News archive.

"The Speeton Plesiosaur Revisited" by Will Watts, Dinosaur Coast Project Officer, Scarborough Museums & Gallery. Lecture to the Society on 25th March 2004.

Abstract -

In October 2002 a near complete specimen of a Plesiosaur was excavated from the Speeton Clay near Reighton. This talk will look at how this specimen may help to fill a gap in our understanding of Plesiosaur evolution during the Lower Cretaceous. The talk will also outline some of the difficulties overcome during the excavation and highlight the benefits of working in partnership with various groups to achieve a common aim.

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Abstracts from the Michael House Memorial Meeting held on 18th October2003 jointly with the Yorkshire Geological Society.

Evolutionary pathways in the evolution of Early and Middle Devonian ammonoids: Professor Dieter Korn, Humboldt Museum, Berlin.

The principal conch parameters whorl expansion rate, whorl overlap rate, umbilical width, and whorl thickness of Early and Middle Devonian ammonoids have been extensively investigated. Stratophenetic analyses show long-term trends in the transformations of these characters over long periods of time, but sudden and rapid reversals can also be observed. On the basis of these four quantifiable conch parameters and supplementary qualitative characters, ten ammonoid morphs were distinguished. Reconstruction of the evolutionary history of these morphs reflects the existence of two major phylogenetic lineages, both already visible in Early Devonian faunas. The agoniatitid lineage is characterized by slow character development and leads to the Frasnian gephuroceratids; the anarcestid lineage displays rapid morphological evolution that leads to the late Givetian pharciceratids as well as the Middle and Late Devonian tornoceratids. Morphological evolution is interpreted as partly limited by geometrical and physical constraints. Characterized by slow character development and leads to the Frasnian gephuoceratids; the anarcestid lineage displays rapid morphological evolution that leads to the late Givetian pharciceratids as well as the Middle and Late Devonian tornoceratids. Morphological evolution is interpreted as partly limited by geometrical and physical constraints.

The Taghanic Event: A Late Mid Devonian Aridity Crisis: Dr. John Marshall, School of Oceanography and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton.

An enormously significant but generally unrecognised contribution to the earth sciences has been that of the palaeontologists and stratigraphers who put the definition of geological time onto a systematic basis. In the definition of Devonian time Michael House was foremost amongst this group. This systematic division then enabled geologists (again including Michael House) to start to recognise the global scale of geological events such as extinctions and sea level highs. This contribution focuses on one such Devonian event well known to Michael House. The latest Givetian (late Mid Devonian) Taghanic Event is the first of a series of extinctions events that characterize the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous interval. Continuing work on terrestrial sediments from the Old Red Sandstone continent enables these events to be contrasted and reveals much about the underlying causes. The marine Taghanic Event in Scotland has its expression as a limestone found in a few offshore oil exploration wells and represents an extreme sea-level highstand. In terrestrial sections the equivalent level is the Eday Marl well known from Orkney. Offshore its correlative is found in many wells drilled north of the Highland Boundary Fault. These have generally been mis-identified as a Permian siltstone. Onshore sections show that subtle marine transgressions occur at the top and base of the Eday Marl. The Eday Marl was formed within a sandy sabkha environment with the sediments showing a clear internal climatic cyclicity. The interval represents an aridity episode within a long sequence of fluvial sandstone. The contrast with the D-C boundary events is the association of high sea-levels with both humidity (Hangenberg) and aridity (Taghanic) episodes. Both are associated with Milankovitch driven climatic maxima but in the case of the Taghanic the high sea levels are believed to result largely from thermal expansion of sea water. The aridity driven reduction in the terrestrial hydrological cycle and linked changes in the shelf sea circulation and water temperature provide a mechanism for the very significant Taghanic extinctions that occur in both the marine and terrestrial realms.

Stratigraphic records of Milankovich cycles in British Jurassic: Dr. Graham Weedon, University of Luton.

This talk will discuss how modern approaches to data collection and processing, specifically via time-series analysis, have revolutionised the way that sedimentary cycles are examined and exploited since the publication of House (1985, "A new approach to an absolute timescale from measurements of orbital cycles and sedimentary microrhythms", Nature 316, pp721-715). The background and importance of time-series analysis will be explained and examples of results will be illustrated for the Lias, Oxford Clay and Kimmeridge Clay.

Felix Whitham: A display of Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonites from the north of England in memory of Michael House.

David Hill: [display of:] Devonian Goniatites and trilobites from Morocco.

Gordon Binns and Chris Blackhurst: Jurassic fossils from the Yorkshire Coast, including fossil pants and their livint equivalents.

Solution features in Cave Oolite at North Newbald - an investigation by members of the Hull Geological Society [display]. In the north face of Sands Top Quarry, North Newbald, East Yorkshire, solution features can be seen in the top of the Cave Oolite (Bajocian, Middle Jurassic), beneath silts and sands. The features vary in shape and size from thin pipes 2 m deep, to U and V shape holes and sink-hole features a couple of metres across. Some of these still contain infill. The sands and silts above contain no carbonate material. A 'V' shaped feature on the eastern face is in weathered Oolite and may be an ice wedge cast. Samples have been collected and the latest results will be displayed at the meeting.

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Abstract for the March 2003 lecture:

Water Water Everywhere: Proglacial Lakes in the Vale of York and Beyond. By Mark D. Bateman Geography Department, University of Sheffield, Winter St, Sheffield, S10 2TN. Tel: 0114 222 7929, Fax: 0114 279 7912, E-Mail: m.d.bateman@sheffield.ac.uk

One only has to take the A1 north from Worksop up to York to realise how flat and 'boring' the landscape of this region is. But just like the flatness of East Anglia it contains within it a very rich and exciting range of evidence relating to the movements of ice during the last glacial period. Hull and the region adjacent to the Humber are at the epicentre of this activity. What other region of the UK can boast of being at the former confluence/margins of 2 ice streams; one in the Vale of York and another down the East Coast spilling in passing through the Humber Gap?

One of the consequences of these ice advances on the region was water and lots of it. Large amounts of meltwater coming off of the Vale of York and East Coast ice streams would have combined with the already ample amounts of water draining through the Trent, Ouse, Don, Aire and Calder systems. Presently the latter all drain through the Humber Gap but at the time this was blocked by ice. The result was proglacial Lake Humber. Likewise in the Vale of Pickering water draining off the Wolds and Moors with possible glacial meltwater from the ice overtopping the hills to the west and from the ice blocking the Vale in the east was impounded forming proglacial Lake Pickering.

These proglacial lakes have a long history with Carvill Lewis as far back as 1894 publishing maps of lake extents. The logic that water must have been impounded seems irrefutable but what of the geomorphological and sedimentological evidence to support their existence? Are these vast lake extents correct? When did they form, how long did they last and what was the form of their demise? These are just some the questions which will be looked at using both existing literature and new and on going research being carried out at Sheffield University.

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Abstract for the lecture in February 2003

W S BISAT (1886 - 1973) AND QUATERNARY GEOLOGY - PATRICK BOYLAN, CITY UNIVERSITY LONDON (PAST PRESIDENT & HON. MEMBER OF THE HGS)

The development of our present-day understanding of the Pleistocene of East Yorkshire through the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century depended crucially on the work of a handful of geologists, the majority of them self-taught, and most of them closely associated with the Hull Geological Society: Wood & Rome (whose work pre-dated the establishment of the Society in 1888), J.W. Stather, the Society's Founder-Secretary, G.W. Lamplugh of the Geological Survey, and William Sawney Bisat (1886 - 1973).

Though far better known these days for his outstanding contribution to Carboniferous palaeontology and stratigraphy, W.S. Bisat was in many ways just as influential in relation to unraveling the complications of the Ice Age of Yorkshire and surrounding regions, since with his move after World War I from the Carboniferous and Permian of the Doncaster area to North Ferriby, Bisat quickly widened his geological interests to include the Pleistocene and Recent, first of Holderness and then of Yorkshire more generally.

His work ranged from the extremely detailed long-term recording of the stratigraphy of the whole of the 55 km rapidly changing coastline of Holderness. He created over a period of more than 20 years, often working with other members of the Hull Geological Society, particularly Cecil Wright Mason, a remarkable large-scale section of the full length of the Holderness cliffs from Lamplugh's Ipswichian Interglacial Sewerby Buried Cliff in the chalk to the north of Bridlington along the complex series of boulder clays first examined in detail by Wood and Rome, down to Spurn Head in the south. (This section was finally published, though posthumously, by John Catt & Paul Madgett in the 1981 book to mark the retirement of Lewis Penny).

In the course of this detailed mapping and recording, Bisat developed a new overview of the Pleistocene of the region, recognising that there had been a minimum of two major glaciations. It was his Pleistocene studies that he presented as his 1939 Presidential Address to the Yorkshire Geological Society, not his already-famous work on Carboniferous goniatites and stratigraphy (which won him the extremely rare honour, as an amateur, of election as a Fellow of the Royal Society). It was no accident that when in 1961 he decided to endow a Medal to be awarded by the Yorkshire Geological Society he asked that this be dedicated to John Phillips, another self-taught geologist who, in the first half of the 19th century, had been similarly fascinated equally by Yorkshire's complex Carboniferous and Pleistocene stories.

Abstract for November 2002 lecture - Dr Mike Elliott, Institute of Estuarine & Coastal Studies, University of Hull "The Yorkshire Coast - the Tees to the Humber: past, present and future".

Abstract:-This illustrated talk will be a journey from the Tees estuary to the southern extent of the Humber Estuary. It will cover the natural and man-made features of the area and highlight the unique features and importance of this coast and its estuaries. In this it will discuss the uses and users of the area, the conflicts between these and the way in which Man has both initiated and responded to change. It will briefly include the formation of the coast and the changes since the last ice age and then look ahead to future changes. By doing this, the talk will put this part of the coast in a wider European perspective and give the audience the opportunity to discuss the ways in which such an area can be managed.

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August 2002.

Earth Alert 2 meeting at Scarborough on August Bank Holiday Weekend. As well as the lectures there were geology walks, including ones led by our own Richard Myerscough and Nigel Whittington.

John and Pattie Neale celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Professor Neale is an honorary member of the Society.

July 2002.

Ivor James died on 4th July, aged 93. He had been ill for several years. He worked with Rutherford at Cambridge University and was an administrator at Hull University for many years and lived in Newland Park. He was President of the Hull Geological Society from 1978 to 1981 and then Vice-President until 1983.

Lynden and Ann Emery move to Somerset.

June 2002

Dr Huw Griffiths, Senior Lecturer in the Geography Dept at Hull University, died after a short fight against cancer, aged 44. His funeral was on 21st June at Haltemprice Crematorium. Huw had given lectures to the Society in the past and was a good friend of the Hull Geological Society. He recently helped us by liasing between the Society and the University Library over the geology books and journals they no longer needed, many of which are now in our own library. His research interests were in Quaternary ostracods and mammals. I have sent the Society's condolences to his family.

If you missed our contribution to the BBC's Sense of Place project you can listen to it on the BBC Humber website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/humber/features/senseplace/04timeandtide.shtml

Some of you were on my geology class meeting to Speeton at the beginning of March when we spotted a seal pup stranded at the bottom of the cliff. Stuart reported to the Sea Life Centre at Scarborough. By coincidence last weekend some seals were being released back into the wild at South Landing so we asked about the Speeton one - she had been successfully rescued, has put on a lot of weight and will be released in the next few days.

Geological walk around Hull led by Nigel Whittington, starting at the Ferens Art Gallery at 10-30 am on June 3rd; part of the "be a local tourist day". Attracted about 30 people.

May 2002.

The "Hunting Dinosaurs in Argentina" lecture by Dr Phil Manning and "Sones and Bones" walk in Spring Bank Cemetery led by Mike Horne and Chris Ketchell both attracted about 30 people. The Society thanks Hull Museums and Chris Ketchell (respectively) for their help.

News about the geology books from the University Library: Members of the Society 'rescued' a substantial number of geology books that were no longer required by the University Library. We are grateful to the University for the donation of the books and to the Library staff for their help. The Society has formed a Library sub-committee to decide on the future of the books and make a proposal to next year's AGM. Stuart Jones has volunteered to act as Librarian. The sub-committee is planning to create a catalogue of the books and make this available to members. As an interim plan of operation, members may borrow up to six books and periodicals from Stuart for a period of one month. Non-members may also borrow books and periodicals, subject to a five pounds' deposit for each item. Any costs involved in the loan are to be met by the borrower. We are happy to accept the donation of other publications to the new Library. We have already received some maps of the geology of the North Sea and parts of Scotland.

April 2002.

"Sense of Place" broadcasts by BBC have started on Sundays on local radio - listen out for the Hull G S fieldtrip on Sunday 28th April at 12 noon on BBC Radio Humberside.

Prof. David Drewry (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull) has invited Society members to a public lecture about "The making of the Blue Planet Series" by Alistair Fothergill the BBC Producer, on Wednesday 8th May starting at 6 pm in the Middleton Hall. Admission is free and members are invited to meet Mr. Fothergill after the lecture, when light refreshments will be available.

March 2002.

Members of the Society have selected geology books and journals from those no longer required by the University of Hull Library. We collected them last week. The Library has retained about 55 per cent of the publications (these are my estimates), about 15 per cent are back on the 4th floor of the Library, the rest are in the basement. You can still consult (and borrow them if you have borrowing rights) but you will have to ask for them at the issue desk and a librarian will have to fetch them for you. The Society has taken about 15 percent of the books and the remainder is now being offered to other organisations. I would like to thank Lynden Emery, Angela Gowland, Barrie Heaton, Ian Heppenstall, Anne Horne, Stuart Jones, Chris Leach, Mike Scrimshaw, Wilf Whitaker, Nigel Whittington, and others for all their time and hard work. Also on behalf of the Society I would like to thank Diane Leeson and other staff at the Library for their help and co-operation.

Felix Whitham has sent us the following letter:-
11th March 2002
Dear Mike, I was extremely surprised and rather overwhelmed to be presented with such generous and unexpected gifts of book tokens and a substantial cheque along with a very nice and thought-fully selected card depicting geological scenery, on the occasion of my retirement after 37 years as the treasurer of the Hull Geological Society at the Annual General Meeting of the Society held at the University of Hull on the 7th of March. Although I first became interested in fossils whilst still at school as a young boy, collecting belemnites and Gryphaea's (thunderbolts and devils toe nails in those days), it was not until after I returned home in 1946 after six and a half years in the armed forces that 1 rekindled my interest in collecting and to further my knowledge in geology I joined the Hull Geological Society in 1961, shortly after the Society had started to rebuild its membership.
From that day on I have attended almost all the lectures and field meetings learning much from the likes of John Neale and the late Lewis Penny, continuing to learn and research to the present day. I am deeply grateful to all the members of the old Geological Department of the University of Hull and the Hull Geological Society for a lifetime of learning.
Not knowing the names of all those members of our Society who contributed to the very generous gifts bestowed on me may I extend my heartfelt thanks to you all, particularly to Mike Horne, Chris Leach and others unknown to me who were kind enough to organise the event in the utmost secrecy without my knowing about it. I do hope it will be possible to record my sincere appreciation and many thanks to all those who contributed towards this special occasion, in the Society's next news letter
Yours sincerely, Felix Whitham

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