News and Information - Edinburgh Geological Society

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

1 May 2018/in General Information/by admin

An exciting new book about the dinosaurs is published this month (May 2018). Written by Dr Stephen Brusatte, Reader in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Edinburgh, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs sheds new light on this amazingly successful group of reptiles which flourished for 150 million years. Steve is one of the new generation of fossil hunters, armed with cutting-edge technology, such as CT-scanning, who are working to fill the gaps in the dinosaur story. He follows the dinosaurs from their beginnings in the early Triassic period, through the Jurassic period to their eventual extinction by the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. Along the way he sheds light on some of his own discoveries, such as human-sized tyrannosaurs and feathered raptor dinosaurs entombed in lava in China. EGS members have already enjoyed Steve’s lectures and articles on the dinosaurs, including those that left their footprints in the rocks of Skye. If you’re curious to know more – much more – then this book is an absolute must-have!

Ellen’s Glen Field Excursion on 25 April 2018

1 May 2018/in General Information/by Neil Mackenzie

Ellen’s Glen. Copyright: Howard Turner

The first Wednesday field excursion took place on 25 April to Ellen’s Glen in SE Edinburgh. An enthusiastic group of members attended this event which was led by Al McGowan. The evening walk along the Ellen’s Glen included a good mixture of geological and botanical features. There was plenty of discussion as the group moved through the Glen. The image shows one of the outcrops.

Members who enjoyed this trip should look out for our next Wednesday evening excursion on the 9 May to Bonaly. Please use the excursion page of the website to book places on any of the excursions.

EGS Excursion Programme

24 April 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

Our bumper Excursion Programme for 2018 allows you to experience the superb range of geology that southern Scotland has to offer. Explore the building stones of Perth, find some amazing fossils, find out about the glacial history of the River Tweed area … or go on an evening excursion to a local hill and explore the historical links between landscape, resources and people.

Excursions are booking fast, and some are now full with a waiting list. Book now!

Excursions

New leaflet: Around Castle Rock

24 April 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

Lothian and Borders GeoConservation have launched their latest leaflet, Around Castle Rock, written by Andrew McMillan and available in printed format and as a free download from this website. Edinburgh Castle Rock developed as part of a volcano hundreds of millions of years before human occupation. Today it provides a spectacular backdrop to the centre of the City of Edinburgh. This booklet describes the geological processes which created the landscape of the city centre and a selection of stone-constructed buildings and monuments which form part of the city’s built heritage.

Download the new leaflet here …

Exciting new Skye dinosaur footprint finds published in Scottish Journal of Geology

4 April 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

Sauropod footprint credit Jon Hoad

A new article in the Scottish Journal of Geology (the academic journal published jointly by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Geological Societies) describes important new dinosaur tracksite at Rubha nam Brathairean (Brothers’ Point) on the Isle of Skye. Most of the prints were made by long-necked sauropods – which stood up to 2m (6.5ft) tall – and by theropods. Researchers measured, photographed and analysed about 50 footprints in a tidal area at Rubha nam Brathairean on the Trotternish peninsula. Analysis of the clearest prints enabled scientists to ascribe them to sauropods and theropods.

You can access the full article from the Scottish Journal of Geology website here, currently available as a free pdf download.

Deep Time at the Science Festival – 5, 6, 7 April

19 March 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

The Edinburgh Geological Society is delighted to be contributing to this year’s Science Festival with a unique event in Holyrood Park, exploring deep time, in association with the team behind the award-winning Deep Time Walk mobile app. Join us to walk 4.6 km, 1 metre for every million years of Earth history, guided and entertained by two characters – a scientist and a fool – in philosophical conversation about life, evolution and our place in the world.

Full details and tickets – www.sciencefestival.co.uk/event-details/deep-time-walk

Earth Day at Dynamic Earth Sunday 22 April

19 March 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

We’re taking part in Earth Day Celebrations at Dynamic Earth on Sunday 22 April. Come and celebrate with activities the whole family can enjoy … find out what roamed the Earth before we did with exciting hands-on drop in activities.

The event is free and open to all ages with some activities targeted specifically at younger audiences. Activities are available from 10am-4pm and are being run in partnership with Edinburgh University School of GeoSciences, Edinburgh Geological Society and Dynamic Earth.

Clough Medal 2017-2018

25 February 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

EGS President Bob Gatliff (right) presents the Clough Medal to Bob Holdsworth.

The Society were delighted to present Prof Robert Holdsworth with the Clough Medal before his lecture to the Society on Wednesday 21 February. This is the Society’s premier award, presented annually to a geologist whose original work has materially increased the knowledge of the geology of Scotland and/or the north of England, or who is Scottish by birth or by adoption and residence and has significantly advanced the knowledge of any aspect of geology. Bob Holdsworth has been awarded the Clough Medal for 2017-2018 in recognition of his exceptional contribution to research in structural geology and, in particular, in establishing the tectonic framework of the Moine rocks of Sutherland, together with many other notable achievements.

Fieldwork Grants – latest report

14 February 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

The Society supports geological fieldwork at home or abroad with grants from the Clough and Mykura Funds. We are always pleased to hear back about how the fieldwork went, and were delighted to receive a thorough and fascinating account from Bob Gooday about his visit to Alaska in 2017. Bob took part in the International Volcanological Summer School in Katmai National Park, Alaska. This involved staying in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes for ten days, looking at volcanic features in the Valley and the surrounding Katmai Cluster of volcanoes. The Katmai-Novarupta eruption in 1912 was the largest on Earth in the twentieth century, and completely filled a nearby valley with pyroclastic deposits. These deposits sustained intense fumarolic activity for several years, giving the valley its name. Bob notes that observation of the caldera formed during the Katmai eruption, and discussion of the processes at work have helped with his PhD work on a similar-sized, but much older, caldera system on Arran, western Scotland. So that’s at least one thing that Alaska and Arran have in common …

A mother brown bear with her cub on the shore of Naknek Lake at Brooks Lodge. Bob Gooday.

Annual General Meeting Wednesday 7 February, 7pm

30 January 2018/in General Information/by Angus Miller

The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held at 7pm on Wednesday 7th February, followed by a lecture by Hannah Watkins on Predicting strain and fracture patterns in a fold-thrust belt, NW Scotland.

At the AGM, the following Council members are proposed for election:

Position	2017	Elect Jan 2018
President	Stuart Monro	Robert Gatliff
Vice-President	Robert Gatliff	Tom Challands
Vice-President	Emrys Phillips	Emrys Phillips
Immediate Past President	Christine Thompson	Stuart Monro
Honorary Secretary	Andrew Rushworth (acting)	Neil Mackenzie
Assistant Secretary (Annual Report)	Barbara Clarke (acting)	Don Cameron
Assistant Secretary (Minutes)	Richard Buxton	Richard Buxton
Honorary Treasurer	Christian Ranken	Christian Ranken*
Membership Secretary	Barbara Clarke	Bruce Mair
Lectures Secretary	Graham Leslie	Graham Leslie
Excursions Secretary	Vacant	Ian Kearsley
Assistant Secretary (Excursion Bookings)	Alison Tymon	Alison Tymon
Assistant Secretary (Planning & Finance)	Andrew Rushworth	Andrew Rushworth
Assistant Secretary (GeoConservation)	Mike Browne	Mike Browne
Assistant Secretary (Clough/Awards)	Graham Leslie	Graham Leslie
Assistant Secretary (Publications)	David Stephenson	David Stephenson
Publications Sales Officer	Don Cameron	Don Cameron
Librarian/Archivist	Vacant	Christine Thompson
Ordinary Member	Con Gillen	Con Gillen
Ordinary Member	Richard Smith	Barbara Clarke
Ordinary Member	Christopher Lofthouse	Christopher Lofthouse
Ordinary Member	Anastasia Polymeni	Anastasia Polymeni
Ordinary Member	Vacant	Vacant
Ordinary Member	Vacant	Vacant
Scientific Editor	Maarten Krabbendam	Maarten Krabbendam
Scientific Editor	Tom Challands	Tom Challands
Independent Examiner	J Cordery (Gibson McKerrell Brown)

*Christian Ranken will take a reduced workload through to Sept 2018, during which Don Cameron and Andrew Rushworth will cover certain aspects of the Treasurer’s role.

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