Geology and Landscape

Posted 31/8/09

The kick-off session for the new year will be on Tuesday 15^th September at 2.00pm in the Castleburgh Room, Victoria Theatre. The subject will be a repeat - with some additions - of my "STORY OF SETTLE" talk.

Additionally, there will be time for open discussion of the future plans for the Group. I am looking forward to being more a facilitator rather than a speaker at our meetings. So please come prepared to pool ideas for future topics and discussions.

The October meeting will be on 20th at the same time and place, or - if the weather is fine - we will be go out for a short walk to find some 'interesting' rocks!

Posted 20/7/09

GEOLOGY WALK – THE GREAT SCAR LIMESTONE Sunday 23rd August

This is a part of the winter "Programme of Walks from the Settle to Carlisle Line". Settle-Langcliffe-Stainforth-Feizor-Giggleswick-Settle 14km/9.5 miles. Stating and ending at Settle Station. Led by Bill Fraser a geologist from Leeds. The whole walk is on the Great Scar Limestone, the most distinctive rock of the Dales. Features of its character as well as the influence it has on the scenery will be seen close up and in the distant views. Past and present use of this valuable resource will be viewed at Langcliffe and Giggleswick.

If anyone is interested and needs further information please contact Ruth Evans (a member of our group) on 01729 825454 or simply join the walk at Settle Station at 10.06 when the train arrives from Leeds. There is no charge.

GEOLOGY AND LANDSCAPE BOOK LIST

Before we start, I am not envisaging anyone will want to read all these! The intention is to provide some ideas to cover all tastes and needs. The books in each section are NOT in any specific order.

GENERAL NOTES ON SELECTING BOOKS
1. Be very wary of books on geology published before 1980. So many changes in thinking have occurred since the 1960's renders older books rather misleading.
2. Look for a good glossary - due to the rather fluid use people make of some geological terms, a glossary can be most useful.
3. Always check there is a extensive index.
4. When touring the country, look for local books on the scenery of the locality and its underlying geology. Not always too easy to find but when found usually well worth the effort.
5. You may notice a bit of a theme in that the author Richard Fortey appears quite often. He was the Head of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum, before his retirement, and I find all his books extremely well written in an easy jargon free style, comprehensive and full of fascinating anecdotes and insights.

GENERAL INTRODUCTIONS
GEOLOGY
· "Reading the Rocks: the autobiography of the Earth" (2006) Marcia Bjornerud - a well written account of the Earth's history, chemistry, geological processes and the effects life has had on the story. Up-to-date, witty and very much written for the general reader - any jargon used is fully explained, in fact it could easily be described as a "jargon buster".
· "The Hidden Landscape" (1993) Richard Fortey - the story of the rocks that underlie the whole UK. A journey through the country both physically and back through time.
· "Earth Story" (1998) Simon Lamb & David Singlton - BBC publication, it was an excellent television series presented by the biologist Aubrey Manning. Well written text with fantastic photographs and diagrams.
· "The Geology of Britain" (2000) Peter Toghill - great easy read, excellent introduction to geology with examples trawled from across the UK - simple and straight forward. Has a very simple one page glossary
· "Geological History of the British Isles" (2004) Arlene Hunter & Glynda Easterbrook - an Open University publication with a slightly more academic approach, but still very readable. Again very well illustrated. with a good glossary.
LANDSCAPE
· "Making of the English Landscape" (1955) W. G. Hoskins - the classic work on the subject.
· "Discovering Landscape in England and Wales" (1985) Andrew Goudie & Rita Gardener - an region by region study of interesting landforms, with an explanation of the underlying geology. Masses of photographs and clear diagrams.
· "Shell Guide to Reading the Landscape" (1984) Richard Muir - a great insight to understanding all the factors that contribute to making a landscape.
· "The Landscape Detective" (1986) Anthony Burton & John May - fascinating introductory chapter explaining "where to start" with the subject. The main body of the book consists of twelve walks, through different landscapes in the UK. One walk is around Skipton, tracing the towns development from the Medieval, then out through Embsay to the moors.

PALAEONTOLOGY & FOSSILS
· "Fossils: the key to the past" (2002) Richard Fortey - excellent overview of the fossilisation process, some of the history of discoveries, the origins of life and evolution.
· "Life: an unauthorised biography" (1997) Richard Fortey - extremely interesting review of the entire subject.
· "The Story of Fossils: in search of vanished worlds" (1987) Yvette Gayrard-Vale - a short, extremely well illustrated history of palaeontology - from the myths and legends stage, through the early scientific discoveries to modern studies and methods today.

LOCAL STUDIES
· "The Yorkshire Dales Landscape and Geology" (2007) Tony Waltham - comprehensive overview of the subject, mainly the geology, with forty some pages at the end about man's use of and influence on the area.
· Yorkshire Rock - a journey through time (1996) Richard Bell - very short but never the less great introduction with wonderful, simple illustrations. There are a number of other excellent books from the British Geological survey, both in this "Earthwise" series plus more technical publications and their geological maps - all available from their on-line shop http://shop.bgs.ac.uk/
· "Geology of the Three Peaks" (1981) David Crutchley - a brief but detailed introduction, with suggested walks to view the features. Well illustrated.
· "Ingleborough Landscape and History" (2008) David Johnson - good overview of the geology, landform processes, archaeology and land use of the area.
· "Yorkshire Rocks and Landscape: a field guide" (1994 may be a later version) edited by Colin Scrutton - published by the Yorkshire Geological Society. Twenty-one excursions/walks covering the whole county with an excellent introduction telling the geological story of the area.
· Two other books, in the same format, take the story a little further a field. "Northumbrian Rocks and Landscape" (1995) edited by Colin Scrutton again Yorkshire Geological Society and "Lakeland Rocks and Landscape" (1992) Mervyn Dodd et al. Cumberland Geological Society.

GENERAL REFERENCE WORKS
· "Geological Science" (2001) Andrew McLeish - an A level text, very easy style with good, clear, black and white illustrations. Excellent general reference work on all aspects of geology and palaeontology. Not for reading cover-to-cover much more for "dipping into" via the comprehensive index.
· A dictionary of Geology or Earth Science is always a good investment. I use the "The Penguin Dictionary of Geology" (1972) D. G. A. Whitten with J. R. V. Brooks - my copy is hopelessly out-of-date, there will have been a number of updates since. The Oxford Earth Science dictionary looks excellent too.
· Guides to Rocks and Fossils are very usefully. I use the "Hamlyn Guide to Minerals, Rocks and Fossils" (1993) W. R. Hamilton et al. - before each of the three sections there is a good, if very short, introduction to the topic. There are many other such works available and they are a great help with identification of finds.

Home