Pliosaurus - Geologists' Association · February 20 March 13 May 20 June 12 August 20 September 11...

| Fes

tival

of

Geo

logy

| E

nigm

as in

Him

alay

an G

eolo

gy

| A s

cept

ical

look

at

the

Din

o-B

ird

cont

rove

rsy

| Fes

tival

of

Geo

logy

| E

nigm

as in

Him

alay

an G

eolo

gy

| A s

cept

ical

look

at

the

Din

o-B

ird

cont

rove

rsy

||H

astin

gs &

Dis

triic

t G

eolo

gica

lH

astin

gs &

Dis

triic

t G

eolo

gica

lS

ocie

ty;

25th

Ann

iver

sary

| N

ew a

dvan

ces

in t

he s

tudy

of

foss

il an

imal

col

our

| W

eald

en ‘S

mok

ejac

ks’ b

rick

wor

ks (

revi

site

d)

|S

ocie

ty;

25th

Ann

iver

sary

| N

ew a

dvan

ces

in t

he s

tudy

of

foss

il an

imal

col

our

| W

eald

en ‘S

mok

ejac

ks’ b

rick

wor

ks (

revi

site

d)

|C

ente

nary

exc

ursi

on t

o R

ichm

ond

Par

k, K

ings

ton

Hill

& W

imbl

edon

Com

mon

| B

lue

Pla

que

to 1

9th

cent

ury

Sus

sex

geol

ogis

t, D

rC

ente

nary

exc

ursi

on t

o R

ichm

ond

Par

k, K

ings

ton

Hill

& W

imbl

edon

Com

mon

| B

lue

Pla

que

to 1

9th

cent

ury

Sus

sex

geol

ogis

t, D

rFr

eder

ick

Dix

on

| A n

ew in

terp

reta

tion

pane

l for

Gilb

ert’s

Pit

| T

he B

uild

ing

Sto

nes

of N

orfo

lk

| Fr

eder

ick

Dix

on

| A n

ew in

terp

reta

tion

pane

l for

Gilb

ert’s

Pit

| T

he B

uild

ing

Sto

nes

of N

orfo

lk

| P

liosa

urus

P

liosa

urus

Fac

e to

fac

e w

ith a

Face

to

face

with

aJu

rass

ic b

east

| S

trou

d M

useu

m in

the

Par

k di

spla

y &

act

ivity

pro

gram

me

| R

ockw

rite

r W

inne

r: A

boa

ttri

p to

Rob

ben

Isla

nd

|Ju

rass

ic b

east

| S

trou

d M

useu

m in

the

Par

k di

spla

y &

act

ivity

pro

gram

me

| R

ockw

rite

r W

inne

r: A

boa

ttri

p to

Rob

ben

Isla

nd

|R

ockw

rite

r W

inne

r: W

hich

cam

e fir

st, t

he a

mm

onite

or

ichn

ofos

sils

? |

A G

uide

to

the

Geo

logy

of

Isla

y |

UK

OG

L Yo

ung

Res

earc

hers

Roc

kwri

ter

Win

ner:

Whi

ch c

ame

first

, the

am

mon

ite o

r ic

hnof

ossi

ls?

| A

Gui

de t

o th

e G

eolo

gy o

f Is

lay

| U

KO

GL

Youn

g R

esea

rche

rsA

war

d: A

ge a

nd P

etro

gene

sis

of t

he L

undy

Gra

nite

|

Roc

kwat

ch N

ews

|

Aw

ard:

Age

and

Pet

roge

nesi

s of

the

Lun

dy G

rani

te

| R

ockw

atch

New

s |

01024 GA Mag Dec 2017 top Copy 01.12.2017.qxp_mag41.qxd 01/12/2017 06:55

Published by:The Geologists’ Association.

Four issues per year. ISSN 1476-7600

Production team: LIAM GALLAGHER, John Crocker,

John Cosgrove & Nikki Edwards

The Geologists’ AssociationFounded in 1858 The Geologists’ Association serves the

interests of both professional and amateur geologists, aswell as making geology available to a wider public. It is anational organisation based in London, but is representedby local and affiliated groups around the country. The GAholds monthly lecture meetings, publishes a journal and

geological guides and organises field excursions both in theUK and abroad.

Subscriptions are renewed annually on November 1.

You can join the GA on-line on our website:www.geologistsassociation.org.uk/JoiningtheGA.html

[email protected]

By phone 020 7434 9298 or by post to Sarah Stafford,Executive Secretary, The Geologists’ Association, Burlington

House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0DU.

© The Geologists’ Association.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, inany form or by any means, without the prior permission in

writing of the author and the Geologists’ Association.

LAST Copy dates for the Circular & Magazine:

December Issue: October 20

Items should be submitted as soon as possible and nottargeted on these dates. We welcome contributions fromMembers and others.

[email protected]

Magazine of theGeologists’ Association

Volume 16, No 4 December, 2017The GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION does not accept any

responsibility for views and opinions expressed by

individual authors in this magazine.

CONTENTS

3 From the President

4 Report from Council

6 GA Festival of Geology By: Diana Clements

9 Evening Lecture Abstract: January 2018: Enigmas in

Himalayan Geology By: Dr Danny Clark Lowes

9 Evening Lecture Abstract: February 2018: A

sceptical look at the Dino-Bird controversy By: Mike

Howgate

10 News item: Hastings & District Geological Society

25th Anniversary By:

13 Evening Lecture: New advances in the study of fossil

animal colour; Dr Maria McNamara, University of

Cork, By: David Brook OBE

15 Field Meeting Report: Wealden ‘Smokejacks’

brickworks (revisited) 30th July 2017, Leaders &

By: Peter Austen, Ed Jarzembowski & Terry Keenan

18 Field Meeting Report: Centenary excursion to

Richmond Park, Kingston Hill & Wimbledon Common,

May 28th, 2017, By: Diana Clements

21 Circular

25 News item: Blue Plaque to commemorate 19th

Century Sussex geologist Dr Frederick Dixon By:

David Bone

26 News item: A new interpretation panel for Gilbert’s

Pit By: Laurie Baker

27 Opinion Article: The Building Stones of Norfolk By:

Russell Yeomans

30 Obituary: Marjorie Winifred Carreck; 1928 - 2017

32 Curry Fund Grant: Pliosaurus! Face to face with a

Jurassic beast By: Deborah Hutchinson

34 Curry Fund Grant: The Watery World of the

Ichthyosaur: Stroud Museum Display & activity

programme

35 Rockwriter Winner: A boat trip to Robben Island By:

Fureya Nelson-Riggott

37 Rockwriter Winner: Which came first, the ammonite

or the ichnofossils?... By: Phillip Vixseboxse

39 Book Review: A Guide to the Geology of Islay;

David Webster, Roger Anderton & Alasdair

Skelton. By: Nick Pierpoint

40 UKOGL Young Researchers Award: Age and

Petrogenesis of the Lundy Granite. By: John-Henry

Charles, University of Oxford

37 Rockwatch News

Research Award Deadline

15 November annually

[email protected]

Cover picture: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by

Graeme Churchard (see GA Photo compettion on p.7

& 43)

Curry Fund Dates for 2018

Application deadline Committee date

February 20 March 13May 20 June 12August 20 September 11November 20 December [email protected]

2 Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 16, No.4 2017


I am writing this having just returned from a most

enjoyable, informative and very well attended few days at

the GA Annual Conference in Cardiff; even storm ‘Brian’

wanted to gate-crash the event! The theme of the

conference, Climate: past, present and future?, was

addressed through an excellent programme of lectures

describing the evidence for climate change and extreme

climate events through geological time. The final session

concluded with accounts of the changes happening to polar

ice today, and of the evidence now present in the geological

record of recent human activity – the basis for the proposed

Anthropocene Epoch. It was evidently clear from all of the

talks that the study of geology and the interpretation of past

climates and environments has a critical role to play in

understanding and planning for

future climate change. Field

trips to the Gower led by John

Hiemstra, to Fforest Fawr

UNESCO Global Geopark led by

Alan Bowring, Tony Ramsey,

Geraint Owen and Chris Byrne,

and a buildingstone walk led by

the Welsh Stone Forum, further

developed the theme of the

conference. South Wales has

some fantastic geology, a very

active GA group and at the

National Museum of Wales,

which kindly hosted the

conference, some wonderful

geological galleries and

collections. My thanks go to

everyone involved, but

especially to Rhian Kendall (South Wales GA and BGS),

Steve Howe (South Wales GA), Caroline Buttler (National

Museum of Wales), Cindy Howells (National Museum of

Wales and South Wales GA), Raymond Roberts (Natural

Resources Wales) and Richard Bevins (National Museum of

Wales) who acted as local organisers for the conference,

and of course to Sarah and Geraldine in the GA Office.

Summer is always quiet in terms of GA Council meetings

but there has still been plenty going on, especially given the

changes and challenges reported on in the September issue

of the magazine. The PGA Editors and PGA Editorial Board

have met and Malcolm Hart is now firmly in the driving seat

as the new Editor-in-Chief, but will take full control from

January 2018. If you have ideas for papers do please

contact Malcolm who I am sure will be pleased to hear from

you. In another change, I am pleased to announce that

Graham Hickman who recently joined Council has taken

over as UK Field Meeting Secretary and has already

generated a fairly advanced programme for 2018. If you

have any ideas for field visits for 2018, or further ahead,

please contact Graham.

A major challenge that emerged for the GA over the

summer was the loss of our long-standing print provider

that printed both the GA Magazine and our field guides.

Through the efforts of Liam Gallagher, Mick Oates and Sarah

Stafford we have been exploring and testing new printing

and storage options.

The GA has always had an interest in promoting and

conserving geology as a resource for people to enjoy,

whether it be for recreational, educational or research

purposes. With this in mind, we have ‘signed-up’ as a

supporter of Scotland’s Geodiversity Charter which has

recently been revised, and which will be relaunched by the

time this goes to press. We are also aware that

opportunities to get geology included in government policy

or plans are always worth pursuing, and with the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

due to launch a 25 Year

Environment Plan before the end

of this year, we are keen to see

geology and our geological

heritage recognised as important

parts of the natural environment.

The GA and the English

Geodiversity Forum have being

making this point, as have I

through my ‘day job’ at Natural

England. Let’s hope that geology

gets the recognition it deserves.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were

more politicians with a passion for

geology!

Finally, I want to finish with an

observation about the changing

world in which we all live. Even in

my few years on Council I have witnessed significant

changes that the GA has had to adapt to and which will

continue to challenge us in future. Changes in the publishing

world are perhaps the most obvious. Here, increasing costs

for printing and postage, electronic access to journals

meaning that most academics and students can now access

the PGA without joining the GA, and an increasing drive

towards free open access to published papers, all pose

questions about how we operate. At the same time, a

societal squeeze on space, especially in our cities, generates

a number of practical challenges; for example, the loss of

parking spaces at UCL for the Festival of Geology, or finding

affordable storage for our publications. Such changes mean

that many people are working very hard just to stand still,

and I want to thank everyone in local groups, in the GA

office in London, and on Council, for the work they do to

keep the GA going and in adapting to the changes that

arise. I know how much thought and work Graham Williams

(our Treasurer), Di Clements (General Secretary), and

Sarah and Geraldine put into meeting these challenges and

I am sure it’s the same for all groups. I am equally sure that

the effort is greatly appreciated by those around you. Have

an enjoyable Christmas and enjoy the anticipation of the GA

Calendar for 2018.

FROM THE PRESIDENT Dr Colin Prosser

Magazine of the Geologists’ Association Vol. 16, No.4 2017 3

Figure 1: Left to Right: Cindy Howells, CarolineButtler, the President, and Steve Howe at a

break during the proceedings in Cardiff


GA Festival time is an opportunity to catch up with oldfriends and see what local groups are achieving up and downthe country. It is also the GA’s biggest outreach event and weaim to attract non-geologists into the building. This year’sfestival had a good feel to it and certainly the participants onthe Building Stones walk around the University Collegecampus were mostly non-geologists. A big thank you to allwho helped and to those stall holders and members whoattended. Highly commended entries in the annual GA

photograph compettion are illustrated on p.7; the winningentries are shown on p.43.

The Groups Meeting the day before gives Council thechance to meet with members of our Local Groups andAffiliated Societies to exchange information and discusstopics of mutual interest. This year Chris King of the EarthScience Forum talked to us about setting-up an outreachweek during the summer. He would like groups to respond toa Survey about the best time to hold it:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SMNXSBS. Moredetails can be found in his article in the September 2017issue of the GA Magazine. Another initiative is to addupdated information on Adult Education classes across thecountry to the GA website. Paul Olver (GA MembershipSecretary) asked groups and individuals to supply him withany details in their area. WEA and U3A geology groups arepatchy and tend to be ephemeral. Any members who areaware of any geology courses, including privately-runones, please contact Paul via the GA office:[email protected]. The GA reported ona new offer from the Geological Society to Live Screen GAlectures to members. Sarah Stafford sends around areminder on email with an attached flyer before each ofour lectures and she will now send a URL to enablemembers to view the lecture live. The system canaccommodate 100 viewers at a time and there is nocharge. Members will continue to be able to view thelectures at a time of their choice via the Members’ Page onthe website. Colin Prosser welcomed our new FieldMeetings Secretary, Graham Hickman, and he ran throughthe interesting programme he has put forward for 2018 inconjunction with outgoing Field Meetings Secretary, GeoffSwann. Details are in the Circular and the dates andheadings listed on the Green Card which you should findwith this edition of the GA Magazine. Graham told groupsthat he wished to work with them in future to create morejoint meetings. He was also active at the Festival visitingstands and speaking individually to the groups. He wouldbe very pleased to hear of ideas from any of our membersat: [email protected]. It wasalso suggested that he might work on a generic RiskAssessment form that could be used by the groups fortheir events as well as for the GA events. He asked forexamples of existing Risk Assessment forms to be sent tohim. In the meantime do have a look to see what is onoffer for 2018. Also, keep your eye on the GA website forupdated details and any additions.

REPORT FROM COUNCIL By: Diana Clements

Figure 1: The Sales Team at the GA Festival, Sara Osman,Susan & Graham Williams




The GA website is soon to get a face-lift, mainly to make itcompatible with new mobile technologies. We hope that it willbe up and running before the next issue and that everythingwill work satisfactorily, do let us know if there are anyglitches. One of the updates will be a revised list of linkswhich Mick Oates, our Meetings Secretary, has been workingon. We can always add to this if you know of good sites thatyou think should be there.

This is the issue where we invite nominations for Counciland our Halstead Medal and Halstead Award. Every threeyears we also award a Stopes Memorial Medal. The awardswill be distributed at our AGM on Friday 4th May. Details formaking nominations can be found on p.29. Since theSeptember issue the GA has sent representatives to a fewspecial events. We handed out a large number of Rockwatchflyers at the Scarborough Fossil Festival in September, GAmaterial was sent to the Sidmouth Science Festival for EarthScience week and we ran a Geolab event at the NationalStone Centre, also during Earth Science Week in conjunctionwith the East Midlands Local Group. We were invited by theGeological Society to run workshops in Burlington House forOpen House Day in September. Sandy Colville-Stewarthandled the GA information desk and took bookings for MikeHowgate’s Building Stone walk from Burlington House toGreen Park tube station while I ran workshops on the fossilsof the stones of the Geological Society’s reception desk. Wemanaged to find offcuts for most of the stones and add thefew that were missing. The President talks about the recentGA Conference in Cardiff in his report and we were delightedto see so many of our members attend along with many newfaces. We do like to get out to the major events whenever wecan and are particularly interested in anything involved withOutreach. Do be sure to let us know about your events.

We all wish you best wishes for the Festive Period. It is achance to plan your trips for 2018. Do make a note of thefollowing dates in 2018: GA Student Symposium 25th May,GA Annual Conference in Birmingham 20th - 21st Octoberand GA Festival 3rd - 4th November. How about a GACalendar to assist you or to give away as Christmas presents?

All the trips and the calendars can be booked and paid foronline on the GA website: www.geologistsassociation.org.uk.

Deaths

During the past three months we have been made aware of the death of the following of members:

Veronica Atherton Anthony Booth Marjorie Carreck Michael B Collins

Chris Cornford Charles Emeleus Anthony King James Leighton

Ian Slipper

Please notify us of any members that have died that you are aware of. We are always keen for short obituaries and/or a

photograph - so if you feel you would like to write one, please get in touch with the office.

We welcome the following new members to the Geologists’ Association:

Elected October – December 2017

Ebony Acheampong Sarah Henton De Angelis Josephine Blackeby Keziah Blake-Mizen

Bonnie Bramwell Sarah Brazier Diane Burridge Isabel Carter

Simon Cuthbert Katy Findlay John Frampton Nuria Garcia

Robert Gill Simon Charles Greenbury Geralt Hughes Philip Hyde

Vivienne Kendall John Lackie Chris Little Neill Marshall

Lauren McCaughley Joe Martinez Greg Northwood Pam Pettman

Stacy Phillips Tom Raven Andrew Townley Peter Whitham

Figure 2: The Carreck Archive; now online - asdemonstrated at the GA Festival


GA Festival of Geology 2017

By: Diana Clements Photos: John Cooper

For the last two years the GA Festivalhas been split between the cloistersand a smart tent outside while buildingworks took place at University College,London. This part of the extensiveworks has now been completed and wewere re-united with the DiscoveryCentre back in the Jeremy BenthamRoom near the rest of the activities.This meant that families had to walkpast the stalls in the cloisters, givingthe Festival a much more unified feel.We were pleased to see more youngpeople in circulation.

Plaster casting was top of theactivities for Rockwatch this year. TheDiscovery Centre also hosted theimmensely popular microscopeworkshop run by Adrian Rundle andthe Kent Geology Group while DickMoody headed up activities with theDinosaur Society. It is one of the aimsof the Festival to get young peopleinvolved in geology and we do thankall those who make the DiscoveryCentre so interesting.

Downstairs the displays from ourgroups were very attractive andprovided the focus for the traditional‘reunion’ of members and friends. It isalways heartening to see so many ofour groups at the Festival and wethank them all for making the effort tobe there, some from long distances.Several traders provided temptingpurchases especially a new one, Time

Bites, selling chocolate casts of fossils.We are aware of the amount of workthat goes into setting up the stalls andwere delighted to see them all thereagain. The BGS had their usual stallselling maps and books, along withseveral other traders advertising booksand trips: Thematic Trails, NinaMorgan and Philip Powell and the IndusExperience. Dr Quartz, Dr Dinosaur,Earth’s Wonders, Richard TaylorMinerals and the Rock Gallery laid outtempting minerals and fossils forpurchase; The Bee Mine was sellingjewellery. We were pleased to see theGeological Society and the BirkbeckAlumni represented and everyone wasdelighted to see the return of theGreenough Club of UCL studentsselling their delicious cakes. TheNatural History Museum Advisory

Service was there, adjacent to ourlong-standing member, Joe Collins withhis crabs from his own and the NHMcollections. This year, Caroline Dearwith her Stonecraft was in thecloisters. Haydon Bailey brought alongthe GA School Rocks! boxes that arenow being trialled in schools and waspleased with the additional contactsthe boxes attracted. Jonathan Larwoodbrought along the GA Carreck Archiveand handed out sheets detailing howto access the archive online. There is adirect link from the GA website:https://geologistsassociation.org.uk/

archive.html. The GA stand sold alarge quantity of second-hand geologybooks donated by members and asusual sold many of our own Guides.This year the new South Devon Coastboosted sales and the 2018 calendarsold very well. Our Librarian, SaraOsman and Treasurer, GrahamWilliams with his wife, Susan ran thestall and Graham was delighted withthe takings which he says were thebest ever, a credit to them all. Thecalendar can still be purchasedthrough the GA website but is goingfast this year. Many thanks to GeraldLucy for organising it and also theattractive display of photographs fromthe photographic competition whichwere this year displayed in theHaldane Room. With the doors open atboth ends they attracted a lot moreattention than usual. The winningentries are published in this issue ofthe GA Magazine. The Haldane Roomalso hosted Pit-Stop Science run bystudents from UCL, impressing manyof our visitors.

As last year we used the largeDarwin Theatre for the talks so thateveryone could get a seat. The talksare always a big attraction and wethank our speakers: Dr. SusannahMaidment on “How to weigh adinosaur”, Professor Chris Jackson“Hot Rocks Under Our Feet: What Canwe Learn About Volcanism From X-raying Earth?, Professor Iain Stewart,“Hot Rocks: the Fall and Rise of UKGeothermal Energy” and ProfessorLidunka Vocadlo, “Core! What ascorcher! Hot and squashed in thecentre of the Earth”.


Figure 1: Dinosaur (left) & Dick Moody(right); at the Dinosaur Society stand

Figure 2: Susan Brown (left) & NikkiEdwards (right); at the Rockwatch desk


At the end of the lunch break our Presidentpresented the awards for the Photographic Competition(highly commended entries see Figures 4- 6; winningentries see p.43).

Wendy Kirk led our Building Stone walk around thecampus this year and took advantage of the completedwork in the open space to the east of the cloisters toshow us the exterior cladding in Portland StoneWhitbed with a variety of blocks, many of them veryfossiliferous. She also took us over to the CruciformBuilding on the other side of Gower Street where wewere shown the magnificent ornamental buildingstones of the VIP entrance and the tiled panelsdepicting scenes from nursery rhymes in the oldmaternity ward. On Sunday Dr Haydon Bailey led a trip

to the route of HS2 and Dr. Liam Gallagher led a trip tothe chalk of Riddlesdown Quarry (to be separatelyreported).

Car parking for stall holders is always an issue at theGA Festival. UCL has now sold their car parks so thisyear we had to splash out on spaces in a public carpark. It took a huge amount of Sarah Stafford’s time inthe office to organise and she, along with Wendy Kirkand Charlotte Pike from UCL did a splendid job on theday to make sure everyone was able to access UCL andthen find where to go. We do thank them and the othermembers of the Festival Team, Susan Brown andGeraldine Marshall for all they do to continue to makethe Festival the success it is. It is beautifully recordedby John Cooper who took the photographs. We alsothank UCL for the use of their magnificent premisesand all the stall holders who bring it all to life.

Figure 3: Colin Prosser (left) & Nick Pierpoint(right); Presidents present and future

Figure 4: Graeme Churchard - Dead Horse Point State Park,Utah

Figure 5: Mark Hanley - Stone Band surface, Kimmeridge

Figure 6: Lesley Exton - Erosion in the dolomites



GA COUNCIL December 2017OFFICERS

President: Dr Colin Prosser [email protected]

Senior Vice-President: Nicholas Pierpoint

Vice Presidents: Professor David Bridgland (Chair of Publications and Communications Committee, with responsibility for Earth Heritage)Nikki Edwards (Education matters)

Treasurer: Dr Graham Williams [email protected]

General Secretary: Diana Clements

POSTHOLDERS

Minutes Secretary: Dr Sandy Colville-Stewart

Meetings Secretary: Dr Michael Oates

Overseas Field Meetings Secretary: Dr Ian Sutton

UK Field Meetings Secretary: Graham Hickman [email protected]

GA Magazine Editor: Dr Liam Gallagher [email protected]

Secretary to Publications and Communications Committee: Professor John Cosgrove

Social Media: Dr Rebecca Bell & John Cooper

GA Archivist: Dr Jonathan Larwood

Chair Curry Fund & Awards Committee: Dr Haydon Bailey

Membership Team Chairman: Dr Paul Olver

Student Liaison: Dr Rebecca Bell

Rockwatch Chairman: Susan Brown [email protected]

Co-opted: 2018 conference: John Clatworthy

Co-opted: Guides Editor: Professor Susan Marriott

Co-opted: Awards Panel Secretary: Barbara Cumbers [email protected]

NON-COUNCIL POSTHOLDERS

Proceedings Editor: Prof. Malcolm Hart

Librarian: Sara Osman

Executive Secretary: Sarah Stafford [email protected]

ORDINARY MEMBERS OF COUNCIL

Anthony Brook, Rhian Kendall (Conference 2017), Roger Lloyd, Gerald Lucy (co-opted: photo competition & fliers), Shaun Lavis & Thomas Phillips (co-opted: student representative)Council members due to retire in May are John Cooper, Roger Lloyd & Anthony Brook. Leanne Hughes resigned earlier in the year. Colin prosser retires as President and becomes Senior Vice President. Nicholas Pierpoint, the current Senior Vice President, becomes President. David Bridgland and Nikki Edwards retire from their posts of Vice Presidents but remain as Post-holders.



Evening Lecture: Enigmas in Himalayan Geology January 5th, 2018

By: Dr Danny Clark Lowes

Evening Lecture: A sceptical look at the Dino-Bird controversy February 2nd, 2018

By: Mike Howgate

The Himalaya is thehighest and the youngestmountain range on theEarth. Around 55 millionyears ago the northwarddrifting Indian sub-continent collided withAsia and thus gave rise tothe Himalayan mountainrange. The Himalaya isstill rising and will mostprobably continue to risein the future for sometime to come, but forhow long and how high?

Four major tectoniczones can be identified,divided mainly by majorthrust planes (Figure 1):

- the sub-Himalaya along the stable foreland of theIndian plate

- the Lesser Himalaya, low-grade metamorphic rocksabove the active front of the Himalaya, the Main BoundaryThrust (MBT)

- the Greater Himalaya, the metamorphic core of theHimalaya above the Main Central Thrust (MCT) and below thelow-angle normal fault of the South Tibetan Detachment(STD)

- the Tethyan Himalaya, the unmetamorphosed upper

crust of the Indian plate,above the STD. This zonerepresents the Tethyanpassive continentalmargin of the Indianplate prior to the collisionwith Asia.

Evidence exists thatthe northerly thrustswere active before themore southerly thrustsbut how predictable isthis, and whatimplications are there forearthquake prediction? Ifthe MBT is thought to bethe origin of the 2015earthquake, what was

the role of the more southerly Main Frontal Thrust?

This mountain range experiences various types of naturalhazards including earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, debrisflows, floods etc. Its physiography, geology, and climatecontrol the type and extent of natural hazard in each climaticzone, but what can Man do to ameliorate the devastationwrought by these processes?

The Himalaya is an ideal natural laboratory that provides aunique opportunity to study both geological processes ofmountain building and natural hazards; but it is also amountain range that rarely gives up its secrets easily.

To most interested lay-people andeven most vertebratepalaeontologists the theory thatbirds arose from a group ofTheropod dinosaurs is nowregarded as an incontestable fact.However there are a handful ofdissenters from this supposedcertainty. The speaker is one.

Mike will start by outlining theposition of Archaeopteryx as thequintessential example of anintermediate between two classesof organisms - reptiles and birds,before considering the varioustheories which have been put forward to explain which groupof reptiles could best be considered the direct ancestor of theavian lineage.

We will then look at the work of Professor John Ostrom who

posited Deinonychus antirrophus,the prototype ‘Raptor’, as theputative bird-ancestor bycomparing its osteology with that ofArchaeopteryx. However, there aremany more differences thansimilarities.

The final half of the talk willconcentrate on two alleged dino-birds which featured prominently inthe recent exhibition ‘Dinosaurs ofChina’ in Nottingham.Sinosauropteryx prima, acompsognathid dinosaur which issupposed to exhibit proto-feathers

and Microraptor gui the alleged four winged flying dinosaurwhich is an archaeopterygiform bird and not a dinosaur. Amore parsimonious ancestor for the avian lineage will besuggested.




News item: News item: Hastings & District Geological Society; 25th AnniversaryHastings & District Geological Society; 25th Anniversary

By: Joyce AustenBy: Joyce Austen

Members of Hastings and District Geological Society(HDGS) came together in August at Ore Community Centreto celebrate their Silver Jubilee. Displays of rocks, minerals,crystals and fossils were set out on tables around the hall andthere was a specially designedAnniversary Cake (see Figure 1)featuring the Society’s logo.

The Chairman, Ken Brooks,opened the event with a briefhistory of the Society, which started25 years ago at the end of an adulteducation course he had tutored onlocal geology. The group hadwanted to continue their interest inthe subject, but when Kenexplained that there was nogeological society in the local area,one of the group suggested “Well,why don’t we start one!” andfollowing a meeting in Eve Weston-Lewis’ garden in June 1992, theHastings and District GeologicalSociety was founded. The originalcommittee included Gordon Elder;Secretary, John Boryer; Treasurer,and Ken as Chairman.Professor David Price, head ofGeological Sciences atUniversity College, London,agreed to become the Society’sPresident and has presented anannual lecture for the Societyalmost every year since then.The HDGS was officiallyrecognised as a geologicalsociety when it becameaffiliated to the Geologists’Association in June 1993.

Gordon established the HDGSJournal in 1993, along with anewsletter, ‘Iggy News’, foryounger members. A library ofgeological books and fieldguides was also established formembers to use, and in 2005 the HDGS website was set up(http://hastingsgeology.btck.co.uk/) providing programmedetails, field trip reports and the Society’s Journal.

As membership increased, the Society moved in stagesfrom meeting in the small conservatory at the Chairman’shouse to using the main hall of Ore Community Centre,Hastings.

The Society ran a ‘Rock Group’ from 1993 until 2001 as ajunior section for children aged from 5 to 15, with a fullprogramme of activities. There was also a newsletter called‘The Pebble’ and a special badge for junior members.

HDGS meets once a month, and over the past 25 years itsprogrammes have covered a wide range of activities. Thesehave included field trips and outings to museums andexhibitions, and a varied programme of illustrated lectures by

guest speakers and Societymembers on diverse subjects suchas: Plate Tectonics, Plant Evolution,Insects in Amber, Minerals andGemstones, Fossil Folklore, Geo-magnetic Reversal, HydrothermalVents, Devonian Fishes, SeismicSurveying, the Ice Ages,Conservation Techniques, and alsotopics of local interest: The FairlightLandslip, Wealden Dinosaurs, theNew Hastings-Bexhill Link Road andthe Reconstruction of Hastings Pier.The Society also holds occasionalMembers’ Days which provideopportunities for discussion andinterest in a variety of displays andspecimens found by members.Other events include barbecues andSummer and Christmas parties,with raffles and book sales helpingto boost Society funds.

Generous grants andbequests have enabled thepurchase of equipment toimprove facilities for lecturers -a digital projector and blackoutroller blind through grants fromthe Isabel BlackmanFoundation, and a remotemicrophone system following avery kind bequest made byNancy Wagner, who had beenan enthusiastic member of theSociety until she passed away atthe age of 106.

In 1995 Ken Brooks receivedthe Halstead Medal from theGeologists’ Association asrecognition “for work of

outstanding merit, deemed to further the objectives of theAssociation and to promote Geology”.

At the Silver Jubilee celebration in August, on behalf ofSociety members, Trevor Devon presented Ken with a silvercompass engraved “Ken Brooks – Thank you for showing usthe way these 25 years – HDGS August 2017”.

In the very first Journal it stated that HDGS was formed “inresponse to an increasing awareness and interest in ournatural surroundings.” We sincerely hope that over the next25 years the Society will continue to welcome new membersand promote the fascination and wonder of geology.

Figure 2: HDGS Founder Members; Gordon, Eve

& Ken

Figure 1: 25th Anniversary Cake



How the GA supports special meetings of our Local and Affiliated Groups

GA Council has a policy to ‘pump-prime’ initiatives for Local and Affiliated Groups; this includes advertising and may include financial support. In addition, the GA may provide support (usually advertising) for special meetings where they become annual events.

ONE-OFF SUPPORT

1. Curry Fund loanApplications for a loan, repayable over two years, from the Curry Fund are considered (see website for application form and cut-off dates).

2. GA regional meetings grant GA meetings grants are designed to encourage Local and Affiliated Groups to work together on joint events. Details are in the rules and on the website. Qualifying groups can receive a grant of up to £350. Priority goes to multi-group "regional" or "sub-regional" events, particularly those that can include the general public.

3. Advertising in the GA MagazineWe invite electronic versions of your event fliers to include in the GA Magazine (at the Editor’s discretion). If there is insufficient space, there will be a box in the Magazine with the main details and a website address for further information. Priority will be given to one-off events and is free of charge if no profit is being made. This is in addition to details supplied for the Circular where details received by the office are routinely included.

4. GA presence at eventsThe GA likes to have a presence at all your special events with a stall selling GA Guides and similar items. Guides can be couriered to your event if local GA members can set up a stall. One-off events have priority; sometimes, we can support repeat events.

ADVERTISING AVAILABLE FROM THE GA FOR ALL SPECIAL EVENTS

1. Advertising on GA WebsiteThere is a page devoted to ‘other events’ on the GA website. Details of your meeting are displayed and we welcome electronic copies of your fliers. We can create a link from the Home Page as your event date approaches.

2. Advertising in the GA Magazine Regular Circular announcement plus box ad with a website address for further information. An electronic version of your flier can be included at the Editor’s discretion (see details above).

3. Direct mailing via MailChimp Sarah Stafford sends out details of upcoming events to members and can include details of Local and Affiliated Groups’ special meetings if notified.

4. Social MediaGroups may use the GA forum to Tweet messages about Special Events. Feel free to log into the twitter page to advertise your event, write your own tweets, reply to other people and get involved in ongoing discussions. Alternatively, send details regarding upcoming events to [email protected] and they can be tweeted from the account. If your local group has its own twitter page, tweet @GeolAssoc with more information. User name: GeolAssoc, password: GATLMonkey2016.

5. Sale of tickets at GA eventsGroups are welcome to sell tickets, and distribute fliers, for their events at the Festival of Geology and at our regular monthly lectures.


The speaker was a student when the firstfeathered dinosaurs were discovered andfossil animal colour was unknown. In the last15-20 years and, particularly the last 9-10years, the preservation of fossil colour hasbeen recognised. For many years, colour wasnot thought to be preserved even in fossilisedsoft tissues, which, when preserved ascarbon, tend to be a homogeneous darkbrown to black colour. This is in markedcontrast to modern animals, in which colourhas diverse functions such as camouflage, toadvertise fitness in mating displays, and associal signals and warnings. So why is colournot preserved in fossils?

Some of the colour that is evident in fossilsis diagenetic in origin and reflects phenomena such as thepresence of different oxidation states of iron , the alignmentof clay minerals by compaction, causing them to scatterlight, or is due to trace amounts of manganese and titaniumoxides. Looking at colour in fossils, one needs to be aware oftheir diagenetic history. However, evidence of fossil colourcan be found, particularly in insects and feathers.

Colour can occur in two ways. Pigments absorb certainwavelengths; examples include melanin, which generatesred, brown or black colours in hair, skin and feathers, andcarotinoids, which produce red or yellow, particularly in birdsand arthropods. Structural colours arise through theinteraction of light with the tissue architectures.

Structural colours: These photonic nanostructures areresponsible for the brightest, purest and most intense coloursin nature, including iridescence. They are generated by thinlayers in the cuticles of arthropods and the feathers of birds.3-dimensional photonic crystals were discovered in animalsonly about ten years ago but they are now known to be quitewidespread. They are the most complex and most orderedstructures in nature.

Parker (2000) published on a fragment of beetle with layersin the outer part of the cuticle and similar chitin bundles infossil insects in the Messel Pit, Germany, at 49Ma. This fossillocality is famous because of the exquisite preservation ofsoft tissues of a diverse range of animals, including mammals(the earliest primates, horses, bats) and lots of insects.Some fossils preserve colours but are they really structuralcolours? This is a broader question that applies to manyother fossil localities; there are numerous Cenozoic fossilsites in Germany and the USA that preserve similar metalliccolours.

Use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyse thepreserved structure and chemistry of very tiny pieces (mm-size) of fossil insect cuticle showed the preservation of verythin layers in the cuticle of various Cenozoic beetles(McNamara et al., 2012). Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) was used for a higher level of detail. By analyzing80nm-thick slices of the fossil cuticles using Fourier transform

modelling the team showed that the layers atthe outer part of the cuticle were periodic andwere capable of scattering visiblewavelengths of light, as in modern animals.The colours in the fossil insects are preservedstructural colours, produced by multilayerreflectors.

In another study of 49Ma moths, the brightyellow preserved colours were shown toderive from an incredibly complex structurewith multilayer reflectors visible using SEM atthe micron scale (McNamara et al., 2011).TEM then showed that the structures wereplanar parallel to the long axis of the scales,but curved in transverse section, making thecolours visible over a wide range of angles, ie

producing diffuse light, rather than highly specular(‘metallic’) colour that flashes on and off when light hits at anarrow range of angles. These diffuse colours help toenhance camouflage at rest in foliage as well asadvertisement to potential mates when feeding on flowers.

The wavelength these structures produce now does notmatch the colours the animals would have had in life andexperiments were undertaken to simulate fossilisation in thelaboratory. Modern insects were ‘squashed’ in an autoclaveat up to 500 bar pressure and up to 270oC. Pressure andtemperature were progressively increased until the colourswere lost completely. This is because the visible colour isgoverned by the periodicity and the refractive index of thestructure, the latter relating to its chemistry. During theexperiment, the layers in the cuticle became thinner andchanged in chemistry. Comparison of different fossil faunasshowed that the Florissat and Green River fossils don’tpreserve colour because they were buried under 4km ofsediment. The fossils at Euspel, Messel and Eckfeld had nomore than 400m of cover and retained structural colour.However, even in these better-preserved cases the fossilcolour is not pristine but has blue-shifted, with jewel beetlesthat are green in nature being transformed to a blue colourin fossils.

The question then arose as to whether 3D photonic crystalscan be preserved. In a study of Pleistocene weevils fromGold Run, Canada, McNamara et al. (2014) found tiny reddishyellow scales with preserved colour. Under the electronmicroscope, these 15µm-long scales have highly orderedstructures. Mathematical modelling to determine thewavelengths produced cannot be applied to 3D structures sothe synchrotron was used to determine the degree of order.The structures have single diamond symmetry, which is alsopresent in modern insects. The ecological function of thesecrystals is believed to be for camouflage, with numerous tinycrystals producing different colours, which then mix togenerate a murky brown colour that matches the sediment inwhich the fossils were found.

Pigments: The identification of the pigment melanin in

Evening Lecture: New advances in the study of fossil animal colour October 6th, 2017

By Dr Maria McNamara, University College Cork




fossils is controversial, although numerous examples havebeen reported. Evidence of melanin can be preserved asfossilised melanosomes: microscopic sausages or footballs(0.5um – 2.0um long) in fossil hair and feathers, giving riseto black/dark brown and reddish/‘ginger’ colours respectively.These structures have been used to infer the colours ofancient feathers, eg in Sinosauropteryx, the first feathereddinosaur. This fossil has very short feathers 1cm or so long;they are not branched, and were previously interpreted asfossil collagen fragments. Electron microscope studyidentified fossil melanin, with banding in the tail reflectingoriginal presence or absence of melanin. Whether this wasthe true colour of the dinosaur is, however, unknown, asother tissue components (including other pigments) haverotted away. Because melanosomes resemble decay bacteriain size and shape, chemical techniques were used to test forthe presence of melanin in these structures. In the primitivebird Confuciusornis, copper (an element which readilychelates to melanin) is abundant in the feathers of the neck,shoulders and upper wings, but not in the wing tips. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry, an enzymatic assay technique isalso now used routinely to identify melanin in fossils.

In modern and fossil mammals and birds, melanosomes havea great variety of shapes and sizes, but have a muchnarrower range of geometries in reptiles. Diversity inmelanosome shape and size increases dramatically asdinosaurs develop feathers. Because melanin production iscontrolled by the melanocortin system, and because thelatter strongly influences physiology, including metabolicrate, the expansion in the range of melanosome geometriesin feathered dinosaurs has been postulated to reflect acoincident fundamental shift from a cold-blooded to a warm-blooded physiology.

The question then arises as to whether these melanin

structures are preserved in their original state, with theiroriginal geometries, or whether they are altered byfossilisation. Taphonomic experiments showed that at highpressure and temperature melanosomess survive but getsmaller by about 10-20%. Previous reconstructions ofdinosaur colour may not, therefore, be accurate.

Melanin, however, is only one of the many pigments thatanimals use to produce colour. Unfortunately, those otherpigments have a lower preservation potential than melanin.McNamara et al. (2016) reported on a 10Ma snake fromLibros, Spain, where the entire skin, including the uppermostlayer of the dermis, is fossilised via replication in calciumphosphate. Here, a wide range of pigment cells (iridophone,xanthophone etc) are preserved, but vary in abundance anddistribution over different parts of the body. By comparingthe fossil distributions of the pigment cells with that inmodern reptiles, the colour of the snake could bereconstructed as darker on the back and side and lighter onthe belly. This phenomenon, called countershading, functionsin camouflage. The back and sides had patches of differentcolours – bright green, yellow-green, dark brown and black –which would have also functioned in camouflage (bydisrupting the body outline) and in mating displays. Fossilspreserved as carbonaceous remains do not retain thesepigments and thus additional mineralised fossils are neededto investigate the true colours of ancient animals goingforwards.

Conclusion: The speaker concluded that fossil insects canpreserve structural colours, fossil melanin provides morethan clues to the original colour and non-melanin pigmentscan be preserved in vertebrates.

This is a new and exciting field of palaeontology.

Dr David Brook OBE

GA Centenary Dinner 1958: Marjorie& John Carreck are on Table C

See p.30


Sixteen members andguests assembled inSmokejacks car park on adry, sunny day withfleeting clouds. The steepNorth East face of thequarry (pit) had not beendug recently butweathering helped clarifythe stratigraphy here andreveal dinoturbation inthe older South East face.Fieldwork concentrated ona plant-debris bed at thetop of the North East facewhich had recentlyyielded a new, largetheropod tooth (Figure 1)to Nicola Parslow, and asmall Baryonyx claw(Figure 2) to KarenPhilbin, inspiring SamCaethoven to bake somedelicious dinosaur biscuits(Figure 4) to encourage

future research! Thebed had also yieldedsome yellow amber(Figure 3) to AlanProwse, augmentingearlier finds of reddish,o x i d i s e d‘chiltonchineite’ amber(Figure 6). On thisvisit, however, apreviously unrecordedlower plant-debris bedon the South East faceproduced a cone(Figure 7), possiblybelonging to theextinct coniferf a m i l yCheirolepidiaceaewhich may alsoinclude the ambertree. The weevilreported last yearfrom an ironstone

concretion in the lower insect beds has been identified asa new species of the Asian genus Oxycorynoides by AndreiLegalov, found elsewhere with cone-bearinggymnospermous plants. Splitting of ironstone concretionsat home by Mike Webster produced three new insectspecies including the first putative Wealden stick insect,identified by Andrei Gorochov as belonging to the

Susumaniidae (Figure 5), an extinct family that ate leaves ofCheirolepidiaceae.

Huanyu Liao and colleagues have named the new clamshrimp reported last year as Surreyestheria ockleyensis andwhile searching for more specimens in the upper insect bed,Biddy Jarzembowski found the first Wealden mayfly, animmature nymph/larva (Figure 8), confirmed by NinaSinitshenkova who has many fine examples from Asianpalaeolakes. The insect was associated with in situ horsetailsand could even have climbed up a stem to hatch.

Hopefully the pit will have been dug again by the time wereturn next year, revealing yet more finds. Our gratefulthanks to Wienerberger Ltd for allowing access and FredClouter for help with figures.

Corrigendum. The authors of last year’s associatedMagazine report (Wealden ‘Smokejacks’ brickworks;September 2016, vol.15, no.3, p.14-15) were EdJarzembowski, Peter Austen & Terry Keenan and not PeterAusten as indicated in the original submission.

Field Meeting Report: Field Meeting Report: Wealden ‘Smokejacks’ brickworks (revisited)Wealden ‘Smokejacks’ brickworks (revisited) 3030thth July 2017July 2017

Leader:Leader: Peter Austen, Ed Jarzembowski & Terry KeenanPeter Austen, Ed Jarzembowski & Terry Keenan

By: Peter Austen, Ed Jarzembowski & Terry KeenanBy: Peter Austen, Ed Jarzembowski & Terry Keenan

Figure 1: New large theropod

tooth. Length 40 mm.

Photo: Nicola Parslow

Figure 3: Yellow amber. Maximum diameter 10 mm.

Photo: Terry Keenan

Figure 2: Small Baryonyx

claw. Length 43 mm.

Photo: Karen Philbin

Figure 4: Sam’s dinosaur biscuits.

Photo: Peter Austen



Figure 5: Susumaniid forewing. Length 33 mm. Photo: Mike Webster

Figure 7: Possible cheirolepidiacean cone.

Scale in mm. Photo: Peter Austen

Figure 8: Mayfly nymph.

Length 11 mm. Photo: Peter Austen

Figure 6: Red amber. Maximum diameter of pieces 10

mm. Photo: Ed Jarzembowski



TW H A

NEHW

R EEHW

h lid @i d i k

2 1

N W5240Best Specialist Destination Operator 2012

WINNERV TRAVEL GROUP

e l i t e 88 0668 73

of itineraries, costs and how to book both these tours are available at

020 8901 7320T:[email protected]:

No. W5240A ABTA p p

Best Specialist Destination Operator 2011

T No. 78 Aravel Limited V VAours & T Travel Limited VIndus T Tours & T

Full details o




This full-day trip celebrated 100 years since the GAExcursion on 19th May 1917 which was written up in theProceedings of the Geologists’ Association. We attempted tore-enact the route as closely as possible and to deliberate onthe origin of the gravels as they did on the original trip eventhough any exposure is now much diminished. The write upwill intersperse quotes (in italics) from the original trip withcomments from the 2017 re-enactmnet. During the trip thesequotations were read out to the group at the appropriatestops.

EXCURSION TO RICHMOND PARK, KINGSTON

HILL AND WIMBLEDON COMMON

MAY 19TH, 1917.

(In conjunction with the South London Branch of

the Geographical Association)

REPORT BY C. J. G RIST, M.A., F.R.G.S.,

Director of the Excursion

The high levels of Richmond Park, Kingston Hill, and

Wimbledon Common are capped with gravel, and the purpose

of the excursion was to examine this gravel at different

places with reference to the questions of its age and origin.

The purpose ofexamining the gravelat different places isnot really achievable100 years on. The1917 Excursion wasable to visit anoperating gravelquarry on KingstonHill and temporaryexposures for militaryoperations onWimbledon Common.The quarry is now agolf course that didnot give us permissionto bring a large groupto visit at midday on a Saturday in May, and the temporaryexposures onWimbledon Commonhave long since vanished. Nevertheless we were able to seethe nature of the gravels on eroded slopes in both the Parkand the Common and address the questions of age and originin light of subsequent research.

A large party assembled at Norbiton Station (L.S .W.R.) at

2:15 p.m. and proceeded at once to the top of the slope just

within the Queen's Road entrance to Richmond Park.

The 2017 repeat began rather earlier at 10:30am fromNorbiton Station. The walk was about 12 kilometres (7.5miles) long and it is difficult to see how the original tripoperated within the shortened time although it was pointedout by one of the participants that daylight saving had justcome in and the 1917 trip may have wished to takeadvantage of it. In any case the 1917 party must have walkedfaster than us to meet their goal before nightfall.

We were also a large party with a total of 36 participantsalthough the majority of them were Friends of Richmond Parkand members of the London Natural History Society ratherthan members of the GA. In the earlier trip members of theGeologists’ Association had combined with members of theGeographical Association (South London Branch).

We made an unscheduled stop at Gallows Pond as JohnLock, who has worked in Richmond Park for many years, toldus that they had attempted to relocate the pond as it wasswamped with Crassula helmsii (New Zealand pigmyweed).The geologists amongst us were not the least bit surprisedthat the original spring had reappeared adjacent to the newpond. Unfortunately one of the naturalists in the group founda small specimen of the offending Crassula which she

carefully bagged fordustbin disposal ath o m e .

The party walked

along the edge of the

slope towards

Thatched Cottage.

Just below it, and near

the 100 ft. contour, an

exposure of the

Claygate Beds was

pointed out.

The Claygate Bedsexposure is one ofvery few that are

visible within Richmond Park. We examined the exposure andparticipants wereinvited to feel the silty

texture typical of the Claygate Beds at the top of the LondonClay. The 100 foot contour mentioned in 1917 is at a lowerlevel than predicted for the Claygate Beds and when viewedfrom above it is clear that the hummocky terrain of the slopeis the result of rotational slips. This observation does notseem to have been made in 1917.

Field Meeting Report: Field Meeting Report: Centenary excursion to Richmond Park, Centenary excursion to Richmond Park, May 20th, 2017May 20th, 2017

Kingston Hill and Wimbledon Common Kingston Hill and Wimbledon Common

Leaders: Members of the London Geodiversity Partnership in collaboration with theLeaders: Members of the London Geodiversity Partnership in collaboration with theFriends of Richmond Park and the London Natural History Society Friends of Richmond Park and the London Natural History Society

By: Diana ClementsBy: Diana Clements Photographs John LockPhotographs John Lock

Figure 1: Examining the Claygate Beds exposure


We climbed up through thehummocks to the view point wherewe discussed the overall geology ofthe area.

Among the constituents of the

gravel is a noticeable quantity of

Triassic material, brought here from

an area now outside the limits of the

Thames ·Basin. The presence of this

erratic material; quartzites, etc. in

the gravels of the Lower Thames

valley, according to the usual

explanation, is due to fluvioglacial

streams issuing from the Chalky

Boulder Clay. This explanation is set

out at length in a memoir of the

Geological Survey dealing with the

drifts of the Thames valley from the

climax of the glacial period to recent

times; and the gravel on Wimbledon

Common is mentioned by way of

illustration. The explanation should

therefore hold good for the origin of

the gravel here. It is assumed that

"the Thames Basin had been deeply

eroded before its deposition”, and

"the elevated position of the plateau

gravel is due to a subsequent rise of

the water to that level during the

glacial period"; that "the tumultuous

waters which escaped from the

edge of the ice-sheet , combined

with the streams which

flowed from the snow-clad

hills to the south,

overspread the country far

above the pre-glacial river.

En route to the view point,the exposed gully gave usour first opportunity todiscuss the nature and originof the Black Park Gravel. In1917 the above descriptionwas discussed at the quarrythat is now the golf coursebut it seems moreappropriate to make ourobservations here where wecould find and handle thepebbles. We found LowerGreensand Chert and veinquartz as described in earlierdescriptions of the BlackPark Gravel. The chertindicates an origin in theWeald to the south, whilstthe nearest vein quartz istoday within the granites ofsouthwest England,although of course, bothcould have been reworked.

The above description also mentionsTriassic Bunter pebbles althoughnone were found on this occasion.These will probably have beenbrought south from the Midlands inthe Anglian ice sheet that did notquite reach as far as south Londonbut were washed into the earlygravels as the ice melted. There isstill a debate about the origin of theBlack Park Gravel within RichmondPark but the suggestion that it issituated at the confluence of theMole-Wey rivers system from theWeald to the south with the re-routed Thames carrying materialfrom the north seems the mostplausible.

The Director, drawing attention to

the situation of the ground to be

traversed, said they were there on

the south-western corner of a

dissected plateau. That part of it,

locally known as Kingston Hill,

extended beyond the confines of the

Park through Coombe Woods to the

Beverley Brook. Beyond the

Beverley, Wimbledon Common and

Putney Heath formed a second part.

A third, and the smallest of the

three, was situated at the

Richmond end of the Park, beyond

Pen Ponds.

The contour map in the1917 write-up wasreproduced in the leafletgiven to participants andillustrates the bisectednature, particularly whencoloured. The geologyclosely follows thecontours and the entireplateau area is covered bythe Black Park Gravel.

We walked over theplateau towardsLadderstile Gate, passinga small gravel quarry atthe edge of the plateau.This was too overgrown toexamine the gravelsexcept on the eroded slopeback up to the top of theplateau. What we didobserve was a drystreamlet on the quarryfloor with its origin at thebase of the slope at thejunction of the gravel withthe Claygate Beds.Although no water was

Figure 2: Black Park Gravel at the view point

Figure 3: contour map showing the bisected plateau(PGA, 1917)




visible after a prolonged dry spell the leaders assured thegroup that the flow had been quite strong when they hadvisited during the winter.

At Ladderstile Gate we stopped to discuss the possibleorigins of the clay used for making bricks for the 8 mileperimeter wall. Although London Clay underlies much ofRichmond Park, it is not a very suitable clay for brick makingowing to the iron and gypsum content, the silty ClaygateBeds at the top are very much better but there is not muchevidence that either of these were used to any great extent.A third candidate is the Brickearth on the Richmond side andthere is evidence that there was a brickworks there datingback to the early 1600s.

On exiting the gate we crossed over Kingston Hill to the topof the Coombe Wood Golf Course. The manager had allowedus in on a previous occasion to take photographs of the smallexposures of the old quarry face. Standing at the perimeterfence we could easily see the line of trees that now markedthe top of the old quarry. We stood opposite a clearingbeneath which was the bestpotential for a temporaryexcavation. Little did werealise that it had beencleared for a purpose: thiswas a fairway! Beside itwere steps up and theclasts observed when wevisited seemed to beimbricated. The pouringrain on that occasionshowed them up nicely onthe photograph which washanded round the group.Another section waslocated close to thegrounds-staff enclosureand we showedphotographs from theretoo. Barbara Silvaexplained about the faunaassociated with the Black

Park Gravels including thefragments of skull fromSwanscombe.

After tea at the "George and

Dragon" the party set out for

Wimbledon Common. By

permission of the Club

Secretary they were able to

cross the Coombe Wood Golf

Course.

The George and Dragon stillexists but under a new name,Brook Kingston Lodge Hotel. Itis rather smart and a favouredvenue for weddings,particularly on a Saturdaylunchtime in May. We stoppedon the corner of Kingston Hilland made a nod down the hillin its direction to pay ourrespects to the earlier

excursion but instead, turned upwards for a short way andthen down to Kingston University where we ate our lunch onbenches in the sun outside the refectory before heading offfor Wimbledon Common.

By permission of the Club Secretary they were able to cross

the Coombe Wood Golf Course to get a view of the wide flat-

bottomed valley traversed by the little Beverley Brook, and to

note the contrast between the much eroded sides of the

valley and the more even slopes on the Thames side of

Richmond Park. It was hoped that an equally good view

would be had later on of the Hogg's Mill drainage area, but

meantime a threatening mist sprang up obscuring the view

and making it advisable to hurry the programme. This was to

traverse the western edge of Wimbledon Common where,

owing to trench making and other military operations,

sections were numerous.

Figure 4: The line of trees marks the top of the old gravel quarry, now withinthe Coombe Wood Golf Course: Barbara Silva explains the fauna

Figure 5: Bridge over the Beverley Brook; Paul Rainey explains the catchments andflows


There are now two adjacent golf courses in the vicinity, theone already visited is called Coombe Wood Golf Course butthe more northerly one is now Coombe Hill Golf Course. Fromthe description, this is probably the one that the 1917excursion was able to cross, despite the name. As we haveseen the more southerly one was agravel quarry at the time. Wedidn’t attempt to cross this golfcourse but we did stop on thebridge over the Beverley Brook tomake observations on the presentflow and drainage as well as thewide valley that it has cut betweenthe plateaux of Richmond Park andWimbledon Common. Happilythere was no threatening mist.

Gravel exposures on the

western edge of Wimbledon

Common

(This was to traverse the

western edge of Wimbledon

Common where, owing to trench

making and other military

operations, sections were

numerous.) It was seen that the

gravel was of the same type as on

Kingston Hill, also that what lay on

the slopes had been brought down

as a result of the wearing away of

the edges of the plateau above.

One section opened out quite

recently across a spur between

two gullies showed the gravel had

slipped and sagged down the slope

on either side.

We did not have the advantageof the military trenches and had tomake do with small exposuresbeside the path. The slope up tothe top of Wimbledon Common ismore complicated than the oneseen at Richmond Park as it starts at a lower level andcrosses over Kempton Park Gravel and deposits of ‘Head’ andother soluflucted gravels on the way up. In addition there aredefinite exposures of Bagshot Sand overlying the ClaygateBeds and underlying the Blackpark Gravel. No Bagshot Sandhas been confirmed on Richmond Park although it is possiblethat a small horizon is there. We took a diversion to look at agood Bagshot Sand exposure above the Horse Ring, close toCaesar’s Well. This had been shown to us by Una Sutcliffe onour earlier visit. She is one of the authors of the excellentbook on Wimbledon Common. She and her husband TonySutcliffe describe the geology.

In another new section where gravel was seen resting on

London Clay, the rain water percolating from above was

being thrown out as a strong spring, and thus gave an

excellent illustration of the mode of origin of the ponds met

with both in Richmond Park and here on the Common.

En route we stopped at Caesar’s Well and tasted the fresh

spring water. It is one of the few natural springs that ispossible to drink. Another is the Goodison Fountain onHampstead Heath although the water there is much moreiron-rich, coming directly form the Bagshot Sands. This onecomes from the base of the Black Park Gravel as did the

spring observed in the old quarryin Richmond Park.

The walk was brought to a close

at the Windmill, where the state of

the ground showed how narrow

the escape had been from the

downpour which threatened on the

way to the Common.

In order to reach our finaldestination of the Windmill we hadto dodge the rain of golf balls ofthe London Scottish Golf Club,rather than a downpour. Sensiblythe golfers are all required to wearred so we could see them coming.We went via Queen’s Mere to seeLondon Clay exposed at thewater’s edge and then up to theWindmill for Tea. Some membersof the group went to see round theWindmill which was open andsome to the little exhibition with asmall display about the geologybased on the geology chapter inthe Wimbledon Common Book.Many of the old GA trips end withgoing to tea but this one wasunusual in that they had tea halfway round. Personally I had tea-cakes and very good they weretoo.

For a fuller description of thegeology visit the website of theLondon Geodiversity Partnershipand find the pdf of the RichmondPark Geotrail where the

descriptions of the geology are illustrated with diagrams,mostly applicable to Wimbledon Common as well:www.londongeopartnership.org.uk/geotrails.html. One of theparticpants from the London Natural History has also writtenup the walk on her blog. There you can find more pictures ofthe excursion from a slightly different perspective:http://alisonfure.blogspot.co.uk/2017_05_21_archive.html.Thank you Alison! And thanks also to Paul Rainey, LaurieBaker, Barbara Silva, John Lock, Mick Massie, Una Sutcliffeand particularly to Alister Hayes from the Royal Parks whoseidea it was to repeat the Excursion.

References

Drakefied, T. & Sutcliffe U. (eds), 2000. WimbledonCommon and Putney Heath: A natural history. Wimbledon &Putney Conservators.

Grist, C.J., 1917. Excursion to Richmond Park, KingstonHill, and Wimbledon Common, Proceedings of the Geologists’Association 28: 98-104.

Figure 6: Bagshot Sand exposure above theHorse Ring on Wimbledon Common




oNr alurcCi

f bt jdhtil bl ilhilbhT09233 142770inete ma oftrat sehtorfet la ortlose r a youiff youTCATNO CYCNGEREME

.sginetemldieft acenadnette asufe rr oito limtt atilsh wesy ua m youtahc t etsgur diontiprcsery pn a oniontamorfin

y aa mtahtsiontidl conicade mr osielitibaisy dn a,ginook b of eim tehtenmssess akisy rn aydut s youtah teru sekae mslea P.ginokoe borfeb

ehit etoub aerusn ue b youldouhsYSLUOIRSEYRE VNKEAS T IYTEFSA

01 14 ebemceD

it Fiti ld fidd delbilaav as ictatcy connegre emn a,gn

no e ter d orn I.ginete mield f agnidnettie f adnetty aelfa soy ttilib ar ou ytecfff a aevu haoythand taginfeiry btefa s ort

o py tilitb ar your odelvov inskisre h tr e

er 012 7

ifffA Ghl tlliieh tglinly ca bsgintee mield fK Uginru d

eh t,stnaiciptrall p ay of f atefa sehterusnovro p tdekse ay ba muo Y.gintee mldeo Yd.eific spentepmiqu eytefsahe tll aicvd aeke stsu m youy,lefae stapiictra p

e hT.299 1siontlaugeedcteotr pOLT Aer as

onlebilaav aeralsiate

you if f you,ginook bneh wo terbem mr ehton a

.rbe numlaus ueh t one onhile pobmA Ge

thig reh tsevrese rA Grehtru feidv

t a,eralc deustu micefoffA Geh tmor fce

liamen aveigsginimtndas

eganad,eitm lieraytiroid pretim

-onnton

f oytisrevinU (llit Mare-oGe-occorMo (iuo

n iatepe relbisso a pro,LLU FOWNoccoro

801 2S

.encerefnsndaidl Mtse

ld ie ff orbeumnerhett bud,es

ceenrefnoC

eell si wewereH.n sin baaniov Dee taigtesvnio sl a

skocic rtinargdn antspe belli wydar

Oldn a inonaolcdeotev de billwy a

nevahtroNe h tntulaFn el GtaerGdnai manus telidSlliweh wtr nohe t

d nalnian M ontep.cle

deortse radn aiesrsierraue qitmo

e W.ionsurtnieitnaedraeh

amga mndasehe T.spepanetilo

enimaxeill wsndasl iehn t otne

k)arpoeGn iselo

notarBanibokrapoe Gse

sstsaigoloegwww.;lmhtd.liekfu/uk.gron.iotiacossastisgoloeg.wwwserisnttouSnaIdansgnieetmldiefUKs egnrraan akmic HmhaarG

e Rsehe tr undeehurco br aeuttinstocts noeod ddeivon proitamronfirou h4 2nah teor m of f msginetemldieF.ytriohtu Anoitaiv Alivie Ch tybo ftengl aiate r as asct aAe GhT.devres oberaSNOITLAUGEL REVART

ice.f of fA Geh tomr ftesuqersre ptubdeidovr p issginete mdlie forfECNARUSY INITILBIA LICLBUP

.tft li aer f of ole tb aeraer sishT.iontaty sailwa rtesraeneh tomr f youtclle coortiff le aidovrp.edistrevde aiswerht oslesn ur caetavir pially vamor nisT ROPSNATRofe btsu j ondechtiw sely bl onil weonh pileobe mhT.09233 142770

kug.ro.niotiacossastsgiloo@gegsinteemldiefdambedulhosesheTT:NEMYAPDANSGNIOOKB

phosiwerhtosslenU. rbenumtcanto cyncegremenda

nam deyllacis phybeor)6s1runderfoy lliacepse(dsoetarpeollwidevrsetsrfi,eomctrsiff omestys

bedulhossqueheC.srbeme MAGon tevig belliwofptoonegrhacurs£5atotcejub sbutserbemmncodnae mie thterreannevgibellwispitrdleifof

iblb8201SGNITEMEDELIFKUGA

ltmh.dleisfarseevo/ku.gro.notiaicssolsiat derheturforfeitbseWs.norsiuxceseaservoorfbleinspo

ns.oitaulgeel Revare Tgacka Pehto tctejbu ser aiontaodmccom agindcluin oriontaru dssthligll fA.sginete mldei f ineddluc insthlig fir a of tcepes rn isreold hLOT Aor

e dr ehtru F.tnaiciptra pehty ofitliibsonpese rh tsinamerrecovtneccidl aaons

e tcaide insaleP.ngiko boerofbesk aseael p butd,eentarua g betnnoa cicevr aor e fgnarrao teicff oA Geh tor fleibsos pey ba m it,lerlevartil a r aera youff I

e onicfff oA Gehl tl caesale psieiruqnee intou ror F.sginete mield fginruddn aer

: liamebyharaShugohr tdegesaePle.tisebwAGhethugohrtor894 924370 02neo

oniatocL.serbemmorfydarpe£5s it so cehtedtate ss

.ksaesaepl,niatreunceraouyIf.gndionnsoitcirtse revhayamsgnieete mmoS.ylraeookbdoseca plerWhe.niotiacoss A’stisglooGeo tut odeamemiler asrben numWhee.efnoitartsinidmalamronhetnpe oerasgnieetmldieFd.evieecreenbsahntemy paec

d il filthtibl

dlae Wehtp wirtishT

oaydruatSPer:edaeL

EendleaW

5 £tso cillwo bo &tsoCtsingbuild

wningevev hasilateD2yadsruhTrDr:edaeLtSgnidliuB

.yrlae N:ngikooB

nd atkejacnempiuqE

deburrevosetisndea

iozoretorPo faracadiEiblyabopr

inemaxE.ill tliacla grev odecplam elk ahChetn ousco filln wotun Rtse Wop tirty dashiT

lirpA15yadnuSanmoe YllessuRr:edaeLklofroN–notnu RtseW

.noserper p01£:stoC.sra cetaivprd erahs byll beiwn iotatrposnart

dn aonitaodmomccatghinreovn w orihetngkio boro fiblesnpose rbe

ill wsendeettA:rtopsnra T&noitadommoccA.yunda Shen tomuesum

niotcleloCshect Eehtd n aya BegidremimKotitis vd an aegnaawS innnen PoimS

mor flkatginnev eydarutaS aell bi werheT.kcberuPf oles Ihetf oyglootnoealand pa

yglooe gsuoecaterCrew lond aicssaruJruppehe tn osuco fillwniosurcx eyda-ow tishT

hcarM 4aydnuS&3aydruatSnne Pnomi S:readeL

noitecllo Ceschte EhTdn aearakecbruPfoe lse Ih tf osueocatrer CewoL:pir tdnkeeeW

8201SGNITEMEDELIFKUGA

h) utomstroPeav Drossefor Pd an)leavrT

aogeSdemamh MosreadeL)2019

ofstesertnig nirtesgiertub(of M osthgilhgi HlacigoloeG

SGNITEEMDLIE FSAERSVEO

nocl nnuaaA Ghe tingwlloofWhetnd uorasaer ao tipsrt

nd aett ao teciho c abeillwslinaif beo tilltsev hasilateD

rebot Oc21yadnuSA Gmahgnimri BretfaspirT

he T.ndlang Etsae-huto sf oylaCn en isit pgkinro wehtf one oot belil w

yluJdbt-yadnuSr okiswobmezar Jd& EnestuArete

noisrucxE

.l alro5 ft sonev ehcaetruonass ii th:gniko

.nndood in Lesusenotneref dif ffhe ttakingoloill be wlkk wa

shittd bueslinaif beo tilltsevenuJ21

LUClalddi ShtuRrnodnLo-k laWsenot

restige rsodetmiileby masrembu N.raewtoo fetiarporppa

isv-hit had,rah aevhatus muoY:t.sne

l iaclaG/cissair Thend tas,cstialconaclo, vtsnemid seci

-oeNeh tyudtill s we wtbusilssoynad inl fil we wtahtiblesspom

enuJ12–5 Gdanlteh Seh tgnihsilbatseorrjoamdeayl peva hhtob(o Rd anresarFnell AsredaeLels IdanltehSeh tf oyy ogoloeG

.eitbsen w oilsat deeeS2018 lirpA10–1

.tasoCerhiksroYeh totideu gA Gdetda upylwne

ehh tit wdeiincocotisipr tshi tf on oitneinthett bud,eslinaif beo tilltsev hasilateD

rebmetpe SdbtaydnuS/atStaso CerihksroY

.yella vy drahintiwslehowlloaw sinemaxendd a bemaert shet

ecar totd n asenotnsesra S,sneotsinguddPn,iigro in inera mbeod teterpreintyltenecrstisoep delvar gnguiigrint

emo s;einmaxeill wsnrethil Chetotipr tshiTyluJ14 aydruatS

tnioprei PkciNr:edaeLdn Enetto Pd andetsmahkreB

pir tdlei FlaitnediserP

.emithe ttasniotndio cff c oegantadvakeatots ao sretad lemirfno ceill b wnueev

d e indeyle unliks it I.erhisretseice L inyrrquakingroill wHn odra Bhetitisll viwipr tshiT

enuJ17yadnuSyelai Beidd E:readLe

tsero FdoonwrahC–noisnetExyrrau Qlli Hndora Bhe tfoygoloeGeTh

. ylra estretenir uor ytesig resoipr tyrrquahetrofpleo pe0 1rbem nuxaM:ngikooB

.sndipeMhe tinsetil saicglooegreht of oleupoc a bydewlloof,yrrqua

kingro webmolcaHhe t,ernteCenciecsoeGtesremo Shetitisll viip wrk teedwi mshiT

dbtMaykeewdiMnosnibo Rguo D:readLe

.spidn Med antisiVyraru QebmoclaH

.e)encotesilP(de Bertawhesr FerppUe hd tnaarudomarpa

,spey ttlin f,fee rengpo ssuoecater Chet

dnalina MhtuoS ofstnemidesd Denaskcorciphromate mhet

allie w W.dnalina Mlartne Cff Co aichpormaet mehtginservartehtno An.sia benostndaSd eRovnaionevD a of f aseruospo exta doleh wA.lexpmoCc iontluPn iseirrau qsall ews ainaitr Bin

he tf oesurpox estbehe ttsiviaggeortSe h t of f tceneidv eees nI.nd)asl istegra ls’dnlateh(S

spbellis wy dagniniamerehTccirginhsu cre orenivrd-esorh

utn ce.th02d n a.th9 1ethmofrorh cdeondnabatisivosl alliwar gr etlaadn asetaremlogcon

e sppan-retin,sock rerbmachaelntad metepldeudelnc illiwoiphnd Oalteh Shetfs otcspea we wereh wr alte Fdn atsnUof

sp belliwysa deerh ttsri frOu


Upper Dalradian phyllites, meta-volcanics, a massive sulphide deposit and Viking soapstone quarries. Sedimentary basin deposits include desert dune, alluvial fan, river and lake sediments with fish fossils. Generally there will be evidence of glacial activity and rapid sea level rise including St. Ninian’s Isle sand tombolo. Members of this field trip will need to make their own arrangements to get to Lerwick in Shetland for the start of the trip on June 5. You may wish to travel by overnight ferry in which case you will be met off the ferry on the morning of June 5. Those of you who decide to fly will need to arrive in Lerwick on June 4. We will be able to make arrangements for your overnight accommodation on the night of 4 June for which there will be an extra charge. The Trip will finish after breakfast on June 12. Cost and Booking: Twin /Double £675 Single £785 These fees include 3 nights half board accommodation at the Saxa Vord resort at Haroldswick, Unst and four nights B&B accommodation at the Scalloway Hotel, 7 miles from Lerwick in Scalloway village. Also included are the services of Allen and Robina, transport by minibus, inter island ferry charges and entrance fees to Unst Heritage Centre. Please note that the number of places for this trip is strictly limited, particularly single rooms in Mainland. Booking form available on website or contact Sarah GA LOCAL GROUPS (LG) & AFFILIATED SOCIETIES

Amateur Geological Society http://amgeosoc.wordpress.com [email protected] December 12 Why Planet Earth is Habitable – Dr Philip von Strandmann. Association of Welsh RIGS Groups www.wcva.org.uk/members-partners/nvo- search/detail?id=906675 Avon RIGS http://avonrigsoutcrop.blogspot.co.uk/ Bath Geological Society www.bathgeolsoc.org.uk September 7 Mountains in the Sea Prof Tony Watts. Belfast Geologists’ Society www.belfastgeologists.org.uk Black Country Geological Society www.bcgs.info Brighton & Hove Geological Society www.bhgs.org Bristol Naturalists’ Society www.bristolnats.org.uk British Micromount Society http://britishmicromountsociety.homestead.com Bucks Earth Heritage Group www.bucksgeology.org.uk Cambridgeshire Geological Society www.cambsgeology.org Carn Brea Mining Society www.carnreaminingsociety.org.uk December 12 Members’ Medley, led by Vice Chairman. Cheltenham Mineral and Geological Society http://cmgs.yolasite.com/society.php Cumberland Geological Society www.cumberland-geolsoc.org.uk Cymdeithas Daeaeregwyr Grwp De Cymru: South Wales Geologists’ Association (LG) www.swga.org.uk December 16 New findings on the Pleistocene glacial history of Wales and neighbouring areas - Dr Philip Hughes January 13 Holiday Geology January 27 Escuminac, Quebec - Revisited: a

fishy tale - Prof. Brian Williams February 17 Dinosaur embryos - Dr John Nudds March 6 Volcanoes in Iceland - Dr Ian Skilling March 24 AGM and Presidential Address - Extending a Pembrokeshire based Litho-stratigraphy for the Lower Devonian across the whole Anglo-Welsh Province - Dr John Davies Cymdeithas Y Daeaereg Gogledd Cymru: North Wales Group Geologists’ Association (LG) www.ampyx.org.uk/cdgc/cdgc.html Devonshire Association (Geology Section) www.devonassoc.org.uk Dinosaur Society www.dinosaursociety.com Dorset Group (LG) www.dorsetgeologistsassociation.com December 9 Christmas Workshop Broadmayne Village Hall 10.00am to 4.00pm any geological interests very welcome or come along and see what other members do January 13 AGM Broadmayne Village Hall 2.00 AGM 3.15 tea and cake 3.30 South Wales John Scott & North Wales Doreen Smith Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society [email protected] Earth Science Teachers’ Association www.esta-uk.net East Herts Geology Club www.ehgc.org.uk East Midlands Geological Society www.emgs.org.uk Edinburgh Geological Society www.edinburghgeolsoc.org January 10 Sirius Minerals and Polyhalite – the future fertilizer – Asher Haynes. January 24 The use of short-wave infrared hyperspectral reflectance in mineral exploration – Dr Jonathan Cloutier. February 7 Predicting strain and fracture in a fold-thrust belt, NW Scotland – Hannah Watkins. February 21 Cracked and full of sand: insights into the development of fractured basement reservoirs west of Shetland – Prof Bob Holdsworth. March 7 Fsoil in criminal investigations: investigation and evaluation in current and cold cases - Prof Lorna Dawson. Essex Rock and Mineral Society (LG) http://www.erms.org/ December 12 The Bytham River Story – Prof Jim Rose. December 21 Mining in Finland: Gold, Chromium, Diamonds and Zinc - Andrew Dobrzanski February 17 Essex Gem and Mineral Show (see Special Events) Farnham Geological Society (LG) www.farnhamgeosoc.org.uk December 8 Critical Metal Mineral Deposits in South West England - Humphrey Knight Friends of the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge www.sedgwickmuseum.org/activities/ friends.html Geolancashire (LG) www.geolancashire.org.uk January 26 AGM and Pds/members evening February (tbc) Burnley coalfield -Tony France March (tbc) N.W. Highlands Geopark - Leslie Collins April 27 Late Jurassic Lagoonal Limestones of Solnhofen, Bavaria - Dr Chris Duffin Geological Society of Glasgow www.geologyglasgow.org.uk Geological Society of Norfolk www.norfolkgeology.co.uk Harrow & Hillingdon Geological Society (LG) www.hhgs.org.uk December 13 Building Stones Practical – Tony Grindrod January 10 Dinosaurs, monsters and myths: The challenges and opportunities of

communicating Earth science – Sarah Day. February 14 Australia-SE Asia collision, the Wallace Line and Wallacea – Prof Robert Hall. March 14 Volcanoes past present and future – Prof David Pyle. Hastings & District Geological Society www.hastingsgeology.btck.co.uk December 10 Annual General Meeting & Christmas Party Hertfordshire Geological Society (LG) www.hertsgeolsoc.ology.org.uk December 14 Trilobites and how they lived - Prof Richard Fortey. Limited places - this will be a ticket-only event. Horsham Geological Field Club www.hgfc.org.uk January 10 The mountains of Majorca - Anthony Brook & Roger Cordiner February 14 (tbc) Professor Graziella Branduardi Raymont, Mullard Space Science Laboratory March.14 The geology and scenery of Italy - Dr Lidia Lonergan April 11 Lapis lazuli - Chris Duffin. Huddersfield Geology Group www.huddersfieldgeology.org.uk Hull Geological Society www.hullgeolsoc.org.uk The Jurassic Coast www.jurassiccoast.com Kent Geologists’ Group of the Geologists’ Association (LG) www.kgg.org.uk December 19 Christmas evening and quiz. January 16 The Stones of Pahranagat Valley and other geological hoaxes – Dr Geoff Turner. The Kirkaldy Society - Alumni of Queen Mary (LG) Contact Mike Howgate 020 8882 2606 or email [email protected] April 6 Annual Dinner London June 16 - 17 Field Trip to the Ipswich area. Leaders Bob Markham and Mike Howgate. Leeds Geological Association www.leedsga.org.uk Leicester Literary & Philosophical Society (Geology) www.charnia.org.uk December 13 Christmas meeting. January 10 Mineral exploration in Zambia – Dr David Holwell. January 22 Tectonic evolution of Earth – Prof John Dewey. January 24 Hydrodynamics of fossil fishes – Dr Tom Fletcher. February 7 Members evening. February 21 Mineralization in the Cheshire Basin – Dr Geoff Warrington. Liverpool Geological Society www.liverpoolgeologicalsociety.org.uk Manchester Geological Association December 9 Some Aspects of Planetary Geology in the Solar System - Prof David Rothery, Dr Rhian Jones, Dr Susanne Schenzer. January 13 Flying Fossils - Dr Stephen Brusatte Dr Mark Wilton, Elizabeth Martin. February 7 Annual General Meeting and President's talk, Aspects of North Island Geology www.mangeolassoc.org.uk Medway Fossil and Mineral Society www.mfms.org.uk Mid Wales Geology Club www.midwalesgeology.org.uk Midweek Geology Club http://mwggyorkshire.webspace.virginmedia.com Milton Keynes Geological Society http://mkgeosoc.org/ Mineralogical Society www.minersoc.org Mole Valley Geological Society (LG) www.mvgs.org.uk



December 14 Members’ evening of mini lectures, mulled wine & mince pies. January 11 How did plesiosaurs view the world? With comments on Polyptychodon- Dr Roger Benson February 8 A Quaternary mega-flood in the English Channel: The UK's first BREXIT - Dr Jenny Collier March 8 Venus unveiled - Dr Philippa Mason Newbury Geological Study Group www.ngsg.org.uk Norfolk Mineral & Lapidary Society norfolkminandlapsoc.homestead.com Norfolk Geodiversity Forum www.norfolkbiodiversity.org North Eastern Geological Society www.negs.org North Staffordshire Group of the Geologists Association (LG) December 7 Christmas Social with talk - Eileen Fraser January 11 The great 1815 eruption of Tambora and future risks from large-scale volcanism - Dr Ralf Gertisser February 22The origins and evolution of the River Trent during the Quaternary: new insights - Prof David Bridgland www.esci.keele.ac.uk/nsgga Open University Geological Society www.ougs.org Oxford Clay Working Group Email: [email protected] Oxford Geology Group (LG) www.ogg.uk.com Oxfordshire Geology Trust www.oxfordshiregeologytrust.org.uk. Plymouth Mineral & Mining Club www.denul.net/pmmc/ Reading Geological Society (LG) www.readinggeology.org.uk December 4 The Cretaceous world: chalk seas in a Greenhouse world - Prof Andrew Gale January 8 AGM and Members Evening Social Evening, AGM and member's presentation: Roger Lloyd – GA Field meeting in China February 5 Permian mass extinction - Prof Michael Benton March 5 Presidential Address: Fogo, Cape Verde Islands - Prof Peter Worsley

Royal Geological Society of Cornwall Kowethas Riel Dororiethel Kernow-Royal Geological Society of Cornwall 1814 www.geologycornwall.com The Russell Society www.russellsoc.org Shropshire Geological Society www.shropshiregeology.org.uk Sidcup Lapidary and Mineral Society www.sidcuplapminsoc.org.uk Southampton Mineral and Fossil Society www.sotonminfoss.org.uk Stamford and District Geological Society www.stamfordgeolsoc.org.uk Teme Valley Geological Society www.geo-village.eu Tertiary Research Group www.trg.org Ussher Society www.ussher.org.uk Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group www.wgcg.co.uk elsh Stone Forum www.museumwales.ac.uk/geology/welshstoneforum/about-the-welsh-stone-forum/ Westmorland Geological Society www.westmorlandgeolsoc.co.uk West of England Group of the Geologists’ Association (LG) www.wega.org.uk December 12 Neoproterozoic marine environments and chemical sediment diagenesis - Dr Norman Moles January 9 Bristol Graduate Student talks February 13 Martian Seismology - Dr Nick Teanby March 13 The Geology of the Kingdom of Bhutan - Dr Daniel Clark-Lowes West Sussex Geological Society (LG) www.wsgs.org.uk December 15 Members Xmas meeting. January 19 Great Western Geology – John Lonergan February 16 AGM. March 16 Middle Jurassic Ammonites – Bob Chandler. The Woolhope, Hereford www.woolhopeclub.org.uk Yorkshire Geological Society www.yorksgeolsoc.org.uk

SPECIAL EVENTS

Essex Rock and Mineral Society February 17 Essex Gem and Mineral Show http://www.erms.org/ [email protected]

May 4 -6 Lyme Regis Festival www.fossilfestival.co.uk

May 25 Geologists Association Student Symposium (GASS) [email protected] www.geologistsassociation.org.uk

October 6-14 Earth Science Week www.geolsoc.org.uk

October 20-21 GA Conference Lapworth Museum Birmingham [email protected]

November 3 Festival of Geology UCL www.geologistsassociation.org.uk

November 4 Festival of Geology Trips www.geologistsassociation.org.uk


(£1849 for 1750 at 32 pages)

J (£1165 for 1650)

£4992

A

£4289

A

/ half page

£ / quarter page

Local Groups & Affiliates – quarter basic price. Others – full price.

GA MAGAZINE ADVERTISING CHARGES

Whole page ! page " page To advertise meetings Local Groups & Affiliates £0 £0 £0 Others £75 £40 £25 To advertise goods (for “sales / profit”) Local Groups & Affiliates £40 £20 £10 Others £150 £80 £40

(£1849 for 1750 at 32 pages)

J (£1165 for 1650)

£4992

A

£4289

A

/ half page

£ / quarter page

GA MAGAZINE ADVERTISING CHARGES

Whole page ! "

£0 £0 £0 £75 £40 £25

£40 £20 £10 £150 £80 £40


News item: News item: Blue Plaque to commemorate 19th Century Sussex geologist, Blue Plaque to commemorate 19th Century Sussex geologist,

Dr Frederick DixonDr Frederick Dixon

By: David BoneBy: David Bone

On 22nd June 2017, aBlue Plaque was unveiledin Worthing, WestSussex, to commemorateDr Frederick Dixon (1799– 1849), a surgeon andphysician with a keeninterest in geology andarchaeology (Figures 1 &2). Dixon was born in thesmall South Downsparish of Sullington,north of Worthing.Thanks to a familyinheritance, he waseducated at Eton beforebeing apprenticed to theleading surgeon of the

day, Sir Astley Cooper, at Guy’s Hospital. In 1821, he becamea Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

Dixon married in 1825 and moved into a newly-built houseat No. 3 Union Place, Worthing, which (at the time) had fineviews over open ground and rooftops towards the sea. In the1830s and 1840s, it became one of the social centres ofWorthing, particularly for musicalsoirees, as Dixon was proficient onthe pianoforte. In 1829, it wasdecided at a Public Meeting, that aDispensary should be established inthe town, housed in a disusedbuilding, and Dixon became the ChiefSurgeon. This was so successful thatnew premises were built in 1846 toprovide basic medical treatment tothe people of Worthing.

Throughout this time, Dixon waspursuing his lifelong interest ingeology and was elected a Fellow ofthe Geological Society in 1840. Hewas sponsored by the eminentgeologists, Roderick Murchison,Charles Lyell and Gideon Mantell. Healso became a close friend of RichardOwen. Dixon made a substantialcollection of Sussex fossils, some ofwhich were engraved in the 40 platesused to illustrate his posthumouslypublished book ‘The Geology andFossils of the Tertiary and CretaceousFormations of Sussex’. The platesillustrate a large variety of fossilsfrom the Chalk of the South Downsand coast, the Bracklesham ‘Beds’ ofBracklesham Bay and the LondonClay of Bognor Regis (an exampleplate is reproduced as Figure 3). The

book is usuallyknown by theabbreviated titleof the secondedition ‘TheGeology ofSussex’ (Dixonand Jones, 1878),which wasreprinted withadditional text aswell as including aselection of platesof Chalk fossilsreproduced fromMantell’s ‘Fossilsof the SouthDowns’ (1822).Both editions arecollectors’ items and are key works on the geology and thehistory of geology of Sussex.

Dixon was also an antiquarian and a founding member ofthe Sussex Archaeological Society, established in Lewes in1846. He was active in organising and chairing meetings and

published three short papers in earlyvolumes of the SussexArchaeological Collections. Hisinterest in such matters is alsoreflected in diversions from geologyinto archaeology in the ‘Geology ofSussex’.

Dixon died in 1849 at the early ageof 50 years from a fatal water-bornedisease. He was buried in the familytomb in Sullington churchyard. TheBlue Plaque was arranged by theWorthing Society and is mounted onthe wall of his former home, ElmLawn House in Union Place,Worthing. The property now formspart of Amelia Court Complex,retirement homes by McCarthy andStone, who also hosted the unveilingby His Worship the Mayor, CouncillorAlex Harman, and reception. Around40 invited guests includedrepresentation by the geologicalcommunity in the form of the WestSussex Geological Society, namelyTony Brook, Steve Flitton and Davidand Anne Bone.

Biographical details for this articlewere sourced from The WorthingSociety Heritage Leaflet on DrFrederick Dixon, produced toaccompany the plaque.

Figure 1: Dr FrederickDixon. This is the only knownimage of the Sussex geologist

Figure 2: Blue Plaque to DrFrederick Dixon, 1799 – 1849, at

Union Place, Worthing. Photo: AnneBone

Figure 3: Example plate from ‘TheGeology of Sussex’ (Dixon, 1850) showing

fossil molluscs from the Eocene ofBracklesham.



Gilbert’s Pit is in Maryon Park, Charlton in southeastLondon. It displayed the full succession from the top of theChalk through the Thanet Formation and the variableLambeth Group to the Blackheath pebble beds. The quarryinginterest up to the 1930s was Chalk for lime and Thanet Sandfor the foundries in Woolwich Arsenal and making glass

bottles. It is an SSSI because it has one of the mostcomplete sections through the Lower Tertiaries and isparticularly important for the Woolwich Beds.

Last year steps were built to allow geologists, localgroups, schools and universities to get close to the typesection (see description of visit in the GA Magazine forDecember 2016), Engineering geologists could look andfeel the very varied beds of the Woolwich Formationthat pose many problems for tunnelling all over London.

This year, the London Geodiversity Partnershipdesigned an information panel to interpret thespectacular cliff on the south face as a complement tothe steps. This face reveals a section from the ThanetSand through the Upnor, Reading and WoolwichFormations of the Lambeth Group up to the Blackheathpebble bed. The Curry Fund allowed the Partnership topurchase the panel by kindly giving the funding. InAugust, once it had arrived from Shrewsbury, it wasinstalled by the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It gives adescription that can be used by geologists and non-

geologists, children and adults. The Friends of Maryon andMaryon Wilson Parks have remarked on what a good additionthe panel is to understanding the local area.

News item: News item: A new interpretation panel for Gilbert’s PitA new interpretation panel for Gilbert’s Pit

By: Laurie Baker,By: Laurie Baker, London Geodiversity PartnershipLondon Geodiversity Partnership

Figure 1: The finished panel on 24th August

Figure 2: The panel and face behind



Opinion Article: Opinion Article: The The Building Stones of NorfolkBuilding Stones of Norfolk

By: Russell YeomansBy: Russell Yeomans


“But” you say. “Norfolk does not have

building stone, nor any hills!” Or does it?

Carrstone; is still quarried at Snettisham,West Norfolk. It is a reddish, ferruginous-sandstone conglomerate and can be seen in situ

at the base of Hunstanton cliffs. The HillingtonPark main gatehouse, built between 1824 and1830 by W.J. Donthorne (Figure 1), used smalluneven blocks or ‘sipps’ of carrstone setbetween freestone quoins. The carrstone is toocoarse to be dressed for finer work. Gardenwalls built of rough carrstone lumps may befound in Cromer. Victorian houses inSheringham use carrstone sipps as decorativemasonry between brick quoins.

Totternhoe Stone; derives its name from theTotternhoe Chalk quarry in Bedfordshire but isalso quarried in Norfolk at Hillington. It is agritty calcarenite, with shelly debris andphosphatic nodules, from the Lower Chalk(Cenomanian) and is the only chalk durableenough for building but it needs constant repair.Totternhoe stone is not suited to fine work.

Rough blocks are used for agricultural buildings in Norfolk(Figure 2) where it is just called chalk.

On the Holkham Estate, West Norfolk an early 19th centurychalk garden wall was being rebuilt (Figure 3). Ivy haddislodged the brick capping allowing rain to wash away thechalk causing the eventual collapse. New chalk blocks hadcome from Hillington and lime putty was being used as thecement.

Flint; must be the best known building stone of Norfolk witharchetypal brick and flint cottages throughout the coastalareas. The beach cobbles will not form corners so red bricksare used to return vernacular cottage walls and for that samereason many Norfolk Churches have round towers. For a

more decorative effect flint nodules may be knapped. Whenthe mortar between is filled with flint flakes it is calledgalleting (Figure 4). A cottage’s front wall may be justgalleted with flakes set at an angle to shed the rain. A timeconsuming process designed to impress. Terraced cottages inSheringham display every style of decorative flint dressing onthe front walls but rough cobbles to side and rear.

Inland, just north of Norwich, the ‘flat’ topography takes onthe rolling character of a Chalk landscape. The building flintswould have been quarried locally and appear white as thecortex has not been removed by wave action(undecorticated). At Spixworth a barn wall (Figure 5) consistsmainly of type ’A’ flint nodules, their elongate shape wouldreadily key into mortar.

Norwich has the finest examples of knapped flint in

Figure 1: on the A148 the deep red carrstone panels of The

Hillington Park gatehouse glow in spring sunshine. Estate cottages

and the boundary wall in the same stone make Hillington quite

stunning.

Figure 3: Compare furrowed surface of old chalk on

right to fresh blocks on left

Figure 2: Barn wall of irregular chalk blocks,

occasional flints and red brick corners near Burnham

Market, West Norfolk


England. The Guildhall’s Eastern wall c. 1407 has a wonderfulfreestone and flint chequer pattern (Figure 6). Facing MarketSquare the flints on the south wall are accurately knappedwith barely a hint of mortar visible between the blocks(Figure 7). A west tower was added c.1435 using roundknapped flints with galleting. Nearby The Bridewell Museumhas one of the earliest and finest examples of secular East

Anglian flint-work, the north wall c. 1325 showing ‘bullseye’knapping on occasional blocks. On both of these building theflint is uniform in colour and would have been quarried fromonly one seam of Flint just as Neolithic miners extracted onlythe floor-stone at Grimes Graves for their flint tools.

From thefinest buildingsand roundt o w e r e dChurches toterraced housesand rustic barns,Norfolk uses itsC r e t a c e o u sstone to presenta diverse andc h a r m i n glandscape.

Figure 4: knapped flint nodules with galleting at St.

Margaret’s Church, Thorpe Market, built c. 1796 by

Harbord, Lord Suffield as part of The Gunton Estate

Figure 6: Norwich Guildhall. Note how the pattern

goes amiss over the left Gothic window

Figure 7: knapped flint blocks approximately 75mm square in Norwich Guildhall south wall

Figure 5: type ’A’ flints at Spixworth see

http://www.flint-paramoudra.com/flint-nodules.html



Prizes & Council Nominations

Nominations are invited from Members for the following:

Halstead MedalThe Halstead Medal awarded for outstanding merit, deemed to further the objectives of the

Association and to promote geology. Open to Members and non-Members.

Halstead AwardThe Halstead Award is an award designed to recognise an individual who has made a substantial

contribution in any area of geology at an early stage in their career. Open to Members and non-

Members.

Henry Stopes Memorial Medal (awarded once in every three years)The Henry Stopes Memorial Medal is awarded for work on the Prehistory of Hominins and their

geological environment. The medallist will be invited to deliver a lecture to the Association on his

or her work or on some aspects of the subject.

The award is open to Members and non-Members and can be awarded to one person, or two

persons jointly.

New Recruits for Council Nominations for new Council Members to be elected in May at the AGM are now being sought.

Nominations must be supported by at least three members of not less than one year’s standing,

and accompanied by a brief statement on the nominee and by the nominee’s written consent.

Council members due to retire in May are John Cooper, Roger Lloyd and Anthony Brook. Leanne

Hughes resigned earlier in the year. Colin prosser retires as President and becomes Senior Vice

President. Nicholas Pierpoint, the current SVP, becomes President. David Bridgland and Nikki

Edwards retire from their posts of Vice Presidents but remain as Post-holders.

Nominations for the Halstead Medal, Halstead Award, Stopes Medal

and for new Council Members must reach the General Secretary by 15th January 2018

Please email (or send by post) your nominations to the General Secretary

c/o Sarah Stafford at the GA office: [email protected]




Marjorie Winifred Carreck1928 - 2017Marjorie Winifred Carreck was born in New Cross, South

London. She went to Aylwin School, Bermondsey, SouthLondon, but at the outbreak of the Second World War, wasevacuated, initially to Worthing, West Sussex, and thenafter the fall of France, to Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.When the war started, her cousin Vera and family hadmoved from London to an ancient cottage at Forder,Dartington, Devon. Thereafter Marjorie spent her summersin South Devon. These holidays encouraged her love for thecountryside and the natural world. Marjorie was lucky to beevacuated, because the family home was totally destroyedby a V1 flying bomb towards the end of the war.

After leaving school, Marjorie trained to be a schoolteacher at Furzedown College, Streatham. Initially, shetaught biology and later taught “O” and “A” Level geography and geology. Her first post was at Downham School,Bromley, where she found herself to be the youngest member of the teaching staff by some thirty years. After a numberof years she returned to her old school Aylwin which was changing from a grammar school to a comprehensive school.

Marjorie was an enthusiastic teacher, and a keen and knowledgeable naturalist, being extremely good at identifyingBritish wild flowers, trees and bird song. She joined the London Natural History Society where she became involved inbotanical surveys of derelict bomb sites and became their Field Meetings Secretary. She first met John Carreck when heled a field meeting to a South London gravel pit. John was curator in the newly formed Geology Department at QueenMary College, University of London. They were married in 1954 and settled in Bromley, Kent. In 1957, they moved to anewly built house in Chislehurst, which they named “Old Stones” after the home of the geologist and archaeologistBenjamin Harrison of Ightham, Kent, having befriended his son and biographer Sir Edward Harrison. Whilst atChislehurst, their daughter Eleanor was born in 1960, followed by their son Norman in 1964.

Marjorie and John both joined the Geologists Association. John led many field meetings, and in 1955 Marjorie took onthe role of archivist in succession to Miss Mary Johnston. Between 1910 and 1955, Miss Johnston had assembled anumber of albums of photographs and other material and ephemera, in some cases dating back to the 1870s. Some wereher own photos of GA field meetings, principally of people, but notable were the albums of Thomas Reader, alsodocumenting GA field meetings, but consisting of photographs of sections and localities. Marjorie immediately recognisedthe historical value of the collection, as the images contained many notable geologists, and even by the 1950s many ofthese geological sites were being lost to urban development, industrial scale quarrying and then landfill sites.

With the encouragement of the GA Council, Marjorie began a new album, and cajoled photographers to contribute theirimages. She regularly attended the GA Annual Reunions with the archives, for many years held at Chelsea College, andthen University College, London. I have strong childhood memories of these Chelsea reunions, camping out under thetables containing the photo archives... In more recent years with displays of the images she travelled to the Festivals ofGeology in Liverpool and Brighton. Marjorie managed to obtain a complete set of signatures of the Association’sPresidents. She was made an Honorary Member of the GA in 2006, and Marjorie and John were, as far as I know, theonly husband and wife team to both win the Foulerton Award for “services to geology”.

For many years, the growing GA collection lived in suitcases in Marjorie’s bedroom. In 2010 she handed over thecollection to Jonathan Larwood. Now known as “The Geologists’ Association Carreck Archive” the collection is nowprofessionally conserved in climate controlled conditions at the British Geological Survey in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire.This unrivalled collection of photographs is being digitised to make the images more widely available on the internet, andthis would have greatly pleased her.

Marjorie encouraged John with his collections of phonographs, gramophones, railway relics and Victoriana. In 1982,both John and Marjorie were offered early retirement. They decided to move to New Hall, Small Dole, in West Sussex,as it provided a suitable setting for John’s many collections. Ironically the house was close to the former HenfieldBrickworks where John had excavated Iguanadon remains for the Natural History Museum in the 1960s, and the Hortonclay pit with its important Lower Gault and Folkestone Beds sequence (both now landfilled). John and Marjorie hosted anumber of field meetings and GA visits to the locality, finishing with tea at New Hall.

Marjorie became Curator of Henfield Museum after the death of John in 1990. She supervised the storage of the entirecollection while Henfield Village Hall was rebuilt.


The new building provided much larger museumpremises, and she planned and laid out the exhibits intheir present home. She also steered the museumthrough the complex process of accreditation as a“Registered Museum”. In 2002, she and her colleagueAlan Barwick wrote “Henfield, a Sussex Village”, forPhillimore and Co. which was reprinted in paperback in2011. Many of the illustrations came from the museum’scollection which had been donated by Marjorie Baker, anoted local photographer whom Marjorie persuaded todonate her photographs to the Museum. The gift of thiscollection led to the follow up book “Henfield through thelens of Marjorie Baker” (2007).

As a botanist, Marjorie became fascinated bylichenologist William Borrer, who had lived briefly at NewHall. He was the first person to realise that lichens couldbe used as monitors of air pollution in the early 19thcentury. Marjorie initiated the “blue plaque” tocommemorate Borrer at his birthplace Potwell, Henfield.She also organised a “Borrer Day” in Henfield with a talkby Prof. Mark Seaward from Bradford University who wasfascinated to discover a rare species of lichen growing onBorrer’s gravestone in St Peter’s churchyard. She also

battled with West Sussex County Council to ensure that their workmen desisted from regularly mowing the rare wildflowers that exist on the road verge the “Borrer bank” south of the village which had originally been within Borrer’s finegarden.

After John’s death, Marjorie was determined to visit someof the places that she had never visited, many of themgeological locations, including Orkney and the ShetlandIslands and Iceland.

Marjorie had a very full and happy life. She was one of life’soptimists; undoubtedly her glass was always more than half full.She was reluctant to believe ill of anybody. Intensely practical,she had little interest in clothes or her appearance, and hatedwaste of any kind. She was also remarkably kind and touchedmany people’s lives during her 89 years.

Norman Carreck




Curry Fund Grant: Curry Fund Grant: PliosaurusPliosaurus ! Face to face with a Jurassic beast ! Face to face with a Jurassic beast

By: Deborah HutchinsonBy: Deborah Hutchinson, Geology Curator, Bristol Museum, Geology Curator, Bristol Museum

Susan Brown writes: The following reports from Bristol and

Stroud Museums show how their recent Curry Fund grants

have been used to good effect. The Pliosaurus exhibition at

Bristol is open until 18th February 2018 and you may be

interested to know that the star of the exhibition Pliosaurus

carpenteri was named after Simon Carpenter, a long time GA

member.

Bristol Museums’ geology collection is home to some veryspecial fossils. One of which, the near-complete typespecimen of the marine reptile Pliosaurus carpenteri, is ondisplay for the first time as the star of a family-focusedtemporary exhibition Pliosaurus! Face to face with a Jurassicbeast. The exhibition runs from 17th June 2017 to 18thFebruary 2018 at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Devised andproduced in-house, it explores the life of this pliosaur througha life sized reconstruction – affectionately known as Doris –and the beautifully mounted fossil itself.

Discovery and preparation

The fossil was discovered in 1994 by the Frome basedcollector Simon Carpenter in the Blue Circle Cement quarry atWestbury, Wiltshire. On realising that this find might besomething big and special, Simon contacted Bristol Museumand the University of Bristol who put together a team tocarefully excavate the material over that hot summer. The

partially disarticulated fossils werediscovered in a calcareous mud matrix in theKimmeridge Clay Formation. Fossils wereexposed on site by removing the mainoverburden of matrix, then protected withplaster jackets and encased in wooden cratesfor safe removal from the quarry back to themuseum with the full support of the quarryowners.

Then the long and challenging job ofpreparing the fossils began. This wasprimarily done by Bristol Museum’s geologyconservator Roger Vaughan, who spent thenext ten years painstakingly removing,cleaning and reassembling the material inthe museum laboratory revealing a relativelycomplete, if very crushed and sheared fossilwith unique features leading to it beingdescribed as the holotype and currently onlyknown example of Pliosaurus carpenteri -after finder Simon Carpenter (Benson et.al.2013). There were more exciting discoveriesto be made in the many pathologies that arepreserved providing a glimpse into the life ofa Jurassic predator (Sassoon et.al. 2012).

Back to Life

Such an important and beautiful fossildeserves to have its own exhibition. Sovisitors to Bristol Museum & Art Gallery arenow being transported back 150 millionyears, to the Jurassic seas of the Bristol area

to meet Doris and experience her Jurassic world.

Doris the Pliosaurus

Upon entering the exhibition you are transported back tothe Jurassic and immediately come face to face with all 8.4 mof Doris. She has been constructed by the Bath based modelmaker Tone Hitchcock and includes a number of features thathelp bring Doris to life. She has been painted with acountershading colour scheme as a top Jurassic predator andis covered in life scars such as rake marks and cephalopodsucker scars. If you pause and listen you will hear her slow,reptile heartbeat. She has a bionic eye that tracks you whenyou get up close and personal and also has bad breath froma piece of dinosaur flesh stuck in her teeth. If you look closelyinto her mouth you will also see red swelling on outside rightgum of her jaw and a sore looking infection in the roof of hermouth, but don’t get too close or she might rumble at you!Doris also has an open wound with pus oozing out on her leftback flipper. All of these pathologies are directly evidencedfrom the fossil. Doris is swimming underwater in a Jurassicsea surrounded by shoals of belemnites, swimmingichthyosaurs and watery noises.

The mounted fossil

Once you leave Doris and the Jurassic you are brought backto present day Bristol to explore the evidence behind her and

Figure 1: Conservation of Doris in progress


encounter the real fossil. Centre stage is the fossil of P.

carpenteri, mounted by specialist Natural Scienceconservator Nigel Larkin in his Shropshire workshop. Some ofthe costs of mounting the fossil were generously met by agrant from the Curry Fund to Bristol Museums DevelopmentTrust, for which we are very grateful. Eighty seven individualfossil elements were mounted on a bespoke metal andPerspex frame designed by Bristol Museum in-house designerSimon Fenn. The morphology represented in the mountincludes the skull and jaw, a shoulder girdle and flipper, ribsand the gastralia and many vertebrae. Much of the back partof the fossil was not recovered from the original excavation.As the specimen is partially complete, the mount is designedto reflect the body shape of the missing elements of thepliosaur.

CT scanning and 3D printing

The fossil was CT scanned at the Royal Veterinary Collegeto enable the team to correctly place the individual fossilelements. This also enabled the 3D printing of the skull (workdone by ThinkSee3D) as the real skull is too fragile andfragmentary to be mounted for such a long exhibition. Theprinted skull and eighteen replica cast teeth were art-workedby Nigel to be populated into the skull to reflect the fossilteeth in the jaw – giving her a Jurassic grin.

‘Super Skills’

The main mounted fossil is surrounded by highly engaginginteractives and fossilmaterial that explore thevarious aspects of Doris’life and Jurassic world.This is facilitatedthrough a series of‘Super Skills’ thatvisitors collect on their‘Pliosaurus Passport’ asthey explore this sectionof the exhibition. Hereyou can explore howBristol scientists arebeginning to understandcolour in the fossilrecord, investigate thevarious pathologiespreserved on the fossilor dress up as apliosaur’s favourite food!The exhibition is hugelyenhanced by a dedicatedteam of volunteers whohelp interpret thedisplays and engagewith visitors, explainingDoris’ story and answerquestions from our newpliosaur experts.

Bristol Museums’geology collections are‘designated’ as ofi n t e r n a t i o n a lsignificance for theirhistoric and scientificvalue. This exhibitioncelebrates one of the

newest major acquisitions into our collections. As well asproviding a wonderful learning experience and raising theprofile of geology in the wider Bristol community, it will leaveus with a legacy of the fossil mount, model and learningabout family engagement that will be incorporated into futurepermanent displays.

We are grateful to our other funders who helped support thisexhibition, The Palaeontologists Association, the Friends ofBristol Museums, Galleries and Archives, Bristol MuseumsDevelopment Trust, The Royal Collage of Pathologists and ourExhibition Sponsor Clifton High School.

References

Benson, R.B., Evans, M., Smith, A.S., Sassoon, J., Moore-Faye, S., Ketchum, H.F. and Forrest, R., 2013. A giantpliosaurid skull from the Late Jurassic of England. Plos One,8(5), p.e65989.

Sassoon, J., Noè, L.F. and Benton, M.J., 2012. Cranialanatomy, taxonomic implications and palaeopathology of anUpper Jurassic pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) fromWestbury, Wiltshire, UK. Palaeontology, 55(4), pp.743-773.

Figure 2: A close encounter with Doris




Following cleaning andconservation of our JuvenileIchthyosaur specimen in2016, the Museum soughtfunding from the Curry Fundof the Geologists Associationto create a temporary displaywith that specimen as themain feature accompanied byother fossil material. Theintention was to create afossilised reproduction of theunderwater world theIchthyosaur would haveinhabited. The display andinterpretation was enhancedby exquisite artworkproduced by an emerginglocal artist who studiedVertebrate Palaeontology atuniversity. She created anunderwater scene withIchthyosaurs feeding as abackground for the display aswell as two side panels whichshowed illustrations of thetypes of flora and fauna thatco-existed with theIchthyosaur in the Early Jurassic period. The total visitors tothe museum during the time the display was open were over7000 and although it is not possible to know exactly how

many of them actively engaged with the display, it wassituated on a main thoroughfare through the Museum and soall will have seen it.

During the May half-term holidaythe Museum also hosted an ‘Ask theGeologist’ session. Members of thepublic were invited to bring their findsalong for identification, and theMuseum also took the opportunity tobring artefacts from the reservecollections out of storage for visitorsto get up close to. Over 70 peopleattended this session.

In addition, the Museum devisedand delivered a very popular creativearts project which ran for 4 days ofthe school holiday which was basedon the Ichthyosaur and the Jurassicworld in which it lived. Childrencreated underwater dioramas of theWatery World of the Ichthyosaurusing the fossils and informationprovided in the display to inspire theirown creativity See Figure 1). Over160 children took part in theworkshop over the course of the fourdays, accompanied by a range offamily members.

Curry Fund Grant: Curry Fund Grant: The Watery World of the Ichthyosaur;The Watery World of the Ichthyosaur;

Stroud Museum in the Park display and activity programmeStroud Museum in the Park display and activity programme

By: Alexia ClarkBy: Alexia Clark

Figure 1: A seies of watery worlds

Figure 2: Intense study at Stroud


Susan Brown writes: Occasionally, our numerical scoring

system for our annual competition means that we have two

entries with identical scores and that happened this year with

the Rock Writer entries. The Rock Writer section is for

youngsters between 16 and 18 years of age. So, although we

normally award one winner to this section of the competition,

this year we have two and part of their prize is that their

entries are published in the

GA Magazine. I hope you

enjoy reading the entries

by Fureya Nelson Riggott

and Philip Vixseboxse.

The rumble of theengine, the sea spray anda general murmur ofconversation havecombined with the gentlescudding bounce of thecatamaran cutting throughthe waves to lull us into acomplacent daze, lookingback at the V&AWaterfront, Cape Town’ssky scrapers which cannow be seen to be huddled to the lower ground, and themountains dominating the horizon. From this angle, TableMountain is a giant,unnaturally flat slabbracketed by the peaks ofDevil’s Peak and Lion’s Head.Suddenly everyone fallssilent as a woman with anAustralian accent shouts “Ohmy God!” at the top of hervoice. In unison about half ofthe people on the boat reply“What?” and I’m imaginingthat there’s been acatastrophe like someonefalling overboard. She pointsand replies, “look, there’s amassive whale”, causingeveryone to jump up anddive across the boat to watchthis dinosaur-scale beast surface, blow out a fountain ofwater, and dive down again, smacking the waves with itscolossal tail as it disappears.

I’d decided on the journey to Cape Town that a flight toSouth Africa from Europe should be compulsory for anyonestudying A-level Geography, as I looked down at the featuresfrom my textbook brought to life on the ground below, thejagged tops of mountains, dense jungles, river valleys withtheir borders of verdant green meandering through thesurrounding baked land. Can anything convey the scale of the

Sahara better than the fact that it takes hours to fly over it,even at around 575mph? The variations even in thisinhospitable landscape, the snaking courses of drywaterways, isolated airstrips, mysterious black circles that Idiscovered afterwards were irrigated fields1; the varyingreds, browns and golden hues of the sand and stone below,made me yearn to be down on the ground having a closer

look at the rocks andtopography.

This boat trip gives a similaropportunity to survey thegeological big picture withoutanything much getting in theway. From out here, it’s easyto imagine the eroding wavescrashing against the face ofTable Mountain, creating thisgiant cliff2, but I find it harderto visualise it as the base of adelta3 with towering peakspossibly five times as high toeither side4.

Table Mountain’s sandstoneformed from silt and mud,deposited by rivers flowing

from within the continent, heated and compressed by theconvergence of what is now South America with Africa and

later scoured flat by ice. Itssibling mountains, from thedays of Pangaea, can be foundin Argentina, Australia andAntarctica5.

The granite beneath theTable Mountain andMalmesbury strata resistedfolding and instead upliftedthe land above. Some of themagma which flowed up intothe cracks and fissured therock became the stripy granitewe’d seen at Sea Point the daybefore, interspersed withjagged layers of upended rockwhich had we had clamberedover looking for starfish and

anemones in the many pools. The bands of sedimentaryMalmesbury Group rock are of varying thicknesses, folded tothe point that it’s almost impossible to imagine they wereever horizontal6.

Having seen Lion’s Head from Sea Point, looking now fromthe boat it’s easy to fill in the eroded sections in my mind’seye to see how the sandstone of the Table Mountain grouphad been laid down in a continuous line before the peak atthe end was lifted by the granite intrusion beneath. This isone of the oldest mountains in the world, six times the age of

Figure 2: The Limestone Quarry where NelsonMandela and other prisoners worked

Figure 1: Sparks, our guide at Robben Island, withinthe prison compound

Rockstar 2017 Competition, Rockwriter Winner: A boat trip to Robben Island Rockstar 2017 Competition, Rockwriter Winner: A boat trip to Robben Island

By: Fureya Nelson-RiggottBy: Fureya Nelson-Riggott




the Himalayas – it’s nowonder its jagged edgeshave been worn down. Acouple of days before wewere up on the top ofTable Mountain, whenthe sun was super-brightand temperatures wereinto the high 20s or early30s; it was a massivestretch of theimagination to pictureglaciers compressing thesediments. The steepsides of the mountainwere further illustratedby the many switch-backs of the zig-zag paths as we looked down over the edge.

A map of South Africa’s mining areas7 shows anembarrassment of rich ores and minerals, from mundane coalto its precious relative, diamond, and the gold or platinum inwhich it could be set by a jeweller. More hazardous but stilluseful are asbestos and uranium, as well as copper, iron,manganese and chromium. I wanted to find out why therewere so many different minerals in this area but according toall the sources I checked with the aid of Google, it’ssomething that that hasn’t yet been ascertained.

By comparison with the mainland, Robben Island’sgeological map8 looks a lot less exciting to someone whowants to extract precious ores, but it has also been exploitedfor its geology. Its first limestone quarry traces its historyback to 1652; the Jan Van Riebeeck quarry is the source ofthe limestone used to build the Castle of Good Hope in CapeTown. The tip of a submerged mountain, Robben Island waspreviously connected to the mainland until the ice meltaround 12000 years ago meant that sea levels rose highenough to cut it off. Its isolated location six miles away fromthe nearest point on the mainland (Bloubergstrand) meantthat it was used as a prison for 400 years, as well as housinglepers, people with mental illnesses and as a military outpost.It was also used at one point as a staging point for sailorswho needed to take on water and fresh supplies and leavecargo and post to be carried to the mainland, to save thepotentially hazardous and time consuming journey into port.

The island is low-lying, its highest point being Minto Hill at24m above sea level. A cross-section geological map showsthe thin layer of quaternary dunes barely visible above theMalmesbury shale9. On driving into the former prison, thestark, bare compounds inhabited by the prisoners contrastvividly with the riot of colourful fynbos flowers and vegetationthat we saw on the mainland. Our guide, Sparks, who wasimprisoned here in the days of Apartheid, addresses us in hisbooming voice and vividly conveys the hardships of thosethat lived here on restricted rations, in rooms with nowindows through the harsh winds of winter, with inadequatesanitation and arbitrary punishments graded on the racialbackground of the prisoner.

It was here that I learnt of Nelson Mandela’s enforced hardlabour in a limestone quarry. The gleaming white of the stoneunder the full sun damaged the workers’ eyesight and thedust damaged their lungs. Sadly the quarrying wasn’t evenuseful – it was just to keep the prisoners occupied andexhausted to break their spirit. However, Mandela and his

comrades did use the time constructively and the limestonequarry became an informal classroom where they could shareknowledge – prisoners acquired books smuggled in and hadto read them, digest the contents and then teach theircomrades while they were working in the quarry10. I don’tknow if they learnt any geology but it would have beenappropriate!

The island tour is winding up now. We pass a ponderoustortoise on a side road and look at the older buildings on theisland. Around the shoreline, penguins and seals inhabit thesame twisted Malmesbury shales that we saw at Sea Point,and despite the sunshine, I shiver as I imagine how theprisoners over the years looked across at the peaks on themainland and longed to be there and not in this windsweptplace. However, it’s heartening to know that it’s become aplace of healing, with the former political prisoners housed onthe island giving tours to visitors from all over the world. Ourguide assures us it’s the safest place in South Africa and sayshe never has to lock his door at night!

My last glimpse of the island and the mountain came a fewdays later when our plane took off from Cape Town to take usto Gaborone for the next leg of our trip… another fascinatingflight over red sands, mountains and plains, metal roofsmaking this arid land sparkle as if it’s been sprinkled withglitter11.

1 https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=57868

2 http://www.capetown.at/heritage/history/prehistory_geo

_geol_art.htm

3 http://www.tablemountain.net/blog/entry/what-is-table-mountain-made-of

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Mountain_Sandstone

_(Geological_Formation)

5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Fold_Belt

6 http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2008/11/

capetonian-geology-the-seapoint-contact/

7 http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/image.php?id=65-254-103

8 http://www.mappery.com/Robben-Island-Geological-Map

9 https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2KT2K_robben-island?guid=6f260bb2-16a9-40db-a884-069c57a3e7af

10 https://www.prismdecision.com/nelson-mandelas -inspiring-limestone-quarry-classroom/

11 http://www.geoscience.org.za/images/Maps/

rsageology.gif

Figure 3: Hand drawn geological cross section of the Table Mountain area


The Speeton Clay Formation is an exceptionally interestingfossil-bearing deposit. It represents a near-continuousmarine succession from the Berriasian to the Albian stage,and contains many species that are found nowhere else in theUK. It is also very important from a climatological standpoint,as it records the migration of Tethyanand Boreal species, probably due tochanges in sea temperature,throughout this period. On the twelfthof August 2017, I stumbled across alarge concretion containing a planispiralammonite of a scale I had never seenbefore in the Speeton Clay. Because theconcretion was ex situ, I had no ideawhere in the succession the ammonitewas from; in this article, I aim todetermine the origin of the ammonite,and how it became associated with thefauna in the block.

Speeton, a coastal localityimmediately north of FlamboroughHead, in Yorkshire, was studiedextensively by G.W. Lamplughthroughout the late 19th century. In1889, he proposed that the Speetonsection could be subdivided into a seriesof beds (A-F) according to distinctfaunal and lithological characteristics(Lamplugh, 1889). Whilst the F bedsare now known to be a part of theunderlying Kimmeridge Clay, the other bed names are stillused by geologists today. The cliffs at Speeton are quitecontorted and slipped – it took him several years tounderstand the geology, as fresh exposures were required tounderstand the succession.

Throughout the Early Cretaceous, the fauna of the SpeetonClay Formation varied substantially. In the upper Berriasian,Valanginian, and basal Hauterivian when the D beds werebeing deposited, the Boreal North Sea’s temperature wasfluctuating, with sea temperatures plummeting in the MiddleValanginian. This can be determined using the diversitytrends of Cytherelloidea (Wilkinson et al., 2007), a genus ofostracod only found in modern seas of a temperature above10˚C, as a proxy for determining when the sea temperaturerose or fell. Hence, during the colder period when the D bedswere deposited, Boreal species predominated, such asAcroteuthis subquadratus, until the Mid-Hauterivian Regale

Zone, when the sea temperature rose (McArthur et al.,2004). This is thought to have caused the first phase ofdiversification of Cytherelloidea (Wilkinson et al., 2007), andcoincided with the domination of the beds by Tethyan genera,including Hibolites. This is also when the first examples ofAegocrioceratid ammonites are seen in the Speeton ClayFormation (Rawson, 1975). The sea then returned to basal-Hauterivian temperatures, which persisted until a substantial

increase in temperature throughout the Barremian (McArthuret al., 2004). Here we begin to see the re-domination ofBoreal genera in the B beds, including Oxyteuthis andAulacoteuthis. It is also around this time that Crioceras

species diversity begin to decrease – only two species arerecorded from above the C beds; C.

strombecki and C? fissicostatum

(Danford, 1906). Finally, in the A beds,we begin to see Tethyan generapredominating once more – rostra ofNeohibolites ewaldi are common in theLower A beds; however a significantreduction in sea temperatures in theLower Albian (as evidenced by asubstantial reduction in species diversityof Cytherelloidea (Wilkinson et al.,2007)), may have temporarily resultedin the area suffering a considerable lossin biodiversity – fossils are exceptionallyrare for several beds (LA3vi-LA3i)following a hiatus in deposition betweenLA5 and LA3 (Mitchell et al., 1999).

So, we begin to develop a picture ofthe ecosystem of Speeton throughoutthe Early Cretaceous – an areainhabited by alternating Boreal andTethyan species in a volatile period oftemperature fluctuation. Specimens ofbivalve-bored wood and dinosaur bonesindicate that the Speeton locality was

not far from land at the time, and large ammonites andbelemnites inhabited the sea; vertebrates, including fish,plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs preyed on these cephalopods(and each other). During the more hospitable periods,solitary corals, bivalves and brachiopods anchoredthemselves to the substrate with asteroids and echinoidspatrolling the sea floor (Mitchell et al., 1999).

The ammonite in question was found in an ex situ

concretion on the beach at Speeton. It is a large specimen,measuring 29 centimetres in diameter – this is unusuallylarge for a planispiral ammonite from the Speeton Clay; couldthis potentially be a macroconch? It also bears hollow spineson both the inner and outer-facing sides of the whorl. Theammonite is associated with many other fossils: anarticulated Oxytoma bivalve is laid atop the ammonite, thereare several belemnites in the concretion, including onepropped against the side of the ammonite. There are alsoserpulid worm tubes and disarticulated, large, thin-shelledbivalves in the matrix, as well as two other ammonites, oneof which is phosphatised, and a carapace of an arthropod,potentially Meyeria ornata. The underside of the block isheavily bioturbated with large-diameter burrows, andnumerous high-density patches of Chondrites are alsoobserved.

The abundant ichnofossils in the block are key to helping us

Rockstar 2017 Competition, Rockwriter Winner: Rockstar 2017 Competition, Rockwriter Winner:

Which came first, the ammonite or the ichnofossils?- Attempting to unravel the originWhich came first, the ammonite or the ichnofossils?- Attempting to unravel the origin

of a large ammonite-bearing concretionof a large ammonite-bearing concretion

By: Phillip VixseboxseBy: Phillip Vixseboxse

Figure 1: Philip Vixseboxse with theammonite



understand this ecosystem - the base of the block (which wasidentified using Chondrites as a way up structure) is intenselyburrowed by large-diameter unbranching burrows. These arelikely to be of the genus Planolites (Underwood et al., 1999),a large shallow-burrowing deposit feeder (a fodinichnianichnofossil). As the sediment begins to build up, thebioturbated layer becomes increasingly anoxic, creatingconditions ideal for Chondrites – anoxic conditions are moresuitable for smaller organisms, due to their higher surfacearea to volume ratio (Tyson et al., 1991). Another thing ofnote is that certain Chondrites appear to follow the wall of thelarger Planolites(?) burrows. This is well-documented in otherhorizons, and is due to the fodinichnian nature of Chondrites;it is thought that the organismscavenges mucus from the walls ofthe ichnofossil, exhibiting eitherchemotactic or thigmotacticbehaviour (Uchman et al., 1999).Many of these ichnofossils are atypicalof what is expected from Chondrites,as they rarely branch and usuallyfollow the interface between thePlanolites(?) and the surroundingmatrix.

The association between theichnofossils in the block and theammonite is not necessarily obvious –the question remains “What camefirst, the ammonite or theichnofossils?” On the one hand, the ammonite may simplyhave been deposited in an area that was experiencing highrates of bioturbation; such bioturbated facies may extendthroughout the entire bed in the Speeton Clay. Alternatively,this high prevalence of bioturbation associated with anammonite may be due to the organisms congregating inareas where the decay products of the ammonite leached intothe surrounding sediments. This, however, is somewhatunlikely, as most organic matter would have decayed prior toshell settling on the sea floor, following the ‘nautilus model’.

The concretion is of the approximate dimensions: 15centimetres in thickness at its thickest point, and 48centimetres across its longest point. It is lenticular in crosssection and displays a degree of septarianism, with severalvertical calcite-infilled cracks. These do not reach the surfaceof the concretion, but it is likely that these continuethroughout the interior. The matrix is a light green-greycoloured limestone, which is abundantly bioturbated. Theinfill of the large burrows (Planolites?) is a darker blue-greylimestone, containing abundant sub-millimetre angularphosphate grains; these are assumed to be a product ofreworked phosphate nodules. Larger angular phosphaticclasts in the concretion further support this hypothesis. Theinfill of the Chondrites is similar to the matrix of theconcretion, however it is less resistant to erosion.

I believe that bed D6H, commonly referred to as ‘The StoneBand’, is the horizon from which the concretion is derived.Firstly, there are few limestone nodule-bearing horizons inthe Speeton Clay, as most nodules are primarily phosphatic.Secondly, the dimensions conform to those discussed by J.W.Neale – he describes bed D6H as being “a layer of hard, palelimestone lenticles, usually between 2 and 3 feet long andabout 6 inches thick” (Neale, 1962). Moreover, the LyndenEmery collection records a specimen of Oxytoma, a bivalveassociated with the ammonite, from bed D6H

(http://www.hullgeolsoc.co.uk/lyn2d.htm). Given that theOxytoma is articulated and unweathered on the freshly-exposed sections of shell, we can assume that this was in lifeposition; it is possible the vacant ammonite shell was actingas a reef. In addition, the association with other fossils,including disarticulated bivalves, belemnite rostra and smallsections of serpulid worm is indicative of subsequentwinnowing of the sediment, which would allow the ammoniteto act as a reef.

To conclude, I hypothesise that the ammonite died duringthe Berriasian, settled to the bottom, and was infilled bysediment. The phragmocone was filled with phosphate,preventing it from being crushed under the weight of the

sediment. Animals, such as bivalves andserpulid worms continued to live on thesea floor, being buried over time by thecontinuous shower of sediment. Asubsequent winnowing event then re-exposed the ammonite, which acted as a‘trap’ for the reworked fragments ofshell. Encrusting serpulid worms and theOxytoma bivalve then attached to theammonite shell and were subsequentlyburied. If this is indeed the case, thecreators of the Planolites and Chondrites

burrows will have formed the burrowspost-winnowing – the ammonite camefirst!

Bibliography

Danford, C.G., 1906, Notes on the Speeton Ammonites.Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 16, 101-114

Lamplugh, G.W., 1889, On the subdivisions of the SpeetonClay. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 45, 575-618https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.JGS.1889.045.01-04.38

Lynden Emery collection of Speeton Clay Fossils in the Hulland East Riding Museum Catalogue.http://www.hullgeolsoc.co.uk/lyn2d.htm

McArthur, J.M. et al., 2004, Belemnites of Valanginian,Hauterivian and Barremian age: Sr-isotope stratigraphy,composition (87Sr/86Sr, δ13C, δ18O, Na, Sr, Mg), andpalaeo-oceanography. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology, 202, 253-272

Mitchell, S.F. & Underwood, C.J., 1999, Lithological andfaunal stratigraphy of the Aptian and Albian (LowerCretaceous) of the type Speeton Clay, Speeton, north-eastEngland. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 52(3), 277-296 https://doi.org/10.1144/pygs.52.3.277

Neale, J.W., 1962, Ammonoidea from the Lower D beds(Berriasian) of the Speeton Clay. Palaeontology, 5 (2), 272-296

Rawson, P.F., 1975, Lower Cretaceous Ammonites fromNorth-East England: The Hauterivian heteromorphAegocrioceras. Bulletin of the British Museum (NaturalHistory) Geology, 26 (4), 129-159

Tyson, V.R. & Pearson T.H. 1991, Modern and AncientContinental Shelf Anoxia. Geological Society SpecialPublication, 58, 1-24.

Uchman, A. & Wetzel, A. 1999, An aberrant, helicoidal tracefossil Chondrites Sternberg. Palaeogeography,Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 146, 165–169.

Wilkinson, I. & Riding, J., 2007, The Cretaceousgreenhouse world. Earthwise, 24, 32-33

Figure 2: Bioturbated base withscale



Book Review: A Guide to the Geology of IslayBook Review: A Guide to the Geology of Islay

By: David Webster, Roger Anderton and Alasdair SkeltonBy: David Webster, Roger Anderton and Alasdair Skelton

Ringwood Publishing Glasgow 2017 (Update & Reprint); 178 pages. £14.99. Ringwood Publishing Glasgow 2017 (Update & Reprint); 178 pages. £14.99. ISBN 978-1-901514-16-2 ISBN 978-1-901514-16-2

Islay is the southern most of the Inner Hebridean islands,located south west of Jura and only 40 km from the Irishcoast. Islay is known as ‘The Queen of the Hebrides’. To mymind this volume ‘A Guide to the Geology of Islay’ has a neatcontemporary feel with a series of great diagrams,photographs and maps to support the very informed wellwritten text.

Included within this guide is an excellent introduction to theprinciples of geology, followed by a detailed section on theevolution of the geology of Islay or a geological framework ofthe island. There is an extensive glossary to demystify someof the geological terminology or language. On Islay there is1800 million years of geological history to unravel from themetamorphic rocks of the Rhinns complex, the Dalradian of750-600 million ago includes pre-Cambrian stromatolites,and the world-famous Port Askaig tillites – glacial deposits of‘snowball earth’. There is much evidence of fluid flow fromwithin the earth’s crust during several orogenic episodes, anda range on igneous intrusions relating to the opening of theAtlantic Ocean 60 million years ago. From the Quaternary,there are a wide variety of recent glacial erosional ordepositional features also evident.

To take us on the geological journey there are 12 walkingexcursions which illustrate the varied geology of the island,they are ordered chronologically. Starting with some greatexposures of 1800 Mya aged metamorphic rocks of theRhinns Complex through to the last 20,000 years withclassical glacial features. Each excursion is fronted by aninformed overview providing a precise detail of the geologicalexposures, anticipated duration and grade of trip in terms ofterrain. Access issues – in particular with dogs is alsoexplained as are parking considerations. The walks aresimply graded from 1 to 3, 1 being flat and up to a two-hourstroll contrasting with grade 3 which is a full day of 8+ hoursoften on pathless coast or moor that can be physically prettydemanding.

There is a thoughtful section on health and safety forgeological field excursions on Islay and tips on how to copewith midges and ticks which can be annoying but givenproximity of the ocean there is invariably a coastal breeze toreduce the midge annoyance factor. Islay has a strongagricultural base and this guide provides advice on landaccess. Individuals need to be mindful of both sheep andcattle grazing, and other Estate activities including deerstalking.

The Islay Natural History Trust, which was stablished in1984 and now currently based in Port Charlotte has localexhibits of flora, fauna and geology. The Trust also organisesguided geological walks, some of which are led by the authorsof this guide. Their website is a companion site for this bookwith a blog and updated details of excursions and talks.http://www.islaynaturalhistory.org/geology/geology.htm.

A couple of touches which I like are the colour coding andheader on the top of each page which facilitates scanningthrough the guide. I also like the advice on which whisky tosample following the completion of each excursion. Thewhisky of choice is typically from the distillery local to thewalk, and the influence of local geology is considered.

There is an extensive subject based reading list which youcan explore at your leisure. A minor quibble - some of thephotographs are a bit small or dark, and there maybe meritif there was an Islay outline map accompanying the localgeological excursion maps for reference and context.

This compact and detailed pocket-sized guide can be usedeasily in the field providing an accessible insight into thegeology of Islay. As a frequent visitor to the island and,having completed some of the excursions in full and others inpart, I can personally vouch for this books merits as aninformative guide to the delights of Islay geology which,along with its whiskies, are world class.

Nick Pierpoint



UKOGL Young Researchers Award: Age and Petrogenesis of the Lundy GraniteUKOGL Young Researchers Award: Age and Petrogenesis of the Lundy Granite

By: John-Henry Charles,By: John-Henry Charles, University of OxfordUniversity of Oxford

This work and thesis was

supported by the UKOGL Fund of

the Geologists’ Association, Lundy

Field Society, University College

Oxford and the University of

Oxford.

Thanks are also due to the

Landmark Trust and Natural

England for their permission to

undertake fieldwork on Lundy

Island.

John-Henry recently completed

his MSci in Earth Sciences & now

works in the Middle East.

Lundy Island (~4.5 km2) lies inthe Bristol Channel, 20 km NNW ofHartland Point on the North Devoncoast. It is composedpredominantly (>90%) of two-mica ± garnet ± tourmalinegranite, hosted by Variscan-deformed Devonian low-grademetasedimentary rocks; both arecut by a suite of basalt-dolerite,trachyte and rare rhyolite dykes(Dollar 1941; Edmonds et al.1979; Dangerfield 1982). Lundy isthe only subaerial expression ofthe Lundy Igneous Complex thathas a much larger subcrop in theBristol Channel

Early studies of the LundyGranite suggested it was anexpression of the Permo-Carboniferous Cornubian Batholithdue to their proximity andmineralogical similarities (Davison1932; Dollar 1941) (Figure 1).Others advocated a linkage withthe granites of the British TertiaryProvince due to the numerouscross-cutting dolerite dykes(Shelley 1966).

A Palaeocene Rb-Sr whole rockisochron for the Lundy granite of58.7 ± 1.6 Ma (Thorpe et al.1990), combined with earlierwhole-rock and mineralradiometric dating of granites and dolerites (Miller & Fitch1962; Dodson & Long 1962; Edmonds et al. 1979; Mussett etal. 1976, 1988) indicated that the Lundy Igneous Complex isthe most southerly substantive expression of the BritishCenozoic Igneous Province (BCIP), and the only major BCIPcentre located in the Variscan rather than Caledonian terrane.

Our project conducted furthermapping work on the island, inaddition to petrographical andmineral chemical analysis. We alsoobtained the first U-Pb zircon agesfor the granite (59.8 ± 19 0.4 – 58.4± 0.4 Ma) and cross-cutting basicdykes (57.2 ± 0.5 Ma), whichconfirm a Palaeocene age formagmatism (Fig. 2). In addition, wefound zircon inheritance in thegranite to be rare, revealed in onlytwo zircon cores and implying thepresence of Lower Palaeozoicigneous rocks in the unexposedbasement of SW England.

The generation of the Lundygranite was primarily driven byemplacement of mantle-derivedbasaltic melts into crust. Theperaluminous character of the Lundyis a consequence of partial melting ofa crustal source that includedmetagreywackes and/or metapelites(e.g. Thorpe et al. 1990; Simons etal. 2016), in similarity to theCornubian granites. Theperaluminous character of the Lundygranite contrasts with other BCIPgranites that are metaluminous orsubalkaline. We consider that thisreflects a fundamental crustal sourcecontrol on granite compositionbetween the Laurentian terranesnorth of the Iapetus suture (BCIPgranites of Scotland and Ireland) andperi-Gondwanan terranes on themargins of the Rheic suture (cf.Clemens & Stevens 2012; Romer &Kroner 2014; Simons et al. 2016).

Finally, the anomalous southerlylocation of the Lundy IgneousComplex is a consequence of mantlemelting arising from thesuperposition of localised lithosphericextension, related to intraplate strike-slip tectonics, with the distal ancestralIcelandic plume.

For more details, please refer to‘Age and petrogenesis of the Lundy Granite: Palaeoceneintraplate peraluminous magmatism in the Bristol Channel,UK’, recently published in the Journal of the GeologicalSociety by J-H. Charles, M.J. Whitehouse, J.C.Ø. Andersen,R.K. Shail & M.P. Searle.

Figure 1: Location of Lundy with reference to

the British Cenozoic Igneous Province

(highlighted in blue) and the Cornubian

batholiths (highlighted in red)

Figure 2: Lundy granite U-Pb ages, plotted in

relation to one another. Box heights are 2σ

error. LY13 and LY32 are dykes, all other

samples are granites.



As the 2017 Rockwatch field seasondraws to a close we’ve been busy withlots of Rockwatch activities. A first for uswas the superb exhibition ‘Dinosaurs ofChina – Ground Shakers to FeatheredFlyers’ at Wollaton Hall Museum inNottingham. This was curated by DrAdam Smith, a former Rockwatchmember and now the Natural SciencesCurator at Nottingham City Museumsand Galleries and his colleague Dr WangQi from Nottingham University.

Adam met Geraldine and theRockwatchers and gave them a guidedtour of the exhibition which definitelyadded to the ‘specialness’ of the visit.For many of the fossils on display thiswas the first time they have been seenoutside Asia. The group saw some of thehuge ground shaker dinosaurs whichroamed Earth during the Jurassic andCretaceous Periods, including a speciallybuilt replica of Mamenchisaurus

hochuanensis for this exhibition. Theoriginal skeleton is 23m long, but thisreplica is ‘only’ 13.5m and was displayed rearing up so itcould fit inside the huge entrance hall at Wollaton! Therewere also many smaller dinosaurs and even some tiny ones,some with feathers. The focus of the exhibition followed theevolution of some of the huge dinosaurs into flyers, then

showing the feathered flyers evolving into birds that are sofamiliar to us today. It’s an amazing story which Adam andWang presented in a most accessible and interesting waythrough this exhibition.

Thanks to Eddie Bailey and Alan Holiday, the field trip toLea Quarry was a great success in spite of some wet weather.

This location did not disappoint and lotsof fossils were found at this Silurian siteso there were some very happyRockwatchers at the end of the day. LeaQuarry is a great favourite for ourmembers and there are always someinteresting finds as Alan’s photographsshow.

Rockwatch was at the SidmouthScience Festival thanks to support fromRoger Le Voir who waved the flag forRockwatch and ran some activities. It isalways a busy and popular public eventand so it was this year.

The annual Rockstar and Rock Writercompetition judging thrilled the judgeswith the high quality and range ofentries. From under 8 years to 18 yearolds, the entries included reports onfossil collections, a personal fossilcollection exhibition set up in a locallibrary, a number of handmade andwritten booklets on topics as varied asdinosaurs and minerals, unique and

Rockwatch NewsRockwatch News

By Susan BrownBy Susan Brown

Figure1: Halysites find at Lea Quarry

Figure 2: The group at Lea Quarry



complex games devised and beautifullymade by the youngsters on volcanoes andgeological extinctions, some astonishinglyprofessional videos and even hand-madesoaps carved and coloured to representspecific minerals.

The Rockstar 2017 was Jake Perrett for hisinspired working seismometer accompaniedby a fascinating written report on the historyof seismometers through the ages andconcluding with an account of theseismometer he made for his Rockwatchentry. Jake’s entry, like many of the others,clearly took many hours to develop andexecute – no quick fix for these dedicatedand highly competent youngsters. The RockWriter was awarded jointly to Fureya NelsonRiggott and Philip Vixseboxse this year andpart of their prize is publication of their

winning entries in this magazine.

The winners’ day celebration was hosted by thecompetition sponsor Anglo American GroupFoundation at its HQ in London was a very specialday for the winners and their families. Rockwatch ismost grateful to the Foundation for its support andfor hosting the day. Catherine Reynolds (a formerRW member) now working as a project geologistwith Anglo, gave a delightful and personal accountof her career journey to date and Dave Braxton,Head of Discovery Strategy with Anglo gave us afascinating talk on his geological journey from theUSA to Tasmania as a student, through a range ofcompanies worldwide as he developed his career asa minerals exploration geologist to the seniorposition he holds today. We are so lucky to haveprofessional geologists to share their careerdevelopment with the youngsters as it gives themlots of information about a range of career options

possible in the Earth Sciences.

Our last event of the year was the Festival of Geologywhere we were kept busy all day with many activitiesincluding fossil plaster casting, fossil and rock handling, waxfossil rubbings and much more. We had a superb team ofhelpers this year including lots of Rockwatch families,students and GA members to whom we owe many thanks.

During the summer we were delighted to learn that threeof our members had gained places at university to readgeology, two at Bristol and one at Oxford – congratulations toall of you and enjoy your student years.

I have written this report from notes and photographskindly sent to me by various Rockwatch members and leaderswho were on the trips and to whom I send grateful thanks fortheir help. I’m hugely grateful to everyone who came forwardto help with our activities during my recent illness and I lookforward to being back to ‘work as normal’ next year andseeing lots of you at our events around the country. Yourgenerosity meant that our members were able to enjoy allthe events organised for them.

Figure 5: Creative drawing at the Festival of Geology

Figure 4: Fossil casting at the festival


Figure 3: Rockstar 2017 winners


Geologists’ AssociationGeology Photographic Competition 2017

Geologists’ Association Calendar 2018


1st Prize (£100): The Red HIills, Isle of Skye, Scotland; Photograph © Roger Gentle

3rd Prize (£25): Spectacular Karst Topography on the River Li, Guilin, China; Photograph © Linda McArdell

2nd Prize (£50): Flint and Limestone Church wall, Cavendish, Suffolk: Photograph © Judith Hall

A super calendar with great photographs of geological sites and fossils from Britain and around the world.Informative captions accompany each image.

A great price at only £5A4 size and easy to post. Ideal for presents for family and friends, near and far.Obtainable from the GA online shop at www.geologistsassociation.org.uk or at GAmeetings while stocks last. Alternatively you can send a cheque for £6.50 (including post & packaging) to Sarah Stafford at:The Geologists’ Association, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0DU.Cheques to be made payable to the Geologists’ Association.


Pliosaurus - Geologists' Association · February 20 March 13 May 20 June 12 August 20 September 11...

Documents

Transcript of Pliosaurus - Geologists' Association · February 20 March 13 May 20 June 12 August 20 September 11...