ON THE ROCKS Newsletter of the Branch of the Open University Geological Society March 2018

A view of (899m – the 9th highest mountain in ), , looking northeast from the end of Wast Water, where the River Irt starts its short journey to the Irish Sea. Wast Water is the deepest lake in England (76m). The mountains are all from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. (Peter Roberts 27.3.17 Grid Ref: NY 14535 03878)

Welcome to the Spring edition of your newsletter Contents

I hope you enjoy reading it and feel inspired to contribute to future issues. I must 1. Editor’s piece start with an apology. Unfortunately, the minutes of the AGM are not yet available 2. Rick’s musings but will be appearing in the next issue along with a copy of the accounts. 3. - 6. report 7. Guide to minerals Our main article this time is the first of a number of reports by Peter Vallely on last 7. Obituary autumn’s Blencathra trip, and, if the photos are anything to go by, the hardy 8. Climate change article participants enjoyed a lovely sunny, if rather chilly, day out. 9. YOUGS 2018 field trips

Peter Roberts has kindly provided the above photo, and we have another “simple 10. Snippets guide to minerals”, David Cousins’ personal view on surviving climate change, an 11. 2018 Blencathra obituary to Bill Graham who was a long-time Branch member, and a full listing of this year’s field trips, including separate details of this year’s Blencathra trip.

Ann, our treasurer has asked whether I could include a puzzle or two in future issues, so if any members are expert at compiling crosswords or word searches etc, please let me know and I’ll be happy to include them.

Peter Ellenger

The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

Branch Organiser’s Musings

Welcome to the first newsletter of the year.

We held our AGM in a different location in Leeds, and more members attended this year than usual, with a total of 17 members turning up. As usual, and not surprisingly, our speaker Dr Phil Murgatroyd of Bradford University gave an interesting talk on Doggerland. A big thank you goes firstly to Phil for giving the talk, and secondly to Phil who for the last four years has always organised a very interesting lecture to follow the AGM. Personally, I would like to hold a day of talks maybe with three speakers. What do you think?

As Branch Organiser I have always hated attending the Branch AGM with a passion. The reason for this has been that I have had to report that the works of Alan Stollery remain uncompleted. Although it was originally agreed before my time as BO that Alan’s Ramblings would be turned into some type of publication, from when I was first elected I have never been able to push it forward as fast as I would have liked. This year however all four volumes have been completed, and I now feel this is weight off my mind! All that needs to be done now is to create an index for the volume which our ex-newsletter editor Peter Roberts has volunteered to do. Once this is complete they will be put up on our YOUGS website so members can download them. In all honesty completing the Ramblings has been a fantastic experience. Through his works I really do feel that I have got to know Alan really well, even though I only knew him for all of one hour!

We have a wide range of interesting and varied field trips planned for this year with our main leaders being Tony Felski, Paul Kabrna, Paul Hildreth and Bill Fraser. For any months where we don’t have a leader we will go out for a geologically-themed walk with no leader, but we will take Yorkshire Rocks and Landscapes along with Alan Stollery’s Ramblings because all the walks will be based on his diaries. Towards the end of the year we also have our annual excursion to Blencathra FSC, and if you have not been it really is a fantastic week in The Lakes. All our trips are on the YOUGS website.

Our newsletters are an item I am extremely proud of, and I believe it represents our branch really well on a national level. However, it does rely on content being received by Peter our newsletter editor. It can be an interesting photo you have taken on holiday with a simple description of what is being seen, or a geologically-themed article you would like to write about somewhere you have been.

Can I remind all members to keep your details up to date and to keep the Membership Secretary informed of any changes? I also recommend you that you take a look at the OUGS Facebook Group and also follow us on Twitter if you are so inclined.

Finally, if you have any thoughts of places to go, things we can do better and so on, please do get in touch.

Best wishes

Ricky Savage - Yorkshire OUGS Branch Organiser

07761 409807 - [email protected]

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

Blencathra 2017 – Part 1

Day 1. Inlier and High Cup Nick.

“The Cross Fell Inlier is a slice of the in the ”. I knew a bit about the Geology, but I was more concerned about the geo-psychology. How would our young leaders, James and Ellen, manage to drag a dozen oldies up a 2000-foot mountain on such a windy and icy day?

Our planned walk followed the Pennine Way from the village of to High Cup Nick (see Figure 1). It allowed us to see rocks from five different geological periods (although our route did not actually cross the Silurian rocks in the Cross Fell Inlier – they were a few hundred metres to the north). We saw three major structural features: The Vale of Eden, the Cross Fell inlier, and the Whin . All of these originated in the Late Carboniferous/Early Permian as a result of the Variscan Orogeny. The main collisions of the Variscan Orogeny occurred well to the south of the British Isles and there was limited deformation in Britain outside the south west. However, the newly-formed supercontinent of Pangea was subject to great stresses and started to rift in many places – such as Central Scotland. Much of northern Britain was under north-south extensional forces which led to large movements along faults, and emplacement of – most notably the Whin Sill.

3 5 4 High Cup Nick 2 1 Dufton

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Cross Fell Inlier Whin Sill Vale of Eden Pennines (Ordovician/Silurian) (Early Permian) (Triassic) (Carboniferous)

Figure1. Sketch map of route (red dashes) to High Cup Nick (6 km each way)

Locality 1. Dufton - Le mur de la toilette (NY 689250)

The village of Dufton lies in the Vale of Eden – which is a half-graben structure on the eastern side of the Lake District which deepens westwards towards the bounding Pennine Fault. Dufton is built on and built from the red Triassic St Bees sandstones. They are exposed in a small quarry at NY 691248 but to save time we examined good examples in the wall of the toilet block (photo 1). The sandstones were cross- bedded in places, coarse-grained, sub-angular and contained plenty of feldspar. They are interpreted as braided river sediments which were deposited under hot climatic conditions.

Locality 2. Pennine Way Path (NY 715252)

We then set off up the Pennine Way paying close attention to the path in front of us – to spot changes but mainly to avoid slipping on the ice. After a while, shaley and volcanic material including ignimbrites became more prominent in the path which suggested that we had crossed into the Cross Fell Inlier. This was confirmed by in-situ examples of dark mudstones with prominent cleavage (photo2). Better exposures could be glimpsed in small quarries either side of the path but we pressed on into the biting headwind.

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

[

Photo 1. St Bees Sandstone at St Bees Photo 2. Highly cleaved mudstones

Head (we didn’t go there but it’s more within the Cross Fell Inlier on Pennine

picturesque than the toilet block) Way (probably Murton Formation – equivalent to Slates).

The Cross Fell Inlier is a narrow strip (about 25 km long and 2 km wide) where Lower Palaeozoic rocks have been uplifted a vertical distance of 1.5 km. The Cross Fell Inlier contains formations which can be correlated with the three major Lake District types i.e. the Skiddaw Group, the Borrowdale Volcanics and the Windermere Supergroup. The topography was also very convincing - either side of us we could see a narrow range of conical hills in the Cross Fell Inlier which contrasted dramatically with the broad plateau of the Pennines made from Carboniferous rocks straight ahead of us (photo 3). So the “slice of a Lake District” description is literally true rather than being just a fanciful metaphor.

Photo 3. Looking north along the Cross Fell Inlier Photo 4. Lime kiln – in the Carboniferous Melmerby towards Dufton Pike – a prominent conical hill in the Limestone. narrow Cross Fell inlier

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

Locality 3. Melmerby Limestone (NY 723 250)

We stopped for lunch beneath a low but extensive outcrop of limestone, which was confirmed by the presence of a limekiln (photo 4). Ellen and James pointed out some examples of brachiopods and solution features.

We had now crossed out of the Cross Fell Inlier into the Carboniferous of the Alston Block. Here the Carboniferous is horizontally-bedded and produces characteristic stepped topography - with the resistant sandstones and limestones forming the steep steps and the softer rocks forming the terraces between them.

In more detail, the Alston Block shows classic examples of cyclic sedimentation known as the Yoredale cyclothems. Each cyclothem has a limestone at its base which is overlain by mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, seatearth and finally coal. Each cyclothem was caused by a sudden marine transgression (leading to limestone formation – the highstand phase in sequence stratigraphy) followed by gradual shallowing and eventual emergence (leading to coal formation in swamps – the lowstand phase).

Locality 4. Viewpoint for High Cup Nick and Whin Sill NY 727253

We rounded a corner and got a great view of the Whin Sill on the opposite side of the valley.

Photo 5. First view of the Whin Sill looking towards High Cup Nick. Note columnar jointing, and landslip features on slope below.

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

The Whin Sill forms some spectacular quartz-dolerite crags in parts of Northern England – including Hadrian’s Wall, and the Farne Islands. Its chemistry tends to be slightly more tholeiitic than calc-alkaline, which supports an origin from intra-continental rifting as opposed to a subduction zone setting. Although the Whin Sill is intruded parallel to the bedding, it outcrops between different beds in different areas. In general, the Whin Sill intrudes deeper/older levels towards the centre of the basin and shallower levels at the rim to maintain hydrostatic equilibrium (Stone et al 2010, Fig. 54.). Incidentally the Melmerby limestone is the lowest level that it intrudes (but here the Whin Sill intrudes several beds higher).

Photo 6. Our leaders stoically explain how the Whin Sill intrudes progressively deeper beds towards the centre of a basin

Locality 5 High Cup Nick NY 745262

We plodded steadily upwards, braving the gale-force winds and icy ground. We clambered over attractive quartz sandstone boulders which had fallen from a prominent crag above. Eventually we reached the Whin Sill at High Cup Nick. We hacked through some ice to examine the top contact of the Whin Sill. Our frozen fingers and the glassy texture of the rock confirmed that this was indeed a chilled margin, which is consistent with its emplacement as a sill. Interestingly, the term “Whin Sill” was in use prior to the science of geology. When the Whin Sill was proved to be an intrusion rather than a lava flow in the 19th century, the term ”sill” was used to refer to other bedding-concordant intrusions, and the Whin Sill became the type example.

We turned round gratefully and joyfully ambled the 6 km back down to the minibus. With the wind behind us, we could now savour the extensive views of the Lakes across the Vale of Eden as far as Crifell in Scotland. And as for the geo-psychology…. well it didn’t quite turn out like Lord of the Flies, even though a couple of people went down after lunch. Unfortunately they suffered their own geological cataclysm when they found that the pub wasn’t serving. So the village of Dufftown truly lived up to its name. Reference: Stone P et al. (2010). British Regional Geology: Northern

Article and all photos by Peter Vallely

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

Simple guide to minerals - Glauberite - Na2Ca(SO4)2, and their pseudomorphs

Glauberite is fairly easy to recognise; it has a distinctive shape and is clear-ish white in an ice-cube sort of way. The impurities can give it a colour range from a milky white or yellow through to a buff muddy colour. It has a rather distinctive monoclinic-prismatic crystal shape. Its hardness is 2.5 - 3.

I suppose that this is the time to admit that you’re quite unlikely to find some, or even to see some, because it forms in salt lakes and does not last long once exposed to the effects of climate. But don’t stop reading yet because the chances of you seeing where it has been are much higher. This can be in two ways, either as a pseudomorph after Glauberite, or as a cast in another rock. Glauberite casts have been found in sandstone and the casts are rather more common than the pseudomorphs. So, let’s look at the pseudomorphs. They are not very common. They come from a few places around the world and arguably the best come from Camp Verde in Arizona. An example of multi-twinned Glauberite pseudomorphs

The Glauberite is normally replaced by one of three minerals, but the important thing is that they maintain the original Glauberite crystal shape. The three minerals are Calcite, Gypsum and Aragonite. Pseudomorphs of other minerals do exist but beware unscrupulous dealers have been known to die them green to attract the unwary. In Australia the Glauberite cavities have sometimes been filled with Opal, which in good Australian fashion they call ‘pineapples’. Unfortunately, they are not that big.

All of the Calcite, Gypsum and Aragonite pseudomorphs are in the colour range from a stark white through to a tan.

Article and photo kindly provided by Colin Morley – Wessex Branch Organiser

Obituary – Bill Graham

As some of you will already know Bill, who had been a Branch member since 1978, has sadly passed away. I learnt from his son that he had an enduring passion for geology, amongst other interests, and family holidays, whether on mountains or coasts, were informed by detailed, always interesting accounts of earth sciences and punctuated by hammering steel on rock! His enthusiasm was boundless and holistic. He built up an extensive collection of specimens which he invariably showed to visitors, and if they weren't interested when they arrived they were when they left!

Magnetic clothing – a potential hazard to hikers

A recent article on the BBC website highlighted the potential dangers of using a compass while wearing gloves with magnets in them. If you didn’t see the article it’s here

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

Surviving climate change - a personal view

One day we must find new homes among the stars but we are probably millennia away from that time. For many centuries to come planet Earth will remain the best place we have to live our lives for the great majority of humanity We have had many warnings of climate change and its consequences, and we will have to take greater care of our environment from now on. A reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 1% or more every year would be a good start. At the moment we increase our carbon dioxide emissions by ~ 3% every year and this is unsustainable. If we do nothing we will suffer death by heat and for many, lack of water without which we can only survive for 3 – 30 hours depending on the temperature.

If we continue with business as usual we will exceed what our scientists consider the maximum safe rise in the average surface temperature of the Earth that we could live with. That is around 2°C. since the start of the Industrial Revolution 250years ago. We are set to double the pre- Industrial Revolution atmospheric carbon dioxide levels probably between 2050 and 2060. The resulting rise in the average surface temperature of the Earth will be around 3.7°C, much as predicted more than a century ago. The ferocity of the climate thus forced upon us by rising temperatures will be difficult to live with for some, and impossible for many. The disruption to our civilised way of life will be enormous, there will be vast migrations of people seeking cooler places with water and food on which to live.

We are told in a letter to the Times by Professor Edwards that renewable energy sources are not the only economic and political solution to mitigating carbon dioxide emissions and that fossil fuels will remain vital for the UK’s economic advancement and even more so in the developing world. To me it seems that the enemy of world order is climate change and the cause is principally the burning of fossil fuels. Common sense suggests that fossil fuels should remain underground where they cannot burn.

We may allow small developing countries to continue burning fossil fuels until their economies start to pick up but to suggest that the developed world goes on using fossil fuels because one day catalytic processes may convert fossil fuels to hydrogen without producing carbon dioxide is courting disaster. This catalytic process will require a whole new industry which will take years to develop. In the meantime we face a world crisis with average surface temperatures climbing 3 – 6°C by the end of this century. Countries like India, Pakistan, vast swathes of Africa and the Middle East may become too hot to live in.

With rising temperatures, the melting of the great ice caps of this world: Antarctica and Greenland, will on average raise the sea level by 7 – 10 metres every century until all the world’s ice has gone and oceans stand 70 metres higher than today. Our coastal cities including New York, London and countless others will drown. The only way to slow this world crisis will be to stop burning fossil fuels in all but small developing countries. There are many ways of producing the energy we require: photovoltaic electricity, wind turbines, tidal turbines, atomic power, geothermal energy, hydroelectricity and let us not forget that the sun on average brings 240 watts of energy to every square metre of the Earth’s surface. It is just a matter of devising ways of collecting this free energy. One day perhaps, we will catalytically convert a small fraction of the fossil fuels of the Earth. From now on fossil fuels must, like the horse and the slave, become a thing of the past and should play no part in producing today’s energy. We need today to use renewable sources of energy, many of which are now competitive with fossil fuels.

David Cousins MB, FFA. BSc 8

The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

OUGS Yorkshire Branch 2018 field trips

March - Saturday 24th A walk around Ingleton Waterfalls led by Rick Savage Following the Falls Walk from “The Ramblings of a Geology Enthusiast” (see below) full details here

April - Saturday 14th The Geology of Knaresborough Gorge led by Tony Felski The gorge was cut at the end of the last Ice Age as the River Nidd cut down through the Permian and Carboniferous sequence – full details here

May - Saturday 19th Visean (Lower Carboniferous) Hodder Mudstone Formation in Hodder Valley, Craven Basin led by Paul Kabrna FGS (Craven Pendle Geological Society) Turbidite limestone, sandstone and shales. We will visit two localities: morning - Sykes Quarry in the Trough of Bowland, afternoon - travel to the classic stream section of Bonstone Brook full details here

June - Saturday 9th The Reefs and Mineral Veins of Castleton led by Paul Hildreth A 7km walk which is difficult in place – full details here

July - date tbc Scaleber Quarry led by Bill Fraser - details tbc

September - Saturday 15th Norber Erratics led by Rick Savage A walk covering 10-12 km, starting from Austwick and going to see the Norber Erratics, limestone pavement, Horton Whetstone Hole and Crummackdale Anticline – full details here

October - Monday 29th - 3rd November

Five-night stay at Blencathra led by James, Ellen and Rick Savage – full details on page 11

“The Ramblings of a Geology Enthusiast” is a fascinating collection of written-up walks, sketches and photos complied by the late Alan Stollery (similar to Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides). Some of you may remember Allen who was a long-term YOUGS member. His notes have finally been compiled into a book by branch-members and finished off by Rick, and should hopefully be available to members shortly. In the meantime, Rick has agreed to lead trips to The Ingleton Waterfalls and the Norber Erratics, where the walks will be self-led trips with no actual leader, the idea being for us to take along a copy of Allen’s walk and to try and see what he saw and experienced. As Rick says, “if nothing more it will be a grand day out with good friends and a good stretch for the legs”.

If you have any queries about any of the above trips please contact Rick Savage on 07761 409807 or email him at [email protected]

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

Field Trip Insurance

Each person attending field meetings does so on the understanding that they attend at their own risk. The OUGS has Public Liability insurance cover for field and indoor meetings, but Personal Accident cover and Personal Liability cover remain the responsibility and personal choice of participants. There may be an element of appropriate cover included in Members’ own household or travel insurance. Members should also note that they will be required to take out appropriate travel insurance for any overseas events; annual travel insurance may be the best form of cover for any Member who regularly attends field events.

Other excursion and meeting opportunities

There are many geology trips/lectures in Yorkshire, and elsewhere, which could be of interest. Details of these can be found on the various society websites, below: OUGS http//ougs.org LGS www.leeds.org.uk YGS www.yorksgeolsoc.org.uk/ Down to Earth www.geosupplies.co.uk HGS www.hullgeolsoc.org.uk/ Mid-week Geology Group http://mwggyorkshire.org.uk Friends of Settle Line www.foscl.org.uk

Snippet 1

Looking for something to do in your spare time? Why not consider knitting a few fossils! A website has free knitting patterns for a number of the most commonly found fossils, including these belemnites and ammonite. Take a look at http://www.oddknit.com/patterns/fossils/main.html

Snippet 2

Earth entered a new geological epoch, known as the Anthropocene, in 1965 according to new research by University College London and the University of New South Wales. The “golden spike” turns out to be “the loneliest tree in the world” on Campbell Island, New Zealand. Click here for details, with a link to the full scientific paper here. Yorkshire OUGS – Blencathra Field Trip – 29th October – 3rd November 2018 Blencathra Field Centre, Threlkeld, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 4SG, http://www.field-studies-council.org/centres/blencathra.aspx

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

Again, the Yorkshire Branch is having its winter week away early in the heart of the Lake District, 6 miles away from Keswick. This will be a fantastic trip, The Open University use Blencathra to host its hard rock residential for the practical element of S209.

We have run this trip for the past 5 years now and it was highly successful and had a fantastic turnout. It’s suitable for new and old students alike. New students will see many of the concepts discussed in the OU books and can certainly help to aide learning, while the more experienced it will refresh your knowledge.

Operated in partnership with the Lake District National Park Authority, the Centre occupies a dramatic setting on the south west side of Blencathra Mountain near Keswick. Gardens and grounds with living willow structures and ponds provide interest and inspiration for visitors on a variety of courses. Red squirrels frequent the grounds and can be seen from the comfort of the dining room. The site offers a magnificent panorama of the Lake District with its rich tapestry of England's highest mountains, quiet pastures, wooded valleys, streams, lakes and settlements which provide a focus for the Centre's activities.

The centre is 15 miles from Junction 40 on the M6 at Penrith and approximately two hours’ drive from Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle. If travelling by train the nearest station is Penrith, only 3 hours from London and less than 2 hours from Glasgow.

So, what’s included? The cost includes 3 course evening meal with wine every night, breakfast, packed lunch, cake (the best in the Lakes), tutors, oh and better not forget a comfortable bed to rest your weary head and a fantastic view to wake up to.

As we will be visiting 20 different geological locations over the 5 days covering the North and South Lakes, so we will have full use of the fully insured and comfortable minibus, this means no car sharing from site to site and people getting lost on route. In addition to this we have the use of the centres on site geologist for the entire 5 days.

We cover all rock types, so we will see igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. We have changed the itinerary so there will many new sites to visit which we have not visited before. This fantastic week at Blencathra is suitable for all types ideal for newcomers to geology and for people with geology degrees.

Just one thing to remember pack clothes for the Lake District.

Use of all the facilities is free, these include; the drying room, library, TV room, Wi-Fi and lecture rooms. We will have an evening lecture the first night and on the other evenings we get to a use real OU microscopes and slides. Finally, we have the use of the centres bar so no walking 2 miles to the pub; Friday evening will be a social evening.

Cost £375.00 per person in single rooms. Early booking advised, maximum of 17 participants.

Please contact Rick Savage for booking form: [email protected] or give Rick a call on: 07761 409807

Itinerary

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The Yorkshire Branch of the OUGS March 2018

FIELDWORK EVENING

There will be an evening classroom session

th introducing and/or revising the geological

29 setting and history of Cumbria.

October Monday Monday

Dufton Pike Microscope workshop session delivered by

th OUGS Following on from 2017s visit to the Dufton area, we will explore more of the Cross Fell inlier, including a visit to the nearby mine

workings. We will also visit two quarry localities that expose some October October

Tuesday 30 Tuesday of the Triassic sedimentary sequence, and the Borrowdale

Volcanic Group.

st Langdale Side Pike Complex Microscope workshop delivered by OUGS.

We will visit the Side Pike complex in Langdale to observe the transition from effusive volcanic behaviour to explosive – a

October distinction which divides the lower Borrowdale Volcanics from the

Wednesday 31 Wednesday upper section.

st St Bees Head Evening session: hand specimen description workshop delivered by FSC staff. This western coastal locality exposes the unconformity between

the Carboniferous and Permo-Trias sedimentary successions. November

Thursday 1 Thursday There are also the remains of a gypsum quarry.

Eskdale Social evening in the centre bar.

This area offers the most extensive exposures of the granite batholith that underpins the Lake District block. We will make observations of the granite textures, its contacts with both the

Borrowdale Volcanics and Skiddaw Slates, and investigate some November

mine workings. nd There will be an opportunity to visit the railway museum in Ravenglass, which covers the industrial history of the narrow- Friday 2 Friday gauge railway and its subsequent preservation.

Sinen Gill Metamorphic Aureole Depart from site 14:00 – 15:00

rd The traditional finish to the course is to walk the classic transect of the Skiddaw metamorphic aureole, and observe the classic

exposures of chiastolite slate, cordierite slate and hornfels.

November Saturday 3 Saturday

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