€UROCK THE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY MAINLAND EUROPE MAY 2010 BACK FROM THE OUGS AGM This concern is actually one that we discuss In April I went to the AGM and Committee within our Branch Committee along with how to meeting in Coventry, where among the other recruit new members. branch organisers I was happy to meet some In this newsletter I would also like to thank the “old acquaintances” from former memorable committee, Marion, Mike, Terry and Dave for all field trips and symposiums. I got a warm wel- the support and work they did since last January. come as the committee was pleased to see that We communicate on a regular basis via email and the European Branch is still an active branch share our ideas and comments. As it is difficult to and wants to stay one. meet most of you on trips, don’t hesitate to get in How to get in touch with people interested to join touch with us if you want to share information our Society was one of the topics that was men- about an event or about any other matter, tioned. With the demise of summer schools, it is geological matter of course! more challenging to get in touch with OU students I wish everyone a sunny summer and maybe I will and, at the same time, there might be a greater ne- meet some of you in Swansee, cessity to offer them the opportunity to join field Elisabeth d’Eyrames trips. If you would like to get in touch with the A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR committee, simply drop us a line: Dear readers, > Branch Organiser: Elisabeth d'Eyrames [email protected] in this issue of the OUGS ME newsletter, we would like to introduce two new concepts. > Treasurer: Mike Molloy [email protected] First, we would like to give each of our branch members some space to introduce her- or himself, > Newsletter Editor: Marion Seitz in our “members’corner”. Eileen and Neil Lawley [email protected] are the first to do so and we hope that in every fu- > Librarian> Terry Warrington ture issue of the newsletter, one or two further [email protected] branch members will tell us a bit about them- > Webmaster: Dave Kopsc selves. So don’t be shy, send us your introduction, [email protected] at your leisure. Your text could be like Eileen’s and Neil’s or it could be very much different. After all, our branch is a very diverse one and this IN THIS ISSUE could (or should?) show in the members’ corner. The second novelty comes under the heading of The Regen Valley and the Bayerischer Pfahl....1 “the science behind the news”. Here, we take a Introducing Neil and Eileen Lawley .................3 look - on occasion - at a major issue that has been covered in the media, if it has somehow been Ash clouds - it’s all up in the air........................4 Geology-related. Of course we don’t just want to Articles and Information from other re-tell the story but rather want to say more about branch newsletters .............................................6 the geological and scientific facts behind it. In this issue, Terry Warrington talks about the infamous The Jura weekend: archaeology and geology....7 ash cloud that has caused some trouble for a few Post-exam field trip: programme and weeks. background ........................................................9 Marion Seitz THE REGEN VALLEY AND THE BAYERISCHER PFAHL A bike trip in Bavaria / by Mike Molloy My bike trip with Christian, Sigi and Rolf this out to be a good choice. There was a festival of folk year, was somewhat shorter than usual and ear- music in Regen over the Whitsun holiday, with over lier in the year. Our route was from Bayerisch 400 folk-music groups expected from the German Eisenstein to Regensburg, some 177 km along the speaking regions, the Czech Republic and even Swe- valley of the river Regen. We met at the Munich den. The festival beer they had brewed for the occai- main station on Tuesday, 18 May, in good time to sion was excellent. take the DB regional express from Munich to On Wednesday 19th, our planned etappe was 58 km Plattling, where we changed to the local private from Regen to Chamerau, via Viechtach. The tour railway, the “Waldbahn”, to take us to Bayerisch guide-book warned us that the 30 km or so to Viech- Eisenstein. tach were going to be difficult. This could qualify as Our traditional “second breakfast” of Regensburger the understatement of the year, they were brutal, sausages, “Butter-Bretn” and beer was delayed until even if we managed them without rain gear. Rain after Freising.That didn”t help to improve the gear became necessary as we entered Viechtach, weather, although all of us had reached Munich sta- which was also the first time that we had seen the tion without rain gear, things were deteriorating visi- river since leaving Regen. After a break for lunch, bly. The weather in Central Europe during early we headed towards a large outcrop of quartzite of May, is dominated by what are known as the what is known as the Bayerischer Pfahl, which is “Eisheiligen”, these are the Saints’ days starting with one of the most significant Geotopes in Bavaria. St. Marmetus on the 11th of May and ending with St. Sophie on the 15th of May. Frost and snow are not only possible during this period, they frequently occur. This year, in Upper Bavaria, the “Eisheili- gen” manifested themselves as being wet and cold, with temperatures around 5° C. Things had not changed by Tuesday 18th, it would seem that “Cold Sophie”, as she is affectionately known, had forgot- ten to declare the freeze over. Bayerisch Eisenstein lies at some 760 m altitude in the Bavarian/Bohemian Forest, it is the border town between the Czech Republic and Germany. This is reflected by the state border dividing the railway platforms into two halves. This is no problem today, but it did create some difficulties during the Cold War when both the platforms and the waiting room The Bohemian Massif is delineated from the Saxo- were separated into two halves by iron chains, run- Thuringian and Moldanubian tectonic zones to the ning across the border-line. The station also boasts west, by 3 major, over-lapping, reverse normal two station restaurants and we retired into the Czech faults. These are the Franconian Lineament, which restaurant to discuss our options over a plate of we shall be visiting during the OUGSME 2010 Post- tastey “Gulasch and Bohemian dumplings” and a Exam Field Trip, the Bayerischer Pfahl and the glass or two of genuine Budweiser beer. In the end, Danube Fault. The faults mark the line of the suture we decided to continue the trip as planned. between the Bohemian Massif and the Saxo- Rain gear was now very necessary as were gloves Thuringian and Moldanubian tectonic zones. The and winter fleeces, but the track was good, well sign- zones were assembled in the Late Devonian to mid- posted and predominently downhill for the 30 km or Carboniferous, during Variscan orogeny. Around so to the town of Regen, where we found accom- Viechtach, the throw along the fault caused the modaion in the “Brauerei-Gasthof Falter”. It turned Moldanubian zone to be uplifted some 400 m, rela- arrived by Porsche coupé, accompanied by the tive to the Bohemian Massif. The fault was probably “Fuerstin” on her Harley-Davidson. activated more than once. Hydrothermal fluids enter- The stretch on Day 4 was deliberately kept short, ing the fault at depth caused the quartz present in some 30 km, to give us time to do some sightseeing the rocks to dissolve, as the fluids ascended, the in Regensburg before taking the train back to quartz crystalized out, filling the fault with a seam of Munich. Rolf had been nominated our guide around quartzite, up to 100 m wide and over 150 km long. Regensburg, he originates from Kehlheim not far Subsequent erosion has left the more resistant away, and knows the town well. He lead us initialy quartzite seam exposed along the fault, usually only to the “Wurstkuchl” for one of their famous apparent as a ridge of higher land, but outcrops of up “Bratwurst and Sauerkraut” “vespers”, where the to 40 m in height occur, which are a paradise for rest of the programme was fixed. rock climbers. Sir Norman Foster described Regensburg as “one of The colloquial name “Teufelsmauer” or “Devils the most beautiful cities in the world”, something Wall” seems to be more appropriate than “Bay- which the city gratefully quotes on their website. He erischer Pfahl”, as “Pfahl” is the German expression is not alone with his opinion, Regensburg was added for “post” or “stake”. The name probably originates to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in July from the Latin expression “pallidus”, which means 2006, the centre of the old town consists of around “pale” in English or “fahl” in German. 1,000 authentic and well preserved historical build- We cycled along a road some 100 m from the out- ings. crop, just as the weather reached a climax of misery. Our first visit was to the “Bishop’s Court” now an To get any closer would have required dismounting elegant hotel and restaurant, the Bishop’s Court is and pushing our bikes up a short but very sharp adjacent to St. Peter’s cathederal. The cathederal has slope to get any where close to the outcrop. We re- a long history dating back to about year 730, a fire in sisted the temptation and continued towards Cham- 1273 ncessitated rebuilding and extensive additions erau, as we still had some 30 km to cycle and we and alterations were made up to 1828 when King were not sure how difficult this stretch was going to Ludwig I decreed redecoration in Gothic style.