Geological Society of Glasgow

Dippy on Tour: a natural history adventure
2019-02-24 10:00 - 17:00, 2019-02-23 10:00 - 17:00, 2019-02-22 10:00 - 17:00, 2019-02-21 10:00 - 17:00, 2019-02-20 10:00 - 17:00, 2019-02-19 10:00 - 17:00, 2019-02-18 10:00 - 17:00, 2019-02-17 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) and 20 more dates | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Argyle Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G3 8AG, United Kingdom
Dippy, the Natural History Museum’s iconic Diplodocus dinosaur skeleton, is coming to Glasgow!
As part of a road trip across the UK, Dippy is venturing out of London for the first time since 1905. He will visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum from 22 January – 6 May 2019. And he’s on a mission – to inspire five million natural history adventures, encouraging families to explore the incredible natural history collections and biodiversity in Glasgow.
More information can be found here. Admission to the exibition is free.
As part of the exhibition there will be a “Societies’ Day” at the Kelvingrove Museum on Saturday 16 February. The Geological Society of Glasgow and the Strathclyde Geoconservation Group will have stalls at this event, which , at increasing awareness of groups involved in earth science outreach. If you are interested in helping out on the day then please see any Council member.

Sideways views of Scottish garnets: insights into metamorphic processes (lecture)
2019-02-20 19:30 - 21:30 | Grant Institute, King’s Buildings, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, United Kingdom
Dr Tim Dempster, University of Glasgow
Clough Medal and Joint Celebrity Lecture with the Geological Society of Edinburgh
Garnets are capable of recording original compositions during growth and hence allow determination of pressure-temperature paths and durations of metamorphic events. However, studies of garnet from the Scottish Highlands have questioned some key concepts of metamorphic equilibrium. Surface and internal zoning patterns reveal a failure to equilibrate at both staurolite and sillimanite isograds, and question assumptions about fluid availability and rates of intergranular transport. This emphasises the importance of kinetic controls on metamorphic reactions. Individual porphyroblasts may have a unique response to prograde metamorphism and control both subsequent reaction pathways and index mineral distribution.
Background reading: Dempster, T. J., La Piazza, J., Taylor, A. G., Beaudoin, N. and Chung, P. (2017) Chemical and textural equilibration of garnet during amphibolitefacies metamorphism: The influence of coupled dissolution-reprecipitation. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 35, 1111-1130.
Tim is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow. His research interests are focused on the use of minerals to reveal information on crustal processes, including using zircon as an indicator of low and medium grade metamorphic processes and garnet zoning to assess the role of diffusion processes in controlling metamorphic reactions. Other interests include the study of grain boundaries and the movement of fluids through the crust and the morphology of mineral surfaces as a guide to reaction history, palaeoporosity and deformation in crustal rocks. In addition, he researches chemical zoning in accessory minerals as a monitor of crystallisation history to better understand the initial phases of orogenic evolution and the links between surface processes and tectonics.

The Heath Robinson world of the Triassic (lecture)
2019-02-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Lecture Theatre, Gregory Building, c/o School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, Glasgow, Glasgow City, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
Dr Nick Fraser, National Museum of Scotland
Joint lecture with the Glasgow Natural History Society
The Triassic (~250-200 Mya) is a critical period in earth’s history. It saw the origin of many of the major groups of modern animals, for example mammals, crocodiles, turtles and true flies and is sometimes referred to as the Birth of the Modern World. It was also the time when the first dinosaurs walked the planet. But it was much more than this – the Triassic World was a strange mix of “conventional-looking” reptiles alongside truly bizarre Heath-Robinson contraptions. In this presentation Nick will explore the depths of the Triassic Tethys Sea, extending from the modern-day Alps and southern China, to the ancient rift basins of Pangaea, now exposed in the vicinity of Dulles airport and the Mid-Atlantic States.
Background reading: Fraser, N.C. and H.-D. Sues. 2011. The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: a brief overview of terrestrial biotic changes during the Triassic. Earth and Environmental Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 101, 189-200.
Nick Fraser is head of the Department of Natural Sciences and specialises in vertebrate palaeontology. Dr Fraser studied zoology as an undergraduate and geology as a postgraduate at the University of Aberdeen. He worked for 18 years at the Virginia Museum of Natural History before moving back to Scotland and National Museums Scotland in 2007. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech and Honorary Fellow in Geosciences, Edinburgh University. Dr Fraser’s research is interdisciplinary and centres on the Triassic period (250 -201 million years ago). Collaborating with a number of colleagues worldwide, he has published extensively on Triassic faunas and floras.
