14th Oct Professor Bryan Lovell (Cambridge University)
Challenged by carbon: geologists, the oil industry and climate change

Geology, not least in Scotland, is rapidly moving to centre stage as we approach the Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009. We have recently developed the ability to study past changes in climate on a timescale of thousands rather than millions of years. Armed with this new definition, we can now recognise that the global warming at 55Ma (Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum) is a convincing demonstration of the deleterious consequences of our contemporary release of carbon to the atmosphere. Thanks to recent studies carried out in Cambridge and Edinburgh, we now have a plausible trigger for the release of carbon that triggered the 55Ma warming event. It is suggested that the trigger was an episode of regional uplift in the nascent North Atlantic Ocean, caused by a hot pulse in mantle convection associated with the early Icelandic hotspot. (Such pulses may also explain hitherto mysterious high-frequency changes in regional sea-level – a matter to be discussed only briefly on this occasion.)

The coal and oil industries have been our agents in taking carbon from the subsurface and preparing it for our use and subsequent release to the atmosphere. The oil industry has thereby become villainous in many eyes. Redemption may be at hand: petroleum geologists and engineers can put carbon back safely underground. We should brace ourselves to pay them twice – once to take the carbon out and again to put it back.

We now have conviction that anthropogenic climate change is a serious problem. This conviction arises from observations of rocks, rather than from computer models of still uncertain Earth systems. We need the further conviction that we can solve the problem of carbon release by changing our behaviour and by the application of existing technology, not least carbon capture and storage carried out with the aid of the oil industry. Scotland is an early leader in preparing for this vital activity.

28th Oct Dr David Brown (University of Glasgow)
Agglomerates, cauldrons and felsites: a historical record of caldera and sector collapse processes in the British Palaeogene Igneous Province.

Silicic volcanic rocks have long been recognised in the BPIP, yet they have traditionally received little attention, with most studies choosing to focus on the geochronology and geochemistry of the dominant mafic lithologies. The majority of the silicic igneous rocks in the BPIP occur as large granite plutons, but smaller silicic units, historically classified as “felsites” and variously interpreted as lavas, sills and ring-dykes, are also present. These felsites are often associated with coarse clastic rocks interpreted as “vent agglomerates”. Although apparently volumetrically minor, these rocks helped to shape our early understanding of volcanic and shallow intrusive processes, and in particular, early models of cauldron subsidence.

However, as our understanding of physical volcanology and volcano-tectonic products and processes has advanced, and as BPIP localities have been re-investigated in ever greater detail, we now realise that the “agglomerates” and “felsites” record a complex history of caldera and sector collapse events. New and recently published data will be used to outline the physical volcanology, sedimentology and volcano-tectonic evolution of the BPIP centres, and to discuss the key role in our understanding of volcanic and shallow intrusive processes.

11th Nov Professor Chris MacLeod (Cardiff University)
A new view of seafloor spreading at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Seafloor spreading, the process by which new volcanic ocean floor is created at mid-ocean ridges, generates 60% of the surface of the planet and is arguably the most fundamental geological process on Earth. As the plates are pulled apart, hot, ductile mantle beneath is drawn upward, decompresses and partially melts, rising to form a 6-7 km-thick igneous ocean crust. This supposedly simple “conveyor belt” model has graced textbooks since the advent of the plate tectonic paradigm in the 1960s. However, the recovery of samples of serpentinite-altered mantle rock from the seafloor at some ocean ridge axes requires us to re-examine the basic seafloor-spreading concept. Why is the ocean crust missing? Did it never form, or has it been ripped away? In this talk I use results from our recent cruises to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to attempt to resolve this conundrum, and to present a new view of seafloor spreading at slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges.

25th Nov Dr Phil Stone (British Geological Survey)
Charles Darwin, geology and the Falkland Islands.

Charles Darwin was born in 1809 and fifty years later published his seminal work "On the origin of species by means of natural selection". So, in 2009, we celebrate two important scientific anniversaries. Darwin's work on evolution was much influenced by his experiences during the famous voyage of HMS Beagle and whilst some parts of that voyage, such as the exploration of the Galapagos Islands, are well known and much celebrated, other parts are often overlooked. Typical of these neglected aspects are the two visits that the Beagle made to the Falkland Islands, in 1833 and 1834. Whilst there, Darwin gathered a wealth of scientific information and his geological work in particular has had lasting implications. He collected fossils, made accurate structural observations and speculated on the origin of landforms. Other observations on the local fauna influenced his now better-known ideas on natural selection. When the Beagle returned home, Darwin's scientific collection was split up amongst a multitude of specialists, not all of whom treated it with the respect it deserved. As a result, there are still surprises to be found in the museums where the material now resides.

9th Dec Fellows' Night and Social Evening

Short talks:
John Mendum Geology and wine: the nature of terroir (which will provide an introduction to the wines that follow in our social evening)
David Stephenson E.B. Bailey in the Grampian Highlands: nappes, slides and major 'inversions'
Richard Batchelor Proterozoic volcanics in Scotland
Brendan Hamill Shocked Quartz and “Frothed Rocks” of Kinross-shire

... and the launch of Red Sandstone Buidlings of Edinburgh by Michael Devlin and Malcolm Macnicol.

Demonstrations & Displays:
Phil Stone: display of specimens, Fossils from the Falkland Islands - in Darwin's footsteps
Lothian and Borders RIGS Group

Further demonstrations of specimens, posters, photographs, microscopy, or anything else you would like to share with fellow members are welcome. If you have something you would like to offer, contact Angus Miller - see Society Contacts.

13th Jan Dr Andrew Ross (National Museums Scotland)
Insects in amber

Not only does amber make beautiful jewellery, but it is fascinating for its ability to preserve delicate organisms that otherwise are not represented in the fossil record. This talk will lavishly illustrate the different kinds of amber from around the world and the inclusions they contain. The most common animal inclusions are insects and comparing these with their living counterparts tells us a lot about past terrestrial ecology and environments. The search for DNA and how to recognise fakes is also presented.

20th Jan Presidential Address Mr Andrew McMillan (British Geological Survey)
Our built heritage – why earth science matters

From earliest times in human history a range of Earth’s mineral resources have been exploited for the building of shelters, dwellings, walls, fortifications, places of worship, roads and bridges and for monuments, great and small. Of prime importance is stone. With reference to the UK, and in particular to Scotland, stone features in much of our built heritage, although at various times in the past timber was pre-eminent. Stone forms a major component of Scotland's pre-1919 building stock, both as masonry and roofing, and is increasingly being used as cladding in new buildings and as paving for town and city streetscapes. From the acme of building with stone during the mid- to late-1800s when Scotland had over 700 working quarries supplying local, national and international needs, today we have approximately 20 quarries extracting exclusively building and pavement stone. This presentation will explore the application of Earth Sciences to understand and characterise this versatile but variable material and to identify future indigenous resources which are crucial for the conservation and maintenance of our built heritage.

10th Feb Presentation of the Clough Medal Dr Doug Fettes
The Dalradian - a continuing enigma

Over the past twenty or so years there has been a great increase in our geological knowledge of the Scottish Highlands and, in particular, the place of the Highlands in global tectonics. Paradoxically, this increase in knowledge has shown the complexity of the geological evolution of the area and has highlighted how many intriguing and fundamental questions still remain to be answered. In many ways the focus of investigation has moved from establishing a relatively simple and conformable model for the Highlands to a situation where we seek to define the disconformities and their meaning. Even in the area of the Daradian Supergroup there are still many enigmas. For example, how old is the Dalradian – does it really pre-date its own basement? Was Perthshire nearly torn asunder 600Ma years ago? Is the Buchan area really part of the Dalradian or is it a late intruder? Our current understanding of these problems will be discussed and how they may fit into a coherent model.

24th Feb CHANGE TO PUBLISHED PROGRAMME Dr Ken McCaffrey (University of Durham)
Laser scanning, lighting up the rocks

Geospatial data acquisition at global to regional scales has wide acceptance, and tools such as Google Earth have been instrumental in extending Earth visualisation far beyond specialist users of GIS and satellite imagery. At the outcrop scale, the number of industry and academic geoscientists adopting digital technologies to gather field data is steadily increasing. When integrated with traditional field skills, these technologies offer two fundamental advantages: firstly, outcrop geology can now be recorded with very high detail and precision; secondly, observations and data are precisely georeferenced, which is a prerequisite for 2D and 3D spatial analysis. Using methods such as terrestrial laser scanning and digital photogrammetry, it is possible to create highly realistic virtual copies of the outcrop. These virtual outcrop models can be used to great effect to enhance teaching, to provide virtual field-trips (most effective in conjunction with a real visit to the outcrop), to promote group discussion and interpretation, or as part of Health & Safety briefing. Perhaps most importantly, digital outcrop data is also being used to derive quantitative attribute measurements from specific geological features. Here the emphasis is not on capturing a photo-realistic copy of the outcrop, but rather on gathering the relevant types of data at the most appropriate resolution and geospatial precision for the type of analysis undertaken. Examples of this kind of quantitative analysis include fault curvature, roughness, branch-line geometry, spatial variation in fault displacement, fracture spacing and 3D spatial clustering, fold curvature, sedimentary channel morphology, lateral and vertical facies variations, and geomorphological analysis of terrace offsets. These kinds of studies generate real-world constraints for validation and calibration in geological modelling and ultimately provide new insights into a range of geological processes.

10th Mar Joint lecture with Mining Institute of Scotland (7pm, Murchison House) Dr James Tweedie (GeoMEM)
Borehole Surveying in mining, quarrying and oil exploration

The need to survey was recognised as early as the 1870s just over a decade after the first mechanised drill was developed for oil exploration.
Until 1929 the most used (and unsafe) method of acid etch provided only low accuracy information about borehole inclination. In 1929 Sperry introduced the SURWEL Gyroscope which delivered both inclination and direction and the borehole surveying was born.

Since then there has been continuous development of surveying instruments and methods with major boosts in the late 20th century to the present as computing power increased and electronic components and sensors were miniaturised. This process continues apace today.

Knowledge of borehole paths is essential in most industries in which drilling is involved, including Oil & Gas, Mining, Quarrying and Engineering/Construction. It is required to locate the position of the various data that are obtained whilst drilling, either by sampling or logging and, hence, allow accurate interpretation and planning and reduction of risk for later processes.

The main challenge now is to survey to a known accuracy. This requires understanding of the instrument being used, its method of surveying and data processing and the constraints imposed by the borehole and surrounding environment.

24th Mar Professor Tim Atkinson (University College, London)
Taking the plunge into deep time - landscape evolution comes of age

The measurement of past time has played a key role in the history of geology, with enormous advances made in dating rocks and sediments since the early 20th century. The dating of erosional features lagged far behind methods that could be applied to rocks. The invention of dating techniques such as radio-carbon and lead-210, which have short time-spans, led to a bias in geomorphology towards short timescales and studies of landscape evolution became unfashionable in geomorphic circles from the 1960s on. This situation has gradually reversed, with the introduction of longer time-scale radiometric methods based on electron spin resonance, thermo-luminescence, optically stimulated luminescence, Uranium-Thorium, the direct dating of surfaces using cosmogenic isotopes, and the use of the palaeomagnetic reversal timescale. Together these techniques pushed back the dating limits for landscape studies to about 0.5 My. Recently it
has become possible to date very young secondary carbonates by the U-Pb technique, which has no upper time limit, and a lower time limit that has been brought down to ~0.1 My in favourable circumstances. In principle it is now possible to measure the evolutionary history of whole landscapes, by dating rock surfaces, sediments and other deposits such as lavas and volcanic ash resting on them, and underground features such as cave deposits.

The talk will briefly survey the history of dating methods but will mainly concentrate on the use of cave deposits to date rates of valley incision and landscape evolution, with world-wide examples, including NW Scotland. The talk will conclude by considering the implications of these studies
for engineering projects that have long design lifetimes, especially the burial of nuclear wastes.

8th Apr Peter Westbroek (Leiden University)
Earth - from global menaces to planetary hope

Global heating, overpopulation, exhaustion of natural resources, globalization ... all these problems are connected and affect the earth at large. The world leaders pull their levers, but, whatever they do, things only get worse. An epidemic of global fear is spreading and already shows its ugly face in outbreaks of intolerance, fundamentalism, and xenophobia. This fear is the worst of all our predicaments. What we need is an inner light, an attitude of detachment, a balanced state of mind. This, I argue, is what geology can bring about. Through our science we can gaze into the abyss of time, fathom the depth of our roots, witness the immense creativity of emergence, and admire the majestic odyssey of our planet’s history. Geology is a neglected treasure trove bringing admiration for this planet and confidence in ourselves. Its method is universal and its results are open to everybody. Thanks to geology we are in a position to overcome our fears, properly address the problems ahead and experience our life as a unique adventure.