Stratigraphy of the Pyrenees

The weather here is unmentionably awful - so although I have picked up my improved sail and have all the fittings to make Lookfar easier to handle - I have not ventured out to do the work on the boat.

Instead I have searched for material on the geology of the Pyrenees and tried to understand it. This has taken time and all my energy - I have barely heard the rain lashing the windows and have merely glanced at the tele.

Why? Rhoda is now living there and their place seems to be in a geologically interesting area ( a bit south of Tarbes - near the small N-S fault there, near the dark strip (which is metamorphic rock). I have yet to locate her place exactly on the map above). The one below shows they are near a seismic zone - their place is a bit to the south of Bagneres - where the large dots are.

Cool or what?

 You can follow Rhoda, Doug and the pigs - not to mention unwary visitors (including Aidan) at http://laviealapetiteferme.blogspot.co.uk/

Minsmere nature reserve - I went by car so did not get this view

Saturday - Lorna goes to Minsmere. Typically I found more geology than birds - on the beach and near the entrance (bottom right of picture). Needless to say - drank a lot of tea and was exhausted when I got back.

The sea at Thorpness - powerful waves

Went there yesterday and walked the beach and went rowing on the meare.

Went there today to take pictures of some rocks in the cliffs.

Bright sunshine, warmer wind today and rather a lot of tea and food in the meare cafe.

Fossil shells in a bit of Red Crag from Sutton Knoll

The picture does not relate to this post - except that I am trying to get my head round some geology for a meeting of the U3A geology group on Monday.

The side-effect of the flu jab seems to have worn off.

The tide was right and the sun was out all day - and there was a decent wind. So I motored upwind and uptide - turned round and sailed back with minimal effort using just the furling genoa. The tide is a bit late tomorrow so I may not repeat this. I have got spoiled by sailing so much in warmth and sunshine.

It is supposed to be autumn - and in some ways it is. But most of the trees still have their leaves apart from horse chestnuts that shrivelled in the dry weather earlier in the year and have now let their leaves go.

Signs of autumn in the way I live as well - start of the working party at the sailing club - regular meetings of the geology group. I have spent a bit of time writing the introduction (with lots of pictures) for the next meeting.This is a screen shot of a graph of extinctions - I don't find this the most interesting thing about the permo-triassic period although this is a nice graph.

Wednesday - a flu jab. I have felt off colour since then and I only figured out that it might be due to a side-effect of the jab. So am off to bed. Intend to resist the autumn tomorrow by having a short sail on the river - in sunshine.

Sciadopitys verticillata. Sole member of the family Sciadopityaceae and genus Sciadopitys, a living fossil with no close relatives. These grew in Suffolk in Pliocene times - about 3 million years ago.

This is one of many trees planted in Rockhall Wood, Sutton - the plantation is of species that are known to have grown in Suffolk in Pliocene times.

Saturday - visited this wood and also outcrops of Corralline Crag and Red Crag at Sutton Knoll - so geology is starting up again with the usual bitterly cold wind experienced 'in the field'. Still re-habillitating inspite of said  wind and standing around for too long and getting tired.

15-40 hours: This is a reconstruction of  Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii - one of the most common plants in the Rhynie ecosystem (about 400 million years ago).

I have no idea why I have not posted something for so long. It is not that I have been doing lots of significant things. But after New Year various things have turned up - like going to Ipswich hospital for an Xray (taking an hour or so - hardly a reason for not writing). A combination of getting yet more stuff out of my boat, scrubbing the bottom of boats at the sailing club, sanding my rudder in the bath, trying to write documentation, trying to 'do' plant fossils, having visitors and doing the normal things of life. 

The reconstruction is of  Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii - a member of an extinct group of primitive plants called the rhyniophytes, characterised by simple branching and naked stems.  But why is this here? - I have been torturing the brain trying to understand things about plant evolution- for the U3A geology group. We have now reached the Devonian. There are some cherts (from the village of Rhynie in north east Scotland, about 50km north west of Aberdeen) with a whole ecosystem preserved in detail in the chert. And I am unfamiliar with all the concepts and all the vocabulary - - .

To the beach with fossils - - Bawdsey

11-30 hrs: Friday's expedition - not the most beautiful beach but it is interesting  - a wave cut platform over London Clay; cliffs of London clay undercut by encroaching sea; some dramatic landslips; sea defenses to the north; Red Crag beds at the top of the cliff - out of reach; plant fossils on the beach; lots of interesting pebbles.

The beach extends along to the Deben, where there is more gravel (and sea kale growing at the top of the beach).  A tiring walk as it is on stones most of the way and no nice tea room to go to afterwards -but fun.

First day of winter - geology trip to Orford

13-15 hrs:  Coralline Crag at Crag Pit farm, near Orford. Taken during a short break in the heavy rain on Sunday. It was too wet and cold to get the camera out in the morning to show rain-soaked members of the OU Geology Society (with a few of us from U3A geology group) looking at bits of rock around Orford. The bottom of the picture shows a bed of Bryozoan - which I had to read about afterwards to see their interest and importance. Details of the site - an SSSI

Lunch in a warm and dry tea-room overlooking the rain-soaked river - a good day inspite of the rain.

Geology trip to Walton on the Naze

18-20 hrs: The geology group of the U3A in East Suffolk took itself off to Walton on the Naze to inspect cliff erosion, a wave-cut platform and lots of fossils.

This was hugely enjoyable - and I had no idea that Walton beach was such a rich source of geological examples of various kinds. 

There is London clay at the foot of the cliff - which yields fossil wood and teeth - and much else if you know what to look for. Above the clay - there are levels of sand with a lot of coral and shells. The upper layers slump down onto the beach, as the picture shows. There are no signs of attempts to protect the cliffs here - which seems strange but at least leaves good features for us to ponder.

University of the Third Age

16-50 hrs: I have spent most of today involved with the U3A - and quite a lot of time lately reading up on the technology of their new web site at  http://www.u3aeastsuffolk.org.uk/ It will not surprise you to know that I volunteered to be their systems admin person - taking over from a member who is moving. The job appears to involve a combination of content management, user support and technical work - just like the University Computing Service (recently ISS) in Newcastle University. It uses Joomla (interesting) and will include a committee meeting once a month (stressful).

In the morning - went to the geology group and looked at the shapes of crystals and some specimins of minerals - as well as planning a morning (next Monday) on the beach under Walton-on-the-Naze looking at mud, fossils and rocks - mostly mud I fear. Afternoon - my first U3A committee meeting - - - .

U3A - geology and a cool website

18-10: My only remaining fossil; the rest have been lost in the move - along with boxes of rocks. A very old interest which I thought I would never come back to - - but things change.

So the relevance of this is - - that I have joined a geology group of the University of the Third Age. I met the group for the first time this morning but have spent time reading the text book and browsing various web sites about local geology.

And how about this as the coolest web site showing animations of plate tectonics and changing continents. The north Atlantic one is good - lots more stuff on this site.