01-05 Geoscientist Jun 14.Qxt Nwda

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

01-05 Geoscientist Jun 14.Qxt Nwda 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? Dr B R Marker; and non-members is £125 (UK) or Dr G Nichols; Dr L £143 / US$286 (Rest of World). entitle me to access them. Learned society publishers plough Slater; Dr J P Turner Taxpayers fund many things that their surpluses back into fostering (Secretary, Publications); © 2014 The Geological Society Mr M E Young of London remain unavailable to them, or even new and better science through unadvertised to them – for reasons meetings and research sponsorship.
Recommended publications
  • The Eocene Arctic Azolla Bloom: Environmental Conditions, Productivity and Carbon Drawdown
    Geobiology (2009), 7, 155–170 DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2009.00195.x TheBlackwell Publishing Ltd Eocene Arctic Azolla bloom: environmental conditions, productivity and carbon drawdown E. N. SPEELMAN,1 M. M. L. VAN KEMPEN,2 J. BARKE,3 H. BRINKHUIS,3 G. J. REICHART,1 A. J. P. SMOLDERS,2 J. G. M. ROELOFS,2 F. SANGIORGI,3 J. W. DE LEEUW,1,3,4 A. F. LOTTER3 AND J. S. SINNINGHE DAMSTÉ1,4 1Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands 2Department of Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands 3Institute of Environmental Biology, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands 4NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands ABSTRACT Enormous quantities of the free-floating freshwater fern Azolla grew and reproduced in situ in the Arctic Ocean during the middle Eocene, as was demonstrated by microscopic analysis of microlaminated sediments recovered from the Lomonosov Ridge during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 302. The timing of the Azolla phase (~48.5 Ma) coincides with the earliest signs of onset of the transition from a greenhouse towards the modern icehouse Earth. The sustained growth of Azolla, currently ranking among the fastest growing plants on Earth, in a major anoxic oceanic basin may have contributed to decreasing atmospheric pCO2 levels via burial of Azolla-derived organic matter. The consequences of these enormous Azolla blooms for regional and global nutrient and carbon cycles are still largely unknown.
    [Show full text]
  • Geotourism and Geoconservation on the Isle of Wight, UK: Balancing Science with Commerce
    Carpenter: Rocky start of Dinosaur National Monument… Geoconservation Research Original Article Geotourism and Geoconservation on the Isle of Wight, UK: Balancing Science with Commerce Martin I. Simpson Lansdowne, Military Rd, Chale, Isle of Wight, PO38 2HH, UK. Abstract The Isle of Wight has a rich and varied geological heritage which attracts scientists, tourists and fossil collectors, both private and commercial. Each party has a role to play in geoconservation and geotourism, but a policy on the long term curation of scientifically important specimens is essential to prevent future conflicts. A new code of conduct is recommended, based on the one adopted on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. I have spent over 40 years living on the Island and working in the tourist industry running geology field-trips for both academics and tourists, and managing one of the longest running geological gift shops. I see the geological heritage and fossil sites as valuable geotourism assets, and envisage no problems with respect to the scientifically important material provided that a clear collecting policy is adopted, and the local museum generates funding to ensure that significant finds remain on the Island. A positive attitude is recommended in view of past experiences. Corresponding Author: Martin I. Simpson Lansdowne, Military Rd, Chale, Isle of Wight, PO38 2HH, UK. Email: [email protected] Keywords: Palaeontology, Geology, Isle of Wight, Tourism. Introduction with few formations absent, probably one of the best successions of this type in Europe (Fig 1c).Once a larger landmass joined to the mainland The Isle of Wight is a small, vaguely lozenge-shaped island situated as recently as 9000 years ago, what remains as 'Wight Island' or 'Vecta just off the central south coast of England, about 113 km south west of Insula' is eroding away at a rate of one metre per year in places (Munt London (Fig 1a, 1b), renowned for its balmy climate and golden, sandy 2016), but this erosion has produced spectacular scenery and iconic beaches.
    [Show full text]
  • James Hutton's Reputation Among Geologists in the Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
    The Geological Society of America Memoir 216 Revising the Revisions: James Hutton’s Reputation among Geologists in the Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries A. M. Celâl Şengör* İTÜ Avrasya Yerbilimleri Enstitüsü ve Maden Fakültesi, Jeoloji Bölümü, Ayazağa 34469 İstanbul, Turkey ABSTRACT A recent fad in the historiography of geology is to consider the Scottish polymath James Hutton’s Theory of the Earth the last of the “theories of the earth” genre of publications that had begun developing in the seventeenth century and to regard it as something behind the times already in the late eighteenth century and which was subsequently remembered only because some later geologists, particularly Hutton’s countryman Sir Archibald Geikie, found it convenient to represent it as a precursor of the prevailing opinions of the day. By contrast, the available documentation, pub- lished and unpublished, shows that Hutton’s theory was considered as something completely new by his contemporaries, very different from anything that preceded it, whether they agreed with him or not, and that it was widely discussed both in his own country and abroad—from St. Petersburg through Europe to New York. By the end of the third decade in the nineteenth century, many very respectable geologists began seeing in him “the father of modern geology” even before Sir Archibald was born (in 1835). Before long, even popular books on geology and general encyclopedias began spreading the same conviction. A review of the geological literature of the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries shows that Hutton was not only remembered, but his ideas were in fact considered part of the current science and discussed accord- ingly.
    [Show full text]
  • Climate and Deep Water Formation Regions
    Cenozoic High Latitude Paleoceanography: New Perspectives from the Arctic and Subantarctic Pacific by Lindsey M. Waddell A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Oceanography: Marine Geology and Geochemistry) in The University of Michigan 2009 Doctoral Committee: Assistant Professor Ingrid L. Hendy, Chair Professor Mary Anne Carroll Professor Lynn M. Walter Associate Professor Christopher J. Poulsen Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ......................................................................................................................v List of Appendices............................................................................................................ vi Abstract............................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1. Introduction....................................................................................................................1 2. Ventilation of the Abyssal Southern Ocean During the Late Neogene: A New Perspective from the Subantarctic Pacific ......................................................21 3. Global Overturning Circulation During the Late Neogene: New Insights from Hiatuses in the Subantarctic Pacific ...........................................55 4. Salinity of the Eocene Arctic Ocean from Oxygen Isotope
    [Show full text]
  • Early to Middle Eocene History of the Arctic Ocean from Nd-Sr Isotopes in Fossil Fish Debris, Lomonosov Ridge J
    PALEOCEANOGRAPHY, VOL. 24, PA2215, doi:10.1029/2008PA001685, 2009 Click Here for Full Article Early to middle Eocene history of the Arctic Ocean from Nd-Sr isotopes in fossil fish debris, Lomonosov Ridge J. D. Gleason,1 D. J. Thomas,2 T. C. Moore Jr.,1 J. D. Blum,1 R. M. Owen,1 and B. A. Haley3 Received 9 September 2008; revised 25 January 2009; accepted 8 April 2009; published 5 June 2009. [1] Strontium and neodymium radiogenic isotope ratios in early to middle Eocene fossil fish debris (ichthyoliths) from Lomonosov Ridge (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 302) help constrain water mass compositions in the Eocene Arctic Ocean between 55 and 45 Ma. The inferred paleodepositional setting was a shallow, offshore marine to marginal marine environment with limited connections to surrounding ocean basins. The new data demonstrate that sources of Nd and Sr in fish debris were distinct from each other, consistent with a salinity-stratified water column above Lomonosov Ridge in the Eocene. The 87Sr/86Sr values of ichthyoliths (0.7079–0.7087) are more radiogenic than Eocene seawater, requiring brackish to fresh water conditions in the environment where fish metabolized Sr. The 87Sr/86Sr variations probably record changes in the overall balance of river Sr flux to the Eocene Arctic Ocean between 55 and 45 Ma and are used here to reconstruct surface water salinity values. The eNd values of ichthyoliths vary between À5.7 and À7.8, compatible with periodic (or intermittent) supply of Nd to Eocene Arctic intermediate water (AIW) from adjacent seas. Although the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and North Atlantic Ocean were the most likely sources of Eocene AIW Nd, input from the Tethys Sea (via the Turgay Strait in early Eocene time) and the North Pacific Ocean (via a proto-Bering Strait) also contributed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Correspondence Between Charles Lyell and His Family and Gideon Algernon Mantell: 1821 - 1852
    THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN CHARLES LYELL AND HIS FAMILY AND GIDEON ALGERNON MANTELL: 1821 - 1852 Transcribed and Annotated by Alan John Wennerbom A supplementary volume to the thesis Charles Lyell and Gideon Mantell, 1821-1852: Their Quest for Elite Status in English Geology, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Unit for the History University of Sydney and Philosophy of Science February 1999 1 Charles Lyell to G. A. Mantell 29 Norfolk St. Strand Nov 3 1821. My dear Sir Your letter was forwarded to me here from the country some days since wh I have delayed answering in the hopes of being able to procure you some little information. I dispatched my packet to you as soon as I returned from my Sussex tour, I believe on the 11 th. or 12 th.of Octr. as you will see I suppose by my letter.1 They did not reach you it seems till the 25th. A fortnight from Southton to Lewes! This was unlucky, for had I known how much they w.d interest you I would have forwarded you a large collection at Stonesfield. Will you endeavour to ascertain the cause of the Waggon’s delay, for it strikes me as so careless that I am afraid to ask you to send any to Bartley Lodge – Southhampton2 lest they sh.d be lost on the way. If you can send me any be sure they are duplicates & only such as you have or can procure in abundance, for as I only wish them for instruction & have no choice cabinet, you would throw away your pearls.
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter Number 79
    The Palaeontology Newsletter Contents 79 Editorial 2 Association Business 3 News: awards and prizes 10 Association Meetings 16 From our correspondents Encore des Buffonades, mon cher … 20 PalaeoMath 101: Elliptic Fourier … 29 Future meetings of other bodies 44 Meeting Reports Silicofossil/Palynology joint meeting 50 Lyell Meeting 2011 53 55th PalAss Annual Meeting 2011 55 Obituary Arthur Cruickshank 64 Reporter: the Palaeontology of Pop 71 Sylvester-Bradley reports 75 Virtual Palaeontology 82 Book Reviews 88 Palaeontology vol 55 parts 1 & 2 101–102 Reminder: The deadline for copy for Issue no 80 is 11th June 2012. On the Web: <http://www.palass.org/> ISSN: 0954-9900 Newsletter 79 2 Editorial The publication of Newsletter 79 marks the end of the beginning of my new post as Newsletter editor. Many thanks to my predecessor Dr Richard Twitchett, who prepared a most useful guide to my editorial duties and tasks before moving to the even more demanding Council role of Secretary. Unlike the transition to editor in the world of journalism, I did not inherit an expenses account, tastefully furnished office and a PA, but I do now have the <[email protected]> account. That is how to contact me about Newsletter matters, send me articles, and let me, and Council, know what you want, and don’t want, from the Newsletter. The Newsletter has expanded greatly in the past decade and there is a great deal more copy and content, which you can check by investigating the Newsletter archive on the Association website. Such an expansion relies on a steady flow of copy from the membership and our regular columnists.
    [Show full text]
  • Millions of Years of Greenland Ice Sheet History Recorded in Ocean Sediments
    Umbruch 28.10.2011 21:21 Uhr Seite 141 Polarforschung 80 (3), 141 – 159, 2010 (erschienen 2011) Millions of Years of Greenland Ice Sheet History Recorded in Ocean Sediments by Jørn Thiede1,2, Catherine Jessen3, Paul Knutz3, Antoon Kuijpers3, Naja Mikkelsen3, Niels Nørgaard-Pedersen3, and Robert F. Spielhagen1 Abstract: Geological records from Tertiary and Quaternary terrestrial and glaciation, which is different from all previous well-docu- oceanic sections have documented the presence of ice caps and sea ice covers mented glacial events. The Greenland ice sheet is a remnant of both in the Southern and the Northern hemispheres since Eocene times, approximately since 45 Ma. In this paper focussing on Greenland we mainly the giant Northern Hemisphere last glacial maximum ice use the occurrences of coarse ice-rafted debris (IRD) in Quaternary and sheets (in our region composed of the Greenland Ice Sheet Tertiary ocean sediment cores to conclude on age and origin of the glaciers/ice with the adjacent Innuitian Ice Sheet to the West, which again sheets, which once produced the icebergs transporting this material into the adjacent ocean. Deep-sea sediment cores with their records of ice-rafting from was connected to the North American Laurentide Ice Sheet) off NE Greenland, Fram Strait and to the south of Greenland suggest the more and represents hence a spectacular anomaly. The future of or less continuous existence of the Greenland ice sheet since 18 Ma, maybe these ice sheets is, because of political, socio-economic and much longer, and hence far beyond the stratigraphic extent of the Greenland ice cores.
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter Number 85
    The Palaeontology Newsletter Contents 85 Editorial 2 Association Business 3 Association Meetings 16 From our correspondents 28,000 leagues across the sea 20 R for palaeontologists: Introduction 28 Future meetings of other bodies 39 Meeting Reports 46 Obituary Richard Aldridge 66 Sylvester-Bradley reports 69 Publicity Officer: Old Fossils, New Media 82 Book Reviews 85 Books available to review 92 Palaeontology vol 57 parts 1 & 2 93–94 Reminder: The deadline for copy for Issue no 86 is 9th June 2014. On the Web: <http://www.palass.org/> ISSN: 0954-9900 Newsletter 85 2 Editorial The role of Newsletter Reporter is becoming part of the portfolio of responsibilities of the PalAss Publicity Officer, which is Liam Herringshaw’s new post on Council. This reflects a broader re-organization of posts on Council that are aimed at enhancing the efforts of the Association. Council now includes the posts of Education Officer and Outreach Officer, who will, along with the Publicity Officer, develop strategies to engage with different target audiences. The Association has done what it can to stay abreast of developments in social media, through the establishment of the Palass Twitter Feed (@ThePalAss), the development of Palaeontology [online] and the work of Palaeocast, which is a project that has received support from the Association. Progressive Palaeontology has more or less migrated to Facebook. Such methods of delivery have overtaken the Newsletter, the News side-boxes on the Pal Ass website and … However, our real asset in the publicity sphere is you, the members. As palaeontologists, we hold the subject-specific knowledge and the links among the different spheres of knowledge in the other sciences that contribute to our understanding of the history of life.
    [Show full text]
  • The Palaeontology Newsletter
    The Palaeontology Newsletter Contents100 Editorial 2 Association Business 3 Annual Meeting 2019 3 Awards and Prizes AGM 2018 12 PalAss YouTube Ambassador sought 24 Association Meetings 25 News 30 From our correspondents A Palaeontologist Abroad 40 Behind the Scenes: Yorkshire Museum 44 She married a dinosaur 47 Spotlight on Diversity 52 Future meetings of other bodies 55 Meeting Reports 62 Obituary: Ralph E. Chapman 67 Grant Reports 72 Book Reviews 104 Palaeontology vol. 62 parts 1 & 2 108–109 Papers in Palaeontology vol. 5 part 1 110 Reminder: The deadline for copy for Issue no. 101 is 3rd June 2019. On the Web: <http://www.palass.org/> ISSN: 0954-9900 Newsletter 100 2 Editorial This 100th issue continues to put the “new” in Newsletter. Jo Hellawell writes about our new President Charles Wellman, and new Publicity Officer Susannah Lydon gives us her first news column. New award winners are announced, including the first ever PalAss Exceptional Lecturer (Stephan Lautenschlager). (Get your bids for Stephan’s services in now; check out pages 34 and 107.) There are also adverts – courtesy of Lucy McCobb – looking for the face of the Association’s new YouTube channel as well as a call for postgraduate volunteers to join the Association’s outreach efforts. But of course palaeontology would not be the same without the old. Behind the Scenes at the Museum returns with Sarah King’s piece on The Yorkshire Museum (York, UK). Norman MacLeod provides a comprehensive obituary of Ralph Chapman, and this issue’s palaeontologists abroad (Rebecca Bennion, Nicolás Campione and Paige dePolo) give their accounts of life in Belgium, Australia and the UK, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • A Model–Data Comparison for a Multi-Model Ensemble of Early Eocene Atmosphere–Ocean Simulations: Eomip
    Clim. Past, 8, 1717–1736, 2012 www.clim-past.net/8/1717/2012/ Climate doi:10.5194/cp-8-1717-2012 of the Past © Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License. A model–data comparison for a multi-model ensemble of early Eocene atmosphere–ocean simulations: EoMIP D. J. Lunt1, T. Dunkley Jones2,*, M. Heinemann3, M. Huber4, A. LeGrande5, A. Winguth6, C. Loptson1, J. Marotzke7, C. D. Roberts8, J. Tindall9, P. Valdes1, and C. Winguth6 1School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, UK 2Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, UK 3International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii, USA 4Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, USA 5NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies, USA 6Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Texas at Arlington, USA 7Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany 8The Met Office, Exeter, UK 9School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK *now at: School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK Correspondence to: D. J. Lunt ([email protected]) Received: 29 March 2012 – Published in Clim. Past Discuss.: 16 April 2012 Revised: 19 September 2012 – Accepted: 20 September 2012 – Published: 29 October 2012 Abstract. The early Eocene (∼ 55 to 50 Ma) is a time pe- of atmospheric CO2 and temperature during this time pe- riod which has been explored in a large number of mod- riod will allow a quantitative assessment of the skill of the elling and data studies. Here, using an ensemble of previ- models at simulating warm climates. If it is the case that a ously published model results, making up “EoMIP” – the model which gives a good simulation of the Eocene will also Eocene Modelling Intercomparison Project – and synthe- give a good simulation of the future, then such an assessment ses of early Eocene terrestrial and sea surface temperature could be used to produce metrics for weighting future cli- data, we present a self-consistent inter-model and model– mate predictions.
    [Show full text]
  • HISTORY of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY: SERIES THREE: Part 1, Babbage
    HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: SERIES THREE: Part 1, Babbage THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Series Three: The Papers of Charles Babbage, 1791-1871 Part 1: Correspondence and Scientific Papers from the British Library, London Contents listing PUBLISHER'S NOTE BRIEF BIOGRAPHY BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY CONTENTS OF REELS LISTING BY CORRESPONDENT HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: SERIES THREE: Part 1, Babbage Publisher's Note “The idea of a digital computer is an old one. ... Babbage had all the essential ideas....” Alan Turing Alan Turing’s comment confirms the importance of Babbage to the History of Computing. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (aged 24) in 1816 - the same year in which Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was written - Babbage showed that a machine could be created which could replicate certain areas of human thought. Babbage designed first the Difference Engine (an automatic mechanical calculating machine) and then the Analytical Engine (a pioneer digital computer). His designs included a central processing unit (“the Mill”), memory (“the Store”), variables, operators and a printer to output conclusions. The design was one thing, actually constructing the machines with the available technology proved to be extremely difficult. Notwithstanding substantial grants from the Royal Society and the British Government Babbage failed to create either. That glory was left to the Swedish printer, Georg Scheutz, who won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition for constructing the Difference Engine. A close friend and collaborator in much of his work was Augusta Ada Byron, later the Countess of Lovelace, who was the only child of Lord Byron. She was confident of the importance of the machine, stating that “We may most aptly say that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.” The metaphor was appropriate, for Babbage used a card reader inspired by the punched cards used on Jacquard loom.
    [Show full text]