SCIENTISTVOLUME 28 No. 03 ◆ APRIL 2018 ◆ WWW.GEOLSOC.ORG.UK/GEOSCIENTIST GEOThe Fellowship Magazine of the Geological Society of London UK / Overseas where sold to individuals: £3.95 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @GEOSCIENTISTMAG FALLING SKYE Simon Drake and Andy Beard on discovering a Paleocene meteorite hit BUFFON THE GEOLOGIST WHY MINE GOLD? ONLINE SPECIAL Jan Zalasiewicz discovers a There must be better things IPCC reports have the new side to the great Frenchman we could be doing bloats says Jonathan Cowie GE L DATES FOR YOUR DIARY PESGB GEOLiteracy TOUR 2018 LONDON The Chicxulub Tuesday 15 May, 18.00 Cavendish Conference Centre Public event Impact £15 @Barcroft The End of an Era BIRMINGHAM With Professor Joanna Morgan Wednesday 16 May, 17.30 Lyttelton Theatre, Professor of Geophysics, The Birmingham & Midland Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Institute Imperial College London Public event Free In 1980 Luis Alvarez and his co-workers published an article asserting that a large body hit Earth ~66 million years ago and caused the most recent mass extinction, which notably included ABERDEEN AD SPACEthe dinosaurs. Thursday 17 May, 18.00 The evidence for impact was the extraterrestrial composition Aberdeen Science Centre of a thin clay layer at the boundary between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras. This became known as the “Impact hypothesis”, Public event and was categorically dismissed by many geologists at the time, £10 on the grounds that only two locations had been studied and the clay layer at these sites might be atypical or just unusual but terrestrial, and that the extinction was gradual and started NORTH WEST HIGHLANDS before the impactor hit Earth. This boundary clay has now been studied at many sites around the world and is clearly formed from impact ejecta – material from the asteroid and impact site 2-3 June that has been ejected around the globe. Studies of small fossils Field Trip in marine sediments, for which the fossil record is more reliable £45 Mem / £55 Non Mem/ due to high numbers, show that life was thriving and the oceans productive immediately before impact and collapsed precisely at £120 Family of 4 the boundary clay layer. The cause of the extinctions is still not (2 adults, 2 children <18) widely agreed, but it is fairly certain that the impact triggered a nuclear winter – an extended period (3-14 years) when the entire Earth was cold and dark, which is likely to have been catastrophic for photosynthetic life. @Barcroft It took over 10 years to find the impact site – the crater is buried Registration and beneath the surface of the Yucatán continental shelf, Mexico, and has a minimal surface expression. Geophysical methods have Crowdfunding now open at been used to image the crater and determine its size (~200 km in diameter) and structure. In 2016 we drilled into the impact crater www.pesgb.org.uk/ to investigate large crater formation, recovery of life at the impact geoliteracy-tour-2018/ site (ground zero), habitability of the crater, and improve estimates of the climatic effects of this impact. 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REGULARS Dr Colin North (Secretary, Publications) © 2018 The Geological Society 05 Welcome Ted Nield laments the ‘bread and circuses’ Dr Sheila Peacock of London approach to space science Prof Christine Peirce Geoscientist is printed on FSC® mixed Mr Nicholas Reynolds credit - Mixed source products are a 06 Society News What your Society is doing at home and Prof Nick Rogers (President blend of FSC 100%, Recycled and/or abroad, in London and the regions. This month, a focus on designate) Controlled fibre. Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council®. the Society’s policy work Dr Katherine Royse (Secretary, NLINE Professional Matters) Mr Keith Seymour (Vice 09 Soapbox Should we dig gold? John Milsom thinks we’re president, Regional Groups) wasting our time Miss Jessica Smith SPECIAL Mr John Talbot (Vice president, 20 Calendar Society activities this month Chartership) A CASE OF THE BLOATS. Dr Alexander Whittaker JONATHAN COWIE 22 B ooks and arts Six new books reviewed by Robert Anderson, Published on behalf of the Chris Hawkesworth, Jonathan Scafidi, David Vaughan, Rob Geological Society of WONDERS IF THE Bowell and Nigel Press London by FORTHCOMING 6TH SCIENTISTVOLUME 28 No. 03 ◆ APRIL 2018 ◆ WWW.GEOLSOC.ORG.UK/GEOSCIENTIST ASSESSMENT REPORT CAN 25 Letters Online CPD reporting, Protecting our data, Century One Publishing GEOThe Fellowship Magazine of the Geological Society of London UK / Overseas where sold to individuals: £3.95 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AVOID ITS PREDECESSORS’ and Scientific English Alban Row, 27–31 Verulam @GEOSCIENTISTMAG Road, St Albans, Herts, TENDENCY TO GET EVER AL3 4DG BIGGER AND MORE 26 People Geoscientists in the news and on the move T 01727 893 894 INDIGESTIBLE – AND HAS 28 O bituaries Malcolm Fletcher Howells 1934-2017 F 01727 893 895 FALLING SOME SUGGESTIONS SKYE & Alan Gilbert Smith 1937-2017 E enquiries@centuryone Simon Drake and Andy Beard on ABOUT HOW THEY MIGHT publishing.uk discovering a W www.centuryone Paleocene meteorite hit BE MADE EASIER BUFFON THE GEOLOGIST WHY MINE GOLD? ONLINE SPECIAL Jan Zalasiewicz discovers a There must be better things IPCC reports have the publishing.uk new side to the great Frenchman we could be doing bloats says Jonathan Cowie TO COMPARE. WWW.GEOLSOC.ORG.UK/GEOSCIENTIST | APRIL 2018 | 03 Petroleum Group 29th Annual Dinner Natural History Museum 21 June 2018 For further information or to book a table for this event, please contact [email protected] Corporate Call for Abstracts – Deadline: 25 May 2018 Seismic Characterisation of Supporters: Operations Geoscience Carbonate Platforms and Reservoirs Adding Value 10-11 October 2018 The Geological Society, Burlington House, London Fundamental advances in the seismic imaging and characterization of carbonate platform strata, including 7-8 November 2018 reservoir rocks, have revolutionized understanding of carbonate geomorphology, stratigraphy and reservoir The Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London architecture. This meeting aims to synthesize these innovative developments and explore the variety of carbonate Convenors: characteristics that can now be interpreted from modern and reprocessed seismic data. It will discuss and illustrate how the Richard Diggens technology can be used in exploration, development and BP – Chairman production evaluations, as well as for understanding long-term and large scale forcing of carbonate platform development. Chris Samson Independent – The focus will be on practical geoscience applications and the Secretary meeting will provide a forum for lively interaction between the upstream oil industry, seismic contractors, and carbonate Hozefa Godhrawala sedimentology researchers.