Tuesday 29 October 2013

Chemical Analysis at NHM & Zoning in Volcanic Phenocrysts - October 29th

Reminder from Western Region GS -
Chemical Analysis at the Natural History Musuem, London & Chemical Zoning in Volcanic Phenocrysts
Dr. Emma Humphreys-Williams, Natural History Museum

29th October / 6:30pm refreshments from 6pm          
Atkins, The Hub (Ground Floor), 500 Park Avenue, Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol, BS32 4RZ

Lead and zinc mining in Bristol/Mendip area - 30th October

'The environmental affects of historic lead and zinc mining in the Bristol/Mendip area'
Charlie Bacon, University of Bristol, Department of Earth Sciences.
7.30 pm - Wednesday 30 October 2013
S H Reynolds Lecture Theatre, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol, BS8 1RJ. Charlie Bacon is currently undertaking research into heavy metal pollution and its environmental affects on the Mendips and Somerset Levels that arises from historic Lead and Zinc mining in the area. It is hoped to follow up this talk with a field meeting next summer. The talk will look at the geochemistry of mine-related contamination from the Mendip mines.
Everyone welcome
Bristol NATS - Geology

Sunday 20 October 2013

Fantastic Bath/Bristol trip to Gower yesterday


View over Rhossili Bay, Gower, taken on 19th October on the combined Bath GS/WEGA/Bristol NATS field trip. Dr. Geraint Owen from Swansea University was our leader for the day and complemented his excellent hand-out with clear, concise descriptions of the fantastic geology of Gower. Many thanks! Brilliant!

Geraint explaining the karstic upper surface of the Caswell Bay Oolite.
Photo sent by Helen


Thursday 10 October 2013

de la Beche unconformity, Vallis Vale, near Frome

Have you ever seen the site looking like this? Alan Holiday has sent the photos after he had done some more final clearance at the site.



Become a young Rock Detective - 28th October & 9th November

28th October - Become a young Rock Detective!
At the Court Hill Centre in Wantage (off A338). OX12 9NE, OS Map Ref SU394849
Fabulous Fossils and more: including an introduction to geology, fossil handling & identification, recognising rock properties and walking a landscape trail in the grounds of the centre.
For children aged 6 to 12, accompanied by an adult.
Cost £3.00 per child.
Organised by the Oxfordshire Geology Trust with support from the North Wessex Downs AONB
Booking essential, please email

9th November - Become a young Rock Detective!
At Devizes Museum
Lots of hands-on practical activities organised by Wiltshire Geology Group
Booking essential
For further details contact the Education Officer at the Museum.

Friday 4 October 2013

October lectures - Western Region GS

15th October - The Moral Case for Mining - is it a question the mining industry can answer? Mike Harris, Rio Tinto
The mining industry operates in an environment increasingly demanding of its products. However, establishing the moral case for taking natural resources from one area to benefit another with most of the profits leaving the host country is becoming increasingly difficult. The same is true of the often irreparable change to delicate ecosystems from mining - why should plants, animals and peoples suffer, often die, in one place to benefit development in another while dominantly enriching distant investors?        
S.H. Reynolds Lecture Theatre (Room G25), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ.
6:30pm, refreshments from 6pm
29th October - Chemical Analysis at the Natural History Musuem, London & Chemical Zoning in Volcanic Phenocrysts  Dr. Emma Humphreys-Williams, Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum, London not only provides an area for the display and curation of thousands of specimens from the natural world, but also houses extensive imaging and analytical facilities that perform work for both in-house researchers and external clients. The chemical analysis performed in the labs covers a range of techniques (e.g. ICP-AES, ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS, CHN, IC) but is mainly focused on determining major and trace element compositions in natural samples. Emma will give a brief presentation of the work they do and the range of techniques that have developed as a result of the unique environment. The second half of Emma's talk will be devoted to her research, which concerns the petrogenesis of intra-plate magmas, in this case, an example from Calatrava, Spain. This work has focused on clinopyroxene and olivine crystals which exhibit a range of textures and chemical compositions, but help to inform how these unusual melts form.
Atkins, The Hub (Ground Floor), 500 Park Avenue, Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol, BS32 4RZ  6:30pm, refreshments from 6pm

Tuesday 1 October 2013

October 3rd - two lectures

'Volcanic risk communication: a heart-breaking subject - - still with almost no light at the end of the tunnel' by Professor Robert Thompson
Further details on the Bath GS website
7.30, BRLSI, 16 Queen Square, Bath.
Everyone welcome - visitors £4 - free refreshments

'Kimmeridge Clay, Crinoids and Plesiosaurs' by Tim Ewin (ex Geology Section President, and now of the Natural History Museum)
Further details from Bristol NATS - geology
7:30, Guide Association Hall, Westmoreland Road, Redland.

13th century eruption traced to Lombok

Scientists think they have found the volcano responsible for a huge eruption that occurred in the 13th Century. The mystery event in 1257 was so large its chemical signature is recorded in the ice of both the Arctic and the Antarctic. European medieval texts talk of a sudden cooling of the climate, and of failed harvests.
The volcano responsible may be Samalas Volcano on Lombok Island, Indonesia.
Read more.