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GWL field trip: The Carboniferous rocks of the UK as represented by the Great Orme

Posted on March 1, 2026 by Barrie Wells

GWL field trip: The Carboniferous rocks of the UK: Field Guide to the Dinantian succession in and around Llandudno

A field trip originally created by Patrick Barnard for clients and later presented for GWL by John Church

GWL_FieldTrip

Posted in Uncategorized |

GWL Field Trip 2013: A field excursion to show the changing environments of deposition in the context of falling sea-level and structural deformation caused by contemporary movement of the Aber Dinlle and Great Orme faults

Posted on February 26, 2026 by Barrie Wells

Lead by Marion Grundy Ridgewood, the field trip entitled “A field excursion to show the changing environments of deposition in the context of falling sea-level and structural deformation caused by contemporary movement of the Aber Dinlle and Great Orme faults”
was described in her own words as consisting of:
“A run through the sequence, looking at the dolomitisation of the Llanarman Ls and the duplicated sequence of the Leete Ls (it has a secret hidden crinoid assemblage!) – both by Happy Valley, the sandstone channel in the upper sequence of the Loggerheads Ls beside Mynedd Isaf, the awesome fossil assemblages in the Cefn Mawr Fm at Bishop’s Quarry and the syn-sedimentary deformation of the chert-rich Red Wharf Ls at the top. Mainly the aim is to show the changing environments of deposition in the context of falling sea-level and structural deformation caused by contemporary movement of the Aber Dinlle and Gt Orme faults.”
The geology of the Great Orme 11th July 2013

Posted in Uncategorized |

Great Orme Field Excursion July 2014

Posted on February 26, 2026 by Barrie Wells

Llandudno Field Guide GSW

Cyclicity and fault/fracture controlled dolomitisation in the Lower Carboniferous, Great Orme

On July 15th, 2014, Cathy Hollis, University of Manchester, lead GWL a field trip to the Great Orme, to:
– Examine the platform margin succession of the Lower Carboniferous (Asbian and Brigantian) limestone succession of the North Wales Platform;
– Describe the stacking patterns of upward-shallowing depositional cycles on a shallow marine carbonate platform;
– Examine the relationship between diagenesis, structure and sedimentology within a partially dolomitised succession.examine.
The trip and guide are based on a PhD thesis prepared by Alanna Juerges (University of Manchester) and all materials remain the copyright of University of Manchester.

Posted in Cluster Meetings, Field Trips, News, Talk Archive |

It’s all Relative: the Ups and Downs of Sea Level over Geological time

Posted on February 25, 2026 by Barrie Wells

This Thursday, 2nd October 2025, we are all invited to the NWGA talk at Plas Sychnant, LL32 8BJ which will be given by Professor Peter Burgess:
“It’s all Relative: the Ups and Downs of Sea Level over Geological time”.
Start time is 19:30. If you are not familiar with the area, allow a little extra time for negotiating the Sychnant Pass.

Peter is Professor of Computational Geoscience, Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool. He has a diverse research interest in sedimentology, sequence and seismic stratigraphy, basin analysis, sea-level change, geological data science, and numerical forward modelling, all using a quantitative approach. Peter has experience in both academia and industry and is currently an associate-editor for the Journal of Sedimentary Geology, Basin Research and Sedimentologika

Posted in Cluster Meetings |

Etruria Marl: what it is; how it formed; why it’s special

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Barrie Wells

On 15th January 2026 Bernard Besly gave a talk on the Etruria Marl, a subject on which he is a widely respected expert, having consulted on and published papers over a 40 year period. The talk was very well received, generating much debate over the potential of the formation as a future resource in addition to its historical importance, with contributions to the discussion from other experts in the audience including Arthur Harrisson, an independent consultant in the field of cement clinker decarbonisation, on which Bernard touched during his talk. We thank Bernard and eagerly await a return visit, as promised. The text of his talk may be found here:

Etruria talk to Geoscience Wales

 

Posted in Cluster Meetings, News, Talk Archive |

Seismic Imaging: from Acoustic Emissions to Earthquakes

Posted on November 30, 2025 by Barrie Wells

A talk given at Geoscience Wales in May 2022, by  Juan Reyes-Montes, Senior Consultant, ASC. Juan has a B.Sc. in Physics and B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Granada and a Ph.D. in Seismology from the University of Liverpool.

ASC specializes in the design, processing and analysis of acoustic, microseismic and ultrasonic monitoring projects, applied at scales ranging from laboratory tests on rock samples to local and regional induced seismicity. Juan was visiting North Wales to work with GWL Associate Laszlo Lombos, and his company ERGO Associates Geo-Engineering Instrumentation Systems.

Presentation: Geoscience Wales presentation_20220519_02

Posted in Talk Archive |

Application of Advanced Laboratory Experiments in understanding the cause of localized damage zones in Nuclear Waste Repository in Finland

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Barrie Wells

We had an unscheduled talk on Thursday 18th October, 2025, from Dr. Farzine Nassari, visiting from Canada. He gave an excellent talk on rock mechanics and the Finnish nuclear waste repository. The talk may be viewed at:

Application of Advanced Laboratory Experiments in understanding the cause of localized damage zones in Nuclear Waste Repository in Finland

Posted in Cluster Meetings, News |

2D musings on 3D geology in the Welsh Borderlands

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Barrie Wells

Thursday 20th November, Malcolm Butler from the UK Onshore Geophysical Library will give a talk “2D musings on 3D geology in the Welsh Borderlands”.

Abstract:

Interpretation of a compiled 2D seismic section from Chepstow to the Longmynd is presented to show the strong erosion beneath the Shelveian Unconformity outside basinal areas. This unconformity is overlain by rocks of lower Llandovery age in the area south of Craven Arms but lies immediately below rocks ranging in age from Upper Ordovician to Wenlockian north of the Church Stretton Fault complex.

The interpretation demonstrates the presence of a widespread regional high to the east of the Malvern Hills over which the Llandovery sequence appears to lie immediately on lower Cambrian or Precambrian rocks. This stripping (or non-deposition) of rocks beneath the Shelveian Unconformity appears to also occur beneath the Worcester Graben and the western part of the Oxfordshire Coalfield, although widespread erosion beneath the Variscan Unconformity confuses the situation. Where seismic data are available off the western flanks of the Malvern Hills, the lack of significant thinning in the Silurian and Lower Devonian section may indicate that no separate Malvern High existed at this time.

The talk may be downloaded from:

Cambrian talk 201125

Posted in Cluster Meetings |

Tidalites conference at the University of Liverpool

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Barrie Wells

GWL and one of its Associates, PETTROG, will be exhibiting at the Tidalites conference, being hosted by the University of Liverpool this September.

Posted in News |

The Brymbo Fossil Forest: A new Future for UK Geoheritage

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Barrie Wells

On Thursday 18th September, 18:00 at the RCA, Dr Tim Astrop, Fossil Forest Coordinator at Stori Brymbo (www.brymboheritagetrust.org) will give a talk entitled ‘The Brymbo Fossil Forest: A new Future for UK Geoheritage’.

This will be a joint talk with the North Wales Geological Association.

Posted in Cluster Meetings |