Mercia Rocks
OUGS West Midlands Branch Newsletter
Issue No 3 (2014) September 2014
The BGS Geological Walk – Keyworth Nottingham Examining the Chalk with flint from the Ulster white limestone formation at Larne, Northern Ireland
Branch Officers Contents
Branch Organiser – Sandra Morgan Branch Organiser’s report p 2 Branch Secretary - Vacant Field trip adverts p 3 Branch Treasurer- Susan Jackson Field Trip programme p 4
Newsletter Editor – Susan Jackson Field trip report p 4 Branch Committee Random chippings from the p 8 Jo Barnett, Patrick Joyce, Ian Kelly internet Other items p 9 If you would like to join the Other Society Events p 11 committee please do get in touch [email protected]
Branch Organiser’s Report
Dear All, First of all, congratulations to OUGS WM member John MacDonald! John has been awarded the Open University Geological Society's Richard Thorpe prize for S339. Well done and best wishes for the future!
Congratulations also to the Lapworth Museum. The Museum's final Round 2 Heritage Lottery Fund application was successful, so the full re-development plan can now be implemented. Consequently, the museum will close in early/mid December 2014 for the work to take place, and is scheduled to re-open in late October 2015.
Last September’s OUGS presence at the Science Revision weekend at Yarnfield was very successful. The
first Science Revision Weekend of this year was held in May, and we were ably represented by Patrick
Joyce who found that there was considerable interest in OUGS at the event.
Since the June newsletter, we have enjoyed another two excellent field trips. The first was a geological walk around Nottingham University campus, followed by a visit to the headquarters of the British Geological survey at Keyworth, which took place on 25 June, led by David Bate of BGS. The campus walk revealed a surprising variety of geology, from Mercia Mudstone, Carboniferous sandstone and a glacial
erratic, to a variety of building stones. The BGS tour in the afternoon was also an interesting and worthwhile event, and David was able to recount stories from his own experience at BGS as he showed us around the Geological Walk, the Repository, the Library, etc. – see the trip report in this newsletter.
Our next field trip was to have been a visit to Earl Sterndale in Derbyshire led by Joe Jennings on Saturday 12 July. Unfortunately, this trip had to be cancelled because of insufficient numbers.
Our latest field trip took place on Saturday 20 September. This was a visit to Raggedstone Hill and Chase
End Hill in the Malverns, led by John Payne and attended by 12 participants. This walk took in an
interesting variety of geological features, including a thrust fault, several volcanic dykes and an exposure of the Cambrian/Precambrian unconformity.
Our final field trip of this year will take place on 12 October. This is a visit to Ercall, organised and led by Ian Kelly. This trip is suitable for beginners and experienced participants – see further details in this newsletter.
Next year will start with the West Midlands branch AGM at Birmingham University on Saturday 24
January, speaker to be confirmed.
Your committee needs your help: we are now a very small band and it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to maintain the current level of activity. We need to sign up more committee members at the AGM. If you think can help – which could be something as simple as organising an occasional field trip – do email me at [email protected]
Best wishes
Sandra
2 [email protected] Goodbye to all this?
It seems a great shame but it looks entirely possible that your branch, the West Midlands OUGS, will cease to exist quite soon. You may be alarmed, as I am, and feel that something must be done. The OUGS exists to give people vital experience in field geology. We know you can’t just do geology from your desk; that’s why we’re here.
The branch has had periods of vibrancy, with many keen participants to organise events. Our Days of Lectures are legendary; we have lots of interesting geological sites within our region and we have ventured far afield in England and throughout the British Isles in search of field experience.
The Society is a society of volunteers. Nobody gets paid for doing this and it is supposed to be a self- help organisation for students. Sadly, however, your committee has dwindled to the point where running an annual programme of events is becoming unsustainable. We know that studies take a lot out of your lives – we’ve all been there! But if you can spare a little time we need your help. The more there are on the committee the less there is for anyone to do, and while we have a committee we can help any new members to get started.
If you can spare some time please contact your Branch Organiser, Sandra Morgan ([email protected]). If you would like to attend the AGM on 24 January so much the better and we would be delighted to see you and to explain what is involved. We don’t have a ridiculous number of meetings, none of the things to do are difficult but we just need a few more hands to make the work lighter for all and to allow the branch to continue to operate.
Ian Kelly on behalf of OUGS WM Branch committee
Ercall Quarry field trip 12th October 2014
The Ercall quarries are a group of quarries cut into the lower slopes of the Wrekin, primarily for roadstone, for which Ercall Quartzite was particularly prized. The site is perfect for beginners and the more experienced, with extrusive and intrusive continental and oceanic volcanics, a very visible strike/slip fault, igneous/sedimentary contact, a half billion year old beach, a great opportunity to do field sketches and lots to think about and discuss!
The site is managed by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, is well looked after and there is nothing too strenuous. Suitable footwear is highly recommended and hard hats are essential near the quarry face.
The site is accessed in much the same way as The Wrekin nearby; exit the M54 motorway at J7 (last exit) or the last junction of the A5 from Shrewsbury before it becomes the M54. From there The Wrekin is signposted; follow this road until you reach The Wrekin, then follow the sign for the Buckatree Hotel. There is a small car park across the road from the hotel and the entrance is clearly visible. If this car park is full, head back towards the Wrekin and use the Forest Glen car park.
We will be starting at about 10am and should to be finished by about 2.30pm. If the weather is fine we will be stopping for a break, so you may want to bring a packed lunch. If it’s very wet people may want to bash through it and go home.
Any questions or queries or to book a place please email me [email protected]
3 [email protected] Field Trip Programme 2014
If you would like to attend any WMOUGS events please contact the Trip Organiser for full details. If you have difficulty in getting there please also let the Trip Organiser know as it may be possible to arrange a lift with another participant. There is a nominal fee of £2 on day trips (unless otherwise stated) to cover leader’s expenses. Always wear appropriate clothing and boots. Please note that it is a requirement that hard hats are now worn when examining rock faces. Yellow jackets may be required in some quarries.
Please check the branch’s website (http://ougs.org/index.php?branchcode=wmi) for the most up to date information. 2014 12th Oct Beginners day at the Ercall Quarry, Shropshire See above advert. 2015 24th Jan Branch AGM - full details to follow in December’s Newsletter
Each person attending a field meeting does so on the understanding that he/she attends at his/her 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 the participant.
There may be an element of appropriate cover included in house insurance or in travel insurance: although OUGS
activities are not particularly dangerous, members are advised to check whether exclusions apply to activities in which they plan to participate in case they wish to arrange further cover. An annual travel insurance may be the best solution for any member who regularly attends field events: this again is a matter of personal choice.
Field Trip Report University of Nottingham ‘Rock around the Campus’ geological trail and the British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire Wednesday 25th June 2014 Leader David Bate BGS
Setting the scene “270-240 million years ago all the landmasses on Earth were joined in a super-continent known as Pangea. Here conditions were hot and dry. Rain on high ground to the north and south of the Midlands flooded across desert areas re-depositing sands, gravels and pebbles. Shallow lakes were formed which then dried up leaving deposits of salt and gypsum. Exposures of some of the rocks formed during this period form part of the foundations of the university campus” (The University of Nottingham leaflet “Rock around the Campus ” a geological walk through the University Park complied by Gerry Shaw).
Morning at the University of Nottingham We began our walk by meeting David Bate of the BGS at the Lakeside Arts Centre on the University of Nottingham’s Campus. David began by giving us an overview of the Geology on which the University is built.
We then followed the footpath along by the lake into Portland Copse. This was thought to be the site of an old quarry used for brick and tile manufacture during the medieval times. The rocks form part of the Mercian Mudstones
4 [email protected] group, a skerry of hard resistant wind blown dust deposits formed in a deepening basin. Continuing further we passed over the Highfield Fault (see map below). This represents the down-faulted side of a grabben and buts against the Nottingham Castle Sandstones (pebble beds) which forms an old river cliff on the northern side of the Trent floodplain. This sandstone is not of building quality due to its softness, being weakly cemented and very pebbly. It was formed by powerful flash floods with some of the pebbles have been traced to the Persinon Mountains of France. The exposure shows signs of cross bedding with dunes prograding southwards.
We then climbed some steps which brought us to a small shrubbery by the Trent building where the ‘Brassington Stone’ is located. This is an erratic consisting of hornblende schist brought into the district by glaciers from the south-west of Scotland. It was originally found in a gravel pit to the east of Nottingham and was thought to have been used in bronze age ceremonial religious rites having two deep cuts across its surface.
We then headed to the Trent Building spending time on our way examining the pavements which contained within the carboniferous limestone numerous fossil corals and clay stylolites, formed by pressure dissolution in the carbonates.
The Trent building is constructed of Portland Limestone which had recently been cleaned. We entered the foyer of the building to examine the huge black Belgian limestone columns with their fossils assemblages.
5 [email protected] Leaving the Trent building we headed towards the Lenton Firs rock garden. Here, the west-facing cliff is of Nottingham Castle Sandstone with lines representing undulating erosion surfaces and inclined current bedding. Scattered pebbles indicate that this was formed from river deposits. The sandstone is a very fine grained with some clay content making it useful as a moulding sand.
Our walk ended back at the Lakeside Arts Centre where we stopped to have lunch and enjoy the sun.
Afternoon at the BGS at Keyworth.
Geological Walk Having all signed in at reception David took us along to the Geological Walk. This was opened in May 2012 as part of a major redevelopment of the BGS to celebrate the diverse geology of Britain and Northern Ireland. It consists of a paved walkway displaying feature boulders, specimens and ‘rock furniture’. The display covers almost 3 billion years of earth history and includes many of the fascinating rocks that shape our landscape.
6 [email protected] The path starts outside reception, passing five feature boulders representing the geology of Scotland (Lewisian Gneiss, Isle of Barra(pictured)), England (Bardon Breccia, Leicestershire, Wales (Coedana , Isle of Anglsey) and Northern Ireland (Chalk with flints from Larne) as well as the three main rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
The main walk stretches 130m from the reception linking the James Hutton and the William Smith buildings. The paving is laid out in chronological order beginning with rocks of Precambrian age. These are followed by a selection of rock types representing the eleven principal subdivisions of the Phanerozoic Eon.
Most of the paving materials are commercially available and are chosen to showcase the UK’s stone industry. Each major interval of geological time is named on a steel strip set into the walkway. The walk is not to scale because of the extremely long duration of Precambrian time and other logistical considerations.
Overlooking the Geological walk the facade of the James Hutton Building commemorates the work of the 18thC geologist after whom the building is named. The facade is a representation of Siccar point on the Berwickshire coast closely associated with Hutton, where the near vertical Silurian wacke sandstones are overlain with an angular unconformity of Upper Devonian rocks.
National Geological Repository
We then moved on to the National Geological repository, an integral part of the BGS. Stored here are collections of borehole cores, cuttings, samples, specimens and related subsurface information from all over the UK. The centrepiece is the core stores, built in the early 1980s with two later additions (most recently in 2012) and creates the UK’s biggest core storage and examination facility. The collection is used by industry, in research and to support university teaching.
It houses over 200km of cores, from over 15,000 boreholes, 300km of drill-cores with 4.5 million samples. The UK’s foremost biostratigraphical collections with over 3 million specimens A number of major British collections of rock specimens including those collected by Charles Darwin 200,000 thin sections A Geochemistry collection A unique collection of geological records British Antarctic Survey rocks and fossils from Antarctica
From the Repository David took us to the BGS Library which houses some very unique books ranging from the early days of geological research to the present day. We finished our day with a little retail therapy.
This was a very enjoyable day for all who attended and our thanks go to David Bate for sharing his knowledge and experiences with us.
Acknowledgements
The Nottingham university leaflet ‘ Rock around the campus’ complied by Gerry Shaw British Geological Survey Leaflet ‘The BGS Geological Walk’ a brief guide British Geological survey leaflet ‘The National Geological repository’
Random chippings from the Internet - Alan Bates
An Attack of the Bends?
Recently I went for the first time to a quarry near to me (more about that in the future). While in the area I was invited to visit the owner of a property high up on a limestone ridge and served by a single track road: lots of bends and few places to pass. The visit turned out to be an extension of the field trip!
I was being driven up to save cars. We were told by our leader that the owner was extremely friendly and was seeking advice on a geological problem. No. Not from me (in my dreams). My chauffeuse was a professional geologist!
We inspected the spring – their sole water supply – and the source (ouch!) of the problem. And he was duly advised. The water came from Silurian limestone and to say it was hard would be a gross understatement! There was an almost precipitous drop down to another spring with a large fan of tufa. Or so I was told! As far as I was concerned it was a drop too far with little chance of my ever getting back up again. I contented myself by finding large numbers of small brachiopods in a life assembly. Virtually solid brachiopods.
Our host then revealed his “prize exhibit” – a piece of Itacolumite. For anyone who does not know what that is (like me) another name is flexible sandstone. And, yes, it did exactly what it said on the box. It could be flexed (gently) and recovered its shape. I don’t mean you could tie it into knots but it really did bend unlike any other sandstone that I had ever seen.
And this is the subject of this “Random Chippings” article. Flexible sandstone. A good introduction is given in a YouTube video (viewed 126 times) where a school student doing voluntary work at Birmingham University displays a large sample from the Lapworth Museum. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUlOWq4nV4Y A geocaching site gives information about the only source of flexible sandstone in the USA (supposedly): http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1G4PT_can-a-rock-bend?guid=9f829c07-837b-4c34- bdca-182d5fe44c63 You will also find a detailed (boring) description of how to glue flexible sandstone to a wall. Sit through the whole 9 minutes 29 second if you enjoy watching paint dry or just observe the sandstone which can be bought by the roll: a bit like roofing felt! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUpE5Zl21lg
8 [email protected] If you want a bit more about the nature of Itacolumite then there is an article from 1887 http://eprints.utas.edu.au/16334/1/Hogg-note-on-itacolumite.pdf More recently, but behind a paywall, is an article in the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016787810000878
Those who have OU Library access should be able to find this via Athens. There are many other papers in the literature for those who can’t get enough of flexible sandstone science. Try Itacolumite as a search term in Google Scholar.
The one thing I have not been able to find is a current source of Itacolumite. Other than the commercial product – “sandstone on a roll” as it were! I shall keep looking.
Other items
Teme Valley Geological Society and the Knighton Mapping Project
The village of Martley in rural west Worcestershire is set amongst rolling, wooded countryside where fruit growing and traditional farmland remains a strong feature of this typically English landscape. To the North lies the industrial so called, ‘Black Country’ and the city of Birmingham, to the West, Wales, to the East the River Severn and the Vale of Evesham and to the immediate South, the Malvern Hills. Martley lies just above the beautiful valley of the River Teme - a tributary of the Severn - and is a well-established, but still peaceful, centre for long distance and local walking and countryside pursuits.
Our older buildings and churches, walls and scenic backdrops give a strong clue to the range of geology and history of quarrying in the area. Martley is a parish of great geological diversity lying on the East Malvern Fault which, geologically, divides ancient and modern Britain. The Teme Valley Geological Society, assisted and encouraged by the local community, secured European LEADER funds aimed at making better known and accessible the geology of the area. It was formed in 2010/11 by a group of keen, amateur enthusiasts working entirely on a voluntary basis. Since then, it established a visitor attraction at Martley Rock and four other sites in the parish and set up walking trails, a tourist point in the centre of the village, organised field trips, educational courses and talks and commissioned a geological audit of the area. The Martley Rock (trench) site itself is fortunate to have exceptionally varied geology spanning some 470 million years. Walking from the entrance to the far side you pass through five geological time periods. Elsewhere in the parish, four other sites have been opened to visitors (of seven designated Local Geological Sites and 35- 40 features of geological interest in the area) to showcase the geology both to academics and laymen alike. In 1839, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison wrote about Martley in his famous paper ‘The Silurian System’. Today, one of the leading tour organisers and adult tutors in the field, Chris Darmon, described the village as ‘a beacon to the geological world and the most geologically aware place in Britain’.
THE KNIGHTON MAPPING PROJECT The Society does not limit its activities to evening lectures and field trips, far from it! A fascinating challenge has now commenced, under the tutelage of Dr Arthur Tingley—the Knighton Mapping Project. This is a plan to undertake the academic mapping of the area of the BGS sheet 180, which has never been researched or published by the British Geological Survey (BGS), and probably the work will never be funded by the National Environmental Research Council (NERC). This is an exciting and unique opportunity to do some real geological mapping.
9 [email protected] So, a group of keen amateur and former professional geologists, including some members of the Open University Geological Society (OUGS), [both active and former students of the OU] will be working together to undertake the mapping of the area which extends roughly from Penybont to Leintwardine, West to East, and from Clun to Kington, North to South. It is a large area, covering the area of the transition from the Ludlow Shelf deposits into the so called Welsh Basin. It also would be the only 1:50 000 sheet to encompass both the Church Stretton fault to the Pontesford Disturbance.
A good deal of academic work has been carried out since the time of Murchison, most notably by Charles Holland in the 1970’s and Nigel Woodcock in the 1980-90’s, so there is a base to start from. The area is interesting whilst structurally relatively simple, with real geology to be done on ground which has not been fully surveyed before.
Surveying will be carried out by individuals or small teams building skills and confidence through a combination of assisted self-development and workshops over the next three to four years. Eventually the data will be compiled to draw the 1:50 000 sheet based upon 1:10 000 scale field mapping.
If you enjoy geological surveying, or feel that you have the attributes which can be developed by citizen science, then do get in touch at [email protected]. You can see more about it on the TVGS blog entry for April 2014. The Teme Valley Geological Society programme can be seen at http://www.geo-village.eu/?page_id=657.
John Nicklin TVGS
The latest issue of the free Earth Heritage magazine is now available (issue 42)
‘Earth Heritage is a magazine produced twice yearly to stimulate interest in geodiversity and a broad range of geological and landscape conservation issues within the UK and further afield. It is free to download in pdf format from the Downloads section of their site and should interest geological conservation specialists, and those involved in studying Earth and environmental sciences in universities, colleges and secondary education’. Go to www.earthheritage.org.uk
Contributions to the Newsletter are very welcome. The subject matter can be anything geological that you think other members would like to read.
Items for inclusion in the next Newsletter, by email to: [email protected] by 30th November 2014
10 [email protected] Other Geological Societies in the West Midlands Please see the individual websites for events
Black Country Geological Society For details go to www.bcgs.info Lecture meetings are held at Dudley Museum & Art Gallery, St James’s Road, Dudley, DY1 1HU, 7.30 for 8 o’clock start unless stated otherwise. Those wishing to attend field meetings please contact the Field Secretary, Andy Harrison email: [email protected]
Shropshire Geological Society For details go to:- www.shropshiregeology.org.uk/SGS/SGSintro.html Lectures are held at Shire Hall, Shrewsbury, commencing at 7.15pm for 7.30pm A nominal charge is levied for attendance by non-Members.
Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group For details go to www.wgcg.co.uk/ Lectures are held monthly from September to April, Starting at 7.00pm free to WGCG members with non-members £2.00 per lecture.
North Staffordshire Group of the Geologists’ Association For details go to www.esci.keele.ac.uk/nsgga NSGGA is the regional group of the Geologist Association North Staffordshire. The winter lecture programme takes place on the second Thursday of the month from October to March at 7.30pm. All talks are held in the William Smith Building, Keele University. Field meetings are held at approximately monthly intervals over the spring and summer.
Woolhope Naturalists Field Club For details go to www.woolhopeclub.org.uk The geology section of the club is an affiliated member of the Geologist Association. Lectures are held in the Woolhope room, Hereford Library Broad Street. Field trip programme also available. For further information on all events email Sue Hay [email protected]
Teme Valley Geological Society For details go to www.geo-village.eu Meetings generally held at Martley Memorial Hall Martley Worcestershire
11 [email protected] GA Festival of Geology 2014 FESTIVAL WALKS ______
Saturday 1st November As part of the GA Festival we will be offering a free Building Stones Walk as well as free lectures. The walk will be led by Dr Ruth Siddall of University College and will be a tour of the Campus and local streets. Meet at the GA stand (time will be shown there). No advance booking required. ______
Sunday 2nd November Non-GA Members and Beginners welcome but booking is essential There is a charge of £5 per person per trip
1. Building Stones in the City of London led by Diana Smith Diana Smith will leading a circular route from the Royal Exhange looking at the old and the new buildings in the City of London in her own inimitable way. Meet at 11.00 at the platform in front of the Royal Exchange. The walk will last around 2 hours.
2. Chislehurst Caves Led by local geologist, Rod LeGear, accompanied by Rory Mortimore from the GA. Chislehurst Caves is one of the few locations in the London Area where the Chalk Group can be easily examined. With the imminent arrival of the new GA Chalk Guide it seemed an appropriate time to visit them. Rod Legear is a local expert on what the caves can show us geologically including a glimpse of the Thanet Sand and the basal Bullhead Beds revealed by roof falls. Rory is of course, our expert on the Chalk. The sections are described in GA Guide 68. Meet at 11.00 am at the entrance to the Caves [TQ 431 696] for a prompt start at 11.15. The caves are situated in Caveside Close, just off Old Hill, Chislehurst where there is ample car parking. They are close to Chislehurst Station (trains from Charing Cross) and are served by buses 269 and 162. The visit will finish by 12.30 pm.
Optional extra to the Crystal Palace ‘Geological Illustrations’ Ellinor Michel and Joe Cain,of the Friends of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs will be at the Information Centre at 2pm if anyone wants to join them for an informal walk around the display. The journey by public transport takes about an hour, by car probably ½ hour. Map and travel options will be sent to those who book for Chislehurst Caves.
3. In search of the lost water of Islington Led by Diana Clements A walk from Farringdon Road to Sadler’s Wells in search of the lost waterways and springs to illustrate their importance in the development of Islington. Participants will see the deeply incised valley of the Fleet, the Clerk’s Well at Clerkenwell and learn about London’s water supply at New River Head. Meet at 2.00 pm at the entrance to Farringdon Underground Station, The excursion will finish by approx.4.00 pm
For further details and to register for any of the above trips please contact [email protected] or telephone 020 7434 9298