€UROCK THE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY MAINLAND EUROPE SPRING 2013

HELLO EVERYONE, This year again, we had a great AGM weekend in Heidelberg, as many members made the journey, and also, thanks to Marion who organised it so well. She made us discover this nice little town as well as the Felsenmeer in the Odenwald Geopark and planned an interesting talk at the University about Homo Heidelbergensis. We could closely see his famous jaw but not touch it! The AGM was held in a room of the University; not only was it free, but they treated us with coffee and biscuits. The next AGM in 2014 will be held the first week- As it is mentioned in the draft minutes of our end in February in Zurich, next to Dave’s hometown. AGM, there is a slight change within the commit- tee of our branch. Gisela Lunkwitz joined us as The next event organised by the branch is the the new webmaster, taking on the job from Dave granite weekend in Brittany on the 22-24 of June Kopsch. But we haven’t lost him, he still stays as and, regarding the next society event, it is the AGM a committee member. Still I really wish to thank in Chester on the 6th of April. him for looking well after our website for several Since December, two former members re-joined our years, always finding an interesting “link of the branch: Brigitte Revol MacDonald from Brussels month”. and Juce Evans from Alsace, France. We all wish them a warm welcome back! Elisabeth d’Eyrames Branch Organiser A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR This is quite a big issue of our newsletter, with IN THIS ISSUE many great field trip reports, “official” stuff re- garding the Annual General Meeting – and the AGM field trip to the Felsenmeer ...... 2 first of many articles to come by our new “regular Annual General Meeting: BO report...... 4 contributor” Dave Kopsch. This time he warmly recommends a biography of an influential fossil Annual General Meeting: minutes ...... 5 hunter (well, fossils had to be there somewhere, Field Trip to the Volcanic Fields III...... 7 hadn’t they, Dave), but for upcoming newsletters Dave is planning many different topics. Field Trip to the Eifel Volcanic Fields IV ...... 10 A big “Thank You” to Dave and to all our other Field Trip into the Jurassic: writers and photographers. Without you, our French Jura, 2012 ...... 14 newsletter would be nothing! Book recommendation ...... 18 And now... happy reading! Field trip announcements ...... 20 Marion Seitz WHEN GIANTS HAVE A ROW Visiting a suture zone of the Varsican Orogeny

The annual meeting of the mainland Europe branch of the OUGS took place from 25th to 27th of January in Heidelberg in Germany. On Satur- day a fieldtrip was planned to the Felsenmeer (sea of rocks) in theUNESCO Geopark in Lauter- tal in the Odenwald region, one hour north from Heidelberg. We met at ten o’ clock with our guide, Dr. Antje Bor- mann, at the information centre. The weather was cold and bit misty but dry. Snow and ice seemed to have hindered every one else from visiting the site. Up we went and learned about the large and rounded boulders surrounding us that gave the name Felsen- meer to the site. This subduction process caused the Variscan The folktale goes that once upon a time there were orogeny. At the suture zone the rock melted and rose two giants who lived on two opposite hills, one of and 12 to 15 km under the surface huge plutonic them the Felsberg where we stood. One day the gi- bodies were formed which cracked when they ants had a quarrel and began throwing boulders at cooled. They consist of melaquartzdiorites with high each other. The giant of the Felsberg had the disad- proportions of Hornblende and Biotite. vantage of lesser stones to throw and soon he was Due to uplift and erosion these magmatites have buried in a sea of rocks thrown by his rival from the been subject to a special weathering process called other hill. This legend caused a lot of puns and onionskin weathering or Wollsackverwitterung (be- laughter during the fieldtrip but we also enjoyed the cause afterwards they resemble sacks filled with geological explanation that was no less exciting. wool) which is typical for hot and humid climates. In Tertiary times 65 Ma ago, the part of Europe includ- ing the Odenwald was positioned near the equator.

It all started with the collision of the continents Aval- onia and Armorica 340 Ma ago. They were trapped between the Old Red Continent and Gondwana and parts of Avalonia were subducted during the forming of Pangaea. The decomposition of the diorites along the cooling cracks was mainly caused by the infiltration of water into the cooling joints, which have widened due to a loss of pressure during uplift. The once sharp and rectangular blocks weathered near the surface to rounded boulders with a solid core of diorite sur- rounded by a soft and crumbly layer of so-called Grus (grit). The last Ice Age (about 117000 until 11500 years ago) brought lots of freeze-thaw-cycles, which affected the water-containing Grus. On slop- ing ground the boulders surrounded by thawed Grus were moved over the permafrost ground. The blocks were transported down to the valley and accumu- found around the Felsenmeer. These were rejected lated as a Felsenmeer. pieces with damages, which occurred during their Today the boulders of the Felsenmeer are striking working. evidence of the otherwise invisible suture zone of The so-called Riesensäule (giant column) that is 30.8 the Variscan orogeny. feet long and weighs 27.5 tons was made by Roman They form a beautiful landscape and they fascinate masons in the 4th century and signs of their masonry the more if you know that at the very spot where you can be seen on a lot of boulders around their ancient stand once an ocean had closed and two continents workshop; a famous one is called the altar stone. had collided. But the diorites were not only nice to All these information we could gain from our guide look at, as a natural quarry they were essential for who knew an answer to every question and led us in the historical, economic and cultural development of a very cautious and friendly way through the roman- the Lautertal. tic winter landscape of the Geopark. During Roman times an extensive stone industry de- Karin Bassler, text; veloped. The Romans had the knowledge how to Neil Lawley, pictures handle the hard igneous rocks. Sawing with a pendu- lum saw and driving wooden wedges into it made it SOURCE: possible to work the stone. Die Entstehung der Felsenmeere am Felsberg in Lautertal im Odenwald, Felsenmeer Informationszentrum, More than 300 processed stone blocks can still be Lautertal 2010.

LATER THAT WEEKEND... ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OUGS Mainland Europe Branch / January 26, 2013 / Heidelberg, Germany

Branch Organizer's Report for 2012 nearly finished, although some of the sections need In 2012, we could again offer two great weekends to be improved and further developed, this is and a longer field trip in the Eifel. It started with the planned for this forthcoming year. The important AGM organised by Peter in Berlin, over the third work has been done, thanks to Marion, it now needs weekend in January. It was a great opportunity to to be updated. As such, the branch needs to find a discover the capital of Germany lead by two of our new Webmaster who could do that job, as Marion is members, Peter and Gisela who live there. We also already involved in editing our newsletter, and Dave visited several museums, amongst them the Museum hopes to be relieved of the job. für Naturalkunde, where Pr. Heubeck gave us his In former newsletters, Marion included a section talk: “Where did terrestrial life come form and under where members could introduce themselves to the which circumstances did it evolve?”. We took then branch. I hope that this section will continue, so that so much time that the Museum closed before we had our NL is not only about what we see and study, but our AGM. So we decided to hold it in a small and also about who we are. cosy 'Kneipe' round the corner; it was a good place Since last January five new members joined the to have it. branch, and five left the OUGS or switched to an- The June-Jura weekend was again especially well at- other branch. So that the branch numbers 30 mem- tended this year, fifteen people came along, which is bers, 6 family members and several friends of the many for two days only. On Saturday, we went back branch. This turnover reshapes the dispersal of the to Loulle, and had a look at the sedimentary features members: Germany wins with 11 members, followed and fossils in the strata that host the megatract site by France with 6, then Switzerland with 4, Belgium displaying the dinosaur footprints. The nice weather and Cyprus with 2 members. In Luxemburg one per- allowed us to have a good view of larger scale fea- son, as well as one in Morocco, one in Spain, 1 in tures, like fold and faults. The day finished with the Netherlands and 1 in England. Two more people, wine tasting at the Institute of wine in Arbois, fol- one living in the Czech Republic, the other one liv- lowed by the yearly barbecue in my garden. Sunday ing in Alsace, France have lately contacted me; they morning we visited, la grotte d’Osselle, one of the both intend to join us. many caves in the Jura and the private mineral col- About next year’s programme, we intend to organise lection of its owner. Eventually, on Sunday at the last two weekends, the AGM and one in Brittany at the stop, as we looked at the lansdcape around the Mont end of June, together with a longer trip. Anta, a Phd Poupet, over the hills of the Jura we spotted Mont student in geology at the University of Basel and Blanc on the skyline. who has already joined us on a few trips, proposes to The longer trip this year took place in the Eiffel Vol- take us on a field trip to Serbia. This would then take canic Geopark and was lead by Prof. Schmincke. He place end of August or beginning September. I have is the geologist who did most of the research and also been in touch with a researcher at the CRPG in published the only book about the geology in this Nancy who proposes to lead a trip in the Alps, to area, but in German. We had a great time following look at the ophiolite of the Chenaillet; that would him from one to the next, choosing the loca- then be during this summer. This trip will be in- tions according to the weather and the time of the tended for good walkers. Nothing is yet planned, but day, so that we could get the very best view of these we never had as many leaders to take us around Eu- colourful outcrops. During this trip, we stayed in one rope for a while. Prof. Schmincke proposes to take of the many Weidenbachs that exist in that part of as around Tenerife, one of the places he knows well Germany and enjoyed German food and drink. It is and about which he published a book. I haven’t been always super when it is possible to mix first class ge- back to the leader who last year suggested a trip to ology and socialising. the Island of Syros in Greece, it would always be an This year, we also launched our new website. It is option in the future. Lastly, I want to thank the members of the committee, in particular Marion, who did a great job setting up the new website. Also, thanks to all members of the branch for their contribution to giving the branch its vitality, the more member participation, the better. Elisabeth d’Eyrames

OUGS ME AGM Minutes Heidelberg, 26 January 2013 1. The meeting was chaired by branch organiser Due to the availability of the independent examiner Elisabeth d'Eyrames, who opened proceedings at the accounts only covered the period 01/01/2012– 17:30h. Other members and family members 30/11/2012. The next report will include the figures present were Karin and Thomas Bassler, Ciaran for December 2012. However, since apart from bank Costello, David Kopsch, Eileen and Neil Lawley, charges no changes to the accounts were expected, Gisela Lunkwitz, Ole Nielsen, Mike Molloy, Marion the report gives an accurate picture of the financial Seitz, Fiona Till, Terry and Isolde Warrington, Gerd situation of the branch. Weidemann and Peter Whiteley. The COMSHELFRISKS project has been closed for 2. Apology for absence was received from Marjan the OUGSME with the final payments being settled Timmer. by April 2012. The Pound Sterling equivalent of the 3. The Minutes of the AGM of 21 January 2012, balance of € 810.67 will be paid to the Ian Gass bur- Berlin, were approved without comments. The min- sary by OUGS, and in compensation, the BO’s travel utes will be sent to the OUGS Secretary for informa- expenses will be covered by the branch., until this tion. A signed copy stays with the Branch Organiser. sum is spent. 4. Matters arising from last minutes: none. After a notable surplus from the China trip in 2011, another surplus of € 363.75 resulted from the Eifel 5. The Branch Organiser's Annual Report was ac- field trip, resulting in a final balance on bank ac- cepted unanimously. The full report is available sep- counts and in cash of € 1,485.22, after a balance of arately, a short abstract is given below. € 944.15 the year before. In 2012, two weekends and a longer field trip were The Treasurer proposed to use some of this “very organised, the latter to the Eifel under the competent healthy” balance to renew out-of-date software leadership of Prof. Schmincke, the former in Berlin and/or to obtain licences for new software for for the AGM and in the Jura as in the years before. A newsletter production. major breakthrough was achieved in the branch’s outside communication with the launch of the new At this point, the agenda item was extended to in- website. Branch membership has remained stable in clude a short report by Marion on the website re- 2012, with five members each joining and leaving launch. The relaunch was done using TYPO3 as a the branch, and two more considering joining. Dur- tool for simplified content creation (without HTML ing the year a lot of proposals for new trips were programming). It is intended to use the website not made (see below, item 8), providing an interesting only for outside communication, but also for branch- outlook on 2013 and even 2014. The Branch Organ- internal communication. Marion will finish the re- iser thanked Peter for the organisation of last year’s launch, but thereafter someone else is required to AGM, Marion for the relaunch of the website, and maintain the website. all the other members who contributed to the vitality Regarding the editing of newsletter, a full licence of of the branch. InDesign is priced at about € 800.00, but for not-for- 6. The Treasurer's Report and the accounts of the profit organisations licences should be obtainable for OUGSME were approved unanimously. The full re- as little as € 300.00. Open Source software (obtain- port was distributed to the participants, a short ab- able at no cost) has been evaluated, but was found stract is given below. lacking with respect to usability and ease of learning. It was agreed to spend part of the 2012 branch bal- If this cannot be arranged, an alternative trip to the ance on a licence for Adobe InDesign to facilitate fu- French Alps (Chenaillet) is envisioned which other- ture newsletter production. wise would be offered in 2014. 7. Committee elections Gerd and Fiona offered to organise a 3-/4-day trip to All current committee members declared their inten- the Harz mountains in central Germany. Since a sim- tion to serve for another term, with David stepping ilar offer has been made by new member Stefan down from his current position as webmaster. Since Mohr, they might join forces for such a trip in late there is no restriction on the number of members of October or early November. the committee, other branch members were invited On the outlook for 2014 is a trip to Tenerife/Gran to join it. Gisela volunteered to take the position of Canaria under the leadership of Prof. Schmincke. webmanager. Mike will contact him on this matter. Another sug- The committee members were elected by individual, gestion for 2014 dating from last year is a trip to the open voting. Terry Warrington was re-elected as Island of Syros, Greece. Branch Librarian; Mike Molloy was re-elected as 9. AGM 2014 Branch Treasurer; Marion Seitz was re-elected as There was some discussion about rescheduling the Branch Newsletter Editor; Gisela Lunkwitz was AGM to a time of year when there is more daylight elected as Branch Webmanager, and David Kopsch for field trips (e. g. before the end of daylight sav- was elected as committee member without specified ings time in October). In the end it was decided to position. All elections were unanimous. push the AGM to the latest date possible, and it is Elisabeth d'Eyrames was unanimously re-elected as now planned to be held on 1/2 February 2014 in Branch Organiser. Zurich, Switzerland. 8. Programme for 2013 10. Any other business Elisabeth will arrange an event over the weekend The meeting closed at 18:45h. June 21st/22nd in Brittany (Plumelec). Thomas Bassler During the summer (end of August/beginning of September) a field trip to Serbia might be offered. FIELD TRIP TO THE EIFEL VOLCANIC FIELDS III OUGS ME post exam field trip 2012

Continuing our reports of the 2012 post-exam field input of fresh magma may well have triggered the trip: initial eruption. There are also distinct differences in flow regime between these three units: Day 3, Tuesday 30 October Applying his local meteorological experience, Lower – is very complex, contains ballistic surges, Prof Hans Schmincke announced that the wet, 6/7pyroclastic flows, surge and overbank deposits. dismal weather which greeted us today could be Middle – is comprised mainly of pyroclastic flows avoided by going east, towards the Rhine. Instead Upper – comprises flow, fallout and dune deposits of the planned trip to the West Eifel, we would ex- parallel to flow direction (see Location 2). Some lay- amine the variety of deposits of the major ers contain up to 50 per cent lithics, of underlying Laacher See phreatomagmatic eruptions, which shale and sandstone of Devonian origin, transported occurred 11ka ago. Arriving at the Wingertsberg in low velocity, close to the ground, flows, while the Quarry an hour later it had stopped raining, the topmost layers are explosive deposits formed clouds had lifted and it was a little warmer than by classical phreatomagmatic eruptions. previous days. Location 1: Wingertsberg Quarry, 1 km south of Laacher See represents the proximal deposits of the Mendig Fan shown in Photo 1. This wall did not exist in 1971 and is now preserved as an important tephra teaching and studying exhibit.

Location 2: the same deposit is shown in Photo 2, but at right angles to the wall seen at Location 1, with the eruptive centre to the left. Here it is possible to distinguish between the flow-regimes. It is impos- When facing the wall, Laacher See eruptive centre sible to describe them all here but the most impres- lies one km beyond it to the north, so the direction of sive, and rare, are high energy “chute and pool” flow was towards the camera. Prof Schmincke ex- features. A good example can be seen in the centre of plained that there was a further 6m of deposits be- the photo. These occur at velocities greater than re- neath what could be seen and that individual layers quired to form anti-dunes and can be identified by a represent different styles of eruption in rapid succes- rising bedding plane, which cross-cuts lower beds, sion over a thirty nine day period. almost pinches out at the top and is followed by a Zircon analysis of the sequence shows three major downward dipping slope to form a thickening bed, as compositional units in the succession. The lower, in a pool. At the top of the sequence are so-called ‘B’ mafic, one contains 2300 ppm zircon, the middle one layers containing coarse deposits of crystal-rich contains 1000 ppm at the base and 450 ppm at the and above them fining-up layers in a classical turbu- top, while the Upper one, being very crystalline, is lent, granular flow regime. completely different. This shows that the initial It was noted that accretionary lapilli and pumice are magma was highly evolved and during the eruptions absent here. was replaced by pulses of fresh magma. Indeed, Compositionally the magma is 16% alkali oxides, 23% alumina and 55% silica, reinforcing that it was highly evolved. Its high viscosity would have inhib- ited eruption without interaction with ground water on its rise to the surface. Location 3: Krufter Ofen Quarry, Photo 3, is 1 km SE from the Laacher See eruptive centre. The photo shows the deep pit where the lower layers of pumice lapilli are being quarried.

Location 5: Kunkskopf Quarry is near to Wassenach upwind (north) of the eruptive centre. The deposits here, shown in Photo 5, are typical of a cone, containing a variety of sediments including lots of accretionary lapilli up to 2 cm diameter, airfall blocks, fragments of bombs shattered in mutual col- lisions, plastically deformed blocks and some haloes in the surrounding rocks caused by the high tempera- ture of the fallout. Compositionally the rock is a potassic basanite, the same as seen at Eppelsberg on Day 1. The deposits in the pit contain many imprints of leaves stripped from trees in the early phase of the eruption. The whole land surface area in the region of Krufter Scoria cone has been stripped of 7m of lapilli beds for building material. Lunch was enjoyed in the open air at Maria Laach on the SW shore of Laacher See. Afterwards, while walking to Location 4, we saw clear evidence that there was already an eruptive centre here before the major explosive eruption 11ka ago. Steep sided lava was draped over by the tephra of the Location 6: Professor Schmincke explained that a early stages of the major eruption. Indeed some of major pyroclastic flow raced NNE down Brohltal to the lower beds of tephra contain boulders of this reach the R Rhine at Brohl, near Andernach, where it basalt amongst the lithic fragments within them. blocked the river with a 30 m dam to form a 140 km2 Location 4: Laacher See SE shore shown in Photo lake. 4. There is a 200m zone where mantle produced car- Location 7: Bad Tonisstein, Photo 6 (next page). bon dioxide, with constant He3/He4 ratio, bubbles to Here we saw massive ignimbrite deposits of the the surface via lithospheric faults and crustal cracks Laacher See pyroclastic flows, containing rounded in the Rhine valley rift system. Similar escapes were pumice and some Devonian lithics in an ash matrix, seen in the moffette fields in W Bohemia visited on which filled some of the side valleys of Brohltal to a the 2010 OUGSME field trip. depth of 60 m. The deposits, known as ‘Trass’ were A major fault runs N-S through Laacher See and was extensively quarried to make cement, much of which the source of the several eruptive centres. Evidence was used to build the dikes in Holland because it from the thickness, composition, and form of the de- could set under water. The deposits become denser posits reveals that the eruption progressed from with increasing distance from the source. Passing south to north of the present Laacher See position. though a short tunnel we saw the unconformable contact, Photo 7, between the moderately dipping Summary of the Laacher See eruption Devonian basement rocks and the overlying Laacher This was a large explosive, Plinian-type eruption See ignimbrites. which ejected 6 km3 of deposits about 11,000 years ago. The magma had collected in a chamber between 3 and 5 km below the surface where it had degassed and differentiated to a large degree over a long pe- riod of time. An event triggered the new eruption, maybe an earthquake or a pulse of fresh magma, which encountered ground water as it rose to the sur- face. The massive degassing and steam formation re- sulted in the violent explosions which shattered the surrounding and overlying rock, comprising loess, Devonian shale and sandstone and basalt from ear- lier volcanic activity. Clouds of fine ash rose to over 40 km then were carried by the prevailing winds to southern Sweden and northern Italy. Repeated explo- sive eruptions caused by magma contact with ground water created a wide variety of flow regimes, includ- ing ash cloud collapse to form the pyroclastic flows which blocked the Rhine and formed the thick Trass deposits. A brilliant day examining the Laacher See fallout with the expertise of Prof Schmincke was completed by a trip to see where the Rhine had been dammed, before returning to our hotel through countryside peppered with the scoria cones of the East Eifel. Fred Owen OUGS North-West (text and pictures) FIELD TRIP TO THE EIFEL VOLCANIC FIELDS IV OUGS ME post exam field trip 2012

Day 4, Wednesday 31 October 2012 One side is a topographic map on to which the vari- On the last fieldwork day of the trip the morning ous and scoria rings etc have been annotated by dawned frosty and misty but promising good hand. The reverse is the geological map, which is weather; although we were deep in the country- quite complicated so being able to turn over to the side the closeness of ‘civilisation’ was obvious in simpler topographic map was very helpful. the aircraft con-trails in the blue sky shown here: To explain the multitude of volcanological features of the area, it is thought that the lithosphere beneath the WEVF, like that of the nearby Rhine graben, is around only 50km thick, ie thinner than the 90km thickness in other areas of the Rheinischer Shield. Consequently mantle material rose higher, and be- cause it was under less pressure, became partially molten. As the molten rock was less dense than the surrounding material it continued to rise through the Devonian sediments, sometimes to the surface.

All the localities this day were in the West Eifel Vol- canic Field (WEVF), which is about 50km across, contains about 240 volcanoes, the being closely spaced in the central part of the field. Extract of the maps of the area (eg Figure 2 Topographic map of the volcanic features of the area) do not show a large number of lakes because maars do not have to contain a lake. The Vulkanologische Karte of the West and Hocheifel is interesting The first locality was a large quarry worked by Scheyren Lava Co in a cinder scoria cone called the Wartgesberg Volcano, that is owned by the village of Strohn and which as a result is quite rich, choosing to spend money on elaborate roundabouts. Our first task was to draw the exposed quarry face that represented a section of the cone and to work why it was asymmetric. There were spindle bombs visible on the sides of the roadway, shown in Fig. 4 (next page). We then walked down through the quarry to the base of the face. The original country rock, Devonian sediment, was visible in the sides of the bottom of the quarry. The Devonian was red- dened and the attitude was almost vertical. This rep- resented a sloping palaeosurface, probably a valley or canyon. Above was a thick layer of black lapilli of volcanic glass, representing a basaltic eruption. mulation in situ of spatter, bombs etc and usually is interpreted as a time when the eruption rate in- creased. The bombs etc welded together to form an agglutinate, shown in Figure 6. The composition of this agglutinate is basinite (an alkaline igneous rock of olivine/ pyroxene/ nepheline).

The top bench of the quarry was similar to the first location on Sunday (Epplesberg), showing layers. We then drove to the village of Strohn for lunch at The whole section showed: the museum Vulkanhaus Strohn, designed by Hans- • Finer layers on top (fall out layer) Ulrich Schmincke, and that had a small café at- tached. Afterwards we saw the ‘largest volcanic • Couple of black lapilli layers bomb’ shown in Figure 7 (an aggregate or aggluti- • Finer layers (perhaps lake sediment in maar) nate of material, not strictly a bomb, despite the large display board saying so) that had originally • Coarse blocks at the bottom, basal deposits of rolled to a location near the village & that was quenched basalt moved to its current position on a metal plate over • Reddened Devonian on sides of the palaeosur- ice/snow in the winter of 1980-1. face on to which the volcano was erupted. So the original face and sketches we drew repre- sented half of the central crater or cone, the slope into the crater being steeper than the outside flank. On the other side of the quarry was a thick sequence of pale grey ‘agglutinate’ that resembled a lava flow (some of us incorrectly identified it as a flow, but Prof Schmincke was adamant that it was not. (My excuse is that we were 100m away when we tried to identify it, but even closeup it looked like a flow). The difference between a flow and an agglutinate is that a lava flow moved but an agglutinate is an accu- The bomb has a diameter of 5m and an estimated A ‘Neptunian’ dyke was also visible in the face, rep- mass of 120-130 tonnes. Lunch was followed by a resenting material falling into a crack that was prob- brief stop at a farm specializing in goat’s cheese ably tectonically generated, with finer material on (very clean goats and lots of them) en route to Bet- the outside and coarser in centre. We noted that some teldorf. layers were cemented with calcite (Dave got to use The three later localities, Betteldorf, Walsdorf and his acid bottle at last). Rockeskyller Kopf are shown on the geological map Next was a quarry called ‘lava grube’ near Walsdorf, Figure 8 (though the exact localities are difficult to with inner and outer craters showing crater uncon- pinpoint) and also on the topographic map Figure 2. formities. But the best feature here was a dyke cut- ting through the volcanic layers and that opened to a ‘tulip’ shape at the top, shown in Figure 10.

Betteldorf quarry had spectacular planar layers of bedded reddish tephra and lapilli (shown in Figure 9) & about 15m above these, larger clasts representing a phreatomagmatic episode. The final locality of the day was Rockeskyller Kopf There were quarry, shown in Figure 11, showing a basal cone also multiple which is part of a larger cone. small faults The layers shown on the left of Figure 11 (see next visible in the page) are coarser at the base and there are finer lay- layers. Prof ers towards the top, interpreted as phreatomagmatic Schmincke eruption, with inverted layers and round lapilli at the told us that the top. first layers on top of the De- This was part of a larger edifice. There is a transition vonian are ex- to spatter with slightly welded fallout material con- tremely tinuous over the crest. On the right a grey-coloured widespread rock can be seen, cross-cutting the ash layers and and can be cor- above the welded spatter. I identified this on my related but the sketch as a lava flow but notice that in Prof origin of the Schmincke’s book there is a photo of this face and material is not the caption clearly says that it is an agglomerate yet known. (‘kein lava see!’) but I correctly identified that there There are then should be a crater to the right. My excuse is that we cycles of couldn’t get close to the outcrop to examine the rock phases of magmatic, phreatomagmatic and then sco- properly. ria ejection. Prof Schmincke thought that the layered (RHS) part It was a great privilege to be led over this ground by could have been 50m higher originally but that this a world expert, who I had known by reputation for had been eroded. This was a spectacular last quarry. many years but never met. It was especially valuable We finished the day by examining a nearby ploughed to visit working quarries, as this is where the best ex- field for sanidine (high temperature potassium posures can be seen, and are not usually accessible to feldspar) crystals that might be dated (using the casual visitor. Prof Schmincke’s obvious close 40Ar/39Ar), as exact dates for the volcanic events in relationships with the local quarry operators and this area are problematic. Although the exact source local groups was a huge advantage for us. I really of the crystals was not known they were likely to be enjoyed the trip (sore shoulder excepted!) and I reasonably local, and any date obtained would be learned a lot, for example that I seen too many lava useful. We were watched by a herd of handsome flows in the field & not enough agglomerates! cows, curious as to why these strange people were Dee Edwards trampling over the farmer’s planted field. (Mike (text and pictures) Molloy says it was lucky we weren’t in Bavaria as the farmer would be out with his shot gun.) FIELD TRIP INTO THE JURASSIC A visit to Eastern France in Spring 2012

The Jura is an area in Mont Rivel Quarry the East of France, We started off the first day with some exciting fossil named after the Jura finds (ammonites and variety of bivalves) within the Mountains, and is one of Oxfordian rock formation on the plateau of Cham- four departments of the pagnole (lower part of the Mont Rivel). Franche-Comté region and is surrounded by This was originally an Outlier – glacier took the sur- the French departments roundings away ~20kya. The (disused) quarry was of Doubs, Haute-Saône, used in conjunction with a cement factory, and is Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, and Ain. composed of limestone and marl. It is easy to bypass on your way to the Mediter- Oxfordian rock formation and dinosaur ranean in summer or the Alps on your way to the Ski footprints in Loulle slopes – DON’T! It is one of the most beautiful re- gions I know in France. It offers it all: mountains, white sandy beaches and some of the most magnifi- cent waterfalls and natural water features you will ever see! In the Jura Mountains, the turquoise lakes, waterfalls and rivers are fighting for attention from the blue of the sky. Having previously lived in a nearby area, I jumped at the chance to employ my more recently learned geology skills and join the OUGS ME trip to the Jura – I cannot lie: The promise of wine and cheese tasting was also a big incentive! We spent an afternoon at Loulle looking at a site where dinosaur footprints from 20 to 90 cm in dia- Geology of the Jura: an overview meter can be found on the base of a quarry. The site During the middle and upper Jurassic (~175 – 154 was discovered by Jean-François Richard in 2006 Ma), the Jura region was a shallow continental shelf and the excavation started in 2007. Excavation dotted with islands, undergoing numerous cycles of ended in 2009 after revealing over 1500 prints on relative sea-level change, north of the deep Tethys four different layers. It covers 3800 m2 and, as such, ocean. The tropical climate and low siliciclastic sedi- is called a Megatracksite. mentation provided the perfect environment for the The rock formation dates back to ~155 ma (Upper growth of coral reefs, development of oolitic sands Jurassic), when the area was covered with warm, and formation of back reef lagoons where carbonate shallow tropical seas and coral reefs, when the area muds accumulated. lay between 30º and 40º N – about the present-day position of Morocco. During periods of temporary low sea levels, large littoral mud plains developed and joined the large islands of the ancient eroded massifs of the Ardennes, Massif Central. Desiccation cracks and stromatolites are clearly visi- ble on the floor of the quarry. When you visit you just have to close your eyes and imagine these herds of Sauropods (like Diplodocus) and Theropods (like T-Rex) migrating in search of food. It was even possible to estimate the size of the dinosaurs from their footprints (some nearly 40 me- Folds and faults ters in height), and individual dinosaurs were distin- This small syncline has a diameter of less than 10 m guishable from the manner in which they walked and within the Purbekien limestone. The fold has no di- left footprints! rect relationship with the major tectonic axes: the It is one of the biggest sites discovered in Europe, small scale folds, which we examined along this similar to those in North America. Unfortunately, the stretch of road cutting, are the result of compres- prints, now exposed, are eroding rapidly, and the sional deformation in the major Chaux-des-Crotnay fight to get them covered and the area to be turned syncline, which is several kilometers in diameter. into a museum is on! We stopped off at a further Purbeckian outcrop In order to raise awareness of this cause, and (Baumette, Chaux des Crotenay), where we exam- in cooperation with Jean-François Richard, ined the side slopes of the small anticline represent- I am building a website and petition which will be ing the top of the classic Purbekien series, which is online soon. If you would like to volunteer time also dominated by limestone facies, interspersed and/or services to aid us, please contact me with marls. directly on [email protected]. In the meantime, the quarry is accessible to public, is next to a small car park, and a sign provides explana- tion about the location. In a road cutting below the megatracksite, we exam- ined the facies (beach, lagoonal [on top of which the dinosaur footprints were found] and coral reef). These beds are from the Upper Oxfordian (~155 Ma) and were rife with fossils: Corals, shells, stromato lites and plant fossils.

Gorge de la Langouette: Lunch stop We took a long lazy lunch break in a field next to a bridge with an impressive view of the Gorge de la Langouette. Morillon (le Rachet) The glaciers released their sedimentary load into a After lunch lake at the meltwater edge: sloping gravel beds pro- we stopped graded into the centre of the lake (see below, upper to look at an picture) outcrop of near-vertical bedding which repre- sented the edge of an anticline.

The lake of Chalain Our next stop, Le lac de Chalain, was the largest nat- ural lake in the Jura, formed in one of many valleys carved out by glaciers, which cut their way into the Upper Jurassic limestone of the Champagnole plateau. The valley of Chalain is a few kilometres in depth, accentuating the contours of the escarpment of the western edge of the plateau. Same altitude as in Arbois, and different levels.

Jura Gastronomy We were lucky enough to enjoy a visit and wine tast- ing at the Institut du Vin in Arbois, where we at- Small villages, some dating back 3000 years, have tempted to identify various smells in the wine which been preserved below the water in the lake. After 30 we tasted. Needless to say none of us used the spit years of study, the site has been documented as one buckets provided ... the experience was fascinating: of the most extraordinary for the insight it has pro- smelling mini bottles containing scents from the vided on Neolithic human life. However, today, the “normal” (lavender) to weird smells which you lake is a paradise for holiday makers and water would never know could be associated with wine, sports fans. Visitors can participate in many activi- and the wine tasting itself: we all had our own little ties on the water, surrounded by turquoise fresh wa- (private) cabin to taste in isolation and under the ex- ters. perienced eye and taste buds of Elisabeth’s husband, Stan. I think we have improved our taste buds some- At this point we split into two groups – those wish- what and extended our knowledge of Jurassian wine. ing to enjoy re-joining civilisation and having a dip The evening was then concluded with a very fine in the lake, and a second group which headed off to barbecue at Elisabeth’s own home, with views of the look at a sequence of prograding delta deposits on middle Jurassic cliffs (oolitic limestone). the edge of the glacial lake in a quarry in nearby Charcier. Grotte d’Oselle The Osselle cave (Grotte d’Oselle), one of the first caves of its kind to be open to the public at the be- ginning of the 15th century, is situated 10 miles from Besançon in the Doubs region of the Franche Comté, although it is so large that half of it is in the Doubs and the other half is in the Jura!

most powerful spring in the Jura, with over 600 litres flowing out of it per second. Mont Poupet The day was concluded with a short walk up Mont Poupet to see the view. Not only did we enjoy breathtaking views of a large area overlooking Salins-Les-Bains – a valley formed in an anticline, It is the most impressive cave of its kind that I have cut through by a river, which exposed Triassic evap- ever visited: The assortment of stalactites and stalag- orates from which the town received its name – in mites, geological phenomena and prehistoric re- addition to a view across as far as Mont Blanc! mains, coupled with its size (the main cave is over Thanks to Elisabeth d'Eyrames, and her family, for a 1200 meters) make it a must-see! Astonishingly, in wonderful weekend! addition to the geological features, the Grotte boasts a discovery of 15 complete skeletons of giant bears, Cathrene Rowell making it one of the most important cemeteries of OUGS North-West the creatures in the world! (text and pictures) LINKS AND FURTHER INFORMATION: Source du Lison Loulle Dinosaur Footprints: Site à pistes de dinosaures There are sooo many waterfalls in the Franche- de Loulle / 39300 Loulle / E-mail: [email protected] Comté as a result of the geology of the area, rivers Web: virtual tour in pictures: www.lieux- split, vanish and re-surface, pouring out of cliff faces insolites.fr/jura/loulle/loulle.htm / www.lejurassique.com in woodland glades; all of them are worth a visit. (in French) / www.juramusees.fr/1/musee/musees/his- toire_naturelle/-b9eaca2121/site.html (in French) We visited the “Source du Lison” – the source of the The lake of Chalain: www.lac-chalain.com/lake-cha- river Lison, which is (like the river Loue) partially a lain/index.htm resurfacing of the river Doubs from in the depths of Grottes d’Oselle: grottes.osselle.free.fr/acc_ang.htm a cave. Like any waterfall, it is all the more spectac- ular after rainfall, or during the spring when the snow is melting. The source du Lison is the second DOROTHEA MINOLA ALICE BATE: Pioneering fossil-hunter and scientist

The Anglican church in Zürich, St. Andrews, or- Just from reading ganizes a huge bazaar each year, usually on the the three pages first or second Saturday in November. One can of the prologue I buy home-made crackers/cakes/jams/clothes, sec- was hooked on ond-hand jigsaw puzzles, children's games and Dorothea's story many more interesting things; but the main at- and especially by traction for many people is the book sale. In a the enthusiastic separate, large room there are lots of banana and sympathetic boxes full of paper-backs and one can fill a car- writing of the au- rier bag for CHF 40.00 (which compares thor, Karolyn favourably per-book with the prices charged in Shindler. UK charity shops). I'm writing this I am there every year as the doors open at 09:00h article to recom- and after giving up my coat and shopping bags, join mend the book, the charge into the book-sale room – booklist and so not too much pencil in hand. I grab a paper carrier bag and head to more information the outside tables, which contain the boxes of books will be given: that have been sorted by author. just enough I I look first for the Agatha Christie box (in November hope to whet the reader's appetite. 2012 conveniently next to Ruth Rendell) and was In the year 1898 and at the tender age of 19, happily selecting books as yet unread and depositing Dorothea apparently presented herself to the them in my carrier bag, when I was elbowed back- management at the Natural History Museum in wards by a very determined old lady who explained South Kensington and demanded/negotiated a job . to me that she had to be 'there'. Miss Marple would At that time only men worked there as scientists and have described her as an 'old pussy' but I think it must have taken a great strength of character on 'sabre-toothed pussy' would be a more accurate de- her part to have persuaded her interviewers to em- scription. ploy her; but employ her they did and she was em- Muttering some un-Christmassy comments and nurs- ployed in one way or another by that institution for ing cracked ribs, I turned around to look at the near- 50 years, eventually being recognised as one of the est of the three rows of tables in the middle of the world's leading authorities on certain fossils. room; these banana boxes hold unsorted books and In the website of the Natural History Musuem there one can browse for ages without finding anything of is a page that gives some details of her work and interest or maybe find several books within a few contributions to science as a palaeontologist, zoolo- minutes. One of the books that looked interesting gist and ornithologist. On the left of that page is a had a picture of an elderly lady on the front and the list of other notable scientists also connected with main title “Discovering Dorothea” with a sub-title the Museum and two entries below her own is the “The life of the pioneering fossil-hunter Dorothea one for Charles Darwin! Bate”. Dorothea bravely went to some very wild and inhos- I have been known to bash a few rocks in the hope pitable places: to caves in Cyprus, Crete, Majorca of finding a fossil, so I took the book and having and Menorca. She discovered the fossilised bones of read it can honestly say that it was the best book I many ancient animals, including those of dwarf ele- bought that day! I should even thank the old pussy phants and hippos and more. She was often accom- for my cracked ribs. panied only by locals, men who knew the area and could escort her to certain caves; she must have lived I think that the book is important enough that it a very primitive existence during her explorations. should eventually be posted to Terry to be added to Her workbooks describe of course mainly her find- the OUGS ME library. ings (or lack of findings) but she adds comments Dave Kopsch here and there about having been bitten to pieces by the local insects or having to sleep in very uncom- fortable conditions. She seems to have been so de- REFERENCES voted to her investigations that she could manage to 1. ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH ANGLICAN- live through the discomfort. EPISCOPAL,,viewed 27th February 2013, www.standrewszurich.org/Site/Homepage.html There are some records of her personal life but not (check Future Events for the date of the 2013 bazaar many as sadly all of her personal letters were given (as yet unpublished)) to her sister Leila on Dorothea's death and these 2. Shindler. K 2006, Discovering Dorothea: THE LIFE were destroyed in a disastrous house fire in 1954. OF THE PIONEERING FOSSIL-HUNTER DOROTHEA BATE, Dorothea visited other places and became a recog- Harper Perrenial 2006, London, England, ISBN 0006531865 nised expert in her field; she was sent collections of 3. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, viewed 27th February fossilized bones from many different sites and some 2013, www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural- had to wait for years before she could study them. history/biographies/dorothea-bate/index.html To conclude: I hope that I have given enough details to whet the reader's appetite. I will now post my copy to Elisabeth and anyone else who would like to read it could arrange for her to post it on. OUGS ME field trip to: PLOUMANACH, THE GRANITES OF BRITTANY 22-23-24 June 2013

Leader: Dr Emilie Thomassot Maître de conférences: INPL, Centre de Recherche Petrographique et Geochimique, Nancy Fluent in English, she loves sharing her knowledge about these beautiful rocks and makes things understandable for everyone, experienced or begin- ners. Every year she takes students to that area as this location is a classic for studying granites. The appication form can be down- loaded from the website: www.ougseurope.org For more information: [email protected]

POST-EXAM FIELD TRIP 2013

This year’s post-exam field trip will lead us into the Harz Region, a low mountain range in central Germany. Details will follow in the next newsletter.