Events diary for January 2013

14th January 2013 19:30-22:00
Shale gas: fracking, groundwater and earthquakes
Shale gas is seen by some as a low-carbon bridge to renewables, and by others as a menace. This talk will examine the resource size and impacts of extraction.

30th January 2013 09:00-17:00
Brownfield Land in Scotland
Hugh Barron, Responsive Surveys Scotland Manager, will be speaking at the forthcoming Brownfield Briefing conference in Edinburgh on 30 January 2013.

Hugh’s presentation is titled: ‘The ASK Network: Examining the development of a data gathering and transfer mechanism to improve data collection and use for reduced site investigation and development costs’.

16th January 2013 09:30-16:25
Higher Education Network Annual Meeting

There will be demos of the 3D suite and data and Keith Westhead is giving a keynote talk.

For more information and to register online.

4th December 2012 18:30-20:00
Is Shale Gas a Global Game Changer?
East Midlands Regional Group, British Geological Survey

The key shale gas extraction technology, hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), has had a bad press in the last year, and been blamed for earthquakes and methane contamination of groundwater. However there are relatively few peer-reviewed studies of methane contamination during shale gas fracking, and rather problematically, there are few baseline studies of amounts of natural methane in groundwater.

The talk will survey the potential for shale gas and discuss environmental concerns, as well as outlining the role of independent and peer-reviewed science in shale gas development.

Professor Mike Stephenson from BGS is a guest speaker at this event.

Refreshments from 6:30pm, lecture starts at 7pm

8th January to 14th January
Colloquium of African Geology
A major biennial meeting organized under the auspices of the Geological Society of Africa (GSAf).

• Plenary Talk by Prof. John Ludden, Director, British Geological Survey: The Neoproterozoic: planet in flux and a frontier for research and for resources
• Tim Duffy: OneGeology Web Services in Africa: progress and enhancements
• Carl Watson: Sharing the most valuable database designs in African geology
• Robert Thomas: Geochronology and structure of the eastern margin of the Tanzania Craton east of Dodoma and Salt domes of the United Arab Emirates: evidence for late Neoproterozoic sedimentation and rift volcanism in the northern Arabian-Nubian Shield
• Charlotte Vye-Brown: Temporal evolution of rifting and volcanism in the Manda‐Hararo rift segment, Afar, Ethiopia

Plus a BGS stand promoting BGS research, Earth Data Models and OneGeology.

9th January 2013 09:00-16:00
Call for Abstracts – EGU Conference Session on 3D/4D Modelling

Maps to Models: Advances in 3D/4D Geoscience Interpretation Techniques and Methodologies

The BGS, together with the Geological Survey of Bavaria and the Swiss Geological Survey, are co-convening this session at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) Conference in Vienna next year (7th-12th April 2013).

Abstracts are invited for presentations on new and emerging techniques and methods for 3D and 4D modelling. Example topics could include integrating models at different scales, the development of voxel modelling to better understand subsurface property distributions, providing appropriate metadata for models, workflow management and storage, and the development of new and innovative model delivery mechanisms.

Deadline for abstract submission is the 9th January, 2013.

Further information and details of abstract submission procedures can be found on the EGU website

1st December 2012 10:00-16:00
Free open archive day
We will be running an open archive day for the public at Keyworth on Saturday 1 December 2012.

This event is in support of the national Archive Awareness Campaign 2012.

In 2012, the national theme for AAC is 'Sports, Games and the Olympics', so we will be exploring the links between fun, leisure, sporting achievement and the earth sciences.

There will be displays, talks and activities for adults and children, including:

• 3D 'geology cinema' demos
• Core Store tours
• Geological Walkway tours

Read more about this free event, including a link to the online booking form.

18th February to 4th March
54th Annual Bennett Lecture

Due to unforeseen circumstances Professor Vincent Courtillot is unable to present the 54th Annual Bennett Lecture, tonight.

Dr Jan Zalasiewicz has kindly agreed to stand in and present the 54th Annual Bennett Lecture

The Anthropocene: a new chapter in Earth history

The lecture will be on Monday 4th March 2013 at 6 pm in Lecture Theatre 1 Bennett Building.

Human civilization has grown around the stable shorelines and climate, and amid the diverse biosphere of, the Holocene Epoch: the latest of many interglacial phases of the Quaternary Ice Age, and the one that the created the world we live in.

Admission is free, but by ticket only. If you would like to attend, please contact Gail Andrews in the Geology Department by e-mail at geology@le.ac.uk.

The talk is preceded by refreshments in the Geology Department from 5.30 pm.