All lectures will be held in Lecture Theatre A (Room 407) in the Boyd Orr Building. The lectures will start at 7:00 pm.
12th October 2023
Professor Jane Evans, British Geological Survey
A boatload of Vikings: isotope evidence from a mass execution in Weymouth
Summary
9th November 2023
Professor Tony Prave, University of St Andrews
Birth of the Dalradian Supergroup and its path through Neoproterozoic Earth history
Summary
7th December 2023
Professor Craig Storey, University of Portsmouth
The onset of modern plate tectonics
Summary
11th January 2024
Dr Steven Hollis, University of Edinburgh
Closing the Iapetus Ocean: late arc and ophiolite formation in the Grampian Orogeny and implications for UK mineral potential and metal security
Summary
Details of further lectures to follow.
12th October 2023
Professor Jane Evans, British Geological Survey
A boatload of Vikings: isotope evidence from a mass execution in Weymouth
Much infrastructure work was undertaken in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. This included improving the access route ( A354 ) to Weymouth. A burial pit containing over 50 skeletons was uncovered during this work; the skeletons had all been beheaded. This talk follows the isotope work undertaken to determine who these individuals might have been, where they came from and why they came to this gruesome end.
9th November 2023
Professor Tony Prave, University of St Andrews
Birth of the Dalradian Supergroup and its path through Neoproterozoic Earth history
The most enduring concept of the Dalradian Supergroup is that it formed during a prolonged phase of extensional tectonism, starting with breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia and ending with the opening of the Iapetus Ocean. This evening Tony will revise and refine that concept, integrating the Dalradian’s rock record into the geological and environmental conditions recognised currently as those that define the latter half of Neoproterozoic time worldwide.
7th December 2023
Professor Craig Storey, University of Portsmouth
The onset of modern plate tectonics
Since the 1960s we have accepted the plate tectonic paradigm as being central to how our planet operates at the present day. However, there is much ongoing debate as to when plate tectonics began and how similar it was to the current observable mode. Hypotheses range from the Hadean to the Neoproterozoic and therefore span across profound changes in the Earth system, including atmospheric oxygenation and the proliferation of life. In this talk Craig will review (some of) the “hallmarks” of plate tectonics, their first appearance and secular evolution, and speculate on when it all began and how it evolved.
Further reading
Dhuime, B. et al (2012). A change in the geodynamics of continental growth 3 billion years ago. Science, 335, 1334-1336.
Palin, R.M. et al (2020). Secular change and the onset of plate tectonics on Earth. Earth Science Reviews, 207, 103172.
Stern, R.J. (2005). Evidence from Ophiolites, Blueschists and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic terranes that the modern episode of subduction tectonics began in Neoproterozoic time. Geology, 33, 557-560.
11th January 2024
Dr Steven Hollis, University of Edinburgh
Closing the Iapetus Ocean: late arc and ophiolite formation in the Grampian Orogeny and implications for UK mineral potential and metal security
The Grampian Orogeny marks the first phase of the closure of the Iapetus Ocean in the British and Irish Caledonides during the Late Cambrian to Middle Ordovician. Widespread metamorphism and deformation of passive margin sequences resulted from the accretion of several arc and ophiolite complexes (and outriding microcontinental blocks) to the continental margin of Laurentia. These remnants of that now closed ocean extend across Scotland and Ireland, into Newfoundland and Quebec. The Tyrone Igneous Complex of Northern Ireland represents a young, structurally dissected c. 484-480 Ma ophiolite and c. 473-464 Ma volcanic arc. Extensive fieldwork, geochemistry, isotope analysis (Sr-Nd), and U-Pb zircon geochronology have provided us with a detailed understanding of its tectonic-magmatic evolution, and potential metal endowment. Equivalent sequences in the Newfoundland Appalachians contain some of the most metal-rich massive sulphide deposits globally. Exploration efforts in Co. Tyrone have revealed numerous encouraging occurrences of base (Cu-Zn-Pb) and precious (Au-Ag) metals crucial for the energy transition, and also occurrences of energy-critical metals (e.g. Co, Bi, Te). Parallels between the Tyrone Igneous Complex and the Ballantrae Ophiolite Complex will also be discussed in this presentation, highlighting the possible mineral potential of western Scotland.