Past Lectures
Previous lectures up to the present time are listed below.
Where an abstract is available a details link will be shown.
AGM and Members Evening including a talk by Jim House on “A Brief Introduction to the Geology of Venus”
Scotland's Greatest Ice Age
The Neoproterozoic Port Askaig glaciation
Prof. Ian Fairchild, University of Birmingham
Event Details
Adventures in Martian deep time
tales from the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers
Prof. Sanjeev Gupta, Imperial College, London
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A Hot Topic! : The Geology Supporting Geothermal Energy
Dr Duncan Macgregor, Macgeology
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Construction in Jurassic-aged Mudstones for the HS2 Railway
Dr Kevin Briggs, Bath University
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Ramble around Emmer Green and Clayfield Copse
Ross Garden, RGS
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Ramble around the Cretaceous chalk by Cookham Moor
Jim House, RGS
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Melting Under Mountains
the soft centre of the Himalayas
Dr Tom Argles, The Open University
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Applications of Google Street View in geological teaching and research
Dr Ian Watkinson, Royal Holloway, University of London
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Geology of Stonehenge and the Bluestone controversy
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Mountains in the Sea
Prof. Tony Watts, Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University
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Presidential Address - It’s all a matter of time…
Prof. Alison MacLeod , University of Reading
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Maps, mountains and madness – Charles Lapworth and the Highland Controversy
Prof. Paul Smith, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
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AGM and Members Evening - Talk by Jeremy Krause
Experimental Taphonomy: Unravelling the Burgess Shale
Dr Nic Minter, Portsmouth University
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Mining Magmas for Metals and Energy – a novel strategy for achieving Net Zero
Prof. Jon Blundy FRS, Royal Society Research Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
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The Rutland Ichthyosaur: Digging up a 'Dragon’
Dr Emma Nicholls, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
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Coastal Geology, Erosion and Flood Risk in an Era of Man-made Climate Change
Prof. Ken Pye, Kenneth Pye Associates Ltd
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A rolling stone gathers some gloss
Prof Rob Hosfield, University of Reading
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Evening Ramble: Rooks Nest LGS, California Country Park and the Iron Rich streams of south Wokingham
Elaine Butler, RGS
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Evening Ramble: The Wellington Estate.
Ailsa Davies, RGS
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Ice Age Lincolnshire
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Challenger Revisited
Illuminating anthropogenic climate change with 150 years of ocean science
Dr Lyndsey Fox, Natural History Museum
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Hydrothermalism , the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai eruption and submarine caldera volcanism
Dr Izzy Yeo, The National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton
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Fred Shotton: a giant Mercian geologist
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Maps, mountains and madness – Charles Lapworth and the Highland Controversy
Prof. Paul Smith, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
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Presidential Address
Cryptic volcanism: unravelling hidden climate-environment interactions
Prof. Alison MacLeod , University of Reading
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The Winchcombe Meteorite
Dr Ashley King, The Natural History Museum, London
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AGM and Members Evening
Mining Magmas for Metals and Energy – a novel strategy for achieving Net Zero
Prof. Jon Blundy FRS, Royal Society Research Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
Event Details
Members evening replacing postponed lecture.
In person and members only.
The Surface of Mars: A (Partial) Geological History of the Red Planet
Dr Joel M. Davis, Birkbeck, University of London
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Understanding how processes within the Earth’s mantle are manifest at the surface in landscapes and in the geological record
Dr Simon Stephenson , Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
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When Scotland and England collided – the closing of the Iapetus ocean.
Lesley Dunlop, Northumbria University
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Evening Geological Ramble: A walk along the River Whitewater
Evening Geological Ramble: The Hurley Chalk Pit
The evolution of the nitrogen cycle during the Proterozoic:
constraints from the study of Indian carbonatites.
Dr. Sudeshna Basu, Department of Earth Sciences, UCL
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The old, the new and the revisited: tectonics, granites and resources in SW England
Prof. Robin Shail, Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
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The Voyage of the Beagle
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Presidential Address
Engineering geo-hazard challenges for construction upon the Hythe Formation in Kent.
Dr Clive Edmonds, President, Reading Geological Society
Event Details
13 degrees of warming
Understanding the Eocene Earth
Dr Tom Dunkley Jones, University of Birmingham
Event Details
AGM and Members Evening
UV-B radiation was the terrestrial killer at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary
Prof John Marshall, University of Southampton
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Ireland's geology and landscape
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr Michael J. Simms, Senior Curator of Natural Sciences, National Museums NI
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Cambrian Explosion
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr Luke Parry, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
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Evolution of flowering plants, especially in relation to Darwin's "abominable mystery"
A Zoom talk. Video available.
Prof Richard Buggs, Queen Mary College, University of London
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Evening Geological Ramble
Understanding Large Igneous Provinces and Volcanic Rifted Margins
from the North Atlantic Igneous Province and Beyond.
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr Dougal A Jerram, DougalEARTH Ltd.
Event Details
Geological History of Africa
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr Duncan Macgregor, Macgeology
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Sarsen stones
a geological conundrum reassessed.
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Meteorites
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr Queenie Hoi Shan Chan, Royal Holloway, University of London
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A geotraverse across Shetland
New insights into the Scottish Caledonides
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Rob Strachan, University of Portsmouth
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Around the Firth of Forth
Geological contrasts and the human story
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Angus Miller, University of Edinburgh
Event Details
AGM and Members Evening
A Zoom meeting. Members will be sent joining details.
Getting to the root of roots
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr. Sandy Hetherington, The University of Edinburgh
Event Details
The Geology of Mercury
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Prof David Rothery, Open University
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Sand!
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr Ian Selby, University of Plymouth
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Presidential address
From millimetres to metres – case studies of damaging ground movement
A Zoom talk. Members will be sent joining details.
Dr Clive Edmonds, President, Reading Geological Society
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Evening Geological Ramble
Campi Flegrei
Dr Christopher Kilburn, UCL
An evening of Sarsens, walk in Whiteknights Park, lecture on Sarsens and drink at Queens Head
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Wing interglacial deposits - the forgotten SSSI
Joint Meeting with TVRG & BGG
Tom Power
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Getting to the root of roots
Dr Sandy Hetherington, University of Oxford
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Further Meetings CANCELLED
Covid19 Emergency - cancellation until further notice
Geo-archaeology in the North Sea
Dr Andrew Bellamy, Tarmac
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The day after tomorrow – is the Gulf Stream set to shutdown?
Dr Jon Robson, Reading University
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AGM and Members Evening
Survivors
the animals and plants that time has left behind
Richard Fortey, Natural History Museum
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The Thames through time
Prof Danielle Schreve, Royal Holloway University
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Discovery of a Paleocene meteoritic ejecta blanket on the Isle of Skye
Dr Simon Drake & Dr Andy Beard , Birkbeck College
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Presidential Address
Recently formed Sinkholes and Crown Holes since 2000 with reference to Berkshire
Dr Clive Edmonds
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Rock and mineral identification – EARLIER TIME 6:30pm
Dr Hazel McGoff, University of Reading
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The bizarre Cretaceous limestone reservoirs that formed in lakes at the bottom of the South Atlantic
Dr Paul Wright, PW Carbonate Geoscience
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Evening Geological Ramble in Hazeley Heath
Hartley Wintney
Ailsa Davies, RGS
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Limestones, Microbes and Viruses
Role of bacteria and viruses in carbonate precipitation
Prof. Maurice Tucker, University of Bristol
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Did the Iceland Plume cause the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation?
Dr Stephen Jones, University of Birmingham
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The 'real' Value of Micropaleontology
Dr. Haydon Bailey, Consultant Micropalaeontologist
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Geological Storage of Radioactive Waste
Prof John Cosgrove, Imperial College, London
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AGM and Members Evening
Social event – member's presentation
Dr Kit Brownlee
Gleanings from my cabinet of curiosities
The Geology of London
Diana Clements, Geologists' Association
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Volcanoes: encounters through the ages
Prof David Pyle, University of Oxford
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The Last British Ice Sheet and its impact on the British Landscape
Dr Bethan Davies, Royal Holloway College
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Extra-ordinary Women Geologists: from Mary Anning to now
Dr Chris Duffin, Natural History Museum
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University of Reading Specimen Store.
Specimen identification.
Hazel McGoff
Event Details
NOTE START TIME 19:15 for 19:30
The control of geology and climate change on 2 millennia of English viticulture
Prof Richard Selley, Imperial College, London
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North Atlantic Igneous Province:
the East Greenland Geological Expedition, 1966
Prof David Bell, University of Oxford
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Control the Drainage: The Gospel Accorded to Sinkholes
Dr Tony Waltham, Karst Geologist
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Presidential Address
Fogo volcano, Cape Verde Islands
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Recovery of life from the Permian mass extinction
Prof Michael Benton, University of Bristol
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AGM and Members Evening
Social Evening, AGM and member's presentation: Roger Lloyd – GA Field meeting in China
The Cretaceous world: chalk seas in a Greenhouse world
Prof Andrew Gale, University of Portsmouth
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Shale Oil and Gas potential of the onshore UK
Prof Alastair Fraser, Imperial College, London
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Australia - SE Asia collision
The Wallace Line and Wallacea
Prof Robert Hall, Royal Holloway College
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Scotland's Lost Asteroid
Precambrian asteroid impact in NW Scotland
Dr Ken Amor, University of Oxford
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Evening Geological Ramble
Ramble in the Hambledon area near Henley
Alison Barraclough, RGS
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Measuring the temperature of formation of carbonate minerals: applications of ‘clumped isotopes’ to diagenesis and the hydrocarbon industry
Dr Cedric John, Imperial College, London
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Geological Ramble in Burnham Beeches SSSI & NNR
Geology with a hydrology theme and a link to wildlife & habitats.
Dr Graham Hickman & Dr Helen Read
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How to weigh a dinosaur
Dr Susannah Maidment, University of Brighton
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The Anthropocene
A New Geological Epoch Driven by Human Impacts
Dr Colin Summerhayes, Scott Polar Research Institute
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Presidential Address
Permafrost in the geological record
Professor Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Rising Sea Levels
Dr Phil Collins, Brunel University
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AGM and Members Evening
Social event - Presentation by Elaine Butler
The iron-rich streams of Barkham
Giant marine reptiles and whales during the Eocene-Oligocene cooling event
Dr Nick Longrich, University of Bath
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Impact Earth
A look at meteorite impacts through time
Dr Paul Olver, FGS FRAS
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Ground Investigation (GI) for HS2 Phase One
Jonathan Gammon, Head of Ground Investigations, HS2 Ltd
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Mineral Exploration in Africa
In particular the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kathryn Kavanagh, BGS International
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Evening Geological Ramble
Ramble in the Hambledon area near Henley
Alison Barraclough
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Terra Infirma
What has salt tectonics ever done for us?
Prof. Christopher Jackson, Imperial College London
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Evening Geological Ramble
Ramble in the Curridge area
Dr Clive Edmonds
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Carbonate platforms of the Early Cretaceous
'miner's canaries' for perturbations of the global carbon cycle
Dr Peter Skelton, Open University
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Earth's Climate Evolution
Dr Colin Summerhayes, Scott Polar Research Institute
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Presidential Address
Diversion of the River Kennet
Sulham Gap area geology
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Exploration using remote sensing in Greenland
Dr Philippa J Mason , Imperial College London
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AGM and Members Evening
Social event – Presentation by David Riley
Geology of New Zealand
Virtual fieldwork using Google Earth
Exploring global tectonics from your armchair
Dr Ian Watkinson, Royal Holloway, University of London
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Geological evolution of the Himalaya
50 million years of mountain building and earthquakes
Prof Mike Searle, Oxford University
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The Auvergne
Rifting, stratovolcanoes, volcanic cones and more
Lesley Dunlop, Northumbria University
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Suffolk Pleistocene Story
Dr Peter Allen , Royal Holloway, University of London
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Evening Geological Ramble
Building stones in Reading centre.
Lesley Dunlop, University of Northumbria and Berkshire Geoconservation Group
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Exceptionally preserved Cambrian fossils
Early animal life and world heritage in Yunnan
Prof Derek Siveter, University of Oxford
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Evening Geological Ramble
Terraces of the Thames Part 2
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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The London Underground Extension and Upgrade
Jonathan Gammon, Consultant Geologist
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Geological evolution of the North American Cordillera
Prof Douglas Robinson, University of Bristol
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Presidential Address
Geology of Old Father Thames
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Virtual Palaeontology
Dr Mark Sutton , Imperial College, London
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AGM and Members Evening
Two short presentations by students George Aldis and Ben Print
Maximum global production of conventional oil and gas due to geological and cost constraints, and prospects for non-conventional production.
Dr Roger Bentley, University of Reading
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Building Mount Everest – The Inside Story
Professor Dave Waters, University of Oxford
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Tales of Plumes
The African Rift, Magmas and Mantle convection
Dr Nick Rogers, The Open University
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The tectonic history of the Alps
Dr Mike Streule, Imperial College, London
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Evening Geological Ramble
Dr. Bernard Skillerne de Bristow, RGS
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Journey through the centre of a mountain
Dr. Bernard Skillerne de Bristow, RGS
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Evening Geological Ramble
Terraces of the Thames, starting in Whitchurch Hill
Professor Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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The Quaternary of the British seabed
What do marine dredged aggregates tell us?
Dr Andrew Bellamy, Marine Resources Manager for Lafarge Tarmac
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Dissecting SE Asia
insights and errors while searching for the big picture
Dr Michael Ridd, Consultant Geologist
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Presidential Address
Geology of the Galapagos Islands
From Charles Darwin to the present
Professor Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Permo-Triassic mass extinctions, Russia
Searching for the cause and effect of the World’s greatest mass extinction in the Permo-Triassic of Russia
Dr Andrew Newell, British Geological Survey
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AGM and Members Evening
AGM and Members Evening
Social event - short lecture, food, wine and discussions
Darwin’s Lost World
The early history of life on Earth
Prof Martin Brasier, University of Oxford
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The Geology of Naxos
200 million years of Greek history
Dr Douglas Robinson, University of Bristol
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Seafloor Methane Hydrates: Svalbard Update
Dr Angus Best, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
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Fossils of Solnhofen Limestones
Dr Chris Duffin, Natural History Museum
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Evening Geological Walk
Around Chazey Heath looking at the Thames ‘Ancient Channel’
Chris Fone, RGS
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Evening Geological Walk
An Evening Walk around Hurley
David Riley, RGS
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Permian and Triassic Mineralisation in the rocks of South-West England
Dr Richard Scrivener, Consultant Geologist
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The Planet in a Pebble
Dr Jan Zalasiewicz, University of Leicester
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Presidential Address
Geology of El Teide,Tenerife
Third highest volcano in the world
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Soft Ground Tunnelling through London – Crossrail
Mike Black, MSc, Head of Geotechnics, Crossrail
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The Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Geochemical investigations of a 56 million year old global warming event
Dr Alex Dickson, University of Oxford
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AGM and Members Evening : Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons
Christine Moore
Kola peninsula, NW Russia
Rare Devonian igneous intrusions in the pre-Cambrian basement – a tectonic puzzle and a mineral extravaganza.
Chris Fone
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Meteorites
Dr Caroline Smith, Curator of Meteorites, Natural History Museum
The Birth of the Solar System
Dr Sarah Russell, Natural History Museum
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Sorby’s Legacy
Dr Bernard Skillerne de Bristowe
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Quaternary Sediments on the English Chalk
History of Land Use and Erosion
Prof Martin Bell, University of Reading
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Evening Geological Ramble
Caesar’s Camp Gravel, Aldershot
David Price
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Unusual Microfossils
Dr Adrian Rundle, Natural History Museum
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Limestones
Their Evolution Through Time
Prof John Murray, National Oceanography Centre Southampton
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Presidential Address
The Geology of Global Warming
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
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Up the Down Escalator
Continental Collision and the Exhumation of Ultra-High Pressure Rocks
Dr Clare Warren, The Open University
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AGM and Members Evening : Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
Chris Fone
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The Evolving Kennet Valley
Climate change and neo-tectonics
Dr Philip Collins, School of Engineering & Design Brunel University
From asteroid to meteorite
The story of Almahata Sitta
Professor Hilary Downes, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Birkbeck College, Department of Earth Sciences UCL
Why should the UK care about the Arctic?
A climate perspective
Dr Sheldon Bacon, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
French Chalk
An explanation for the English White Cliffs
Professor Rory Mortimore, University of Brighton
Evening Ramble Stanford Dingley
A plain man’s guide to the geology of the Reading region
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
A Walk on Sonning Common
Christine Hooper, RGS
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History of Cement
Peter del Strother
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Field Road Project:
Reading 2000 to 2012 the highlights to date
Dr Clive Edmonds, Peter Brett Associates
Presidential Address
Volcanic Ash
Prof Peter Worsley, University of Reading
How Britain became an island
Catastrophic megafloods in the English Channel
Dr Sanjeev Gupta, Imperial College, London