Autumn Members Challenge – Visit an Important Geo-site
In the run up to this year’s Fellows’ Night, we invite EGS Members to visit somewhere new this autumn and share what you find.
News
The latest news and information from EGS, including updates on our excursion and lecture programmes, and any other news we think you might find interesting or useful. Please let us know of anything important that we could share with others, by email or using our Contact Form.
Revised and expanded: “James Hutton: The Founder of Modern Geology”
National Museums Scotland have published an expanded and revised edition of Alan McKirdy’s “James Hutton: The Founder of Modern Geology” this spring.
This is one of several initiatives in progress as we approach the tercentenary of Hutton’s birth in 2026.
You can read more about the book in this blog post:
https://blog.nms.ac.uk/2022/04/25/james-hutton-the-founder-of-modern-geology/
The book is available to buy from our website >
Members’ Price is £12 (a 20% discount from its £14.99 RRP).
All other books on our website are also available at a 20% reduction for EGS members, and they will remain postage-free to members until our evening lectures and book sales can fully resume at the Grant Institute.
Geology & Landscape of Arran – walking holiday
Have you ever cast your eyes upwards and wondered why that mountain is the shape it is? Or been puzzled by that particular lump of rock that sticks out so far? Maybe you’ve admired the pebbles along the shore, and wondered what they’re made of. If so, we might be able to help!
The Lochranza Centre on Arran runs Public Geology courses each year. These outdoor education courses take you into the field and equip you with the knowledge and skills to read our landscape with new eyes. Comprising a five-day package, including bed and board, the courses are largely outdoors-based but also feature some indoor learning.
Our 2022 course will run from Sunday 31st July – Saturday 6th August, an all-inclusive week priced at £475 per person.
Geology & Geopoetics: a Virtual Conversation
Join two Emeritus Professors – Patrick Corbett and John Gordon – for an online discussion on how geology is fundamental to geopoetics using the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset as a case study.
Thursday, 11 August 2022 17:00 – 18:30 BST. Book here – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/geology-geopoetics-a-virtual-conversation-tickets-375380903387
Kenneth White (founder of the International Institute of Geopoetics) has written: “Taking geology as ground-level, (geopoetics) is a new way of being human and of living a human life on this earth”. White, growing up on the coast of Ayrshire, walking with a geological field guide, appreciated the role of geology from an early age. His writings make many references to geology and he acknowledges that geology has had an important role in Scottish culture: “Hutton’s ‘Theory of the Earth’ I see as the bottom line of the Scottish Enlightenment”. We review other references to geology in his recently published Collected Works (Edinburgh University Press, 2020) to illustrate his depth of knowledge and engagement and to set the scene for a geopoetic case study outwith Scotland.
The Isle of Purbeck in Dorset on the South Coast includes part of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast and as such is a mecca for geological field trips. As part of the SW Coast Path it also attracts many walkers. With visitors such as Charles Kingsley, Thomas Hardy, J.M.W. Turner and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the area of outstanding natural beauty has attracted many eulogies and memorials over the last few centuries. It is also an area with a rich stone-working heritage – Purbeck Stone features in many cathedrals, cities, harbours, memorials with peak mining in the 13th Century. Stone is still quarried today and is the native stone used in many of the buildings. The landscape has influenced the mindscape of many poets, and their wordscape can be closely connected to the underlying geology. The Isle of Purbeck provides a perfect case study to map poetics to geology and discuss the expression of geopoetics as a means to open new worlds, and by linking the geological and cultural elements (re)discover a sense of wonder about our geoheritage and foster an appreciation of its values.
Patrick Corbett spent more than 40 years working in the oil and gas industry and academia. First, after graduating in Geology as a mudlogger working on the North Sea rigs, then later working for an oil company in Aberdeen, Netherlands and Indonesia. He left the industry to do a PhD at Heriot-Watt and stayed there for 31 years, retiring in 2020 as a Professor of Petroleum Geoengineering, Senate and Court member (Governing bodies of the University). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Assistant Director of the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics.
Just prior to retiring he took up writing in poetry, following in the footsteps of his father. His subject matter drew on his retirement pastime of walking the coast of the UK, its birds, its scenery inspired by a University career in petroleum science and engineering. He discovered that he was walking in the footsteps of Kenneth White and the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics and was pleased that his first published poem, “Industria Cumbria” in The New European in February 2020, could be dedicated to Kenneth White, the founder of the International Centre for Geopoetics. Seeing that geologists and poets shared many aspects – use of imagination, reading and writing of words and images, interpreting the blank spaces, communication of feelings – he set up Geopoetry 2020, a well-received, online meeting in which poets broadly interested in geoscience – and geoscientists interested in poetry – could share their work. He is a Board Member of the Scottish Poetry Library and is interested in broadening the role of poetry in science education.
Examples of Patrick’s work can be found at www.geopoetrick.co.uk
John Gordon is an Honorary Professor in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews. He has worked in geoconservation for many years and is a deputy chair of the Geoheritage Specialist Group of thev IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. His interests include geoconservation, the links between geoheritage, geotourism and cultural heritage, the glacial history and landforms of Scoitland, and mountain glaciers and glaciation.
Explore Beach Pebbles at the Edinburgh Science Festival 20-23 April
Every beach pebble has got a story to tell, about how the original rock was formed and what’s happened to it since then, to turn it into the pebble you can pick up on a beach today. Join geologists from the Edinburgh Geological Society on a local beach for some hands-on activities to explore the stories hidden in every pebble.
Free, drop-in events in the Edinburgh Science Festival, all welcome!
Further information and booking: www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/science-festival-2022/
Clough Medal Lecture 2021/22
On 2 March 2022 at 7pm, the annual Clough Medal lecture took place for the first time as combined physical and virtual event. The medallist for 2021/22 was Dr Tim Smithson who gave a lecture entitled the “A new beginning: recent discoveries in the early Carboniferous of northern Britain reveal rapid faunal replacement following the end-Devonian extinction”. He was presented with his medal by Dr Tom Challands, the President of the Edinburgh Geological Society.
Tim being presented with Clough Medal 2021
A brief outline of Tim’s career was described by Tom: Following his undergraduate studies at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (UNUT), 1972- 1975) Tim started his PhD under Alec Panchen at UNUT in 1976 but, being somewhat regarded as a genius in his field, he was offered a post-doctorate position in Montreal to work with Robert Carroll at McGill University before completing his PhD. By the time he had completed his PhD in 1983 Tim had already published four academic papers. Again, before completing his PhD, he was awarded a Sir Jamed Knott Fellowship at UNUT until 1984. Tim’s academic record is all the more impressive given that the major part of his career was spent in teaching and managerial roles in further education and not as a university academic.
During his time in further education (1985-2012), Tim was still actively engaged in fieldwork and research and published 18 research papers including perhaps his most notable work is his discovery and description in 1989 of Westlothiana lizziae (aka ‘Lizzie’) at first considered to be the earliest reptile but now considered to lie on the amniote stem. Besides ‘Lizzie’ Tim has described no less than ten new tetrapods and fourteen new fish taxa from Scotland.
Between 2012-17, he became involved in the highly successful TW:eed (Tetrapod World: early evolution and diversification) project, which was led by the late Prof. Jenny Clack at Cambridge University. He currently holds a position with Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge and continues to publish on all manner of things fossilferous.
Tim’s provided a well-crafted talk telling us about the history of the people involved and also the nature of discoveries. From Prof Alfred Romer (1894-1973), through Prof Stanley Westoll FRS (1912-1995), a previous holder of the Clough Medal in 1976-77, and on until the late Stan Wood (1939-2012); Tim explained how each had played their part in filling the fossil record of the late Devonian/ early Carboniferous period between 359 and 330 Ma.
In his summary, Tim explained that:
• Vertebrates recovered quickly following the end-Devonian extinction;
• There is no evidence for either a fall in atmospheric oxygen or a post-extinction trough;
• Vertebrate diversity is much greater in the Early Carboniferous than previously recognised;
• For tetrapods this diversification probably began in the late Devonian; and
• Romer’s Gap is not a natural phenomenon but is an artefact of previous unsuccessful collecting.
The vote of thanks was given by Dr Dave Millward (ex-BGS) and who thanked Tim for an excellent talk which everyone had enjoyed. He was also thanked for a couple of things; i) being a Zoologist who was also interested in the rocks and ii) for Tim’s (and also the late Prof Jenny Clack’s) word-smithery around the naming of their fossils finds.
If Fellows weren’t able to attend physically or virtually, a recording can be found on our website.
Take a walk to explore Edinburgh’s geology
The city of Edinburgh is well known for its spectacular scenery. As spring approaches we invite you to get outdoors and explore some local geology, to discover how it underpins the scenery and the ways that people have lived here and used geological resources over thousands of years. The Lothian and Borders GeoConservation group have published over 30 leaflets that explain the geology of local sites of interest across Edinburgh and the Lothians. You can take a walk along the coast at Cramond or Dunbar, for instance, or head inland to the wonderful varied geology of the Pentland Hills.
View the full collection of Lothian and Borders GeoConservation leaflets and download them here
New Walker’s guide to Coigach & Assynt
New from the Northwest Highlands UNESCO Global Geopark, a Walker’s Guide to Coigach & Assynt. The book explores 26 walks selected by the local community with over 110 stunning colour photographs, maps for each route, and information about the local history and geology. The walks range from short strolls to mountain adventures – so there’s something for everyone. It also includes a foreword by mountaineer Sir Chris Bonnington.
If you’re looking for a Christmas gift for fans of the Geopark and the North West Highlands, or perhaps just looking for inspiration for your next adventure in 2022, take a look at the Walker’s Guide in the Geopark’s online shop. For UK orders we recommend ordering by December 15th for delivery in time for Christmas.
New boards explore Fife’s volcanoes
The Edinburgh Geological Society is delighted to have supported a project by Dr Tom Gernon, now an Associate Professor in Earth Science at the University of Southampton, to install two new interpretation boards on the Fife Coastal Path at Elie and St Monans in Fife. Tom’s research on the Eruptive history of an alkali basaltic diatreme from Elie Ness, Fife has been brought to a much wider audience through the preparation of these two fantastic boards, which tell the story of the volcanic history of the area and include information on the historical context including the work of Archibald Geikie and curiosities such as Elie Rubies.
You can visit the new boards on the Fife Coastal Path next to the St Monan’s auld kirk and near the Elie Ness lighthouse. The project was supported by the Geologists’ Association Curry Fund, EGS, Fife Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, geoHeritage Fife and the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.
New book Earth Lines: Geopoetry and Geopoetics
The Edinburgh Geological Society and partners are delighted to launch a new book Earth Lines: Geopoetry and Geopoetics edited by Patrick Corbett, Norman Bissell, Philip Ringrose, Sarah Tremlett, Brian Whalley. Earth Lines grew out of a Geopoetry event hosted by the Geological Society of London on 1 October 2020, and is a compilation of poetry and essays on the broadest theme of geoscience.
More details of the publication, including a selection of audio and video recordings of some of the poems and poets featured in Earth Lines, including some additional poems and a geopoetry map, are available on the dedicated Earth Lines page of this website.
The online launch, part of the Scottish Geology Festival, took place on Friday 1 October 2021 – view the event recording here.
Earth Lines is now available to buy from our publications section – click here.