Lecture: La Palma Eruption by Dougal Jerram
2024-01-18 19:30 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | St Francis, 110 Warwick Road, Kenilworth, CV8 1HL
‘Volcanoes in the spotlight; Exciting examples from La Palma, Stromboli and the ancient rock record.’

Erupción volcánica de La Palma de 2021: Wikipedia – Eduardo Robaina

Recent advances in the capture of 3D geological data has re-invigorated the way in which we study volcanoes and their deposits. The recent eruption on La Palma, on going active volcanoes such as Sromboli act as modern day laboratories to observe and record, while the ancient rock record is the legacy of such eruptions. Here we will explore some exciting footage and details of the 2021 La Palma eruption which Dougal visited in person, learn about techniques developed for mapping volcanoes in 3D on Stromboli and will look forward to the role of digital geology in the ancient rock record. Dougal has authored a number of Earth Science and volcanology related books and has also made a number of appearances in the media, and will look forward to highlight some of these informally after the talk.

Dougal Alexander Jerram is a earth sciences expert. He has appeared on the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel and Channel 4, and on many other TV and radio programs, relating the earth sciences to the general public. He has published over 45 scientific papers, has edited for scientific journals, and has held posts on committees including the Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group of the Geological Society. In 2006 he received the Murchison Fund by the Geological Society of London for his early career contribution to geology.

We encourage those able to join us at in Kenilworth for this talk. For those unable to attend in person we will be broadcasting the talk live on Zoom. Click the link below to register for Zom participation; https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAld-2pqzkpGtKXccbctcnPaIwFjuioxeUq

For those attending in person there will be an opportunity to buy signed copies of his books listed below :

Introducing Volcanology; a guide to hot rocks – rrp£10

The Travellers Guide to the Centre of the Earth – rrp£10

Victor the Volcano (childrens picture story book) – rrp£6.99

Volcanoes of Europe rrp £32

Field description of Igneous Rocks £30 Field description of Metamorphic Rocks £30

Lecture: Geology & Caves of N / NE Greenland -physical record - Paul Smith
2024-02-15 19:30 - 21:00 | St Francis, 110 Warwick Road, Kenilworth, CV8 1HL
Carbonate rocks of Neoproterozoic to Silurian age are abundantly distributed around the coasts of North and North-East Greenland. Large cave entrances are distributed across the whole caves distributed across the whole of North Greenland, an ice-free larger than England, from 80–82.5°N and they constitute the northernmost documented karst caves globally. Data relating to the caves in this remote region have been collected on field expeditions over a 40-year period, and they provide information about palaeoclimates in otherwise poorly documented geological intervals. These geological young caves are mainly phreatic (sub-water table) conduits, and they are consistently located a few 100 m beneath the distinctive plateau that characterises the topography of the northern coast. Their identical context suggests that they developed in a single phase of cave formation, and the timing of cave development is constrained by the mid- to late-Miocene (15–5 Ma) uplift of the plateau surface and the onset of fjord-forming glaciation in the latest Pliocene – earliest Pleistocene (c. 2.7–2.5 Ma). The caves of North and North-East Greenland offer a glimpse of large-scale phreatic drainage systems that developed below an uplifted coastal peneplain during Neogene time. They preserve an important part of the geological history of North and North-East Greenland that is otherwise absent from the physical geological record

Paul Smith is Director of Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Professor of Natural History, and has spent most of his career working in university museums in Cambridge, Copenhagen, Birmingham and Oxford. His geological research is focussed on the interactions of Earth systems and organisms from the late Neoproterozoic to the Ordovician, using a combination of palaeobiology, sedimentology and geochemistry. Paul also has interests in the application of digital technologies to science museums, particularly in the areas of 3D visualisation, virtual reality and the evaluation of user experience. Much of his geological research has been carried out in Greenland and Svalbard, where he has over thirty years’ experience of field expeditions and he was awarded the Polar Medal in 2017.

The talk will start at 7:30 pm at St Francis in Kenilworth. For those unable to attend in person the talk will be broadcast live on Zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsd-mvpj4vGtQMAwtCeZQF3_SI6ukxkvfS

Minerals, Rocks & Fossils Workshop-'Identifying Specimens'
2024-02-17 10:00 - 15:00 | Kenilworth Senior Citizens Club, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ
10:00 – 11:00 Introductionary presentations on the petrology and classifications of each of the major groups

11:30 – 15:00 rotating sessions of practical hands on specimen inspection and identification. There will be 5 tables each exhibiting one of the following; Fossils, Minerals, Igneous rocks, Sedimentary rocks or Metamorphic rocks. The WGCG specimen collection will be used for the purpose of this workshop. Participants are also invited to bring along one or two of their own specimens for discussion.

15:00 Summary and wrap up

This event is for members and is strictly limited to 25 participants. Guests of members can also register. Pre registration is required. Download the registration form here. Please contact Julie Harald regarding any queries.

Ask a Geologist
2024-03-16 10:30 - 12:30 | Warwick Museum, Market Place, Warwick, CV34 4SA
The WGCG team (Kathrin, Joe, Gareth & Peter) at Warwick Museum “Ask a Geologist” session in December 2023

WGCG will hold a stall within Warwick Museum for the general public to come along and chat with a geologist. We will have a number of specimens and slides available from the WGCG collection. Visitors are encouraged to bring along a sample or two they have collected and would like to discuss.

Supported by wherecanwego.com & https://kenilworth.nub.news/whats-on

Lecture: The early evolution of animal life and the generation of form - Frankie Dunn
2024-03-21 19:30 - 21:00 | St Francis, 110 Warwick Road, Kenilworth, CV8 1HL
The rise of the animals was a profound transition in the History of Life; for the first-time organisms were able to engineer the environment around them, altering geochemical cycles, building complex ecosystems and diversifying into myriad forms. However, the rise of the animals is also one of the most controversial episodes in Earth History. Most major animal groups appear in the fossil record during a major evolutionary radiation event between ~520 and 550 million years ago known as the Cambrian Explosion when the blueprints for the animal phyla (arthropods, vertebrates, cnidarians) were laid down and, remarkably, have remained more-or-less unchanged in the half a billion years since. My research is focused on the Period of time just before the Cambrian Explosion – the Ediacaran Period, and the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. While fossil representatives of the living animal phyla diversify in the Cambrian Period, the timing and nature of their earliest antecedents remains controversial. Fossil assemblages from the late Ediacaran Period preserve the remains of fossil organisms with long-extinct bodyplans, historically excluded from analyses of the early evolution of animals because of extreme uncertainty regarding their phylogenetic placement. My novel approach to the study of these organisms has been to investigate their growth and development across whole populations of taxa with non analogue frond-like bodyplans. My work has revealed new developmental characters that can be used to rigorously constrain the phylogenetic position of these fossils. In this talk, I will introduce my work on the fossils of the Ediacaran Period and set out the case for an animal affinity, but also discuss new fossil finds which suggest that the oldest yet known crown-group members of animal phyla lived and died hidden amongst the fronds.

Frankie Dunn is a palaeobiologist based at the University of Oxford. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Warwick in 2015 and her PhD in 2019 from the University of Bristol, which focused on the Ediacaran Macrobiota – a strange group of organisms sometimes invoked as ancient animals but displaying non-analogue bodyplans. She subsequently moved to Oxford to take up two fellowships: a Junior Research Fellowship at Merton College and an Early Career Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the exhibition of 1851 hosted at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Frankie is currently a NERC independent research fellow and a Senior Researcher at the OUMNH and her research focuses on the origin and early evolution of animals and particularly on the fossil record of the late Ediacaran Period (approximately 570 – 540 million years ago). The aim of this research is to understand how animal bodyplans evolved in deep time.

The talk will be held at St Francis of Assisi in Kenilworth and will simultaneously be broadcast live to an online Zoom audiance. For those unable to attend in person click on the Zoom link to watch online.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcOGtpjIiGdepFkaqdtj3hfRn6mR0utN_

Gondwana Landscapes: Geology on a Plate - Brian Ellis
2024-04-18 19:30 - 21:00
Using examples from Australia (mainly South Australia) the talk willexamine existing landscapes which are directly inherited from Gondwana.It will consider the role of their location on the Australian Plate in theconservation of those landscapes and the significance of the dating of thebreakup of Gondwana to the evolution of the geology of Australia. Thetalk will reflect on the difference between interpreting landscapes inBritain and on interpreting those in Australia.

*Please note that this final talk of the lecture season will be given in-person only. It will not be broadcast on Zoom or recorded.

Outline of talk PDF

Kenilworth Cutting Field Visit - Ray Pratt
2024-04-28 11:00 - 15:00
Ray Pratt will lead a field outing, around the Kenilworth area, visiting 3 sites exposing early Permian rocks, each of which is designated as a Local Geological Site (LGS). We plan to start at 11:00 hrs with an examination of the recently cleared exposure at Kenilworth Cutting on Kenilworth Greenway (LGS 97). Here we will debate the depositional environment and its probable age. We will discuss the depositional environment here in relation to time equivalent deposits to the North, East and West. Street parking will be necessary so please allow sufficient time to locate a parking spot and walk to the exposure for 11am.

The second site to visit Kings Hill Nurseries (LGS 94). We anticipate being at the second location at about 12:30 to 13:00 hrs.

The 3rd and final location to be visited is Ashow (LGS 27). We expect to arrive here about 14:00-14:30. This is private property for which we have permission to visit. Ashow is a small hamlet with narrow country roads so parking will be a bit of a challenge. Car sharing would be helpful. Participants are not obliged to go to all 3 sites and can choose which they visit. The discussion regarding the paleogeographic setting and geological uncertainty will take place at Kenilworth Cutting.

Site locations and geological descriptions can be found for each Local Geological Site (LGS) on our website.https://www.wgcg.co.uk/lgs/logs-list/

Download the field Trip Guide

There is no limit on participants however you are asked to pre register for this event if possible by sending an email to warwickshiregcg@gmail.com.

Rugby cement plant & quarry
2024-05-14 10:00 - 15:00
Details to follow

GEOWEEK 2024
2024-05-25 08:00 - 2024-06-02 17:00
GEOWEEK 2024. Commencing Saturday May 25 ending Sunday 2 June 2024.

Details to follow.

Deep Time Travel Through Old Kenilworth
2024-05-26 12:01 - 13:30 | The car park – Abbey Fields, Bridge Street, Kenilworth, CV8 1BN
GeoWeek / Nature Week Event: Ray Pratt will lead a walk around old Kenilworth to discuss the variety of building stones used in the constuction and ornamentation of the buildings of this historic town. We will meet at 11:50 hrs at Abbey Fields car park for a 12:00 start. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. Registration required.

Old Kenilworth urban geology walk participants May 2023

A science walk and talk along Kenilworth Common
2024-05-28 13:30 - 15:00 | Forge Road, Kenilworth, CV8 2HR, Forge Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2HR
GeoWeek / Nature Week Event: This event will discuss the geology along the Greenway of Kenilworth Common, discussing the links between geology, pedology, hydrogeology and biodiversity. Evidence for environmental change through geological time will be examined. The walk will terminate at Kenilworth Cutting where we will inspect a geological exposure where we will discuss its origins and significance. We will meet at the Forge Road (CV8 2HR) entrance of the Greenway at 13:15 hours for a 13:30 start. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. Registration required.

WGCG members undertake some maintenance and clearance work of Kenilworth Cutting October 2023

Urban Geology Walk of Warwick - CANCELLED
2024-05-31 10:30 - 12:30
Urban Geology Walk participants May 2023 – photo by Max Down

GeoWeek event. Cancelled due to lack of interest

Ask a Geologist
2024-06-01 10:30 - 12:30 | Warwick Museum, Market Place, Warwick, CV34 4SA
Members of the public are invited to come and engage with WGCG geologists to discuss anything geologically of interest to them. We will have a number of samples and teaching material availabl. Visitors are encouraged to bring along any samples they wish to discuss.

Saltwells, Doulton's Claypit (Black Country) - Andy Harrison (BCGS)
2024-06-22 09:00
Details to follow. Start time to be confirmed.

Castleton (Peak District) Field Trip - Martin Whiteley
2024-07-05 13:00 - 2024-07-07 17:00
Discounted rates have been agreed at the Bike and Boots inn located in Hope Valley for participants not wishing to arrange their own accommodation. Full details to follow.

Photo by Ian Fenwick

Warwick Folk Festival - fringe event
2024-07-28 11:00 - 16:00 | Market Place, Warwick, Market Place, Warwick, United Kingdom
WGCG will have a stall in the Market Place by the Museum in Warwick to promote WGCG and Earth Sciences in general to the general public. Members and friends are invited to come along, bringing friends and family to say hello and take a look at some of the exhibits and leaflets we will be displaying. We look forward to seeing you there.

Tardebigge reservoir circular walk (near Bromsgrove) - Mike Allen
2024-07-28 14:00
Joint field trip with BCGS.

Please arrive a little earlier if you wish to attend a picnic beforehand which is to be arranged by Mike Allen (weather dependant).

Details to follow.

Moorwood Cutting and area near Nuneaton - Mike Allen
2024-08-18 14:00
A ‘Geowalk’ from Hartshill Hayes Country Park, via Mancetter (Oldbury) Quarry viewpoint, to Moorwood Cutting (approx. 3km) & return (approx. 2km) unless provision is made to leave car(s) at Moorwood. For more information please read the flyer.

To view the flyer for this event please click here

Ask a Geologist
2024-09-07 10:30 - 13:30 | Market Hall Museum, Market Hall Museum, Market Pl, Warwick,, CV34 4SA, United Kingdom
‘Ask a Geologist’ with the Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group at the Market Hall Museum in Warwick is back!!Don’t miss your chance to speak to real geologists and view an incredible collection of minerals, rocks and fossils. You can even bring your own rock samples to learn more about them.

To view the flyer for this event please click here

Bones and Badlands - Phil Manning
2024-09-19 19:30 - 21:00
Dinosaurs in some cases were awkwardly large. This led to some incredible adaptations to overcome the challenge of vast size but makes them particularly difficult to excavate and study! Some of the largest dinosaurs were the sauropods, growing up to 37 metres in length…if we are to believe some of the skeletons in museums, which are often based on partial/fragmentary remains. This talk will take you on an excavation to the Morrison Formation of Wyoming (USA) that has produced several moderate sized (20+ metres long) sauropod dinosaurs that were excavated over a period of five years.

This lecture will be offered in a hybrid format. Please join us in person if you can, or register to attend virtually via zoom using the link below.

Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclfuyvpj0rG9bz9c3CdYgbsOYq4nMyjxGr

Professor Phil Manning

Sauropod femur & Professor Phil Manning, Wyoming 2017

Venue:St Francis Of Assisi RC Church, 110 Warwick Rd, Kenilworth CV8 1HLhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/9CGWRNdgFfttDKtd7

Charnwood Forest Field Trip - Nick Chidlaw
2024-09-20 13:00 - 2024-09-22 17:00
Note the date: Nick Chidlaw will lead a field weekend around Charnwood commencing Friday September 20 ending Sunday 22 September 2024. Base likely to be in Loughborough.

Details to follow.

Photo by Rob Holloway

Ask a Geologist
2024-10-12 10:30 - 12:30 | Market Hall Museum, Market Hall Museum, Market Pl, Warwick,, CV34 4SA, United Kingdom
Kicking off Earth Science Week we shall be holding a special Ask a Geologist session at Warwick Museum. WCG geological experts will be at hand to discuss geology in our everyday lives, geological careers, and geological science in general. Come along and examin specimens in super detail with our blue tooth microscope. We will have a number of rocks, minerals and fossils on hand to be viewed and discussed, a number of posters, geological references and free brochures of nearby geology trails. For teachers and schools we will have a limited supply of Earth Science Tool Kits available free of charge. This is a drop in event, no need to book ahead.

Dawn of the Modern World: Life, Death and Rain in the late Triassic - Mike Simms
2024-10-17 19:30 - 21:00
In November 1987 two young geologists stumbled upon evidence that the prevailing aridityof the Late Triassic was interrupted, for about a million years, by an interval of greatlyincreased rainfall that appeared synchronous with mass extinction and diversificationevents in both marine and terrestrial environments. This key episode in the evolution oftaxa from dinosaurs to dinoflagellates, coccoliths to coral reefs, has been described as theDawn of the Modern World. First published in 1989, the Carnian Pluvial Episode wasvirtually ignored for almost 20 years. Since 2010 there has been a huge upsurge in interestworldwide. Research groups have confirmed much of what was reported, and hypothesized,in that first paper. The CPE is now entering the scientific ‘mainstream’. It featuredprominently in episode 1 of the recent BBC documentary Earth and was the main focus of arecent Japanese documentary.This talk will provide a history of the discovery of the CPE, the evidence for the climatic andbiotic changes discovered back in the late-1980s, and more recent developments in thestudy of the CPE. The speaker is well placed to describe these events. He was one half ofthat geological partnership of 1987, still works with his co-author Alastair Ruffell all theseyears later, and recently published another major paper on the CPE.

This lecture will be offered in a hybrid format. Please join us in person if you can, or register to attend virtually via zoom using the link below.Register in advance for this meeting:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84030428334?pwd=[REDACTED]

Venue:St Francis Of Assisi RC Church, 110 Warwick Rd, Kenilworth CV8 1HLhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/9CGWRNdgFfttDKtd7

Urban Geology tour of Warwick
2024-10-18 10:30 - 12:30 | Market Place, Warwick, Market Place, Warwick, United Kingdom
Dr John Radley will give a guided tour of historic Warwick town centre looking at the building stones used in its construction. Jon will enlighten participants with his historical snippits of information, which have literally “shaken” the town. This is a popular gentle walk commencing from the museum entrance over a distance of about 1.5 miles lasting between 1.5 to 2 hours. In the event of bad weather Jon will give a very illuminating guided tour of the museum geological collection. Not to be missed. Places limited to 16. To secure your place please register by email to warwickshiregcg@gmail.com

AGM
2024-11-21 19:30 - 21:00
AGM Evening (Members only)

Agenda and voting• Welcome Chair• Apologies received Chair• Minutes of the 2023 AGM Chair• Chairman’s report (TAR) Chair• Finance report Treasurer• Trustee nominations received Secretary• Members Questions / Suggestions Members / Secretary• Collate Ballot / Results Secretary• Nominations for awards Secretary

Members are reminded to bring their voting slips along if they have not voted by email.

The AGM will be followed by presentations by

• Brian Ellis• Mike Allen (display of specimens)• Ray Pratt

Ask a Geologist
2024-12-07 10:30 - 13:30 | Market Hall Museum, Market Hall Museum, Market Pl, Warwick,, CV34 4SA, United Kingdom
The WGCG shall be holding a special Ask a Geologist session at Market Hall Museum in Warwick. WGCG geological experts will be at hand to discuss geology in our everyday lives, geological careers, and geological science in general. Come along and examine specimens in super detail with our blue tooth microscope. We will have a number of rocks, minerals and fossils on hand to be viewed and discussed, a number of posters, geological references and free brochures of nearby geology trails.

This is a drop in event, no need to book ahead.

Christmas Social
2024-12-12 19:30 - 21:00
The next evening meeting of Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group will be the Christmas Social on Thursday 12th December at St Francis’ Church Hall, Warwick Road, Kenilworth at 7.30pm.

There will be a quiz and a short presentation from a local artist. And there will be plenty of time to socialise.

It is hoped that members can share refreshments – if you are able, please bring a plate of food to contribute to the buffet table.

Mulled wine and soft drinks will be provided.

Merry Christmas!

Glaciations of the British Isles - Jim Rose
2025-01-16 19:30 - 21:00
Although our understanding of the history of the Last Glaciation in Britain (c. 35,000 to 11,000 years ago) is the best in the world, our understanding of earlier glaciations is far from secure and subject to much disagreement and controversy. Recent publications relating to the glaciation of the West Midlands, using up-to-date methods of dating the glacial and related deposits, have provided much new information, but controversy still remains. This presentation provides an introduction to the science of reconstructing glacial histories, by reference to the work done on the Last Glaciation in Britain and an outline of the evidence for the earlier glaciations. The lecture examines the range of evidence available, including the nature of landscape change associated with each glaciation. It also considers the nature of landscape change and the presence of human activity between the glacial episodes. Particular attention is given to the evidence now available from the West Midlands and especially the area around Warwick.

Jim Rose is Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of London having been at Birkbeck and Royal Holloway Colleges. He is also a Visiting Research Associate of the British Geological Survey and an Honorary Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge.

Jim Rose demonstrating one of the sites with evidence for multiple glaciations in East Anglia

This lecture will be offered in a hybrid format. Please join us in person if you can, or register to attend virtually via zoom using the link below.

Register in advance to attend virtually: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpduutqTMvHtJrf-H82eUYzjKlg92ZJ68w

Venue:St Francis Of Assisi RC Church, 110 Warwick Rd, Kenilworth CV8 1HLhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/9CGWRNdgFfttDKtd7

WGCG Workshop - Practical use of geological resources and techniques
2025-02-15 10:00 - 16:00
This annual WGCG workshop will include presentations from British Geological Survey (BGS) and WGCG geologists and include training in accessing and understanding geological data as well as recording it.

Note – participants are asked to bring a laptop / tablet / phone so that they can access the BGS website, and also a ruler, pencils and crayons.

Places are limited to 24 participants – first come, first served. If you would like to attend, please complete the below form and return it to, Julie Harrald, as soon as possible.Event Form

Please note that the registration deadline is Saturday 9th February

For more information on this event, please view the flyer by clicking here

Venue:Kenilworth Senior Citizens’ Club, Abbey End, Kenilworth CV8 1QJhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/mwy1WDFQmGJLu4Rs5

Footprints from the past: the nature and value of the UK’s dinosaur track record - Kirsty Edgar
2025-02-20 19:30 - 21:00
Dinosaurs were a hugely successful group of vertebrates with a wide array of morphologies and ecologies that dominated terrestrial ecosystems globally during much of the Mesozoic (~228-66 million years ago). Dinosaur tracks (footprints) are a key means of determining the palaeoecology and distribution of dinosaurs through time and highly complementary to the skeletal record. There is a long history of dinosaur tracks being reported and studied in the UK, from the mid-19th century to the present day, reflecting the excellent exposure of Mesozoic rocks through many parts of the UK and a long history of public and scientific interest in fossils.

Dinosaur tracks are also amongst the most popular and recognisable trace fossils encountered in the natural world by the public and are a major draw to some areas of England, Scotland and Wales. Thus, beyond their scientific value, they provide key aesthetic and pedagogic opportunities in the tourism and education sectors. However, the protection, monitoring, communication, and our scientific knowledge of the sites varies considerably.

This talk will review the UK dinosaur track record including recent new discoveries in Oxfordshire, assess the scientific and cultural value of existing in-situ dinosaur track sites in the UK, and identify threats and opportunities at UK sites where future conservation and public engagement actions should be focused.

About the speaker

Kirsty is a Professor of Micropalaeontology in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK. The bulk of her research focusses on the timing, nature and interaction between global climate, biogeochemical cycling and marine life in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. However, more recently, she has also become involved with how to record, communicate and protect the UK’s palaeontological heritage with an initial focus on the UK’s dinosaur record.

Register in advance to attend virtually: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcO2ppjIpGN0kXNpSU19CxxNc5cAH6L8u

Venue:St Francis Of Assisi RC Church, 110 Warwick Rd, Kenilworth CV8 1HLhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/9CGWRNdgFfttDKtd7
