenly now, however, the truth the centre as easily as if it was made understanding what these objects behind these mysterious objects was of butter. One half fell to the dusty were, we had taken them to the revealed to me. They were ground, and there, coiled tightly in caretaker of the site, the man who ammonites, of course, and, although the centre and gleaming as if it had ran a small shop on the path for the few I had discovered when just been polished, lay a perfect walkers and climbers, who unfortu- younger had been unimpressive, the helix, about three or four inches nately had little more idea than we specimen I had discovered a couple across. It was an object of such did. As we licked a free Twister (part of weeks previously was not. I breathtaking beauty, perfect in every of the reason we went, truthfully) he returned to it, and regarded it with a detail, that for a second I just sat and told us his version of how the strange new sense of awe now I knew what it stared at it, tracing the little ridges stones had come to be there. In the actually was. Its ethereal beauty was round with my forefinger. I took it 7th century AD, a woman called St even more stunning, and, now I home, polished it up, and placed it on Hilda had wanted to build a new realised, mine had been the first eyes my shelf. At that point, although I abbey in Whitby, the area where we to look at it for 200 million years. I found the object I had discovered lived. Unfortunately, the area was was the first human being ever to intriguing, I had little compulsion to overrun with snakes, which hindered have seen this fantastic object. discover more. I simply did not think the building process, because they kept getting in the way I took accurate measurements of it, of the builders. and wrote a label for it in my careful, (According to him, they childish handwriting, explaining what kept coiling up and it was, when and where it was found, going to sleep in the the type of rock it was in, and the builder's boots, star- field number, just as the book had tling them, and render- told me to. For the latter I wrote, ing them too upset to with a considerable sense of pride, continue the day’s and the profound feeling of embark- work). In order to clear ing on a long and fascinating journey, the site, and continue number one. It was, I feel, a very building peacefully, St lucky discovery: over the years I Hilda cursed the have found many complete snakes, whereupon ammonites in the area, but only in they coiled up and ironstone. turned quietly to stone. In order to ensure they Continued on next page...... 16 GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 Thailand Field Meeting, 2010 Thailand is formed of two major tectonic plates which broke away from Gondwana in the Palaeozoic, drifted north, and fused in the . The GA's 2007 field meeting examined the history of Sibumasu, the western of these terranes, whereas the 2010 trip is planned to examine the eastern one, the Indochina Block. The field meeting will take place across eastern Thailand, a scenically varied region of forested mountains and broad plains given over to agriculture, bounded on the north by the Mekong River and on the south by the Gulf of Thailand. The geology is similarly varied (see map, Fig1). The pre-Cretaceous rocks throw light on the history of the Indochina plate before its Triassic collision [note that the fos- sil evidence suggests the Jurassic is thin or absent] and we shall examine sedimentary rocks ranging from deep-sea radiolarian chert up to Triassic lacustrine shale. This latter is an important source-rock of the gas fields which have been discovered beneath the Khorat Plateau. Igneous rocks include Permo-Triassic tuffs and lavas which formed an island arc in front of the Indochina plate as it faced the advancing Sibumasu block, and Triassic granites of two types, some inferred to have been emplaced in the island arc and others in the subsequent zone of collision between the two plates. The post-collision rocks comprise a sequence of non-marine rocks generally referred to as the Khorat Group which is largely Cretaceous in age [but may include a thin Jurassic sequence at the base, as mentioned above] and which rests unconformably on the pre-collision sequence (see photo- graph). The Khorat Group occurs in two main areas, the Khorat Plateau and the Nakhon Thai Block (see map). The former has yielded some remarkable dinosaur discoveries over recent decades and the field meeting will visit the excel- lent Sirindhorn Dinosaur Museum near Kalasin. Between the Khorat Plateau and the Nakhon Thai Block the pre-Cretaceous rocks are deformed in what is known as the Figure 1 Simplified geological map of eastern Thailand showing the area Loei-Phetchabun Fold Belt (Figs.1 and 2). It is here, in what to be traversed by the 2010 field meeting. Most of the area covered by is frequently called the Loei Suture, that we shall examine the map is part of the Indochina Block. However the Permo-Triassic highly folded Devonian radiolarian chert and basic igneous island arc (the Sukhothai Arc) occupies a convex-to-the-west belt from rocks which have prompted some to see this as the site (i.e the NW corner of the map, beneath the central plain, and trending SE the suture) of a now-closed Palaeozoic ocean. through the Chanthaburi and Ko Chang area. The last part of the field meeting will be in the southeast, ( Island) which is formed of Permo-Triassic acidic close to the Cambodian border. Here we shall have opportu- lavas and tuffs. As well as the chance to relax on some of the nities to see evidence of an undoubted suture, named the Sra most delightful beaches in Thailand or snorkel among the Kaeo Suture, with outcrops of mélange and pillow lavas. coral reefs, we hope to visit by boat some of the smaller Whether this represents the former ocean which separated islands in this area of the Gulf. Sibumasu and Indochina, or whether it is a closed back-arc Archaeologically, eastern Thailand is the richest part of the basin, remains a matter of debate. After a night in country, several of the places to be visited being World Chanthaburi with its famous gemstone market, we shall Heritage Sites. In the course of our travels we shall visit the spend two nights on the forested island of Ko Chang remains of the 13th and 14th Century city of Sukhothai (50 km NW of Phitsanulok), and later that evening we shall be able to join the charming full-moon waterside ceremony of Loy Kratong on the banks of the Nan River at Phitsanulok. At Ban Chiang, east of Udon Thani, we shall see artefacts and funeral practices of an agricultural society which flourished over 5000 years ago. And at Phimai, near Nakhon Ratchasima, we shall visit the remains of a temple complex which was part of the 12th Century Khmer empire based at Angkor Wat. The provisional itinerary for the trip is: Bangkok, Khao Yai National Park, Nakhon Sawan, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Loei, Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Sra Kaeo, Chanthaburi, Ko Chang, Phatthaya, Bangkok. Provisional dates are 18th November to 4th December 2010. Further details are in the Circular page 12. Mike Ridd

'Distant view of flat-lying Mesozoic sandstone of the Nakhon Thai Block overlying forest-covered pre-collision rocks of the Loei- Phetchabun Fold Belt.

GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 15 Graham Worton 01920 463755. March 10 Arsenic mining: Environmental monitoring March 29 Brymbo and the Clwydian Range area - Dr www.ehgc.org.uk email: [email protected] using earthworms, toenails and a simulated stomach - Jacqui Malpas. Visitors most welcome - £2 Dr Michael Watts. April 24 Field meeting: Cotswolds - Dave Owen. East Midlands Geological Society March 13 The Earth's Crazy Paving: a 21st century April 26 Lapworth Museum. March 13 AGM perspective on Plate Tectonics. June 19 Field meeting Buxton Volcanics - Chris April 24 The Forensic use of Micropalaeontology - March 24 AGM and Chairman's Address. Managing Arkwright. Dr. Haydon Bailey our flood defences for the Future - Dr Joanne Norris. For information contact Barbara Russell 01902 Contact Secretary Janet Slater email. Contact Andrew Swift 0116 2523646; 650168. www.bcgs.info [email protected] Email: [email protected] Brighton & Hove Geological Society www.emgs.org.uk Leeds Geological Association Contact John Cooper 01273 292780 Edinburgh Geological Society March 11 Where did all the ice go? Ice sheet fluctu- email: [email protected] March 10 Borehole Surveying in mining, quarrying ations in Yorkshire during the Last Glacial Maximum Bristol Naturalists' Society and oil exploration - Dr James Tweedie. - Dr Mark Bateman. Contact 01373 474086 March 24 Taking the plunge into deep time - land- April 22 The Assembly of the West Africa Craton: Email: [email protected] scape evolution come of age - Prof. Tim Atkinson. evidence from the BGS Survey of Northern Carn Brea Mining Society April 8 Joint celebrity lecture with the Geological Mauritania - Dr David Schofied. March 16 Mining in the Northern Pennines by Society of Glasgow . Earth - from Global menaces to May 6 The Earth after us - Dr Jan Zalasievicz. Colin Short. Planetary hope - Peter Westbroek. Enquiries email [email protected] April 20 AGM Followed by The East Cornwall www.edinburghgeolsoc.org. Liverpool Geological Society Mineral Railway - Vic Harman. Essex Rock and Mineral Society March 16 Distinguished Visitor's Address: Rivers, May 18 The Effect of Mineral Extraction on the March 3 Field trip: Herne Bay, Kent - Marlin Rayner Floods and Climate Change - Lynn Frostick. Cornish Landscape - Ieuin Marris. March 9 The Volcanoes of Costa Rica - Gerald Lucy April 16-23 150th Anniversary field meeting to NW June 15 Audio Memories - Chris Bount. and David Turner. Scotland - Joe Crossley and Hazel Clark. June 20 Field trip at Wheal Martin led by local his- March 14 Field trip: Evolution of Romney Marsh May 2 Field meeting: Geology around St Helens - torian Colin Bristow. and Dungeness - Dr Peter Allen Phil Firth. Contact Lincoln James 01326 311420 April 3 -4 Field meeting: Yorkshire Coast - Bob June 12 Field meeting: - Maurice Cheltenham Mineral and Geological Society Higgins and Derek Glover Handley. For more information on lectures contact Ann Kent April 13 Amber - Dr Chris Duffin. July 23 The Iceland Reunion trip - Chris Hunt. 01452 610375 April 18 Field trip: Warden Point, Sheppey - David Contact: Joe Crossley: 0151 426 1324 or email For more information on Field trips contact Kath Turner. [email protected]. Vickers 01453 827007 April 25 Field trip: The Naze, Walton, Essex - Gerald Manchester Geological Association Craven & Pendle Geological Society Lucy. March 10 The Sichuan Earthquake Disaster - Prof. March 12 Redevelopment of the Rotunda Museum - May 11 The Geology of Tendring and its David Petley. 180 years in the making - Will Watts. Implications for Planning by Dr Peter Allen. April 17 Field trip: Salford - Tony Adams. April 16 Members evening Paul Kabrna, Mike May 29- 30 Field trip: Dorset Coast - Tony Holmes. May 23 Field trip: Llangollen - Jaqui Malpas. Squirrell. June 8 Neptunea - Bob Markham. May 28-June 3 Field trip: Germany - John Nudds. May 7 Rhyolite glaciovolcanism at Öraefajökull July 13 Jade - Ian Mercer. July 4 Field trip: Quarry Bank Mill Styal Country Volcano, SE Iceland: a window on Quaternary cli- June 19 Field trip: Kensworth, Bedfordshlre - David Park Open Day - Fred Owen. mate change - Angela Walker Turner. Contact email: Jane Michael, email secretary@man- Contact: [email protected] or Graham Ward for Lectures 01277 218473. geolassoc.org.uk 07917 434598. www.cpgs.org.uk www.erms.org All meetings in the Williamson Building, University Cumberland Geological Society Friends of the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge of Manchester. March 10 AGM and Presidential Address. Contact: Dr Peter Friend 01223-333400. Mid Wales Minerals, Fossils and Geology Club Contact Susan Beale 016974 78353 Geological Society of Glasgow Contact Bill Bagley 01686 412679. [email protected]. Contact Dr Iain Allison email: Norfolk Mineral & Lapidary Society www.cumberland-geol-soc-org.uk. [email protected] Meetings at St Georges Church Hall Churchfield The Devonshire Association (Geology Section) Geological Society of Norfolk Green, Norwich. 19.30hrs every first Tuesday of the March 20 The Brendan Moore Lecture: Magma Contact Email: [email protected]. Month except August. Injection as a trigger for dome collapse of The Hastings and District Geological Society [email protected] Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat - Dr Ben Contact Diana Williams email: [email protected] North Eastern Geological Society Williamson. www.hastingsgeolsoc.org.uk March 16 Holocene volcanism in Iceland - eruption April 10 Field meeting: North Cornwall - Dr Ted Hertfordshire Geological Society history, styles and magnitudes - Dr Thorvaldur Feshney. March 4 AGM. Thordanson. Contact Jenny Bennett 01647 24033 email April 8 Percy Evans Lecture: Radioactive Particles in www.northeast-geolsoc.50megs.com Email: mavis- [email protected] seabed sediments off Scotland - a legacy of Britain's [email protected] or 01207 545907 The Dinosaur Society nuclear industry -Prof Tim Atkinson. www.dur.ac.uk/g.r.foulger/NEGS.html www. Dinosaursociety.com. Contact: Prof Richard April 17 Field visit to Mimram Valley and Chiltern Geological Society Moody [email protected] Scarp West of Hitchin - Mike Howgate. Events - listed on http://ougs.org, or contact Christine Dorset Natural History & Archaeology Society May 6 talk. Arkwright [email protected] 01772 335316 Contact Jenny Cripps email:jenny@dor- May 8-15 Field trip to N. Ireland - Dr Phil Doughty. Membership - contact Stuart Bull mus.demon.co.uk www.hertsgeolsoc.ology.org.uk [email protected] 01244 676865 Edinburgh Geological Society Contact Linda Hamling 01279 423815. Reading Geological Society March 10 Joint lecture with Mining Institute of Horsham Geological Field Club March 1 Geophysics, Geology and Applied Scotland (7pm, Murchison House) Borehole March 10 The Life and Death of a Woolly Rhino - Dr Archaeology - Rev T. Astin Surveying in mining, quarrying and oil exploration - Danielle Schreve. April 12 Igneous Rocks - Mr. M.F. Osmanton Dr James Tweedie April 14 Carboniferous Fossil Forests - Dr Howard May 10 Members Evening Two short talks by March 24 Taking the plunge into deep time - land- Falcon - Lang. Members scape evolution comes of age - Professor Tim May 12 AGM. June 7 Evening Ramble Marlow - D. Riley Atkinson June 9 Zeolites and other Minerals of Northern July 5 Research Topic Student from Royal Holloway April 8 Joint Celebrity Lecture with the Geological Ireland - Dr Norman Moles. August 2 Evening Ramble - Dr. B. Skillerne de Society of Glasgow (in Glasgow) Leiden University, Contact Mrs Gill Woodhatch 01403 250371 Bristowe Netherlands Earth - from global menaces to planetary Hull Geological Society Contact Christine Hooper- for lectures 0118 9471597 hope - Peter Westbroek, Contact Mike Horne 01482 346784 email: [email protected] www.edinburghgeolsoc.org Email:[email protected] Contact David Ward - for field trips 01344 483563 Earth Science Teachers Association website http://go.to/hullgeolsoc The Russell Society For membership contact: Mike Tuke miketuke@btin- The Email Frank Ince [email protected] ternet.com tel 01480457068 Details are available on the web site at www. www.russellsoc.org ESTA website www.esta-uk.net Jurassiccoast.com. Continued on page 23...... East Herts Geology Club Leicester Literary & Philosophical Society Shropshire Geological Society Check website for venue or contact Diana Perkins (Geology) March 10 British earthquakes Dr Ian Stimpson 14 GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 Tuesday, 30th November 2010 Eden. Contact for details Eileen Fraser 01260 271505 Depart Ko Chang and take ferry to the mainland. June 2 Asteroids - Professor Hilary Downes. Contact Field trips: Gerard Ford 01630 673409. Then drive to Phatthaya, examining Permo-Triassic Contact Dr Trevor Greensmith 01268 785404 Oxford Geology Group redbeds, Quaternary basalt, Permian deep-water Farnham Geological Society March 18 Preservation of the Mineral Diversity in cherts, Triassic granite and Lower Palaeozoic lime- March 19 Palaeontological Association Baldwin Cornwall and Zimbabwe - Kevin Walsh. stone on the way. Overnight at All Seasons Hotel, Lecture: Carboniferous Coal Forests - Howard April 15 Natural Hazards Dangerous Earth - Phatthaya. www.all-seasons-hotels.com Falcon-Lang. Professor John Dewey. Wednesday, 1st December 2010 April 9 Santorini super-volcano: the cause and the May 20 Archaean Agmatites and Intrusion Breccias: Depart Phatthaya for Bangkok and check in at devastating effect in the Aegean - Dr Fred Witham. a smashing story - Dr Peter Hall. Bossotel Inn. www.bossotelinn.com April 10-12 Field trip: East Midlands. www.oum.ox.ac.uk/ogg.htm. or call programme sec- Thursday, 2nd December 2010 April 25-May 2 Field trip: Madeira. retary 01865 272960. At leisure or sightseeing for half day or full day tour. May 14 Geology & Disease - Dr Gerry Slavin. Ravensbourne Geological Society Members can book in advance or after they have June 6 Field trip: Isle of Portland. March 9 The Driest Place on Earth - Chris Carlton arrived in Thailand. Payment can be made locally. June 11 Dolerite emplacement in Antarctica - Dr April 13 Surrey Landscape Mystery - Maurice Friday, 3rd December 2010 Donny Hutton. Rogers. At leisure or optional sightseeing. Check out of hotel Contact - Mrs Shirley Stephens tel: 01252 680215 May 11 London's Foundations - Di Clements. at 12 noon. Field Trip Contact - Dr Graham Williams tel: 01483 June 8 Diamonds Through Time - Andrew Fleet. Transfer to Suvarnabhumi Airport for flight to 573802 Email [email protected] July 13 Ice Age - Barbara Silva. London on Thai Airways TG916 at 12:25 (approx www:farnhamgeosoc.org.uk. Contact Carole McCarthy Secretary: 020 8854 9138 midnight). Harrow & Hillingdon Geological Society email: [email protected] or Vernon Marks: 020 There will be places for 15 members and on that March 10 'Catastrophic Flooding: How Britain 8460 2354. basis the cost is expected to be £1490 per person, Became an Island' - Dr Jenny Collier (Imperial) Cymdeithas Daeaereg Gogledd Cymru: North assuming double occupancy of hotel rooms; (that fig- April 14 Caring for the Chilterns - the role of the Wales Geology ure could change if airport taxes and other supple- Geological Advisor - Dr Haydon Bailey. March 10 Women and Geology in Wales - Prof. mentary charges increase before bookings are con- May 12 AGM followed by Glaciers and the Icesheet Cynthia Burek. firmed). Single occupancy supplement will be £249. in Chile and Argentina - Jo Crocker. April 14 Parys Mine Underground Tour. The price includes economy-class flights, minibus June 9 Diamonds Through Time - Prof. Andy Fleet. May 5 The Welsh Basin - a Window on Deep Time travel, accommodation, breakfast, ferries, tolls, hotel June 19-26 Field meeting: Western Ireland - John Climate Change - Dr. Jeremy Davies. transfers and speedboat hire. It does not include Arthurs. May 15 Parys Mountain Copper Mine Surface Tour. admission fees to historical or other sites of interest, July 14 Scelidosaurus - the Dorset Dinosaur - Contact Jonathan Wilkins 01492 583052 Email lunches, dinners (Thai meals are remarkably inex- Dr Tim Ewin. [email protected] www.ampyx.org.uk/cdgc pensive), and optional tours in Khao Yai National Contact: Jean Sippy 020 8422 1859 South Wales Group - Cymdeithas Y Daearegwyr Park and Bangkok. Email: [email protected] Field trip infor- Grwp De Cymru- Places on this trip will be limited for logistical rea- mation Allan Wheeler 01344 455451. March 13 AGM and Presidential address: sons and, in the event the trip is over-subscribed, pri- www.hhgs.org.uk Geoconservation: Serious Fun! - Nigel McGaw. ority will be given to members who register their Kent Geologists Group April 17 & 18 Field weekend to Pembrokeshire - interest early with the Office. March 16 AGM & Aspects of the Carboniferous - Brian Williams. Dr Ed Jarzembowski. Full details to follow. Contact Lynda Garfield at sec- COPENHAGEN MUSEUM VISIT April 20 Geology and scenery of South Harris - [email protected] Organised by David Bone, Alan Lord, Roger Dr Alan Heyes. West of England Dixon May 18 Benjamin Harrison and the Search for March 9 South Wales Coalfield - Peter Brabham. Saturday 23rd - Monday 25th October 2010 Ancient Kentish Man - Nick Baker. April 20 AGM. This trip is now full but waiting list enquiries wel- June 15 Geology and Dust - Dr Brian Marker. Contact Graeme Churchard 0117 967 1066. come. July 20 Volcanic Hazards - Dr Anne Padfield. www.wega.org.uk Contact Indoor Secretary Mrs Ann Barrett Tel: West Sussex Geological Society JAPAN, November 2011 01233 623126 email: [email protected] March 19 Utilising low cost G.I.S. and Remote Plans are at an early stage for a field meeting in Contact information www.kgg.org.uk Sensing to aid disaster risk Assessment - Dr Naomi Japan, provisionally in November when the typhoon The Kirkaldy Society (Alumni of Queen Mary Morris. season is likely to be over and the maple and gingko College) March 28 Field trip: The geology of Bracklesham trees are at their most colourful. The plan is to exam- April 9 Annual dinner in London. and Selsey - David Bone. ine a transect of the country from the Japan Sea to the May 2 Day excursion to Codicote, Hertfordshire - April 16 Giant foraminifera of the Eocene; the life Pacific, examining the different terranes of Honshu Mike Howgate. and times of Nummulites. and Shikoku islands. Some of Japan's finest castles, May 18-27 Field trip to Bornholm, Denmark - May 21 Water on Mars - Dr Peter Grindrod. shrines and temples will be visited and, provisional- Dr Richard Bromley. June 3 A local church walk - David Bone. ly, we shall include Kyoto, Kobe, Mount Fuji and July 2-4 Field trip to Scarborough - Professor Peter June 18 Island Britain; Formation of the English Tokyo in the itinerary. The leader will be Dr Francis Rawson. Channel - Dr Sanjeev Gupta. Hirsch (Naruto University of Education, Shikoku), October 2 AGM at University of London. June 27 Annual Downland walk - Tony Brook. assisted by Mike and Mikiko Ridd, as well as local Contact David Greenwood 020 8449 6614 Contact Betty Steel 01903 209140 staff from geological museums and academic insti- email:[email protected]. Email: [email protected] tutes. Travel in Japan will be by coach and bullet Lancashire train. Further details will appear in the Circular, but Contact Acting Secretary Jennifer Rhodes 01204 AFFILIATED SOCIETIES meanwhile members are invited to advise Sarah at 811203 Email:[email protected]. the GA office. Mole Valley Geological Society Amateur Geological Society March 11 Super continent - our once and future world Enquiries: Julia Daniels 020 8346 1056. GEOLOGISTS' ASSOCIATION - Dr Ted Nield. Bath Geological Society LOCAL GROUPS April 8 Chalk - the record of life and death in a hot- March 4 The Joggins Fossil Cliffs of Nova Scotia - house ocean - Professor Ian Jarvis Dr. Howard Falcon-Lang. Cambridgeshire Geology Club May 13 The folklore of fossils - Dr Paul Taylor May 6 Where Plates Go - Prof. Tim Elliot. Contact - Alan Murphy on 07768 821385 June 10 Snowball Earth - Professor Philip Allen Contact Elizabeth Devon: Email:chairman@bathge- Email: [email protected] www.dendron.net/mvgs. Email: Chas Cowie: olsoc.org.uk Dorset Local Group [email protected] www.bathgeolsoc.org.uk Contact Doreen Smith 01300 320811. North Staffordshire Group Belfast Geologists' Society Email: [email protected] March 4 AGM and Chairman's Address: March 15 Scottish Granites and their Geothermal www.dorsetgeologistsassociation.com Dr Ian Stimpson. Potential - Dr Ed Stephens. Essex Group April 17 Field meeting: Ecton Hills and the Ecton April 9 AGM. March 3 Discovery of New Minerals - Dr Chris Hills Field Studies Association - Peter Kennett & Contact Peter Millar 9064 2886, email: peter.mil- Stanley. Peter Lane. [email protected]. April 7 Intruders in the Landscape - Ken Newman. May 15-16 Field weekend: North Wales - Richard Black Country Geological Society May 5 Aspects of Geology in Construction - Mike Waller. March 21 Field meeting: Compton, Wolverhampton -

GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 13 THE GEOLOGY ALONG THE MIMRAM VAL- not be available for inspection next Sept (they will the excellent Dinosaur Museum near Kalasin housing LEY AND THE CHILTERNS AROUND have been crushed and tested) they give an opportu- some of the spectacular finds that have been made on HITCHIN nity to unravel the enigmatic thrusting and folding the Khorat Plateau. Leader: Mike Howgate that characterises Meldon. We will also introduce the The group will fly from London to Bangkok and then Sunday 13th June 2010 10:30 Geodiversity plans AI have for Meldon and have travel by small coach, stopping at comfortable air- In the morning we will be looking at the evidence lunch at our new rock park! conditioned hotels. Toward the end of the trip we for the Anglian Ice margin including Kames and flu- Equipment: Hard hats and hi-vis jackets shall take the ferry to the Thai island of Ko Chang, vio-glacial deposits, the diversion of the Mimram by Cost and booking: Numbers will be limited to 30. near the Cambodian coast, where there will be oppor- the ice sheet and wells feeding the local watercress Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford tunities to explore the other islands of this group or industry. In the afternoon we will look for the source at the GA office. Please note the GA will not be simply to relax. The trip will end in Bangkok with of the Mimram, then ascend Deacon Hill for the view arranging accommodation. Register with Sarah send- time for sight-seeing before flying back to London. and visit Pirton church to see gigantic ammonites and ing an administration fee of £5 per person to confirm The provisional programme is: hear the story of the missing fossil fish. your place. Thursday, 18th November 2010 Equipment: There will be four to five miles of Depart London Heathrow for Bangkok on Thai walking including two quite steep climbs so boots are MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE PRE-GLACIAL AND Airways TG911 departing at 12:30 p.m. essential together with clothing appropriate to the GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF NORTH NORFOLK Friday, 19th November 2010 weather conditions. Leaders: Dr Jonathan Lee and Dr Emrys Phillips Arrive Suvarnabhumi Airport at 06:05 and transfer Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited to 20. (BGS) by minibus to the Juldis Khao Yai Resort and Spa on Register with Sarah Stafford at the GA office sending Saturday 18th September 2010 the edge of the Khao Yai National Park. www.juld- an administration fee of £5 to confirm your place. This excursion will examine pre-glacial and glacial iskhaoyai.com/juldis.html deposits at one of the most famous Pleistocene sites Optional: Night Safari in Khao Yai National Park WEALDEN EXCURSION in Britain. During the trip we will have the opportu- arranged by the forestry staff. Leaders: Pete Austen, Richard Agar, Dr Ed nity to examine three Pleistocene units: the West Saturday, 20th November 2010 Jarzembowski and Geoff Toye Runton Freshwater Bed - temperate stage (Cromerian Depart Khao Yai. Examine the Carboniferous- July (date to be confirmed) 2010 Complex) fluvial deposits of the Cromer Forest-bed Permian carbonate rocks and Triassic lacustrine rocks Formation; shallow marine sands and gravels of the in the Pak Chong area. Arrive at Country Lake Nature This trip continues the popular annual excursion to Wroxham Crag and finally a highly deformed glacial Lodge, Nakhon Sawan. www.countrylake.net working pits in the Weald Clay of south-east succession including multiple tills, evidence for large Sunday, 21st November 2010 England, where the GA has already participated in scale thrusting and the formation of extensional out- Travel to Sukhothai Historical Park, site of the 13th some superb fossil finds. The venue(s) will be con- wash basins. and 14th Century capital of the Sukhothai kingdom. firmed later so as to take advantage of conditions at Equipment: Bring a hard hat and stout footwear as Then on to Phitsanulok and stay overnight at Grand the time. Numbers may be limited. the trip will involve standing adjacent to high cliffs Riverside Hotel. www.tgrhotel.com Equipment: You must have suitable footwear, a and walking along stony beaches. Packed or beach Witness the full-moon festival of Loy Krathong on high visibility jacket and hard hat. cafe lunch. the banks of the Nan River. Cost & booking: Further details will be available Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited to 25. Monday, 22nd November 2010 from Sarah Stafford at the GA office. Register with Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford Depart Phitsanulok for Loei, travelling through the Sarah sending an administration fee of £5 per person at the GA office. Register with Sarah sending an forested uplands of the Nakhon Thai to confirm your place. administration fee of £10 per person to confirm your Block, stopping at Chat Trakarn and other localities place. to examine non-marine Mesozoic red-beds on the WRABNESS AND HARWICH way. Stay at Loei Palace Hotel. www.amari.com Leaders: Graham Ward and Bill George LONG WEEKEND ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT Tuesday, 23rd November 2010 Saturday 4th September 2010 Leader: Prof Andy Gale Study the Devonian to Triassic rocks of the Loei fold We will examine the lithology of the London Clay October (date to be confirmed) 2010 belt, site of a possible suture between the Indochina at Wrabness including seams of altered volcanic ash Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited. Further and Nakhon Thai blocks. Return to Loei Palace and then move on to collect fossil sharks teeth from details will be available from Sarah Stafford at the Hotel. the foreshore at Harwich. GA office. Please note that the GA will not be book- Wednesday, 24th November 2010 It will be possible to collect participants from ing accommodation. Register with Sarah sending an Depart Loei and travel to Udon Thani, stopping to Wrabness station (09.18 train from London Liverpool administration fee of £10 per person to confirm your examine Permian to Cretaceous rocks on the way. Street arriving 10.35). Trains from Harwich Town are place. Overnight at Charoen Hotel. www.charoenhotel.com about one per hour, on the hour back to London. Thursday, 25th November 2010 Equipment: Boots, waterproofs and a packed FOSSILFEST VI Morning visit to Ban Chiang archaeological museum lunch. Leader: Nev Hollingworth of Bronze Age discoveries. Then drive south across Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited to 20. October (date to be confirmed) 2010 the Khorat Plateau to Sirinthorn Dinosaur Museum, Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford Location(s) have still to be decided but plenty of north of Kalasin. Stay at Sima Thani Hotel in Nakhon at the GA office. Register with Sarah sending an fossils can be expected. Ratchasima (Khorat). www.simathani.com administration fee of £5 per person to confirm your Equipment: You must have a hard hat, hi vis vest Friday, 26th November 2010 place. and suitable footwear. Depart Nakhon Ratchasima to visit the historical site Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited to 25. at Pimai, formerly part of the Khmer empire based at TAVISTOCK QUARRIES title tbc Register with Sarah Stafford at the GA office sending Angkor Wat. Then travel south through the Jurassic- Leaders: Eddie Bailey and Sam Rhodes an administration fee of £5 to confirm your place. Cretaceous redbeds forming the southern edge of the Saturday 11th - Sunday 12th Sept. 2010 Khorat Plateau to Sra Kaeo. Overnight at Tippura We will spend the first day in and around Greystone OVERSEAS FIELD TRIPS 2010 Hotel. http://www.tippurahotel.com/room.html Quarry near Tavistock. We will look at the geology Saturday, 27th November 2010 (dolerite sill intruded into the Greystone Formation FIELD MEETING IN EASTERN THAILAND, Travel to Chanthaburi, stopping to examine pillow which is an abyssal siltstone - a stretch of hornfelsed 18th November - 3rd December 2010 lavas and mélange of the Sra Kaeo Suture and over- siltsone is clearly visible in the quarry). We may also Thailand is formed of two major tectonic blocks lying Triassic turbidites. In Chanthaburi visit the be able to find one or two outcrops nearby that help which drifted into position and fused together in the busy gemstone market for which this area is famous. expand the local geology being introduced. We will Triassic. The GA's 2007 field meeting examined the Stay overnight at the KP Grand Hotel. www.kpgrand- also introduce the quarry workings. The following history of the western of these terranes; the 2010 trip hotel.com day we will visit Meldon Quarry famous for its vol- is planned to examine the eastern one, the Indochina Sunday, 28th November 2010 canics, hornfels and slates and complex structure, Block. The leader will be Michael F. Ridd and it is Depart Chanthaburi and examine Triassic deep-water which has recently had to find a new purpose! The hoped that Dr Assanee Meesook and Dr John Booth, cherts and shales, before taking the ferry to the island traditional rail ballast contract has been withdrawn geologists based in Bangkok, will accompany us for of Ko Chang. Transfer by minibus to Ramayana Koh due to the recession but investigations found that the part of the trip. Chang Resort and Spa. www.ramayana.co.th quarry had materials that could be worked competi- As well as fossiliferous Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Monday, 29th November 2010 tively into the bulk fill market. This will help keep sedimentary rocks and igneous rocks of varying ages, At leisure, or examine the Permo-Triassic acidic tuffs Meldon going until the ballast market resumes. eastern Thailand boasts important archaeological and lavas of which Ko Chang is composed. Boreholes were also recently drilled to help elucidate sites including Bronze Age burial sites and thousand- Speedboat to visit reefs and islets for snorkeling and the geology to the south of the current excavations - year old temple complexes which were part of the examining Triassic granite and volcanic rocks in the the first boreholes for years. Althought the cores may Khmer empire. It is planned to visit these as well as Ko Chang group. 12 GA Magazine of the Geologists’Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 CIRCULAR No. 982 March 2010 ask before booking. PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE for field meetings is provided but PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION FOR FIELD personal accident cover remains the responsibility of the participant. MEETINGS Further details are available on request from the GA office. ENQUIRIES & BOOKINGS Geoff Swann organises day and week- SAFETY is taken very seriously. Should you be unsure about either end meetings in the UK. Michael Ridd is responsible for overseas and the risks involved or your ability to participate, you must seek advice longer excursions. Sarah Stafford at the GA office is responsible for from the GA office before booking. Please make sure that you study bookings, payments and general administration. the risk assessment prepared for all GA field meetings and that you You must book through the GA office to confirm attendance. Please have all the safety equipment specified. You must declare, at the time do not contact the field meeting leader directly. Meeting times and of booking, any disabilities or medical conditions that may affect your locations will be confirmed on booking. These are not normally adver- ability to attend a field meeting safely. You may be asked to provide tised in advance, as there have been problems with members turning up further information on any prescription drugs etc that you may use without booking or paying and maximum numbers being exceeded. Field whilst attending a field meeting. In order to ensure the safety of all meetings are open to non-members although attendance by non-mem- participants, the GA reserves the right to limit or refuse attendance at bers is subject to a £5 surcharge on top of the normal administration field meetings. fee. Some meetings may have restrictions on age (especially for under EMERGENCY CONTACT: If you are lost or late for the start of a 16s) or be physically demanding. If you are uncertain, please ask. meeting, an emergency contact is available during UK field meetings by PAYMENTS for day and weekend meetings must be made before calling the GA mobile phone (07724 133290). PLEASE NOTE THIS attending any field meeting. Cheques should be made out to Geologists' NEW NUMBER. The mobile phone will only be switched on just before Association. A stamped addressed envelope is appreciated. Please give and during field meetings. For routine enquiries please call the GA a contact telephone number and, if possible, an email address and pro- office on the usual number. vide the names of any other persons that you are including in your book- TRAVEL REGULATIONS are observed. The GA acts as a retail agent ing. PLEASE ALSO PROVIDE AN EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME for ATOL holders in respect of air flights included in field meetings. All AND TELEPHONE NUMBER AT THE TIME OF BOOKING. flights are ATOL protected by the Civil Aviation Authority (see GA There are separate arrangements for overseas meetings. Circular No. 942, October 2000 for further details). Field meetings of TRANSPORT is normally via private car unless otherwise advertised. more than 24 hours duration or including accommodation are subject to If you are a rail traveller, it may be possible for the GA office to the Package Travel Regulations 1992. The information provided does arrange for another member to provide a lift or collect you from the not constitute a brochure under these Regulations. nearest railway station. This service cannot be guaranteed, but please

FIELD MEETINGS IN 2010 of coal mining in Somerset is told. The museum also Equipment: You will need a hard hat and hi-vis We are hoping to arrange additional fossil collecting contains spectacular fossil displays. Following the jacket. opportunities during the year. There may not be time museum visit, several local geological sites will be Cost and Booking: Numbers may be limited. to advertise these in the Circular so if you would like visited including disused Lower Lias quarries and an Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford details when they become available contact Sarah old coal measures tip. Fossil collecting is permitted at the GA office. Register with Sarah sending an Stafford at the GA office. at some sites so don't forget your hammers and gog- administration fee of £5 per person to confirm your gles. Packed lunch or cafe stop. place. PLEASE ALSO REFER TO OUR WEB SITE Equipment: Please make sure you have a hard hat (http://www.geologists.org.uk/events_fieldtrips.ht and hi vis jacket. A DAY ON THE BAWDSEY PENINSULA ml) FOR CHANGES TO THE PROGRAMME Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited to 20. Leaders: Roger Dixon and Bob Markham AND FOR FINALISED DATES Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford Saturday 22nd May 2010 at the GA office. Register with Sarah sending an A guided tour of the unique 'Pliocene Island' at RETURN TO NEWHAVEN administration fee of £5 to confirm your place. Sutton Knoll, Suffolk, an island of Coralline Crag in Leader: Geoff Toye the Red Crag sea. This is a flagship site and we will Saturday 27th March 2010 FOSSILS AND EARLY CHURCHES IN THE also visit the 'Pliocene Forest' planted and maintained Another opportunity to collect from the chalk of the WELSH BORDERLAND by Geosuffolk and funded by the GA's Curry Fund. Newhaven area with plenty of fossils in prospect. Leader: Prof John Potter We will then visit two Red Crag pits (good for col- Equipment: Hard hats are advisable. Saturday and Sunday 8th and 9th May 2010 lecting) not previously visited by the GA. We will Cost and booking: Further details will be available The annual churches trip will on this occasion end the day at East Lane Bawdsey to examine the from Sarah Stafford at the GA office. Register with explore both the fabric of early churches and their London Clay/Red Crag junction with good cliff Sarah sending an administration fee of £5 to confirm possible source rocks from the Lower Palaeozoic of exposure of the basal Red Crag phosphatic pebble your place. the Welsh Borderland. Using car transport, Saturday bed and new coastal defenses. The itinerary is tide (commencing 10.30am) will view localities in the dependent. A LONG WEEKEND ON THE YORKSHIRE Shrewsbury, Much Wenlock, Craven Arms areas. Equipment: Suitable footwear and clothing. A COAST Sunday (commencing 10am) will move south trowel and sieve would be useful. Bring a packed Leader: John Hudson towards Ludlow, Leominster, and terminate near lunch. Friday - Monday 16th - 19th April 2010 Hereford - thus for most accommodation will be nec- Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited to 20 Itinerary details are still to be confirmed but will in essary. No, you will not be permitted to collect fos- and car sharing will be necessary. Further details will part be weather dependent. We will be based in sils from the churches! be available from Sarah Stafford at the GA office. Scarborough and the trip will provide an opportunity Equipment: No hammers but bring a quality lens Register with Sarah sending an administration fee of to study the world famous sections exposed on the and binoculars. Packed or pub lunches. £5 per person to confirm your place. Yorkshire coast and inland. There will be ample Cost & booking: Numbers will be limited to 25 and opportunities for fossil collecting. car sharing will be necessary. Further details will be THE GAULT CLAY OF FOLKESTONE - JOINT Equipment: You will need a hard hat. There may available from Sarah Stafford at the GA office. MEETING WITH THE PALAEONTOLOGI- be some fairly strenuous walking involved. Please note the GA will not be arranging accommo- CAL ASSOCIATION Cost and booking: Numbers will be limited to 20. dation. Register with Sarah sending an administra- Leader: Professor Andy gale Further details will be available from Sarah Stafford tion fee of £15 per person to confirm your place. Saturday June 5 2010 at the GA office. Register with Sarah sending an Meet 10.30 at the car park by the East Pavilion. administration fee of £10 to confirm your place. BYTHAM RIVER DEPOSITS OF LIN- This meeting celebrates the forthcoming publica- Please note the GA will not be booking accommoda- COLNSHIRE tion of the Palaeontological Association's book tion. We will arrange a group dinner on the Saturday Saturday 15th May "Fossils of the Gault Clay". evening if there is sufficient interest. Leaders: Professor Jim Rose and Jenni Turner Equipment: Stout shoes, hammer, trowel/knife We will be looking at sediments of the ancient and a copy of the Pal. Assn Guide to the Gault RADSTOCK - COAL MEASURES AND Bytham river (pre MIS 12 age) and at evidence for Fossils. Bring a packed lunch AMMONITES organic deposits between Tills (MIS 12 and 10 age). Cost and booking: Numbers will be limited. Leaders: Simon Carpenter and Alan Bentley Start at 10.30 hrs at the Castle Bytham site. We will Register with Sarah Stafford at the GA office sending Saturday 24th April 2010 start at 10:30, packed lunch or local hostelry, expect- an administration fee of £5 to confirm your place. The day starts at Radstock Museum where the story ing to end about 16:00. GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 11 Book Reviews by Rockwatchers

"Creatures of the Deep" explains about the weirdly-shaped crea- published by the Natural tures and their methods for hunting in History Museum. the pitch black as well as the history of how we discovered the oceans. It even gives a detailed explanation of the Author John Woodward. ocean floor and how the plates of the Price £14.99. ISBN: 978 0 Earth's crust can change it. It gives 565 09246 7 information on three separate zones of the ocean and creatures that live there (e.g. the sunlit and twilight zones) not 'Creatures of the deep' is a fantastic just the dark zone. It would be useful book telling you about how humans dis- as an information book but would also covered the deep sea as well as the be a nice book for reading just for fun. creatures that live there. It is very informative and easy to read. I loved the 3D pop-ups, flaps and the clearly labelled, colourful pictures, although Rockwatcher some of them may scare younger Mia Brown childen. The fascinating information

"Dinosaurs" looked like. My favourite pages are 22- published by the Natural 23 which are all about marine reptiles. It History Museum. has pictures of what marine reptiles may have looked like, and catchy sub-head- ings like 'Floating food' and 'Speedy and Author Dougal Dixon. Price streamlined'. Another good page is page £14.99. Aimed at children 28 which has the survival rates of dif- ages 8+. ISBN: 978 0 565 ferent animal families. On every page this book has a key finds section, which 09245 0 tells you about finds or discoveries that link with that page. The worst thing is I really enjoyed this book because pop- that the writing is white on a black back- up books are usually babyish, but this one ground which makes it harder to read. holds a lot of factual information. It is Apart from that, this is a brilliant book very easy to read and has pages about that is a really good buy, and I would rec- flying reptiles, swimming reptiles and ommend this to people of all ages. much, much more. The life-like illustra- tions help you to grasp the amazing insights into dinosaur behaviour and Rockwatcher anatomy. There is a time-line that shows Philip Vixseboxse what people thought the Fossil Fun for Kids anatomically correct fossil drawings which are then sandblasted into stone to is an Educational Workshop that is trav- make tactile works of art which are used elling the length and breadth of the to make latex moulds. At the start of Jurassic Coast to bring geology, history the workshop children look at these and art to children visiting this World designs and they learn about ammonites, Heritage Site. The workshop is based on gryphea, icthyosaurs, dapedium and many other fossils found along the Jurassic Coast as well as . Plaster moulds are then made in front of the children and one by one they peel off the latex mould revealing the fossil which they can paint and take home with them. .com, or phoning 07776461117. The They are totally absorbed and come up workshop is available for festivals, fairs with some beautiful colours. and private parties and Philip’s artwork The workshop is available for all pri- can be viewed at various galleries along mary schools and you can find about it on the Jurassic Coast. the DepARTure data base for schools or by contacting philipanslow @hotmail 10 GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 ROCKWATCH NEWS

al years so they can once again learn This is the time of year to take stock, more about the geology of this fan- to look at events of the past year, to tastic coastline. consider plans for the forthcoming year and of course, as ever, to seek Rockwatch has been invited to co- funding and support! convene a meeting with the Mineralogical Society on "Nature's As you will have seen from the Treasures" at the end of the year, December 2009 issue of this maga- which is really exciting and quite a zine, Rockwatch activities were in full new opportunity. Last year, rather late swing until early November and in the year, Rockwatch members were rounded off with a splendid winter invited to join a similar meeting and Emily’s first , South Wales weekend issue of the magazine. Our pro- the youngsters and their parents who gramme for the early part of 2010 is went (and were paid for by the already looking busy with a week at Min.Soc.) were fulsome in their praise BGS in Keyworth talking to local for the event. Their emails later said school children for Science Week, cul- how much they had learnt and how minating in a now regular Family Day, pleased they were to have been given which has visitors waiting to rush in that opportunity. So, we have high when the doors open at 10.00 a.m. In hopes for the meeting this year, when fact, such is the rush, that entry times Rockwatch will be able to play a big- are now staggered! Later in March, we ger role. will be exploring the Cotswold Water Park and have high hopes of great If any of our Local Groups and fossil finds again. Haslemere Museum Affiliated Societies are interested in has asked us to do a Family Day in hosting a Rockwatch field trip to their April and later that month we'll be area, please do get in touch with me looking at churches and quarries in and we'll see what we can do to bring Festival of Geology 2009 Suffolk. A train journey to Leamington that to fruition. has been organised, exploring the geology en route - always fun from a I've frequently thought that train - and we will try out the new Rockwatch appeals to all ages and this Leamington Town Trail, funded by the was brought home to me at a party at Curry Fund, when we arrive. Christmas. I was talking to a man who told me that, although his grandchild's Another new venture for Rockwatch, interest had moved on, he (the grand- in partnership with BGS, is a weekend father) would keep the membership event at Papplewick Pumping Station up because he so enjoyed the in Nottinghamshire. This is a wonder- Rockwatch magazine. He was not a fully ornate Victorian building and will geologist, but had more than a pass- have lots of activities for families as ing interest in the subject, and the well as tours around the building. magazine gave him an excellent intro- duction to the field and thence Looking towards some of the "early enabled him to further his knowledge bird" activities scheduled for later in on his own. I was delighted! the year, our annual residential week Fossil detectives at Lyme Regis in Dorset, a firm favourite, is set for I'm pleased to say that Rockwatch the last week in July. Not only have goes from strength to strength. We many families joined us every year are fortunate to have lots of wonder- (we are now on our 7th or possibly ful people who are willing and able to 8th visit!) but some, whose member- help us, with the magazine, with field ship lapsed, had rejoined after sever- trips and generally. So thank you all. And of course, we are extremely grateful to those who support us in other ways and this year we've already had commitments from Statoil and the Geological Society to this effect. Susan Brown Chairman

Fitting up for the mine at Auderley Edge

Rory explains the finer points of the stratigraphy of the Chalk

GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 9 Jerry's point of view, no mammal mate- Launch of London's Foundations rial was found in this batch. Prior to the launch Jonathan Larwood The 15th of October saw the launch of Partnership as a case study for promot- and Adam Ellwell from Natural England London's Foundations. This is an initia- ing London's geology. A class of Year 6 had visited the school to talk about the tive of the London Geodiversity children from the local Thorntree history of Gilbert's Pit and had initiated Partnership aimed at local planners as Primary School were invited to partici- an art competition for the class. The part of the London Plan Implementation pate in three geological activities organ- paintings were displayed in the gazebo Report which will help to protect and ised for the occasion. While one group erected on site and Iain Stewart, pre- value geodiversity in the capital. It iden- senter of the TV series Earth, was invit- tifies features of geological value and ed to award prizes to the winners. It provides a base for developing a Greater was rewarding to see how much the chil- London Geodiversity Action Plan. dren had taken in and some of them The main aim of the day was to inform were clearly very interested in the rocks Local Authority planners. The actual and fossils. The winner, Muaaz launch of London's Foundations took Chowdhury, had made an interesting place in Charlton House with talks first painting including a block diagram. He on geodiversity in general from Iain and several others brought in specimens Stewart followed by an overview of

Class 6 from Thorntree Primary School siev- ing Abbey Wood material at the launch of London's Foundations in Gilbert's Pit. were escorted on a tour of the pit, look- ing at the exposures with Kate Mitchell from Natural England expertly assisted The winning picture painted by Muaaz Chowdhury on the environments of Gilbert's Iain Stewart setting the scene at Charlton by Steve Tracey, a second group dis- cussed the past environments of House with a talk on links between geology, to look at. places and people. Charlton with Diana Clements with the aid of representative fossils and recon- The activities at Gilbert's Pit attracted London's geodiversity from Jonathan struction pictures. A third group took some press coverage. In particular a Larwood. After refreshments the party part in a sieving activity developed by presenter, Sally Rourke from ITN London was led down the hill to Gilbert's Pit Dave Ward for the Lyme Regis Festival. Tonight came with a camera and organ- where Jackie Skipper showed them This used material from Abbey Wood and ised the children to introduce the fossils was master-minded by Pip Brewer, Jill they had been looking at or sieving. Darrell and Noel Morris from the Natural There were some general shots of the History Museum and assisted by Isabel activities and she also filmed Jonathan Assaly and Emily Dresner of Natural Larwood talking about the section. A England. As the Early Eocene short piece went out on the 6 o'clock Blackheath Beds at the top of the pit are news the same day and the local paper the same age as the Lessness Shell Bed also covered the story. at Abbey Wood it seemed appropriate It was a glorious October day and, material to work with and the children although the planners were a bit thin on were delighted to go home with a shark's the ground, the occasion was much enjoyed by the many members of the geological community who attended. London's Foundations can be accessed Jonathan Larwood (Natural England) pres- electronically on: ents London's Foundations. http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/plan- round, explaining the importance of such ning/geodiversity.jsp exposures for planners, engineers, edu- There is also a summary document, cation and research. commissioned by Natural England and Gilbert's Pit is an SSSI for the Lambeth including a case study on Gilbert's Pit, Group and Blackheath Beds and is the available from: site chosen by the London Geodiversity http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Imag es/londonfoundationsummary_tcm6- 11934.pdf These documents contain useful infor- Diana Clements talking to Class 6 about past environments of Charlton. Iain Stewart is mation on the London exposures and will being televised in the background. form the basis for the Action Plan. I rep- resent the Geologists' Association on the tooth or two and many fossil shells. The London Geodiversity Partnership and event was fortuitously held in the week would be pleased to pass on any com- following the excavation and extraction ments. of material in Abbey Wood by Jerry Diana Clements Hooker and the Tertiary Research Group All photographs taken by David Harland and Steve Tracey was able to bring over Photography for Natural England fresh bag-loads for sieving. The object Jackie Skipper takes the adult attendees on a of the annual dig at Abbey Wood is to look for mammal material from this tour of Gilbert's Pit. important site but, unfortunately, from 8 GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 'A splendid adventure' GA visit to Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex A Festival Field Trip - Sunday November 1 2009

As I sat in my car in the Naze car park, I looked out of the window into the gloom and driving rain, wondering whether I could even leave the car without having the door torn off by the wind, and whether anyone else would have made the effort to come out on a day like this. Well they did. Slowly, other cars appeared, and before long there was a group of us standing in the lee of the locked Naze café wondering what to do next. But we were lucky. The nearby Naze tower, an 18th century historic land- mark, had just opened its doors on the last day of the season, and we were soon inside, huddled together clutching mugs of hot coffee and discussing the geology of this remarkable part of the Essex coast. We decided that as we had all come this far we would not to be beat- en by the weather.

Refreshed, the party set off down the concrete steps and, with a lot of sliding about in the mud, made our way on to a safe part of the cliffs where there was an expo- sure of Red Crag sand full of fossil shells which appealed to the fossil collectors in the party. The Red Crag is a curi- ous geological formation, laid down as shelly dunes on the On the cliffs at The Naze, with the Naze tower in the background sea bed about 2 million years ago during a temperate (photo provided by Eric Monk) period at the very beginning of the Ice Age, and stained a rich red by iron oxide. Later, as the tide went out, we the weather, everyone seemed to enjoy the day. We were made our way down to the beach and searched for sharks all cold, wet and muddy at the end of it all but no-one teeth and other fossils washed out of the 50 million year seemed to mind. One of the members said later that it old London Clay that forms the base of the cliffs. was 'a splendid adventure'. A day to remember, certain- ly. In the middle of the afternoon the rain stopped but it was too late; the temptation of tea and chocolate cake in the warm Naze Tower was too much and we made our Gerald Lucy way back. Amazingly, 14 people turned up and, despite

The Geologists’Association Annual Dinner Friday May 7 2010 Cavendish Hotel Jermyn Street London SW1

The Cavendish Hotel proved a very popular venue for our Annual Dinner last year, so we decided to book it again this year.

It is conveniently located very near Burlington House, a short walk after our AGM and the Presidential Address. It is an excellent opportunity to meet up with old friends and the Awards winners and we extend a warm welcome to new members.

The 3 course meal including coffee is £36.50. To book, send your cheque, payable to ‘The Geologists’ Association’, to Sarah Stafford at the GA Office and please state if you have any special dietary requirements.

Please do join us for a great evening!

GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 7 FESTIVAL FIELD TRIP - Sunday November 1 2009 A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT GEOLOGICAL WALK

For the Festival of Geology , which we Granite alongside the large Lambeth the greens of the majority of the associ- must now call the Reunion, mild walking Police Station. The best granite however ates. difficulties on the part of the leader, gave was seen in a wall of The Three Stags Effectively, this planting gives sub- a rather modified character to the walk Edwardian pub at the corner of Lambeth stance to the familiar pollen spectrum advertised for the Sunday morning of Road. This was pink Peterhead Granite diagrams which we have become accus- the 1st of November. with its customary, rather square ortho- tomed to seeing in accounts of peat bog Meeting at Lambeth North Tube station clase feldspars , and one or two dark profiles documenting interglacial periods of the Metropolitan of 1906, there was 'heathen' inclusions (xenoliths) proving in botanical accounts by Professor Harry the chance to draw attention to the dis- its hot intrusive origin into Grampian Godwin and the Cambridge Botany tinctive cherry red glazed ceramic blocks Dalradian schists School. As an idea of giving substance to which identify the stations of the line, More kerbstones and cobbles caught the geological record, our party came to the brainchild of the architect Leslie the eye in the side streets heading Lambeth from the Festival having seen Green. The blocks appealed to the towards the Morley College on St the same kind of initiative from the Edwardian enthusiasm for self-cleaning George's Road. Friends of the Pliocene ( Geo Suffolk ) surfaces of promised hard wearing qual- Crossing into the park-style grounds of who, with the support of the Curry Fund, ity. Could they have been fired by have planted trees and shrubs which Douitons in South London? There is only would have flourished in the Pleistocene so much that you can say about glazed on the local Crag at Sutton Knoll, near tiles. The torrential rain delayed our ven- Woodbridge. We must find out more turing across Bridge Road to puzzle over about Trees for London. Christ Church and Upton Chapel and its As we were close to the 9th of dominant spire. This was one of the November and the breaching of the parish churches, part funded by the coal Berlin Wall, it was appropriate that our

the Imperial War Museum, Geology took a novel turn when we began to take an interest in trees and saplings and short posts alongside them. Limes, poplars, and several different species of easy-to- recognise birches have been planted by a group called Trees for London who have chosen to plant what might be called the pioneer trees recolonising Britain after the end of the last phase of the Pleistocene Ice ( ca 10,000 ). Each tree is given an approximate date for arrival, and a few brief remarks about walk ended with a close-up scrutiny of position in the changing ecology of a the section of the Wall which now stands tundra-becoming-taiga tree cover close to the grand portico to the Imperial (TAIGA - a BIOME characterised by war Museum. This monument is com- coniferous forests). At the time of our posed of flinty gravels (of a kind spread trade into the Port of London, aimed to visit (early November) it was the birches thickly over the North German Plain), serve the growing suburb of Lambeth. which caught the eye for the colour reinforced by steel rods. It must catch Usually, these churches are of Kentish range of leaves, although the bright yel- the notice of many of the numerous vis- Ragstone walling with dressings of yel- low of a Wych Elm was striking amongst itors who stream towards this popular low Bath Stone, but in this, Christ muesum . We Church begs to differ. On examination, might draw the dressings turned out to be white their attention , but later repairs to to the geology. wartime damage turned out to be the 25 people reconstituted Portland Stone dust mar- braved the keted as Reformite, notably lacking the weather. fossil fragments of the natural stone. The tower and capping spire are all that ERIC survive of the original church. What would have been the body of the church ROBINSON is now office floors for renting, while at an angle to the road, a modern concrete annexe serves the congregation as Upton Chapel. The Kennington Road provided the usual range of granite kerbstones, main- ly Scottish, but with a few of Shap

6 GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No 1, 2010 THE GEOLOGISTS' ASSOCIATION ONE-DAY MEETING 2010

WARM CLIMATES: LINKING THE PAST AND PRESENT

Organisers: Dr Danielle Schreve and Dr Ian Candy Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London.

In the face of current concerns over climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, our geological record can offer important lessons concerning the impacts of past global warming on the environment and their relevance to today's trends.

This one-day Scientific Meeting of the Geologists' Association, sponsored by Elsevier and the Department of Environment and Climate Change focuses on periods in Earth's history when the climate was warmer than today, taking in a broad chronological sweep from over 300 million years ago to the present day.

A series of invited lectures will examine how we measure and model the evidence for elevated temperatures, drawing on a range of data including flora, fauna, ice-sheet, deep ocean and sea level records, and examining how past landscapes and environ- ments responded and adapted to these periods of exceptional warmth.

Confirmed keynote speakers include: Professor Mike Benton (University of Bristol), Professor Margaret Collinson (Royal Holloway, University of London), Dr Alan Haywood (University of Leeds), Dr Greg Price (University of Plymouth) and Dr Ian Candy (Royal Holloway, University of London).

Date: Thursday 9th September 2010

Venue: Lecture theatre of the Geological Society of London, Burlington House Time: 9.30am registration for 10.00am start

Price: £17 per person for GA members, £20 for non-members, to include abstract book, lunch and all refreshments. Please make cheques payable to ‘Geologists’ Association’ and mark them on the reverse 'GA Warm Climates'

Booking is essential so please register your interest with Sarah Stafford in the GA office as soon as possible (020 7434 9298, [email protected]). We look forward to seeing you at what promises to be an excellent meeting!

GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 5 Oxford Clay April Meeting Formation at Christian Malford, Wilts Preserving the unpreserv- includes an unusual able: a lost world rediscov- interval that pre- serves the soft parts ered at Christian Malford, of vast numbers of Wilts squid-like coleoids, fish and crustaceans. Dr. Phil Wilby, Curiously, many of the coleoids occur in British Geological Survey pairs apparently clasping one another. Friday 9 April 2010 Their soft parts, Geological Society, Burlington House, including their ink Belemnotheutis Piccadily, W1V 0JU sac, muscle and skin at 6.00 pm, tea at 5.30 pm. are preserved with remarkable 3D (cellu- The animal fossil record is heavily lar) precision. Re- tional preservation and the cause of the biased towards hard parts, despite the excavation of the locality by BGS in coleoid mass killings. fact that soft-bodied organisms domi- 2007, after having been lost for 150 nate most modern ecosystems and like- years, is helping to better understand ly did so in the past. The Jurassic the processes leading to such excep- May Meeting - The Annual General Meeting

Caves and cannibals: a These sites span the period from c. 500 000 years ago until the end of the Mendip perspective Pleistocene, c.10 000 years ago and provide a unique insight into changing Dr. Danielle Schreve, climates and patterns of animal and This meeting will human movement and behaviour. This Royal Holloway College lecture reviews some of the classic be followed by the localities, such as Westbury-sub-Mendip Friday 7 May 2010 and Gough's Cave, focussing on the Annual Dinner - Geological Society, Burlington House, inferred age and palaeoenvironmental Piccadily, W1V 0JU signatures of the fossil faunas, the see page 7 for at 6.00 pm, tea at 5.30 pm. taphonomic origins of the deposits and the significance of the archaeological The area of the Mendip Hills in assemblages. In addition, new research details Somerset contains some of the most from a previously unexplored cave con- important Pleistocene cave sites in taining a rich terminal Pleistocene fauna western Europe in terms of their verte- will also be presented. brate assemblages, Palaeolithic archae- ological finds and early human remains.

are intriguing but as yet June Meeting uncertain. This talk will report on several horizons yielding amber resin inclu- Opening the amber window sions from the early onto early life: remarkable Cretaceous dinosaur beds preservation from the of East Sussex. Preliminary studies reveal Wealden of Sussex plentiful organic inclu- sions, including vascular Martin Brasier, tissues, tracheid cells and Professor of Palaeobiology, Oxford putative resin ducts of the parent coniferous trees, as Friday 4 June 2010 well as preserved soil Geological Society, Burlington House, microbes, fungal and Spider 16x Piccadily, W1V 0JU cyanobacterial filaments, at 6.00 pm, tea at 5.30 pm. and, of course, the earliest examples of spider silk webs. The latter unearthed in associated beds contain- include threads that are twisted, paired ing silicified vegetation, and even Although the history of terrestrial vege- and coated with sticky fluid droplets, remarkably preserved dinosaur soft tis- tation is now being traced back into the comparable with those of araneoid spi- sues without parallel in the fossil Middle Proterozoic some 1000 Ma back, der webs studied by us in modern cher- record. This is just the beginning. The and conifers with resins were present ry tree resins. New material is yielding Wealden of Sussex is yielding up its by the Carboniferous, the amber win- more exciting discoveries, including as hidden treasures. dow did not open fully until the end of yet unpublished silk cocoons. the Mesozoic. The reasons for this delay Remarkable preservation is also being

4 GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No 1, 2010 THE ASSOCIATION Report from Council Curry Fund Report Geological Society, the original part- ner funder of the Guide. All of these This report covers the Council requests for grants were agreed. Meetings of December and February, At its December meeting, the last 2009 proved to be an interesting there being no meeting in January. of 2009, the Curry Fund Committee year for Curry Fund applications. The There was much discussion about received 13 new applications and dis- Committee is delighted that the sup- the GA library which is housed within cussed one from the previous meet- port from the Fund, to such a wide the library at University College. A ing which awaited clarification. and varied number of projects, is new agreement is being negotiated Wiltshire Geology Group was reaching out to the wider public in so to replace the original one made at offered an interest-free loan of £2000 many different ways. Initiatives that the beginning of the 20th century. repayable within two years towards are unlikely to get funding from the The problem of the disposal of books the cost of producing laminated academic funding bodies do, most raised a number of questions and the leaflet guides for sale, on the often, get Curry Fund support, even nature of the agreements of other "Landscape & Geology to the Vale of though the awards are highly com- societies, who have their libraries Wardour". The Hertfordshire petitive. The Fund is, in the widest housed within the University College Geological Society was also offered sense, highly active in supporting the library, with UCL is being sought. an interest-free loan of £2000 aims and objectives of the One of the major topics of discus- repayable within two years, towards Association. The Committee looks sion at both meetings was how producing its book on "Geology & forward to supporting many more Council should organise itself to act Landscape of Hertfordshire". A grant interesting and worthwhile projects most efficiently. A previous meeting of £552 was agreed for SEARCH had discussed the various roles that Museum in Gosport towards the cost during 2010. are required of Council and how best of geo-workshops for local children. Susan Brown these could be implemented. It was One of the grant conditions was a agreed that there was a need for a short write-up, with photographs, of Curry Fund Secretary member of Council responsible for the activities for the GA Magazine. each of the following: Publicity, Radstock Museum was awarded a Membership and Awards, since at grant of £1,800 towards a new dis- Library Notes present, no-one is directly responsi- play and mineral acquisition. The ble for these tasks. It has further committee also required a short At the time of my last notes you been decided to set up small 'working write-up and photographs for the GA could only contact me through the parties' of Council members and (if Magazine for this project. £800 Office but with the New Year things required) of co-opted others from "leverage" funding for a much larger have moved on so that I am now con- within the wider membership in order project for interpretation and conser- tactable directly. My e-mail address is to focus on progressing specific vation of the Kenilworth Sandstone as follows: [email protected]. As issues, namely Membership, along a former railway track was the 2010 field season is looming, I Meetings, Science & Awards and requested by Warwickshire am looking forward to your queries. Publicity. Geological Conservation Group. This In 2009 Europe was the most pop- Council thanked the Editor of the was agreed, subject to the major ular destination. Denmark, Sweden PGA for making the transition to the funding being awarded. Dr. Peter and Finland led on to the new publisher go so smoothly. Hoare received a grant of £328 to St.Petersburg area, even penetrating The Field Guide editor reported that cover the cost of sample collection for to the Kola Peninsula in the far north a new field guide on the Dalradian OSL dating. of Russia. France, Italy, Spain and has just been produced in the new A rather different request came Portugal were also requested, though format. Council agreed that the new from Geoheritage Fife, who request- not the eastern Mediterranean for a format was a major advance in the ed a grant of £2,328 towards produc- change. Switzerland came up for the presentation of the guides. It is ing a cast of a giant fossil arthropod first time in ages. (It should figure hoped that the new London Guide, footway, in situ, near St. Andrews, this year too as I am going there on which is nearly complete, will be Fife. This was agreed. The Committee a field trip myself later). South-west available in time for the Festival. also specifically requested that a cast England and the Scilly Isles were On 9th September 2010, there will of the Curry Fund plaque be incorpo- asked for and much further away. So be a one day meeting on "Warm rated into this fossil pathway cast were the Great Plains and Rocky Climates: Linking the Past and (agreed with the casting company) Mountains of the United States. Present", supported by Elsevier and and a comprehensive photographic Africa was represented by Morocco the Department of Environment and record and write-up of the project be while the antipodes only by New Climate Change, organised by the sent for our archive and the GA mag- Zealand. Intrepid members are con- President and Dr Ian Candy. The pro- azine. The work is likely to be carried tinuing to travel to Svalbard and even gramme, is well advanced - see out during the early summer of 2010. further, braving the southern ocean, page 5 for details. The Geologists' Association request- to Antarctica. Although November seems a long ed grants for the cost of reprinting Given enough notice I can always way away, the committee organising the following field guides: £1,925 for try to get coverage for you where a the Festival of Geology have met and its Yorkshire Coast Guide; £1,987 for gap in our collection appears. begun organising lecturers and reprinting its Mallorca Guide; £334 Enjoy your trips wherever you go. I events. for reprinting its Anglesey Guide; look forward to helping you make the £355 for reprinting its Salt Hill Quarry most of them. John Crocker Guide; £337 for reprinting its Ercall Quarry Guide and £1,000 for pur- Elaine Bimpson General Secretary chase of copies of its East Midlands Guide from the East Midlands Librarian GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 3 Magazine of the Geologists’ Association From the President Volume 9 No. 1, 2010 With all the recent snow and tempera- tures dropping below 20ºC in Scotland, Published by the you would have been legitimately forgiv- Geologists’ Association. en for thinking we were back in the last CONTENTS Ice Age! A few days of inconvenience for Four issues per year. most of us but it does make one think 3. The Association about how much more robust our imme- ISSN 1476-7600 diate ancestors were, without the benefits 4. Future Lectures Production team: JOHN CROCKER, of modern comforts. The arrival of deep Paula Carey, John Cosgrove, 5. September one-day meeting snow in my village in Surrey caused a fair Vanessa Harley, Bill French 6. Festival Field trips amount of discussion about the knotty 7. Annual Dinner Notice question of climate change, with many Printed by City Print, Milton Keynes 8. London’s Foundations people taking the inclement conditions as 9. Rockwatch evidence that 'global warming' is a myth. 10. Book Reviews by This raises the important point that short- The GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION term weather and long-term climate does not accept any responsibility for Rockwatchers 11. CIRCULAR 981 change are different matters - we forget views and opinions expressed by indi- very rapidly about some of the extremes 15. Thailand Field Meeting vidual authors in this magazine. of temperature we have experienced in 16. Rockwriter for 2009 our own lifetimes but it is only by taking a The Geologists’ 17. Past Lectures - December/ long-term perspective that we can accu- January/ February rately measure real trends and potential- Association 18. ENI Presentations ly predict what may lie ahead. The Association, founded in 1858, exists to 20. Getting the best from the PGA foster the progress and diffusion of the sci- 21. South Wales 50th Anniversary On this very topic, please make a note in ence of geology, and to encourage 23. New Field Guide/ your diaries of Thursday 9th September, research and the development of new Circular continued when the GA will be holding a one-day methods. It holds meetings for the reading Science Meeting, sponsored by Elsevier of papers and the delivery of lectures, (publishers of the Proceedings) and the organises museum demonstrations, pub- Department of Environment and Climate lishes Proceedings and Guides, and con- Advertising Rates Change, entitled "Warm Climates: Linking Full Page £360 Half Page £190 ducts field meetings. the Past and Present". The meeting will Quarter Page £100 Annual Subscriptions for 2009 are £40.00, cover a broad sweep of topics, including Other sizes by arrangement. Associates £30.00, Joint Members £58.00, palaeoclimate modelling, flora, fauna, Students £18.00. deep ocean and sea level records to For forms of Proposal for Membership and ADVERTISEMENTS examine how past landscapes, biotas and further information, apply to the Executive environments responded and adapted to While precautions are taken to ensure the Secretary, The Geologists’ Association, periods of exceptional warmth, thereby validity of advertisements the Association providing a context for understanding the Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J is not responsible for the items offered, for 0DU. any loss arising or for their compliance with likely impacts of modern anthropogenic E-mail [email protected] regulations. global warming. Further details and infor- Telephone 020 7434 9298 mation on how to book are given on page Fax 020 7287 0280 5 in this issue of the Magazine. The Website: http://www.geologistsassocia- © The Geologists’ Association. meeting offers an excellent opportunity to tion.org.uk All rights reserved. No part of this publi- hear some of the leading researchers in cation may be reproduced, stored in a action and emphasises the important role President: Danielle Schreve retrieval system or transmitted, in any that the GA plays in promoting scientific form or by means, without the prior per- debate on contentious topics of relevance Executive Secretary: Sarah mission in writing of the author and the to society today. I look forward to seeing Stafford Geologists’ Association. you there! Danielle Schreve LAST Copy dates for the Circular & Magazine

March Issue January 14 Curry Fund Dates for 2010 June Issue April 22 Cover picture: September Issue July 22 Applications to Committee Small Nacreous Ammonites - December Issue October 21 to be received by Date photograph by Gerald Lucy. Items should be submitted as soon as February 20 March 12 On the front of one of the post- possible and not targeted on these May 20 June 11 cards available from GA dates. We welcome contributions from August 20 September 17 November 20 December 10 Enterprises. Members and others.

2 GA Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010 MAGAZINEMAGAZINE OFOF THETHE GEOLOGISTS’GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIAASSOCIATIONTION Volume 9 No.1 March 2010

The Association Future Lectures September one-day meeting Festival Field trips Annual Dinner Notice London’s Foundations Rockwatch . Book Reviews by Rockwatchers CIRCULAR 982 Thailand Field Meeting Rockwriter for 2009 Past Lectures - December/ January/ February ENI Presentations Getting the best from the PGA South Wales 50th Anniversary New Field Guide