SXR260 - The Geological History of the British Isles

Didn't we have a lovely time, the week we went to Durham?

Day 0 - Arrival and maps

This year the SXR260 Summer School was based at Trevelyan College in Durham because St Mary's which was a women only college was letting men in (or going bisexual as Colin put it). After arrival and registration, we had for an introductory lecture and then off to meet our tutor groups. I was in group 4 with Colin as our tutor. (Colin was also the coach leader and his fine entertainment was yet another highlight of the week!) We were working in pairs within our groups, but as the last person in our group did not turn up I worked with Rob and Roger who kindly let me join them. We looked at the Lake District sheet and then at the larger scale Brough sheet. We were looking at the faults we would see later in the week, and discussing the Alston and Askrigg blocks that would be another large feature of the week. We also had a demonstration of how to use a compass clinometer and tried it out on a piece of sloping board in the lab.

Day 1 - How did you get that map?

Nice channelling

Our first stop on day 1 was in the town of Barnard Castle. We were looking at an outcrop under the castle. This was our first go of the week at looking at rocks and sketching what we saw. We quickly established that it was a sandstone with evidence of water transport (no frosting, sub angular grains). There was cross bedding and channelling present. We also saw Raby castle and had our first mention of Lord Barnard. He would become a constant feature of our week's entertainment with Colin.

We continued onto our main aim of the day, mapping at Hillbeck quarry after a welcome stop at Brough (where we got a preview od some red sandstone we would see later in the week). In our group, the first stop was at location N which was our first chance to use the compass clinometer (clino) in a real setting. Examination of the lithology told us this was a dark coloured limestone (in fact the Robinson limestone). Continuing to location E we noted that the ground between us and the outcrop in front had different vegetation - tough grasses typical of a more boggy environment. We concluded that these must be growing on a different rocktype, which was confirmed by the small outcrop of mudstone visible on our traverse to location F. At location F we again took the strike and dip and looked at the lithology (Melmerby Scar limestone). We hypothesized that we were on an anticline and made predictions about the strike and dip on the other side. At location G by the horseshoe scar we confirmed our hypothesis. We saw later that this is in fact an eastward dipping anticline.

Eastward dipping anticline	Measuring strike and dip
Brachiopod

At location H we took another strike / dip reading, lithology (Robinson limestone) and looked at the outcrop high above us. We were informed that this limestone is in fact the Melmerby Scar limestone which underlies the Robinson limestone on which we were sitting. There was a fault with a large throw in front of us, the Barnum fault which is part of the Pennine fault system. We climbed up the other side to location K to see galena and baryte which were once mined here. Finally, we went to location A to see fossils of brachiopods (including Gigantoproductus giganteus) and corals and speculate on the depositional environment of the limestone being quarried (Robinson). Back in the lab we completed our geological maps and drew a cross section through the area. On the coach on the way home we were treated to the tail of Eric Bloodaxe and his horse, floggin. At the time this all seemed quite plausable until we passed the alleged grave of Eric (here lies the body of Eric Bloodaxe with floggin his dead horse...)
Five of us including Colin formed the team 'Gneissly Schist' for the pub quiz. Thanks to Colin we came second (but were leading for quite a while) and won some quite stunning quartz. Still, it could have been a plastic fossil...

View showing flat topped Wildboar fell on left (Askrigg block) and rounded Howgill fells on right (lake district block).

View showing flat topped Wildboar fell on left (Askrigg block) and rounded Howgill fells on right (lake district block)

Day 2 - Whin Sill and Waterfalls
Day 2 was a day of two halves, igneous and sedimentary. Our first stop (apart from to look at the view) was at low force. Apart from the stunning waterfalls (formed of course by the water going over a more resistant rock type), we were looking at the structure of the Whin Sill. We started by looking at the polygonal forms of the columns formed when the magma cooled. Next we looked for the chilled margin at the top of the sill, which was rather elusive. After our photo stop by the sheep, we went to the second locality which was an outcrop of sill on top of bedded country rock. This was not the bottom of the sill but either a raft or pendant of country rock within the sill. The chilled margin here was much more evident. We looked at the lithology of the Whin Sill in the Whin Sill quarry. The main Whin Sill rock is dolerite (Bagshaw's Law: if you can see the grains, it's not fine grained!), but we also saw a pegmatite band formed from the last magma to cool - by this stage it is more hydrous allowing the more mobile molecules to form much larger crystals. We continued on the coach to High Force where we saw the actual bottom of the sill (in fact Colin is holding it up!) and the structure at the waterfall where, despite appearances, the sill sits on top of mudstone with limestone underneath. There were nice fossil corals in the limestone. After lunch (and a half of Cauldron’s Snout) it was time to look at sedimentary rocks at Bowlees. We worked our way up the river noting the rock types, faults etc. This is one of the Yoredale cyclotherms. Throughout the day we had various tales of Lord and Lady Barnard, including why most of the houses in these parts are painted white (I know you will be dying to know so I better tell you that these are the one's that Lord Barnard owns).

Group 4 and Colin	View
Low force	Fossil coral (slippery when wet!)
Whin sill on top of bedded country rock	Whin Sill quarry
Colin holds up the Whin Sill	High force

In the lab we looked at thin sections of the main Whin Sill rock and the pegmatite, confirming the presence of pyroxene and feldspar in both.
Day 3 - Road, Quarry, Quarry, Quarry
Day 3 was the earliest start and latest finish of all our trips. Our first stop was the side of the A6 (overlooking the M6) at Tebay. We were here to study the structures in the Silurian rocks. We sketched the synclines, anticlines and faults (including a reverse fault), looked at the turbidites, saw fold slickensides and drags, tension cracks and flute casts. The peace and quiet at Shap Wells was welcome after all the noise. Here we saw steeply dipping Silurian rocks (with imaginary graptolytes) overlaid by early Carboniferous breccia containing pink orthoclase feldspar and clasts of weathered Shap granite (the Shap Wells unconformity). Lunch was eaten in the sunshine looking at this fabulous view. The granite plaques on the side of the Shap Wells hotel gave us a preview of what we would see later - and a plaque commemorating 25 years of OU visits. The red (or pink) Shap quarry did not disappoint. The large pink orthoclase phenocrysts were fantastic to behold, the simple twinning glinting in the sun. We studied the black enclaves of magma of a different composition that had been intruded into the main magma - orthoclase crystals from within the main magma have occasionally drifted into the enclave. The path up to the quarry was littered with rocks from the blue quarry - andesite with epidote, garnet, chalcopyrite and calcite making it a feast for the eyes. Off to our next quarry, Bongate Scar. This was a quarry for the local Brokram stone which is a very poorly sorted breccia or conglomerate (or even breccioconglomerate). There were thick fining up beds and channels as well as evidence of imbrication. This was an area of flash flooding at the edge of a desert (like areas of Death Valley today). Our final quarry of the day (Hoff) was medium grained, well sorted, well rounded frosted quartz with occasional feldspar leading to our conclusion of an aeolian origin. It showed massive cross bedding indicating dunes (in fact barchan dunes). Today's story was all about Little Musgrave and his 'partnering' with Lady Barnard...

Enclave	Enclave
Syncline and reverse fault	Slickenslides
Bonham Scar	Hoff Quarry
Turbidites

Despite our good intensions we did not make it to the ceilidh in the evening. Instead we stayed up far too late drinking....
Day 4 - Lab and lectures
Today we did some analysis on the rocks we looked at yesterday. We looked as thin sections of Shap granite that showed quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase and biotite. The feldspar had a blotchy appearance as it was weathering. We looked at the enclaves and found that it had the same mineral composition but with smaller crystals and a larger percentage of biotite (which gave it the dark colour). In the afternoon there were various tutorials to attend.
The guest lecture was by Caroline Smith from the Natural History museum on Meteorites. It was very interesting and we all agreed that we needed one for our collections if only we could find one. The antarctic? Perhaps next year.
Day 5 - Sediments at Staithes
Today was cooler, a slight relief from the baking temperatures of the rest of the week. We went to the seaside to look at a sedimentary sequence with the beds exposed at the surface, in order, on the wave cut platform (very convenient). We looked for fossils in each of the beds as well as other structures. Broadly the conclusions were that the ironstone beds were full of life while the darker, coursening up beds of mudstones in-between contained only fossils that swam in (or in the case of crinoids drifted in on a piece of wood). The site http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/staithes.htm contains all the details from another field trip.

Dinosaur footprint? (Andy and I thought so)	Normal fault
Oxytoma	David Bellamnite
Crinoid with arms	Rhizocorallium
Another trace fossil	Wave cut platform
Wave cut platform	Wave cut platform

Our last night in Durham was celebrated by the hardy (foolhardy?) few who went to the DISCO! A great time was had by all especially Paul (demonstrating his ammonite/belemnite dance again) and those crazy physisists!
Day 6 -‘Mystery Quarry’, CMA, home!
We set off to the Mystery Quarry at Quarrington. The quarry was baking hot and confusing. The sandstone was very poorly cemented and showed the best frosting of the week, clearly aeolian. There were also the large dune structures present. These dunes were apparently at the edge of the sea (Roger spotted that!) The slaty Marl which lay above this was rich in fish fossils showing a marine transgression. Above this was a thick bed of the non-fizzing (except the dust!) magnesian limestone, formed when the sea got deeper. Phew, it was very hot in there and we were glad to leave except some of us wanted to look for a fossil fish of our own, damn. Our final tale was of Eric's irish wolfhound but that's another story...

In mystery quarry

Aeolian sandstone (destined for B&Q!)

After lunch it was the CMA and then time to go. Apart from the wish to sleep for a week, I didn’t want to leave as I had had such a great time.
Thanks to Rob and Roger for letting me join their group, Chie for putting up with me on the bus, Andy for general chat, Colin for all his help and stories and Wes for helping us out.
Etc...
Jen had a t-shirt we were all admiring so I googled it and came up with this which is almost the same:
Top Ten Signs You Might Be a Geologist:

10. You have ever had to respond "YES" to the question, "What have you got in here, rocks?"
9. You have ever taken a 22-passenger van over "roads" that were really intended only for cattle.
8. You have ever found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn't really a weapon.
7. Your rock garden is located inside your house.
6. You have ever hung a picture using a clino as a level.
5. Your collection of beer cans and/or bottles rivals the size of your rock collection.
4. You consider a "recent event" to be anything that has happened in 20,000 years.
3. Your photos include people only for scale and you have more pictures of your rock hammer and lens cap than of your family.
2. You have ever been on a field trip that included scheduled stops at a gravel pit and/or an off licence.
1. You have ever uttered the phrase "Have you tried licking it?" with no sexual connotation involved.


And here is another, feel free to combine the best of both for your own list! (I think number 9 applied to the coach all week)
1 - When people ask you "What have you got in that bag - rocks?" - the answer is "Yes!"
2 - You take more pictures of your hammer than of your family.
3 - Members of your family only appear in your pictures standing next to rocks.
4 - There is always sand at the bottom of your pockets.
5 - All available work surfaces are covered with specimens.
6 - Your family knows that when you say, "I'll just be a few minutes looking at this exposure" it is time to get out the sandwiches and sleeping bags.
7 - You have a good collection of hammers and chisels and can explain the special uses for each one.
8 - You have to keep going back to sites "just to see if they have changed".
9 - On the way home your headlights point up to the sky.
10 - You have a list of geology books that you want for Christmas!


Conversation of the week:

Soft rock porn

Louise: (on seeing Ian’s copy of Sedimentary Rocks in the Field): Oh I’m glad that it wasn’t just me who bought that. Greg: It’s like rock porn. Roger: Soft rock porn!