During the Covid-19 restrictions, the society presented virtual excursions to Scottish geological localities. Some of these presentations were recorded and are available to view on YouTube. The following presentations are currently available.
Field trip to North Islay (presented by David Webster on 21 May 2020)
The stromatolites of the Bonahaven Dolomite Formation exposed on the north coast of Islay are some of the best examples of these ancient relics of Precambrian life in the world. This virtual field trip allows you to see them and other fantastic geology in this remote and hard-to-get-to location. For more information see “A Guide to the Geology of Islay” (Excursion 9) or visit the Geology of Islay website.
Field trip to Ballygrant, Islay (presented by David Webster on 28 May 2020)
This is a great locality to observe the rocks that were formed at the start of a major glaciation (possibly a “Snowball Earth”) that occurred some 700 million years ago. In addition, there are some old lead mines dating back to the 14th century and evidence of possibly the earliest human habitation in Scotland some 11,000 years ago.
Field trip to South-East Islay (presented by David Webster on 13 July 2020)
This trip, which starts and finishes at Port Ellen, looks at the igneous and meta-igneous rocks of the south coast and visits a few distilleries and some historical/archaeological sites too. Some of the localities visited are described in Excursions 10 & 11 of A Guide to the Geology of Islay by D. Webster, R. Anderton & A. Skelton (Ringwood Publishing, 2015).
Geo-tour of Fossil Grove & Quarry Knowe (presented by David Webster on 21 September 2020)
A description of the geology of the Fossil Grove and a discussion of the conservation issues affecting of the site. Given as part of the Scottish Geology Festival 2020.
Geological tour of Glasgow Necropolis (presented by Margaret Greene on 30 September 2020)
A virtual walk describing the geological context of the necropolis and showing examples of the types of rock used in the monuments. Given as part of the Scottish Geology Festival 2020.
David Webster also presented virtual excursions to Jura and Colonsay as part of the Geowalks Lockdown Lectures series, and a virtual excursion to Islay to the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow. He also presented a more technical excursion to the southern Rhinns of islay to the Open University Geological Society. Links to the YouTube videos of all of these excursions can be found on the Scottish Geology website.