The Clough and Mykura Funds Grants from
these funds, normally of the order of a few hundred pounds, are available to support
geological field work at home or abroad. Grants from the Clough Fund may be awarded
for fieldwork or other geological enterprise in any area, provided that a suitable
Scottish connection can be demonstrated through the recipient or their institution,
or through the work itself. Grants from the Mykura Fund are restricted to geological
fieldwork in Scotland, with preference given to workers under 35 years old. Applications
are invited from professional and non-professional geologists and from students
of geology, and each will be considered on its merits by the Clough Committee.
Applications should be made in writing to the Honorary Secretary (preferably
by email - see contact details), outlining the proposed
work, and should be supported by a letter from the applicant's institution or
by a reference from someone of suitable professional standing. They should be
submitted by the end of February for consideration in early March. Recent
Grants from the Clough and Mykura Funds
In 2007 Colin Ballantyne at the University of St Andrews
received funds to support fieldwork in Wester Ross, northwest Scotland. This involved
collecting 20 samples for cosmogenic 10Be surface exposure dating, to calculate
the timing of a glacial readvance in this area at the end of the last ice age.
Provisional results from 9 samples suggest that the readvance occurred around
13,000 years ago, significantly later than had previously been supposed. 
The
western part of the Applecross moraine, deposited by a lobe of ice to the right
(north) of the moraine. |
Dr. Madeleine Humphreys was awarded a grant in 2007 to fund to a group from the
University of Cambridge and the University of Bristol, to undertake a study of
columnar jointing in basalt on the island of Staffa. Despite recent advances,
there is still considerable debate over the formation of these spectacular joint
patterns. Fieldwork was carried out during August 2007. The group camped on Staffa
for 6 days, and carried out sampling and measurements of the columns as well as
mapping of individual lava flows. Results are now being analysed, and it is expected
that the conclusions will be applicable to other areas.
| In
2007 Ian Alsop received funds to for fieldwork in Donegal. The objectives of this
fieldwork were to gain a better understanding of (1) Extensional ductile structures
related to possible orogenic collapse of the Dalradian and (2) The timing and
kinematics of granite emplacement. This research has resulted in a paper entitled
"The brittle evolution of a major strike-slip fault associated with granite
emplacement: A case study of the Leannan Fault, NW Ireland" (Kirkland, Alsop
& Prave 2008. Jour. Geol. Soc., vol. 165, pages 341-352) with another paper
on ductile structures planned. | 
Sinistral shearing the Tullagh Point Granite
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Post-tectonic lamprophyre cross-cutting folds in the Dalradian
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