July saw the start of working on the Staffordshire Strategic Stone Study which has seen me spend the summer traversing the county looking at various building stones. This has included visits to two quarries that have provided much of Staffordshire’s building stone, Grinshill in Shropshire and Hollington in Staffordshire.

August saw the garden bloom in what little we had of a summer …

… and an evening field trip to Ossum’s Hill to see a new exposure of the bioclastic Carboniferous Limestone.

In September the study of Staffordshire Stone continued. Here is Mow Cop ‘Castle’ (actually a summerhouse) built on the edge of a Chatsworth Grit quarry.

I also visited Ireland for the EAGE Near Surface Geophysics conference and had a visit to the Tara zinc and lead mine.

Returning from Ireland, I spent a weekend in London.

After a day in the city, I spent a day down at Kew Gardens

October saw a visit to the National Arboretum at Westonbirt.

Finally, in November I was involved in some site clearance along the Hamps and Manifold Geotrail.

I’ve still got one major trip to do this month, more details in the New Year.

If you like my photographs have started a photostream that you can see on fluidr or flickr.

I’m also considering a ‘deskcrop365′ project with a new rock picture every day. If it happens then it will most likely appear on flickr and/or posterous.

It just remains for me to thank you for reading in 2009 and I hope to see you again in 2010.
Happy New Year

January came and went, unnoticed. In February I did a guided geological walk for the residents of Maer, Staffordshire and part of the Darwin bicentenary celebrations. Maer was where Charles married his cousin Emma Wedgwood in this church.

February also saw the launch of the Cannock Chase Geotrail that I had worked on extensively in 2008. This is the Glacial Boulder (as opposed to a glacial boulder), turned into a monument.

In March I was part of a field course to Wenlock and Ludlow, classic British geological localities. This is Ludlow Castle from the Whitcliffe section…

… ran a one day field course to the Ercall Quarries in Shropshire, site of the Cambrian/Precambrian unconformity (when life became hard!)…

…I also went down the Ecton copper mine …

… and with the weather improving went for a walk in the Manifold Valley. This is the view from Thor’s Cave.

April saw two visits to Pembrokeshire – restore this! …

… Ogmore and Southerndown in South Wales (here is the Liassic / Lower Carboniferous unconformity) …

… and also had a brief holiday in Devon (this are feldspar megacrysts in the Dartmoor Granite).

With spring having sprung, May saw a visit to Ashridge, Hertfordshire to see the bluebells.

The second half of the year to follow…

The “fully equipped geologist” meme is the latest sweeping the geoblogosphere, started by Geotripper,with follow ups so far from Johannes Lochmann, Kim Hannula, and Silver Fox.

The above photo is typical autumn/spring wear. Note the inherent lack of trust in modern gps technology and the back-up folded ordnance survey map.

Hair: Cut short, I just get annoyed when it gets too long.

Sunburned Peeling Nose: Has been known, and burnt top of the ears as hair is short. Hence I prefer to wear the bush hat, keeping sun off nose, ears and back of the neck. I’m not one for wearing sun cream but do tend to cover up.

Beard: I like to call it ‘designer stubble’. Gets trimmed when gets to the itchy stage but I don’t like clean shaven any more.

T-shirt and Logo: Tend only to wear t-shirts as a base layer unless very hot. Favourite one is a Keele Geology Society one from years ago that has the “Geologists like a nappe between thrusts” strapline on the back. The fleece in the above image has the Keele GeoSoc logo (just behind the GPS). I tend to wear long sleeved shirts in the field but with the cuffs rolled up.

Vest: I often wear what Americans call a vest (in the UK a vest is an undergarment – see pants). It is from a visit to South Africa and the pockets are loaded with stuff particularly when running field courses. When cooler will wear a fleece, see above. For some reason I hate to have my lower arms covered. I’ll only have the sleeves down when my hands turn purple from the cold and gloves are needed as well. I’ll also only wear waterproofs when it is really wet, the bush hat and fleece will do in most weathers for me. I also have high visibility jacket / vest for work on roadsides and in quarries.

Things in the Vest: The jacket pockets contain compass-clinometer, pencils, pens, eraser, chalk (very useful for drawing on outcrops and will wash off in the next rain), mobile phone, notebook, handlens, grainsize chart, whistle (for attracting students attention), lighter and cigars (I only smoke in the field). When not working, the jacket may also contain a hip flask with a wee dram or two of the scottish nectar. The GPS may also be clipped to the jacket if not wearing a back pack.

Belt and Buckle: Tends to be a nylon belt with plastic clip buckle. Mainly used for supporting camera bag if not carrying large rucksack. Will use a leather belt for hammer if not carrying rucksack or camera tripod is in ice axe holder.

Pockets: Keys, wallet, handkerchief, comb, penknives, loose change. I tend to wear cargo trousers in the field and carry marker pens in the side pockets.

Rock Hammer: Faithful old 2.5 pound Whitehouse hammer I have had for nearly thirty years, since I was an undergraduate.

Hands: Map case. Maps, field guide, A3 paper for drawing explanatory diagrams and the A3 plywood mapping board I’ve also had since an undergraduate. If I’m using a large notebook this goes in here too.

Legs: Like Johannes and Silver Fox I don’t wear shorts in the field. Too much risk from thorn bushes, sunburn and biting things.

Pants: As with vests, in the UK pants are undergarments. My field trousers are typically cargos, the extra pockets on the legs are useful for marker pens and / or field notebook. I do have a pair where the bottom sections can be unzipped but I can’t see me using this facility.

Shoelaces: Sometimes knotted, and typically burnt at the ends with my lighter to stop the fraying.

Socks: Thin socks under thick walking socks. This prevents blistering as slippage is between sock layers rather than sock and foot.

Boots: Choice of three, heavy duty for winter, lightweight for spring, and ultra-lightweight fell-running boots for summer. The first two pairs have ankle support as have sprained my ankles too many times in the field.

Ironclad Bladders: Almost mandatory. I tend not to drink much in the field (the platypus water system in the photo is largely for sipping unless very hot. I also tend not to eat in the field. Cigars are an appetite suppressant. Students often have to remind me to stop for lunch as I don’t have any. If I do take sandwiches then they are eaten by 10am.

Brunton Compass: We tend to use Silva/Sunnitos rather than Bruntons this side of the pond.

Eyes: Sunglasses are rarely worn, but we do get sunshine sometimes in the UK. Obviously safety goggles when hammering.

Brain: Alert. The field is my favourite place to work. Might start to wander slightly after the pubs open.

Hat: Depending on the weather / time of year / country either go bare headed (but thinning hair leaves one susceptible to sunburn), favourite South African bush hat (above) when sunny, Irish flat cap when cold or baseball cap as last resort when windy.

Backpack: I usually start off a field course with a full backpack with first aid kit, waterproof jacket and trousers, gloves, camera equipment, platypus water pouch and what ever else I think might come in useful. By the end of the field course I just carry what ever I can fit in my pockets and mapcase (which is surprisingly quite a lot). I also now have a Lowenpro backpack just for my camera gear. The bottom section takes my Canon 5D & lenses, batteries and data cards, the top section takes my G10 plus gigapan robotic mount. The outside has strapping for a tripod and just enough room for a water bottle.

As I’ve got my scanner handy, here are a few Icelandic waterfalls to attempt to redress the balance…

Goðafoss

Gullfoss

Selfoss

Dettifoss

Skógafoss

Pen-Y-Fan

England and Wales Edit: source

Caernarfonshire 1,085 Snowdon
Cumberland 978 Scafell Pike
Westmorland 950 Helvellyn
Merionethshire 905 Aran Fawddwy
Brecknockshire 886 Pen y Fan
Denbighshire 830 Cadair Berwyn
Montgomeryshire 827 Moel Sych
Northumberland 815 Cheviot The Cheviot
Lancashire 803 Coniston Old Man
North Riding of Yorkshire 788 Mickle Fell
Carmarthenshire 781 Fan Foel
Cardiganshire 752 Pen Pumlumon Fawr
Durham 746 Burnhope Seat
West Riding of Yorkshire 736 Whernside
Herefordshire 700 Black Mountain
Monmouthshire 680 Chwarel y Fan
Radnorshire 660 Great Rhos
Derbyshire 636 Kinder Scout
Devon 621 High Willhays
Glamorgan 600 Craig y Llyn
Cheshire 582 Black Hill
Flintshire 555 554 Moel Famau
Shropshire 540 Brown Clee Hill
Pembrokeshire 536 Foel Cwmcerwyn
Staffordshire 520 Cheeks Hill
Somerset 519 Dunkery Beacon
Worcestershire 425 Worcestershire Beacon
Cornwall 420 Brown Willy
Gloucestershire 330 Cleeve Hill
Berkshire 297 Walbury Hill
Wiltshire 295 Milk Hill
Surrey 294 Leith Hill
Hampshire 286 Pilot Hill
West Sussex 280 Black Down
Dorset 279 Lewesdon Hill
Leicestershire 278 Bardon Hill
Buckinghamshire 267 Haddington Hill
Warwickshire 261 Ebrington Hill
Oxfordshire 257 Bald Hill
Kent 251 Betsom’s Hill
East Sussex 248 Ditchling Beacon
East Riding of Yorkshire 246 Bishop Wilton Wold
Hertfordshire 244 Pavis Wood
Bedfordshire 243 Dunstable Downs
Northamptonshire 225 Arbury Hill
Anglesey 220 Holyhead Mountain
Nottinghamshire 204 Newtonwood Lane
Rutland 197 Cold Overton Park
Lincolnshire 168 Normanby Top, The Wolds
Middlesex 155 Bushey Heath
Essex 147 Chrishall Common
Cambridgeshire 146 Great Chishill
Suffolk 128 Great Wood
Norfolk 105 Beacon Hill
Northamptonshire 81 Racecourse Road
Huntingdonshire 80 Boring Field

Scotland Edit: source

Inverness-shire 1,344 Ben Nevis
Aberdeenshire/Banffshire 1,309 Ben Macdhui
Perthshire 1,214 Ben Lawers
Ross and Cromarty 1,183 Carn Eige
Argyll 1,150 Bidean nam Bian
Angus 1,068 Glas Maol
Sutherland 998 Ben More Assynt
Stirlingshire 974 Ben Lomond
Dunbartonshire 943 Ben Vorlich
Bute 874 Goatfell
Kirkcudbrightshire 843 Merrick
Peeblesshire/Selkirkshire 840 Broad Law
Dumfriesshire 821 White Coomb
Ayrshire 782 Kirriereoch Hill shoulder
Kincardineshire 778 Mount Battock
Lanarkshire 748 Culter Fell
Clackmannanshire 721 Ben Cleuch
Morayshire 710 Carn a’Ghille Chearr
Caithness 706 Morven
Nairnshire 659 Carn Glas-choire
Midlothian 651 Blackhope Scar
Roxburghshire 619 Cauldcleuch Head
West Lothian 561 Cairnpapple Hill (South Top)
East Lothian 535 Meikle Says Law
Berwickshire 532 Meikle Says Law shoulder
Fife 522 West Lomond
Renfrewshire 522 Hill of Stake
Kinross-shire 497 Innerdouny Hill
Orkney 481 Ward Hill
Shetland 450 Ronas Hill
Wigtownshire 322 Craigairie Fell

Favourite country: Chile
Favourite city: La Paz, Bolivia

visited 5 states (10%)

Whilst the world map is ‘genuine’, the US map is a bit of a cheat. I spent a month in Colorado, but Utah was a quick trip over the border to the Dinosaur National Monument quarry visitors’ centre, where as Alaska, Illinois, and Missouri are airport related.

This meme via Geotripper.

Things I have done in bold [with commentary]

1. See an erupting volcano
2. See a glacier [Iceland]
3. See an active geyser such as those in Yellowstone, New Zealand or the type locality of Iceland [Iceland]
4. Visit the Cretaceous/Tertiary (KT) Boundary. Possible locations include Gubbio, Italy, Stevns Klint, Denmark, the Red Deer River Valley near Drumheller, Alberta. [ish - I've seen the K/T boundary on the Isle of Wight but it is an unconformity]
5. Observe (from a safe distance) a river whose discharge is above bankful stage [Ireland]
6. Explore a limestone cave. Try Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park, or the caves of Kentucky or TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia) [Thor's cave, Peak District]
7. Tour an open pit mine, such as those in Butte, Montana, Bingham Canyon, Utah, Summitville, Colorado, Globe or Morenci, Arizona, or Chuquicamata, Chile. [Several including Blackbank opencast]
8. Explore a subsurface mine. [Several including coal, lead and gold mines, most recent Ecton Copper Mine]
9. See an ophiolite, such as the ophiolite complex in Oman or the Troodos complex on the Island Cyprus (if on a budget, try the Coast Ranges or Klamath Mountains of California).
10. An anorthosite complex, such as those in Labrador, the Adirondacks, and Niger (there’s some anorthosite in southern California too).
11. A slot canyon. Many of these amazing canyons are less than 3 feet wide and over 100 feet deep. They reside on the Colorado Plateau. Among the best are Antelope Canyon, Brimstone Canyon, Spooky Gulch and the Round Valley Draw.
12. Varves, whether you see the type section in Sweden or examples elsewhere. [Lisan Fm, Masada, Israel]
13. An exfoliation dome, such as those in the Sierra Nevada. [Granite Tors, Devon]
14. A layered igneous intrusion, such as the Stillwater complex in Montana or the Skaergaard Complex in Eastern Greenland. [St David's Head Sill, Pembrokeshire]
15. Coastlines along the leading and trailing edge of a tectonic plate (check out The Dynamic Earth – The Story of Plate Tectonics – an excellent website). [Chile]
16. A gingko tree, which is the lone survivor of an ancient group of softwoods that covered much of the Northern Hemisphere in the Mesozoic. [There is one planted outside our department building at Keele, in memory of the founding Professor of Geology, F. Wolverson Cope]
17. Living and fossilized stromatolites (Glacier National Park is a great place to see fossil stromatolites, while Shark Bay in Australia is the place to see living ones) [only in the lab.]
18. A field of glacial erratics [Cheshire - a field with glacial erratics]
19. A caldera [Santorini]
20. A sand dune more than 200 feet high [Natal, Brazil]
21. A fjord [Norway]
22. A recently formed fault scarp [Turkey]
23. A megabreccia [Gwna Melange, Anglesey]
24. An actively accreting river delta [Lake District, Cumbria]
25. A natural bridge
26. A large sinkhole [Gaping Ghyll, Yorkshire]
27. A glacial outwash plain [Iceland Sandur plains]
28. A sea stack [several]
29. A house-sized glacial erratic
30. An underground lake or river
31. The continental divide [Colorado]
32. Fluorescent and phosphorescent minerals [We have a display of them at Keele]
33. Petrified trees [several, including Lulworth Fossil Forest]
34. Lava tubes [Iceland]
35. The Grand Canyon. All the way down. And back.
36. Meteor Crater, Arizona, also known as the Barringer Crater, to see an impact crater on a scale that is comprehensible
37. The Great Barrier Reef, northeastern Australia, to see the largest coral reef in the world.
38. The Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada, to see the highest tides in the world (up to 16m)
39. The Waterpocket Fold, Utah, to see well exposed folds on a massive scale.
40. The Banded Iron Formation, Michigan, to better appreciate the air you breathe.
41. The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania,
42. Lake Baikal, Siberia, to see the deepest lake in the world (1,620 m) with 20 percent of the Earth’s fresh water.
43. Ayers Rock (known now by the Aboriginal name of Uluru), Australia. This inselberg of nearly vertical Precambrian strata is about 2.5 kilometers long and more than 350 meters high
44. Devil’s Tower, northeastern Wyoming, to see a classic example of columnar jointing
45. The Alps.
46. Telescope Peak, in Death Valley National Park. From this spectacular summit you can look down onto the floor of Death Valley – 11,330 feet below.
47. The Li River, China, to see the fantastic tower karst that appears in much Chinese art
48. The Dalmation Coast of Croatia, to see the original Karst.
49. The Gorge of Bhagirathi, one of the sacred headwaters of the Ganges, in the Indian Himalayas, where the river flows from an ice tunnel beneath the Gangatori Glacier into a deep gorge.
50. The Goosenecks of the San Juan River, Utah, an impressive series of entrenched meanders.
51. Shiprock, New Mexico, to see a large volcanic neck
52. Land’s End, Cornwall, Great Britain, for fractured granites that have feldspar crystals bigger than your fist.
53. Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Argentina, to see the Straights of Magellan and the southernmost tip of South America.
54. Mount St. Helens, Washington, to see the results of recent explosive volcanism.
55. The Giant’s Causeway and the Antrim Plateau, Northern Ireland, to see polygonally fractured basaltic flows.
56. The Great Rift Valley in Africa.
57. The Matterhorn, along the Swiss/Italian border, to see the classic “horn”.
58. The Carolina Bays, along the Carolinian and Georgian coastal plain
59. The Mima Mounds near Olympia, Washington
60. Siccar Point, Berwickshire, Scotland, where James Hutton (the “father” of modern geology) observed the classic unconformity
61. The moving rocks of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley
62. Yosemite Valley
63. Landscape Arch (or Delicate Arch) in Utah
64. The Burgess Shale in British Columbia
65. The Channeled Scablands of central Washington
66. Bryce Canyon
67. Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone
68. Monument Valley
69. The San Andreas fault
70. The dinosaur footprints in La Rioja, Spain
71. The volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands
72. The Pyrennees Mountains
73. The Lime Caves at Karamea on the West Coast of New Zealand
74. Denali (an orogeny in progress)
75. A catastrophic mass wasting event
76. The giant crossbeds visible at Zion National Park
77. The black sand beaches in Hawaii (or the green sand-olivine beaches)
78. Barton Springs in Texas
79. Hells Canyon in Idaho
80. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado
81. The Tunguska Impact site in Siberia
82. Feel an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 5.0.
83. Find dinosaur footprints in situ
84. Find a trilobite (or a dinosaur bone or any other fossil) [Trilobite, now in National Museum of Wales]
85. Find gold, however small the flake [Guanaco gold mine, Chile]
86. Find a meteorite fragment
87. Experience a volcanic ashfall
88. Experience a sandstorm
89. See a tsunami
90. Witness a total solar eclipse
91. Witness a tornado firsthand.
92. Witness a meteor storm, a term used to describe a particularly intense (1000+ per minute) meteor shower
93. View Saturn and its moons through a respectable telescope.
94. See the Aurora borealis, otherwise known as the northern lights.
95. View a great naked-eye comet, an opportunity which occurs only a few times per century [Hale-Bopp]
96. See a lunar eclipse
97. View a distant galaxy through a large telescope
98. Experience a hurricane [Typhoon, Japan]
99. See noctilucent clouds
100. See the green flash

This meme from Clastic Detritus …

Have done the following in bold.

1. Started my own blog [er, yes]
2. Slept under the stars [Atacama desert]
3. Played in a band [no, and with my musical ability, never will]
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world [and never will]
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo [see #3]
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris [several times, including honeymoon]
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch [photography]
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning [field course, dodgy cool box]
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables [broad beans, onions, garlic, rocket]
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train [including one in Crewe sidings]
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch-hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping [field trips ain't what they used to be - I blame facebook]
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run [nor a six]
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors [went to Leicester last week where my Dad was born if that counts.]
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language [ish - enough Italian & Portuguese to get beers & food]
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing [just once, hated it]
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David [just once, loved it]
41. Sung karaoke [see #3]
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt [but have seen the eponymous ones in Iceland]
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa [South Africa, Egypt]
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight [Tenby]
46. Been transported in an ambulance [ran into a lamppost]
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person [but hope to by the end of the month]
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling [Red Sea]
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud [volcanic mud, Santorini]
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching [no, but dolphins]
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter [no, but as a kid wanted to be a helicopter pilot]
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy [steam engine]
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviare [over-rated, like lobster]
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life [unless #64 counts]
90. Sat on a jury [may be urban myth but UK if you are listed as a Doctor on the electoral register, you don't get called]
91. Met someone famous [depends on what you mean by famous]
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake [but in the Dead Sea]
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

January. (No post … only resumed after a blogging hiatus ended in February)

February. Boy’s Toys

Anyone who knows me, knows I’m into gadgets.

March. Do Geologists Have A Death Wish?

Two incidents though do spring to mind from my younger, more reckless days.

April. Pembrokeshire Geology

As most of the geoblogosphere has been posting images from their spring field excursions I suppose I’d better post some of mine.

May. Back to (Field) School

Last weekend I attended a field based meeting on Innovation in Fieldwork Teaching in geographical, Earth and environmental sciences down in deepest Devon.

June. Geology in Art – Glen Tilt

Despite the vast potential of the field I’ve been having a few problems with this, largely because I’m a cultural Philistine and have a limited grounding in art and literature, but also because John has requested that we try to dig up as much background as possible on the origin of the work and possible influences on the artist.

July. Before ‘Intelligent Design’ was Intelligent Design

Before I start this post I think I need to point out that I don’t believe in ‘Intelligent Design’ creationism.

August. One Geology / Google Earth Mash-up

Thanks to Alessia Maggi over at Sismordia – Seismology at Concordia for the heads-up that the OneGeology map portal [Note currently IE6/7; Firefox 2 (not 3) only] can export geology maps to Google Earth.

September. Cut to the Chase

The good news is that I’ve been given a grant to compile a geological trail for Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, UK.

October. Geology and Beer

It was Dave Schumaker’s post over at Geology News on the use of Eocene yeast extracted from the gut of a weevil trapped in amber to make beer that has inspired my to write a post on the two subjects closest to my heart (well, at least my liver) – geology and beer.

November. Do you know your crozzle from your hussle?

I’ve been working on my latest geotrail and doing some reading in old geological memoirs

December. Keele Hall’d

A fine winter’s day on Keele University campus.

All in all, quite a diverse year.