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SCIENTIST GEO VOLUME 24 NO 5 u JUNE 2014 u WWW.GEOLSOC.ORG.UK/GEOSCIENTIST The Fellowship Magazine of the Geological Society of London UK / Overseas where sold to individuals: £3.95 twitter follow us on ] [@geoscientistmag Arctic Azolla An event that changed the world, and may again 100 GEOSITES ORDNANCE SURVEY EXIT INTERVIEW Nominate your favourite UK Is the UK’s mapmaker losing David Shilston reflects on and Ireland localities the plot over contours? two hectic years at the helm The best digital mapping app in the world FieldMove Clino Pro combines a digital compass clinometer, stereonet, camera, notebook and drawing functionality in a single application on your tablet or phone. 0OMJOF(PPHMF.BQTBOEPGnJOF map support for disconnected mapping New expanded library of symbols for planar and linear data Stereonet display of geological data Draw contacts, faults and outcrops on your chosen basemap* Export KML and CSV data to other applications like FieldMove or Move In app purchase in FieldMove Clino Change the way you map More than 10,000 geologists† can’t be wrong! Midland Valley, 2 West Regent Street, *Only aavvailable in iOS version †Number of downloads during first six months Glasgow G2 1RW UK +44 (0)141 332 2681 www.mve.com GEOSCIENTIST CONTENTS 06 24 10 16 FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE... 16 100 Geosites Rob Butler on the project to find our islands’ 100 best geological sites REGULARS 05 Welcome Ted Nield wonders whether ‘Open Access’ is accidentally endangering learned societies 06 Society news What your Society is doing at home and abroad, in London and the regions 09 Soapbox David Nowell thinks the Ordnance Survey is losing the plot ON THE COVER: 21 Letters We welcome your thoughts 10 Arctic Azolla 22 Books and arts Four new books reviewed by Ted The freshwater fern, Azolla. Could this Nield, Paul Younger, Alan Lord and Dick Selley superorganism explain our present icehouse world, 24 People Geoscientists in the news and on the move and help us survive the coming greenhouse? 26 Obituary Edward Irving 1927-2014 27 Calendar Society activities this month ONLINE SPECIALS David Shilston reflects on his term as President; Howard Lee considers the effects of Large Igneous Provinces on global climate; 28 Obituary Richard John Aldridge 1945-2014 ‘The only way is up’ Nik Reynolds recalls a NWRG careers day 29 Crossword Win a special publication of your choice WWW.GEOLSOC.ORG.UK/GEOSCIENTIST | JUNE 2014 | 03 Deep Earth Processes windows on the workings of a planet The Geological Society, Burlington House, 15-16 September 2014 Piccadilly, London, UK The physical and chemical nature of Earth’s deep interior is key in controlling many of the processes that shape our planet: from mantle convection to melting, from volcanism to plate tectonics. Rationalising the latest observations – be they clues revealed in the compositions of mantle melts, diamond formation, seismological nuances, or atomistic scale predictions – requires interaction across sub-disciplines. This international meeting seeks to draw together the latest ideas and results from geophysicists, geochemists, mineral physicists, geodynamicists and petrologists to identify the processes shaping the inaccessible depths of our planet. Thematic sessions: • Deep mantle structure • Composition of the lower mantle • Core formation, CMB & D" • Surface expression of deep Earth processes Convenors: Sally Gibson, University of Cambridge, UK Saskia Goes, Imperial College, UK Simon Redfern, University of Cambridge, UK Mike Walter, University of Bristol, UK Keynote Speakers: John Hernlund, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan Bernie Wood, University of Oxford, UK Invited Speakers: Chris Ballentine, University of Oxford, UK John Brodholt, University College London, UK Arwen Deuss, University of Cambridge, UK Dan Frost, Bayreuth, Germany Matt Jackson, UC Santa Barbara, USA Further information Peter van Keken, University of Michigan, USA Mike Kendall, University of Bristol, UK For further information about the conference please contact: Graham Pearson, University of Alberta, CA Dan Shim, Arizona State University, USA Naomi Newbold, Conference Office, The Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BG Call for abstracts T: 0207 434 9944 E: [email protected] There is a call for abstracts and contributions are W: www.geolsoc.org.uk/deepearth14 invited by 30th May 2014. Further information on submitting an abstract can be found at Follow this event on Twitter #deepearth14 www.geolsoc.org.uk/deepearth14 Image credit: Planetary Visions Ltd Visions Planetary Image credit: GEOSCIENTIST WELCOME Geoscientist is the ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE ~ Fellowship magazine of Jonathan Knight COULD AZOLLA EXPLAIN OUR the Geological Society T 01727 739 193 of London E jonathan@centuryone PRESENT ICEHOUSE WORLD, AND HELP US publishing.ltd.uk The Geological Society, SURVIVE THE COMING GREENHOUSE? Burlington House, Piccadilly, ART EDITOR Front cover image London W1J 0BG Heena Gudka ~ T +44 (0)20 7434 9944 F +44 (0)20 7439 8975 DESIGN & PRODUCTION E [email protected] Sarah Astington (Not for Editorial - Please contact the Editor) PRINTED BY Century One Publishing House Publishing Ltd. The Geological Society Publishing House, Unit 7, Copyright Brassmill Enterprise Centre, The Geological Society of Brassmill Lane, Bath London is a Registered BA1 3JN Charity, number 210161. T 01225 445046 ISSN (print) 0961-5628 F 01225 442836 ISSN (online) 2045-1784 Library FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: The Geological Society of London T +44 (0)20 7432 0999 accepts no responsibility for the F +44 (0)20 7439 3470 views expressed in any article in E [email protected] this publication. All views expressed, except where explicitly EDITOR-IN-CHIEF stated otherwise, represent those Open access Professor Peter Styles of the author, and not The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved. No paragraph EDITOR of this publication may be Dr Ted Nield reproduced, copied or transmitted ertain propositions are available – so far, so good. E [email protected] save with written permission. Users registered with Copyright inherently difficult to But publishing is not an activity EDITORIAL BOARD Clearance Center: the Journal is counter. Appeals to the free of investment or labour, or in Dr Sue Bowler registered with CCC, 27 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970, USA. market, for example, were itself worthless. Rain may fall gently Mr Steve Branch 0961-5628/02/$15.00. Every Dr Robin Cocks effort has been made to trace particularly hard to counter from heaven, but to make it safe Prof. Tony Harris copyright holders of material in C in the 1980s, and the associated and accessible to me in my house, Dr Howard Falcon-Lang this publication. If any rights have Dr Jonathan Turner been omitted, the publishers offer concept of ‘customer choice’ was then I expect to pay. their apologies. Dr Jan Zalasiewicz applied willy nilly where it has since True, costs are falling with the advent No responsibility is assumed by Trustees of the the Publisher for any injury and/or been recognised as completely of online publishing. True, much Geological Society damage to persons or property as inappropriate. It is hard to argue research publishing is highly lucrative of London a matter of products liability, Mr D T Shilston negligence or otherwise, or from against the democratic principle, even to publishers; good research is in (President); any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or though a majority in favour is no demand. True, some publishers are Mrs N K Ala; Dr M G ideas contained in the material guarantee of anything at all, except making profits off the back of research Armitage; Prof R A Butler; herein. Although all advertising Prof N A Chapman; material is expected to conform to possibly the lowest common paid for by the public, often using Dr A L Coe; Mr J Coppard; ethical (medical) standards, denominator of understanding. some volunteer labour from the very Mr D J Cragg (Vice inclusion in this publication does president); Mrs N J not constitute a guarantee or Is Open Access Publishing one of academics who perform it, but who by endorsement of the quality or Dottridge; Mr C S Eccles; value of such product or of the these? Its very name makes it almost the process of peer review, give the Dr M Edmonds; claims made by its manufacturer. Prof A J Fraser unseemly to oppose. Who would results dignity. Their validation (Secretary, Science); Subscriptions: All champion the restriction of renders the published results ‘scientific’. Mrs M P Henton (Secretary, correspondence relating to non- Professional Matters); member subscriptions should be information? Not I. It is the However in going after commercial addresses to the Journals Mr D A Jones (Vice Subscription Department, Government’s view that the results of profiteers, and in so doing further president); Dr A Law Geological Society Publishing research for which it has paid should forcing the pace of publishing reform at (Treasurer); Prof R J House, Unit 7 Brassmill Enterprise Lisle; Prof A R Lord Centre, Brassmill Lane, Bath, BA1 be available to the taxpayers who a time when nobody is really sure if (Secretary, Foreign & 3JN, UK. Tel: 01225 445046. Fax: funded it. It is equally hard to argue revenue streams will hold up at all, is External Affairs); 01225 442836. Email: Prof D A C Manning [email protected]. The against that, though elsewhere, paying this process not in danger of subscription price for Volume 24, (President designate); 2014 (11 issues) to institutions for things does not automatically confusing baby and bathwater? 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