NEGS
North Eastern Geological Society
Chair: Position vacant
Secretary (acting): Christine Burridge
Treasurer/Membership secretary: Pat Thompson
Webmaster: Position vacant
Newsletter: John McNulty
Facebook: Christine Burridge
Lecture Programme Organizer: Gillian R. Foulger
Lecture reports: Volunteer – flexible
Field Trip Secretary: Gordon Liddle
Social Secretary: Vin Murphy
Student Representative: Lewis Mackenzie (Durham)
Click here for the Official NEGS website
The 2024-2025 lecture programme will be hybrid and include both face-to-face lectures and online-only ones held via Zoom. The lectures will be held at 7:30 – 8:30 pm U.K. Time on the dates shown below. Those held face-to-face will take place in the Arthur Holmes lecture theatre, on the lower floor in the Chemistry building (Room CG91).
2024 – 2025 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 18th October, 2023 Face to Face | Ms. Lesley Collins NEGS member | The Northwest Highlands of Scotland |
| 15th November, 2023 via Zoom | ||
| 13th December, 2023 Face to Face – Members evening | 1. 2. 3. | 1. 2. 3. |
| 17th January, 2024 via Zoom | Dr. Neil Phillips | Granites – pipes or pizzas? |
| 21st February, 2024 via Zoom | Prof. Stewart Jamieson Durham University | Exploring Antarctica’s buried landscapes |
| 21st March, 2024 Face to Face – AGM | Dr. Brian Young | Minerals of the North Pennines: What can they tell us? |
2023 – 2024 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 20th October, 2023 Face to Face | Dr. Jenny Jenkins Durham University | Deep Earth Seismology: from blurry global pictures, to detailed images of core-mantle boundary structure |
| 17th November, 2023 via Zoom | Prof. James Baldini Durham University | Meltwater, meteors, and volcanoes: the elusive cause of the Younger Dryas Event |
| 8th December, 2023 Face to Face – Members evening | 1. Steve Woodward 2. Lewis McKenzie 3. Andy Lane | 1. Hydrogen & damage mechanisms 2. Six weeks geological mapping of Durness – NW Scotland – An undergraduate experience 3. Slipping through the Permian on the Downhill Slide |
| 19th January, 2024 via Zoom | Dr. Neil Phillips Stellenbosch University, RSA & University of Melbourne, Australia | Gold geology in 2024 |
| 16th February, 2024 via Zoom | Dr. Catriona D. Menzies Durham University | Fluid flow in orogenic belts, gold mineralisation & geothermal activity |
| 15th March, 2024 Face to Face – AGM | Dr. Julia Knapp Durham University | Going down the Drain: Water Quality in a Changing Climate |
2022 – 2023 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 21st October, 2022 Face to Face | Prof. Madeleine Humphreys Durham University | The mushy insides of explosive volcanoes |
| 18th November, 2022 via Zoom | Prof. Steve McNutt Univ. South Florida | The 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption |
| 9th December, 2022 Face to Face – Members evening | 1. Christine Telford 2. Quizleader 3. tba | 1. A’tween a rock and a hard place 2. Xmas GeoQuiz 3. tba |
| 20th January, 2023 via Zoom | Dr Keith James University of Wales, Aberystwyth | Plate tectonics at 50, not written in stone |
| 17th February, 2023 via Zoom | Dr. John Bristow CEO Global Diamond Network | Experiences of a Geologist in India |
| 17th March, 2023 Face to Face – AGM | Prof. Julia Knapp Durham University | Going down the Drain: Water Quality in a Changing Climate |
2021 – 2022 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 29th October, 2021 | Prof. Robert B. Smith Univ. Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. | The Yellowstone Hotspot and the Anatomy of Old Faithful |
| 26th November, 2021 | Prof. Alexander Peace McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | Magmatism and continental breakup: The Mesozoic Notre Dame Bay Intrusions Newfoundland Canada |
| 17th December, 2021 | Prof. Karen Harpp Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, U.S.A. | Vignettes from the Galápagos Islands |
| 28th January, 2022 | Edgardo Cañón Tapia CICESE- División de Ciencias de la Tierra, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico | Spatial distribution of volcanic vents and their relation with the plumbing system |
| 25th February, 2022 | Dr. Jon J. Major Scientist-in-Charge Cascades Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A. | Volcano hazards in the Pacific Northwest USA—what they are, why they matter, and the challenges of crisis management |
| 25th March, 2022 | Prof. Andrew Moore Rhodes University, Makhanda (Grahamstown), South Africa | The geology of diamonds |
2019 – 2020 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 18th October, 2019 | Dr. Matthew Funnell Durham University | Beneath the waves: how physics is used to develop our understanding of the world at the bottom of the oceans and beyond |
| 22nd November, 2019 | Dr. Christopher Saville Durham University | tba |
| 13th December, 2019 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. Christine Taylor | The Comrie igneous complex | |
| 2. Members’ Geological Show & Tell | ||
| 17th January, 2020 | Dr. Julie Prytulak Durham University | 50 years of discovery by drilling oceanic crust |
| 21st February, 2020 | Dr. John Nudds Univ. Manchester | Archaeopteryx |
| 20th March, 2020 | Dr. Helen Adamson Newcastle University | The effects of blanket bog restoration techniques on vegetation |
2018 – 2019 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 19th October, 2018 | Prof. Gillian R. Foulger Durham University | A radical new theory for the origin of Iceland |
| 16th November, 2018 | Prof. Chris Greenwell Durham University | A time of waste – sustainable environmental geoscience solutions |
| 14th December, 2018 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. Andy Lane | Glimpses of Harz Geology – Familiar but Different | |
| 2. Christine Taylor | Carboniferous Volcanism of the East Fife Coast | |
| 18th January, 2019 | Derek A. Teasdale NEGS | Modelling ice flow patterns across the NE using a Geographic Information System (GIS) |
| 15th February, 2019 | Dr. Antonio Capponi Durham University | Bubbles in basaltic volcanic systems: insights from analogue experiments |
| 15th March, 2019 | Prof. Claire Horwell Durham University | Is it harmful to breathe ash? Public health hazard assessment and protection in communities impacted by eruptions |
2017 – 2018 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 20th October, 2017 | Prof. David Harper Durham University | Dead bodies in the Sirius Pass, North Greenland: An early window on the Cambrian Explosion |
| 24th November, 2017 | Prof. Jim McElwaine Durham University | Mars |
| 15th December, 2017 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. Paul Newton & Gordon Liddle | Some geological features in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | |
| 2. Christine Burridge | A story of volcanoes | |
| 3. Christine Taylor | A visit to the Derbyshire Carbonate Platform | |
| 19th January, 2018 | Dr. George Cooper Durham University | Unlocking a volcanoes secrets through crystal specific studies |
| 16th February, 2018 | Prof. Chris Stokes Durham University | What’s happening to the world’s largest ice sheet? Stability vs. instability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. |
| 16th March, 2018 | Prof. Colin Waters Univ. Leicester | The Anthropocene |
2016 – 2017 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 21st October, 2016 | Alex Peace Durham University | The role of pre-existing structures during continental breakup and transform system development in the Davis Strait, offshore West Greenland |
| 18th November, 2016 | Prof. Gillian R. Foulger Durham University | Human-induced earthquakes |
| 16th December, 2016 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. Paul Newton & Gordon Liddle | The Tertiary volcanics of southern France | |
| 2. Mavis Gill | The rocks and landscape of East Greenland | |
| 20th January, 2017 | Dr. Christian Schiffer Durham University | The Wilson Cycle in the North Atlantic |
| 17th February, 2017 | Prof. Jon Gluyas Durham University | Helium, it’s a gas, gas, gas |
| 17th March, 2017 | Dr. Najwa Mhana Durham University | The changing Earth: Monitoring changes in Earth structure using tomography |
2015 – 2016 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 16th October, 2015 | Dr. Ceri Nunn | Structure of Mt. Etna |
| 20th November, 2015 | Dr. Rick Smith FWS Consultants | The recent polyhalite discoveries in North Yorkshire |
| 18th December, 2015 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. John Waring | From Deserts to Deltas | |
| 2. Les Barnes | The Isle of Purbeck; a geologist’s paradise | |
| 3. Gordon Liddle | Gordon will lead a display and discussion of members favourite specimens–rocks, fossils, maps or photos. Please everyone bring something along! | |
| 15th January, 2016 | Dr. Edward Dempsey Durham University | Minding your P’s & Qs’s: Using pyrite, pyrrhotite, quartz and quartzine to understand the origin of the North Pennines orefield |
| 19th February, 2016 | Dr. Brian Young Durham University | Mapping it out: William Smith 200 years on |
| 18th March, 2016 | Prof. Mike Bentley Durham University | Antarctic ice sheets and climate change |
2014 – 2015 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 17th October, 2014 | Prof. Andy Aplin Durham University | A New Dawn for Shale: Oil, Gas and CO2 Storage |
| 21st November, 2014 | Dr. Darren Grocke Durham University | A Brief History of Stable Isotopes: from Kangaroos to Forensics to Botany and the Mesozoic |
| 12th December, 2014 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. Gordon Wilkinson | Uluru and Kata Tjuta – the geology of a unique area | |
| 2. Gordon Hull | People I’ve met on the road from Stanley to Pangaea | |
| 3. Christine Taylor | A particular quarry in Gloucestershire | |
| 16th January, 2015 | Dr John Nudds Univ. Manchester | Chinese Dinosaur Embryos |
| 20th February, 2015 | Lesley Dunlop Northumbria University | Chromite, tungsten and iron: Mineral deposits and mines in Portugal |
| 20th March, 2015 | Prof. Chris R. Stokes Durham University | Poles Apart? Glaciers and Climate Change in the Arctic and Antarctic |
2013 – 2014 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 18th October, 2013 | Dr. Stuart Dunning Northumbria University | Outburst floods from the unpronounceable volcano: the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of 2010 |
| 8th November, 2013 | **Note change of date to avoid clash with Lumiere festival** | |
| Dr. Darren Grocke Durham University | What Lies Beneath Us – A GeoSculpture at Durham University | |
| 13th December, 2013 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. Gordon Wilkinson | Uluru and Kata Tjuta – the geology of a unique area | |
| 2. John Waring | Rocks under the microscope; making thin sections by an amateur | |
| 3. Christine Burridge | Peaks, Penguins and the Peninsula – Some Antarctic Observations | |
| 17th January, 2014 | Dr. Richard J. Brown Durham University | Natural Born Killers: The Nature and Hazards of Pyroclastic Density Currents |
| 21st February, 2014 | Prof. Jon Gluyas Durham University | Getting Into Hot Water: Exalting Low-Enthalpy Geothermal Opportunity in the UK |
| 21st March, 2014 | Brian Young Durham University | The Stones of Durham |
2012 – 2013 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 19th October, 2012 | Dr. Martin A. Whyte Univ. Sheffield | Tracking Yorkshire’s Dinosaurs |
| 16th November, 2012 | Ken Bradshaw Heritage Officer, Limestone Landscapes Partnership | Landscape of the Durham Magnesian Limestone |
| 14th December, 2012 | Members’ evening | |
| 1. Les Barnes | Geology of the Perigord, France, with respect to iron production in the 17th Century | |
| 2. Nigel Sprague | The Highland Controversy | |
| 3. Bruce Julian | Energy from a Hot Rock | |
| 18th January, 2013 | Russell Bayliss Parsons Brinckerhoff | New Tyne Crossing – The Quaternary Ground Model |
| 15th February, 2013 | Edward D. Dempsey Durham University | Building the Misty Mountains of Middle Earth- New Zealand’s Southern Alps |
| 15th March, 2013 | Dr. Anthony H. Cooper British Geological Survey | My house fell in a hole – problems with soluble rocks; wiches in Cheshire and the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland? |
2011 – 2012 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 21st October, 2011 | Dr. Phil Manning Univ. Manchester | Dinosaurs, space shuttles and synchrotrons |
| 18th November, 2011 | Dr. Rachel WoodUniv. Edinburgh | The dawn of biomineralisation |
| 16th December, 2011 | Prof. Richard Davies Univ. Durham | The Lusi mud volcano disaster, Indonesia: Why and what next? |
| 20th January, 2012 | Dr. Lisa Baldini Univ. Durham | to be announced |
| 17th February, 2012 | Prof. Philip Gibbard Univ. Cambridge | The last glacial cycle in lowland England |
| 16th March, 2012 | Dr. Mike Norry Univ. Leicester | Shetland; the evolution of geology, language and people |
2010 – 2011 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 2010 September 24th | Dr. Bruce R. Julian U.S. Geological Survey | The Grand Canyon |
| 2010 October 22nd | Ms. Sabina A.K. Michnowicz University of Durham | “Amazing and portentous” an account of Britain in the wake of the 1783 – 1784 Laki fissure eruption |
| 2010 November 19th | Dr. Brian Young British Geological Survey & University of Durham | A tale of two orefields |
| 2010 December 10th | Dr. Richard Collier University of Leeds | Active rift margins: Structural evolution and sedimentary response |
| 2011 January 21st | Dr. Eva Panagiotakopulu University of Edinburgh | Life on the edge: The biogeography of North Atlantic insect faunas |
| 2011 February 18th | Dr Jeff Warburton University of Durham | River trenching of the Wear floodplain |
| 2011 March 18th | Prof. David M. Knight University of Durham | History of geology |
2009 – 2010 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 2009 October 20th | Prof. Dean PresnallUniv. Texas (Dallas) & Carnegie Institution of Washington | What is experimental igneous petrology? |
| 2009 November 17th | Dr. Michael LimUniv. Durham | Coastal rock cliff erosion: where to draw the line? |
| 2009 December 15th | Dr. Steve Arnold Univ. Leeds | Air pollution in the Arctic: where does it come from and why does it matter? |
| 2010 January 19th | Dr. Richard HobbsUniv. Durham | Seismic Oceanography: new ways to look at water |
| 2010 February 16th | Prof. Harry Pinkerton Univ. Lancaster | Can remote sensing and geophysics provide us with all we need to know about active volcanoes? Is there no longer a need for detailed field observations, measurements and sampling? A case study based on 35 years on Etna. |
| 2010 March 16th | Dr. Thorvaldur Thordarson Univ. Edinburgh | Holocene volcanism in Iceland – eruption history, styles and magnitudes |
2008 – 2009 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 2008 October 17th | Prof. Lionel Wilson Lancaster Univ. | Volcanic activity on the Earth and Planets |
| 2008 November 21st | Prof. J. Godfrey Fitton Univ. Edinburgh | Hotspot-ridge interaction in Iceland |
| 2008 December 12th | Prof. Andrew J. Dugmore Univ. Edinburgh | Tephrochronology, resilience and limits to adaptation: lessons from the Viking settlement of the North Atlantic |
| 2009 January 23rd | Dr. Jennifer A. Tait Univ. Edinburgh | Snowball Earth – Fact or Fiction? |
| 2009 February 20th | Dr. Jeroen van Hunen Univ. Durham | When did plate tectonics start on Earth? |
| 2009 March 20th | Dr. Steve Arnold Univ. Leeds | Probing interactions between the oceans, vegetation and climate using clues from the remote atmosphere |
2007– 2008 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 2007 September 21st | Jeff Harris University of Glasgow | Mineral inclusions in diamond: glimpses into the mysteries of the deep Earth |
| 2007 October 19th | Dr. Dougal A. Jerram Durham University | Africa to Antarctica: Recent developments in our understanding of the flood volcanic system |
| 2007 November 16th | Lynda Yorke University of Hull | New light on deglaciation in the Tyne Valley |
| 2007 December 14th | Dr. Kathryn Goodenough British Geological Survey | Sillimanite, snakes and stream sediments: a geological tour of Northern Madagascar |
| 2008 January 18th | Prof. R.E. Holdsworth Durham University | The geological anatomy of a geophysical enigma: low-angle normal faults from the Italian Apennines |
| 2008 February 22nd | Dr. Howard A. ArmstrongDurham University | Ordovician glaciation, mass extinction and anoxic oceans – a view to the future? |
| 2008 March 14th | Dr. Peter Kokelaar University of Liverpool | History of Scafell caldera: a dramatisation |
2006 – 2007 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 2006 September 22nd | Dr. Leah Horowitz University of Leeds | Landscape heritage: Assessing social impacts of mining in New Caledonia, South Pacific |
| 2006 October 20th | Dr. Colin Macpherson University of Durham | Subduction + ? = Continental Crust |
| 2006 November 17th | Dr. Claire Fialips University of Newcastle | Iron in clay minerals: a curse or a cure? |
| 2006 December 15th | Dr. Stuart Jones University of Durham | In a state of flux: fluvial sediments of central Iran |
| 2007 January 19th | Dr. Laura Font University of Durham | From volcanoes to bird feathers: applications of the micro-Sr technique |
| 2007 February 23rd | Dr. Rob Chapman University of Leeds | The use of gold mineralogy to establish potential sources of gold exploited during the Bronze Age in Ireland |
| 2007 March 16th | Prof. Peter Clift Aberdeen University | Mountain building and monsoons in the formation of Asia |
2005 – 2006 programme
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 2005 September 16th | Dr. Rashmin Gunasekera, Univ. Coventry | Tsunamis: Forewarned is Forearmed |
| 2005 October 21st | Prof. Yaoling Niu, Univ. Durham | Subcontinental lithosphere thinning – a special consequence of plate tectonics: Insights from the tectonic evolution of eastern China since the Mesozoic |
| 2005 November 18th | Prof. Godfrey Fitton Univ. Edinburgh | Origin of the submarine Ontong Java Plateau, the world’s largest igneous province |
| 2005 December 9th | Dr. Mark Allen, Univ. Durham | Mountain ranges of Iran |
| 2006 January 20th | Dr. Jonathan Imber, Univ. Durham | Rifting & reactivation: extending the continental crust |
| 2006 February 17th | Dr. Moyra Wilson, Univ. Durham | Equatorial carbonate development during Cenozoic global change |
| 2006 March 17th | Dr. Sue Rigby, Univ. Edinburgh | Swimming with Graptolites |
Abstracts
The Wilson Cycle in the North Atlantic
Christian Schiffer, Dept. Earth Sciences, Durham University, Science Labs., South Rd., Durham DH1 3LE, UK, [email protected], 20th January, 2017.
The present-day North Atlantic is the result of subduction of a former ocean (Iapetus Ocean), subsequent continental collision and mountain building (Caledonian mountains), and final rifting and formation of new oceanic crust. Because this was suggested by Tuzo Wilson in 1966 it is known as the Wilson Cycle. This concept significantly added to plate tectonic theory up to the present day. Although the North Atlantic region is one of the best studied areas, some details of its geodynamic evolution remain poorly known.
Recent seismic imaging using broadband seismometers across the coast of East Greenland detected an east-dipping structure in the upper mantle to a depth of 80 km or more. The seismic signature, the large scale geometry and its location relative to North Atlantic geology suggests this structure is an old fossil subduction zone. Similarities to the Flannan structure beneath northern Scotland suggest that the two formed a coherent, eastward-dipping Iapetus subduction zone before the opening of the North Atlantic. This discovery may be an essential piece of information that helps us to decipher the tectonic evolution of the North Atlantic. This includes the relationship of Iceland and the volcanic rocks of Britain, Scandinavia and Greenland to Iapetus geology, and to hydrocarbon resources around the Atlantic margins.
The role of pre-existing structures during continental breakup and transform system development in the Davis Strait, offshore West Greenland
Alex Peace, Dept. Earth Sciences, Durham University, Science Labs., South Rd., Durham DH1 3LE, UK, [email protected], 21st October, 2016.
Continental breakup between West Greenland and North Eastern Canada produced the small oceanic basins of the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, which are connected via the Davis Strait, a region mostly comprised of continental crust. In this study seismic reflection data from the Davis Strait constrained using exploration wells, gravity and crustal thickness data was analysed to produce a series of seismic surfaces, isochrons and a new offshore fault map. The results have been integrated with plate reconstructions and onshore structural data to build a two stage conceptual model for the offshore fault evolution in which early rift basin formation was controlled primarily by reactivation of pre-existing basement structures. While this control diminished into the postrift, the location of synrift basins still exerted some control on the location of sedimentation probably due to differential sediment compaction.
Coastal rock cliff erosion: where to draw the line?
Michael Lim, Dept. Geography, University of Durham, Science Labs., South Rd., Durham DH1 3LE, UK [email protected] 17th November, 2009.
Geology plays a fundamental role in shaping our rocky coastlines, interacting with destabilising processes to control the rate and nature of cliff erosion. Recording, interpreting and predicting coastal cliff erosion is a critical component in coastal policy, assuming even greater significance in the context of global sea-level rise and forecast increases in the occurrence of extreme weather phenomena. Much of our understanding of cliff change is based on patterns in the mapped historic position of the cliffline. These surveys provide a valuable insight into landform behaviour but the levels of error that occur often exceed the absolute changes recorded, casting considerable doubt over the validity of results; results that hold far reaching implications for coastal communities. This lecture presents the results from an ongoing seven year research plan conducted by Durham University into rock cliff erosion on the North Yorkshire coast. The main aim of this work is provide a new quantitative understanding of the 3D nature of coastal cliff erosion and the processes driving it, re-evaluating current rates of retreat established along the coast and consequently providing better tools with which to assess future behaviour.
Tephrochronology, resilience and limits to adaptation: lessons from the Viking settlement of the North Atlantic
Andrew J. Dugmore, Geography, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, Scotland, UK [email protected], 12th December, 2008
Tephrochronology, a dating technique based on the identification and correlation of layers of volcanic ash, can make key contributions to our understanding of human-environment interactions. This is because the isochrons defined by tephras permit accurate spatial and temporal correlations of environmental data and have such precision that effective integration with historical records and human timescales are possible. In this talk the principles, practice and application of tephrochronology are assessed as a part of a wiser discussion of human environment interaction and the Norse settlement of the North Atlantic. The end of Norse Greenland settlement is widely associated with the climate changes of the ‘Little Ice Age’, environmental destruction and an inability to adapt, but there is evidence in Greenland and across the Atlantic islands for both Norse sustainable practice and successful adaptation to climate change. As a result we propose that the choices made during the initial Norse colonization and settlement of Greenland, followed by a rising level of connection, intensification, and investment in fixed resource spaces, social and material infrastructure, increased the effectiveness of adaptation but at a cost of reduced resilience in the face of variation. When confronted by culture contact, rapid natural, social and economic changes the limitations of the pathway chosen by the Norse in Greenland seem to have been too great and social collapse could have been the result. The lessons drawn from a multidisciplinary assessment of the Viking settlement of the Atlantic islands in general and Norse Greenland in particular are disturbing in a modern context. It is possible to creatively adapt to new environments, build up centuries of community-based managerial expertise, wisely conserve fragile resources for communal benefit, codify the results, maintain century-scale sustainable patterns of life and society- and yet still face ultimate collapse and extinction.
Andy is a Professor of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh, and an Adjunct Research Professor on the Doctoral Program in Anthropology at the City University of New York, USA. His research is focused on understanding environmental change over timescales from decades to millennia, and their significance for human society. A key theme is the development and application of tephrochronology, a dating technique based on the identification and correlation of volcanic ash layers. Between 2002-7 Andrew co-directed a Leverhulme Trust Programme Award for the study of ‘Landscapes circum- Landám: Viking settlement in the North Atlantic and its human and environmental consequences’. He is currently embarking on two follow up programmes, ‘Footsteps on the edge of Thule’ which will assess the interactions of Norse and indigenous peoples in Greenland and Arctic Scandinavia (also funded by the Leverhulme Trust) and an NSF Office of Polar Programs IPY project on ‘Human ecodynamics in the Norse North Atlantic’.
The use of gold mineralogy to establish potential sources of gold exploited during the Bronze Age in Ireland
Dr. Rob Chapman, 23rd February, 2006
The importance of Au to ancient societies has encouraged many archaeologists to search for the sources exploited in antiquity. These projects generally involve detailed studies of artefacts and comparison of their chemical characteristics with those reported for natural Au. However, descriptions of natural Au are frequently inadequate for provenancing studies, and the compositional variability of the material is not widely recognised. The present study describes a new approach to gold provenancing using the technique of microchemical characterization in which populations of gold grains are classified according to the alloy compositions and the assemblages of micro-inclusions of other minerals. This technique, originally developed to identify sources of alluvial gold during Au exploration, has proved applicable to provenancing studies in four main areas. Firstly, microchemical characterization of artefacts grouped according to archaeological criteria can indicate the number of sources exploited in relation to time and artefact taxonomy. Secondly, knowledge of the total variation in chemical characteristics of natural Au from a particular region provides an excellent database for provenancing and reduces the need for exhaustive sampling. Thirdly, it is possible to predict how Au alloys were modified during fabrication as a consequence of assimilation of mineral inclusions. Finally, identification of inclusion phases in artefact Au can provide information on metallurgical practices.
These principles have been applied to the search for the source of Au used for the unique traditions of prehistoric Irish metalworking. Studies of 180 Irish Au artefacts belonging to 4 major metalworking traditions dating from the Early Bronze Age (2400 BC) to the Iron Age, (150 BC) show that each group exhibits distinctive Ag and Cu contents. Parallel studies of 2267 natural Au grains from 58 alluvial localities and 4 bedrock localities throughout Ireland reveal a broad pattern of alloy compositions consistent with style of mineralization and host geology. The ranges of Ag contents of Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age artefacts suggests that the Au source lies within Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks of the Southern Uplands Terrane and significantly, that the same source (or sources) were used in both periods. A different source of relatively Ag-rich Au, (most probably at Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo), was exploited in the Late Bronze Age. Iron Age artefacts have Ag contents higher than natural Irish Au. Evidence for evolution of metallurgical practice during the Bronze Age is provided by the increasing Cu content of the gold alloys (to levels far in excess of natural gold) and the nature of inclusions in artefacts of different ages. Elevated Sn in Cu-rich alloys suggests deliberate or accidental alloying with bronze.
This approach has provided the first clear indication that only a few individual indigenous Irish sources of Au were used during the Bronze Age and that their relative importance changed over time. Future archaeological investigations may adopt a geographical focus that was not previously possible.
Iron in clay minerals: a curse or a cure?
Dr. Claire Fialips, 17th November, 2006
Clay minerals are abundant in soils and sediments and generally contain significant – if not high – concentrations of structural ferric iron (Fe(III)). Reducing conditions, even for a short period of time, can strongly affect the chemistry, structure and surface properties of iron-bearing clays. In particular, the chemical reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) in Fe-rich smectites results in structural rearrangements and dramatic changes in the swelling behaviour and cationic exchange capacity of the clay. Such changes can dramatically and adversely affect the fate of pollutants or the availability of nutrients in natural or artificial systems. However, in some cases, these changes could as well play in our favour in pollution remediation.
My house fell in a hole – problems with soluble rocks; wiches in Cheshire and the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland?
Dr. Anthony Cooper, 15th March, 2013
Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) is attractive as satin spar, beautiful as carved alabaster and practical as plasterboard; rock salt (NaCl) is an essential mineral, but both cause geological hazards capable of swallowing houses. Gypsum and salt can dissolve rapidly in flowing water and caves can form where this happens underground, sometimes resulting in catastrophic subsidence at the surface. In Northern England, around Ripon, Darlington and in parts of Cheshire, large holes have appeared, often without warning. Beneath Ripon there is a complex maze cave system formed in the gypsum with large breccia pipes leading upwards to collapse features at the surface. It has been suggested that Lewis Carroll’s vision of Alice falling down a deep vertical hole into an underground land was inspired by this subsidence at Ripon. There is a connection between the author, Croft near Darlington, the city of Ripon, and dramatic subsidence at the house where “Alice” is thought to have lived. Salt dissolves very rapidly causing subsidence problems and salt springs; in Cheshire these springs have the local name of “wich” hence the local place names such as Nantwich, Northwich and Middlewich. Gypsum and salt karst subsidence are geohazards that need to be considered in planning and development. They are difficult to investigate, but techniques including airborne multispectral remote sensing, stereo air photography, microgravity, ground probing radar, resistivity tomography and the use of drilling have all helped. The hazards require careful consideration, but can be addressed through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), planning and novel construction techniques. The English soluble rock subsidence problems are not unique and similar problems also occur in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, China, Canada, the USA and many other countries.
The Stones of Durham
Dr. Brian Young, 21st March, 2014
This talk will look briefly at the geology of the Durham city site and it will explore the uses of stone, both local and imported, in what Bill Bryson described as “the best cathedral on planet Earth”. As a Cathedral Guide & Steward the speaker obviously agrees with him! Particular emphasis will beplaced on how the site’s geology and the varied properties of the main stones used in the building have been employed and how these have influenced the design and appearance of the building.
A Brief History of Stable Isotopes: from Kangaroos to Forensics to Botany and the Mesozoic
Darren Grocke, 21st November, 2014
The application of stable isotope geochemistry in understanding the Earth System has been applied for over 50 years, and yet many topics are still poorly understood. In this lecture I will provide a biography of my adventures as a stable isotope geochemist for 20 years. Topics covered include: isotopes in kangaroos as a recorder of precipitation; ancient DNA and isotopes as a tracer of diet and migration; isotopic effects in modern and fossil plants; methane events recorded from a Jurassic Park using carbon isotopes; and understanding carbon burial events in shales. These are only a taster of the types of projects that have passed through my laboratory. This informal lecture is aimed at giving the audience a journey on how stable isotope geochemistry can help understand various aspects in the Earth System – or to reveal how little we still understand…
Certainly old stagers like me from the former BGS field staff have a fairish repertoire of observations of the rough and tumble of field mapping and subsequent compilation. Some of these might well be of interest – perhaps even amusing in some cases – but I think might work best if included in a talk on what is actually involved in the process of putting together a BGS map and, perhaps more interesting still, why we re-mapped some areas as many as 3 times over the past century or so. I was once asked to put together a short article on this for a NERC publication some years ago. It is a question that was often asked of field staff, especially by curious/suspicious landowners. It can be illustrated with some extremely persuasive explanations.
There is something of an air of mystique over geological mapping in some quarters and even many geologists nowadays do not quite grasp what we were about and how we went about it. The process is a lot more involved, and a lot more interesting, than that touched upon in some of the brief taster sessions on mapping offered in some short field courses.
I think this could be an interesting, and rather different, type of presentation that may well appeal to members.
Mapping it out: William Smith 200 years on
Brian Young
Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Retired District Geologist, Northern England, British Geological Survey“I’ve got a geological map of this area. The rocks can’t have changed so why are you mapping it again? ”. This, one of the most frequently asked questions posed by farmers and land owners to field geologists of the British Geological Survey, in some places on an almost daily basis, might seem a perfectly reasonable query. Yet it betrays an all too common, though in some instances perhaps understandable, misconception of what geological maps are, how they are compiled, what they can and cannot tell us, and what purposes they are intended to serve. Sometimes seen, wrongly, as simply brightly coloured versions of Ordnance Survey maps, geological maps are commonly underappreciated and misunderstood, even by some geologists! This talk will give some insights into the complex and varied disciplines of geological mapping, will de-bunk some of the myths and, above all answer the question of why re-mapping is so often both necessary and ground-breaking 200 years after the pioneering efforts of William Smith.
Is it harmful to breathe ash? Public health hazard assessment and protection in communities impacted by eruptions
Claire Horwell
Associate Professor & Director of the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham
During volcanic eruptions, and their aftermaths, communities may be very concerned about inhaling fine-grained ash, which can be rich in the deleterious mineral crystalline silica. Dr Claire Horwell, Director of the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network (www.ivhhn.org) will lead us through her interdisciplinary career journey, from trying, for a decade, to answer the question “Is it harmful to breathe this ash?”, by mineralogical, geochemical and toxicological analyses of ash samples from around the world, to her realisation that this question cannot easily be answered in the timeframe of acute community exposures. In 2015 she embarked on the Wellcome Trust/DfID-funded project Health Interventions in Volcanic Eruptions (HIVE; http://community.dur.ac.uk/hive.consortium/) which aimed to answer a more pertinent question: “How can I protect myself from breathing this ash?”. The HIVE project has built the first evidence base on the effectiveness of common materials used to protect communities in volcanic crises including cloth, surgical and industry-certified masks. The key finding is that industry-certified facemasks are more effective than any other type of protection, even with no fit training. Incorporating laboratory analyses, on the filtration efficiency and fit of 17 forms of respiratory protection, with psychological (questionnaire-based) and anthropological (interview-based) social surveys in Mexico, Japan and Indonesia, and a review of ethical considerations for agencies, the project has culminated in the development of a variety of audio-visual and printable public informational products for IVHHN which are already being widely used in Indonesia.