8th December 2022: The palaeontology of Arabia: from stromatolites, to the first land plants, to Homo sapiens out of Africa

A talk by Prof Mike Stephenson

In this period of rapid change in climate and environments, scientists are looking for past changes in order to understand more about what may happen in the future.

The fossils in the rocks of Arabia are a unique archive of these changes. They extend from the Precambrian ‘snowball Earth’ of 600 million years ago, to the first land plants 400 million years ago, to dinosaurs 75 million years ago, and to fossils of  

Homo sapiens 85 thousand years ago. These fossils tell a story of climate change and evolution that is unrivalled. The talk will chart these changes explaining how they illustrate evolution and climate change and make us think differently about the world of today.

The talk will cover some of the key aspects of the geology and palaeontology of Arabia – how life developed through time and the role of one subcontinent in that story. The talk will bring together the many strands of fossil evolution and climate change focussing on Arabia as a melting pot and conduit in the development of life. The author, Prof Mike Stephenson is a palaeontologist with over 25 years’ experience, with three acclaimed books on the geosciences.

On Thursday we have two talks scheduled at this month’s social get-together and networking event. Dr Sophie Ward of Bangor University will give a presentation on “Can shelf sea sediments be used as a proxy for past tidal conditions?” and Heather Thomas of Conwy Council has offered to make a short presentation on help available to small business and sole traders.

Refreshments will be served from 18:00, this Thursday, 19th September 2019, upstairs in the RCA Conwy (behind Plas Mawr). Talks will start at 18:30.
We hope you can join us for this first meeting after a longer than usual summer break.

June’s talk explores the fascinating coastal sabkha of Abu Dhabi under the expert guidance of Stephen Lokier. In his presentation, “Application of a Recent Analogue to the Ancient Petroleum System: A Virtual Field Trip to the coastline of the Tethys Ocean”, Stephen will describe the coastal sabkha system of Abu Dhabi, discussing the sedimentological characteristics and preservation potential of each of the depositional settings and comparing them to equivalent facies preserved within the ancient petroleum system of the Jurassic Arab Formation. With over 18 years of applied experience in the field of carbonate sedimentology, many of those in the Middle East, Stephen is extremely well qualified to show us this classic – and endangered – geological setting.

Abstract and short biography here: GWL_2019-06_AbstractAndBio

Our speaker for May is Davide Gamboa, a graduate of the University of Lisbon with a long association with Wales, especially Cardiff where he gained his Ph.D.. As a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for the Sêr Cymru National Research Network for Low Carbon Energy and the Environment he was part of the Geo-Carb-Cymru cluster, composed of researchers from BGS, Aberystwyth University and Cardiff University, studying the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) potential in and around Wales.

On Thursday May 23rd Davide will be talking about Carbon Capture and Sequestration in the East Irish Sea. This area contains two formations with major storage potential: the Sherwood Sandstone Formation with closures in fault-bounded horsts, and the older Collyhurst Sandstone Formation. Stress modelling of the EISB fault network indicates limited leakage risks. The basin therefore has an increasing strategic value for CCS.

The talk will take place at the RCA in Conwy, starting at 18:30 with refreshments available from 18:00.

Full abstract and bio here: GWL_2019-05_talkabstractandbio

PDF of talk here: #CCS_EISB3