It seems that an MP has now picked up on the Bristol Channel Tsunami story. Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West, has set down an Early Day Motion that “That this House notes the consensus expert view that a tsunami caused the flood of the Gwent and Somerset levels in January 1607; believes a similar event now would result in massive destruction and loss of life; and calls for an early warning tsunami watch on British coasts.”
Talk about a waste of tax payers money.
Hat-tip: Dizzy
In the field twice in one week! On Sunday I attended the launch of the Hamps-Manifold Geotrail.An overcast, but mercifully mostly dry day, saw about forty people attend the launch of the geotrail. The whole trail runs from Hulme End to Waterhouses in the Staffordshire Peak District down the old track of the Manifold Light Railway, but this opening just did the northern section from Hulme End to Thor’s Cave.
The trail criss-crosses the axis of the Ecton Anticline staying within the Carboniferous Limestone but displays many limestone facies from deep water, to shallow water bioclastics to reef. There are also many localised tight folds, most notably at Apes Tor. Ecton is also noted for its copper mine on Ecton Hill above the trail, once one of the most productive copper mines in the world and there are also small lead mine entrances dotted along the trail.
A very interesting day out helped by the knowledgeable writers of the guide leading the walk and the magnificent spread laid out for us at the Wetton Mill tea rooms at lunchtime! The trail guide can be downloaded from www.esci.keele.ac.uk/srigs or picked up for free at the local information sites along the trail.
Spring is here (almost) and yesterday I was back in the field. I spend too much time staring at the computer screen and it was great to be back out in the fresh air again. It reminded me of why it is great being a geologist. Also good to be with a group of very knowledgeable people who gave a great insight into reading landscapes. Interesting looking at the Quaternary for a change but missing a ‘decent’ rock outcrop by the end of the day – if it can be dug with a trowel it’s a bit too much like gardening for my liking.
I’ve had my odd pop or two at creationist / intelligent design in the past (and will continue to do so in the future) but the following shows something of the scale of the opposition to rational thought in the US. By way of political betting and polling report comes this depressing (for me anyway) poll result from USA Today/Gallop. Asked “if your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be [category here], would you vote for that person?
Janunary 30th, saw the 400th anniversary of the Bristol Channel ‘Tsunami’ of 1607, details on the BBC News website.
I’ve a few doubts about this event despite the article – I remember the Timewatch based on this work and was not convinced then, and nothing has really changed to alter my point of view. The article states “Experts believe severe flooding on 30 January 1607 in south west England and south Wales was caused by a tsunami – and not a storm surge or high tides.” but doesn’t go on to say why a storm surge has been ruled out. I recall some comments about the weather at the time being nice but one can have a storm coming in from the Atlantic and still have sunshine in Somerset.
Roger Musson at the BGS (who states in the article that he thinks that is a storm surge) is quoted that there are earthquakes offshore south-west Ireland. The problem is the size and type of the earthquake needed to generate a tsunami. One needs at least a magnitude 7 ‘quake for a half decent tsunami (and the Indonesian Boxing Day 2004 event was 3000 times more powerful than this at 9.3). These events are only generated at subduction zones, magnitude scales with fault length and a very large thust plane is needed. As far as I know there isn’t a subduction zone off Ireland.
The source of the 1755 ‘Lisbon’ earthquake and tsunami is disputed but at least there is the remnants of the Alboran subduction system nearby.
Footnote: Is it really the 400th anniversary? When it happened, Britain had a different calendar and people at the time thought it was still 1606.
Geoblogosphere
