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A Registered Charity No. 220014 January 2021 / Circular 632 YORKSHIRE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY President: Nick Riley MBE Islay: Gently folded turbidites of the Smaull Greywacke Formation (Colonsay Group) at Dun Bheolain on the western side of the Rhinns peninsula. (Photo: Dave Webster) JANUARY TO MARCH 2021 VERY IMPORTANT – COVID-19 EMERGENCY: PLEASE KEEP CHECKING THE YGS WEBSITE FOR THE LATEST PROGRAMME AND OTHER INFORMATION: http://www.yorksgeolsoc.org.uk https://yorksgeolsoc.org.uk NON MEMBERS WELCOME: FREE OF CHARGE CONTENTS YGS 2021 Programme 3 YGS Zoom Lectures online January – March 2021 5 Hull Geological Society Zoom Lecture: 8 New Light on the Neanderthals President’s Word 10 Officers and other Council Members for 2021 12 New Officers of the Society: 13 Professor Paul Wignall and Haley Scholefield Membership Subscriptions 2021 14 YGS Opportunities Fund 14 YGS Field Guide to the Geology of Graves Park, Sheffield 15 YGS Publications now available as WIKI pages 16 Biography of Dorothy Helen Rayner FGS (1912-2003) 16 A Geological Short Story: “The Green Aire June 1899” 18 Corresponding Societies 22 Next YGS Circular (# 633) April 2021: Deadline: 10th March 2021 27 Key Yorkshire Geological Society Contacts 27 2 https://yorksgeolsoc.org.uk YGS 2021 YGS 2021 PROGRAMME Welcoming the incoming President and Secretary together with our new Principal Editor, the coming year sees the Society offering a vibrant and strong programme that combines virtual and face-to-face events that uphold the very high standards we expect of the Society for its members. The challenge to the events programme caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has provided Council with the opportunity to expand the diversity and range of events we offer, notably by creating a suite of virtual material and events. This enables us to offer a programme that is not only bespoke to YGS but also offering links to other regional societies and their virtual programmes. The disappointment at not being able to meet face-to-face for internal meetings or field excursions is to some degree offset by creating this virtual programme, enabling our members to still feel part of the society and its ongoing events as well as providing opportunities to contribute in a minimal risk setting with respect to their exposure to catching the virus. It is our intention to resume face-to-face events as soon as it is safe to do so. We also plan to continue with our virtual programme of webinars, virtual and mini field trips for the foreseeable future, enhancing access of events to all our members. In addition to the virtual field trips we are now offering mini field trips to classical localities across our region. These will be for small groups up to a maximum of 6 in accordance with government guidelines. The first tranche of these will be offered during the first quarter of 2021; they are listed on our website and in the summary table at the end of this article. More details will follow as planning proceeds. We are also receiving invitations from some other societies to share their online lectures and webinars with our members: information on these is circulated via our members’ email list. Guidance for mini field trip participants is contained on the website including the risk management measures that ensure we comply with government guidelines. Many of these are already standard practice for YGS trips. Additional risk controls will be stated on the risk assessment for each trip. Each trip will be led by a recognised expert and will be of 2-3 hours duration. The 2021 meeting programme follows the content advertised at our virtual AGM in early December. While the constraints on open public meetings prevail, it comprises a series of webinars that we hope to offer monthly if we can get suitable high quality speakers. Once these constraints have been removed and it is safe to host public events for larger groups, we plan to continue offering webinars quarterly. In this way those members unable to make main meetings or field trips can continue to attend virtual meetings and participate in society activities. During the first quarter of 2021 we have webinars on the 21st January when Dave Webster will give a talk Geology of Islay and its Whisky. On 25th February Nick Shaw will give a talk on Geology and Geothermal Energy and a month later on 25th March we have Professor Chris Greenwell from Durham talking about Central Wales Lead Mining. We are also putting together a monthly webinar programme for the second quarter of the https://yorksgeolsoc.org.uk YGS 2021 3 YGS 2021 PROGRAMME year that we hope will include a diverse suite of talks by Professors Chris Jackson and Patrick Boylan together with Douglas Robinson and Mike Bowman Our earliest planned face-to-face will be the day-long event at the University of Leeds. This will be on Deep geological disposal of radioactive waste: The role of geoscience. Postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic from the announced original date in March 2020. It is a Joint Meeting of the Yorkshire Geological Society and RWM (Radioactive Waste Management: the public organisation established by Government responsible for planning and geological disposal of radioactive waste in the UK). The meeting will comprise invited talks from an international group of speakers and experts on the subject. It will review the critical role played by the geosphere in deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. It promises to be a fascinating meeting that will update us on the UK’s current programme for the disposal of its medium to high level radioactive waste as well as overviewing some of the major overseas programmes. It is one of the UK’s major environmental programmes and geology will play a key part in its success. We hope to be able to publish the papers presented at the meeting as a special thematic YGS Proceedings. If constraints on open public meetings remain in place, this joint YGS/RWM meeting will be rearranged as a virtual event with shorter duration sessions spread over consecutive days commencing 12th April, and would still involve talks by the same scheduled speakers, together with discussion groups. Details of this will follow once we have greater clarity on the risk to face-to-face events in 2021. The remaining programme of events in 2021 will include Yorkshire Geology Day at the NCMME Caphouse (National Coal Mining Museum for England) in early May (date to be confirmed). This year’s theme will be Geology in the Popular Media, a very topical subject given the climate change and environmental challenges confronting us. It promises to be both entertaining and educational. The event will be organised by Paul Hildreth and John Simmons; John is an ex NCB geologist who recently retired after a successful career creating geology focussed films and communications for industry and the BBC. The President’s address which traditionally takes place alongside the AGM has been deferred to 26th June 2021; we anticipate that it will be held at Weetwood Hall, Leeds and planning is already ongoing for this event. For the rest of the year we plan to host a range of internal meetings, traditional and mini field trips as well as offering webinars and additional virtual field trips. Going forward we must continue to build on what we have learned during the challenges of 2020, to develop a strong programme of virtual and face-to-face events. Council welcomes any ideas or suggestions you the members have for meetings, talks or field trips – it is your Society. We need your help and participation to create a strong and vibrant programme. Please send any suggestions for these to the Secretary at [email protected]. Mike Bowman, Indoor Meetings Secretary 4 https://yorksgeolsoc.org.uk YGS 2021 YGS ONLINE ZOOM LECTURES JANUARY – MARCH 2021 Important notice: Pre-booking is essential for each Zoom lecture. Please email Rick Saville, Web Editor, in advance. Rick will send you the Zoom address a few days before the lecture. GEOLOGY OF ISLAY AND WHISKY Dave Webster. 4pm Thursday 21st January 2021 The geology of Islay is very varied with two billion-year-old gneisses, late Precambrian glacial deposits together with rocks and structures testifying to the opening and closing of the Iapetus ocean. The talk will visit some key localities, explore a fossil ‘oil play’ and connect the geology with the island’s history, archaeology and, of course, its whisky. David Webster has a degree in geology from Oxford University, an MSc from Stockholm University and worked for many years in the oil industry. Now actively retired, he has built a house on Islay, and is the co-author of “A Guide to the Geology of Islay”. Islay: Gently folded turbidites of the Smaull Greywacke Formation (Colonsay Group) at Dun Bheolain on the western side of the Rhinns peninsula. (Photo: Dave Webster). https://yorksgeolsoc.org.uk YGS 2021 5 YGS ONLINE ZOOM LECTURES JANUARY – MARCH 2021 A NEW (EXCITING) OPPORTUNITY FOR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN YORKSHIRE Nick Shaw, University of Leeds. 4pm Thursday 25th February 2021 Yorkshire’s rich resource history might allow a revival at our doorstep – it is time for a “down to earth” look at geothermal. Although it is nearly 60 million years since Yorkshire was visited by magmatic and volcanic activity as evidenced by the Cleveland dyke, the usual images and concepts associated with geothermal energy might seem out of place. According to the BGS, ‘geothermal energy’ refers to any heat derived from the ground, from depths of a few metres to multiple kilometres beneath the earth surface. In Yorkshire therefore there could be scope for heat production and if not production, heat storage in natural aquifers or abandoned and repurposed flooded coal mines or former petroleum assets.