Welcome to the official website of the Dorset Geologists’ Association Group (DGAG).
Upcoming events of general geological interest in Dorset, and the surrounding region, are listed below.
For a more specific listing, use the search bar, below, or select one of the following categories:
Dorset Geologists’ Association Group (DGAG), Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire.
For geoconservation workparties, see the DIGS website.
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January 2019
DGAG AGM
Annual General Meeting for the Dorset Geologists' Association Group. Followed by a talk on coastal protection measures by Alan Holiday.
Find out more »Our Changing World
Programme of talks and AGM of the Wessex OUGS. Non-members welcome but please don't vote at the AGM! The charge for the whole day, including lunch, is £8 per person (NB: no charge for the AGM) 10.10am Registration 10.30am Dr Giles Droop - 'Continental collision in the Alps' 11.30am Dr Steve Sweetman - 'The vertebrate faunas of the Wealden and Purbeck groups' 12.40pm Buffet lunch (provided by committee and friends) 1.30pm AGM (agenda is available in the member's area) 2.20pm…
Find out more »February 2019
The climate, palaeogeography and early human settlement of Britain
Henry Stopes Memorial Lecture by Professor Nick Ashton from the British Museum. The human settlement of Britain now stretches back to almost a million years, but it has been a history of brief incursions governed by the cyclical changes in climate and the changing status of Britain as an island or as a peninsula of the European Mainland. This talk will discuss research from the last twenty years that has provided new sites, better dating frameworks, rich environmental information and a…
Find out more »Kimmeridge Field Trip
Led by Alan Holiday. We will be looking at sections east and west of Kimmeridge. You will need to bring a packed lunch. Underfoot conditions: shingle and boulder hopping. So, walking poles may be needed. Likely finish time 4 pm. Please let us know if you would like to visit the Etches Collection Museum in Kimmeridge village as this can be included at your expense (£8 for an annual pass). Meet at the disused Portland Limestone quarry above Kimmeridge village,…
Find out more »A Look at the Microscopic Fossil Record of the Jurassic Coast
Talk by Richard Hallett. It will give an introduction to Mesozoic microfossils, discuss their distribution in the local fossil record and contribution to understanding the stratigraphy of the Wessex Basin. This is the second of a series of Earth Science-based lectures organised by DGAG in collaboration with other groups. As the Dorset County Museum is closed for refurbishment, 'til summer 2020, the lectures will take place in Committee Room 1 at County Hall. They will follow the familiar pattern of being…
Find out more »March 2019
The Halstead Lecture: The Secret Lives of Salt Giants
Talk by Sian Evans. From deposition to diapirism, salt has a unique impact on the stratigraphic evolution of a basin. Thick evaporite units deposited during ocean desiccation deform as a viscous fluid over millions of years, often resulting in profound structural complexity. Nature is more complex than we can imagine and the classic models of salt tectonics are unable to explain the diversity of structural styles and orientations that we observe. By using high-quality 3D seismic datasets from around the…
Find out more »The end of the Cretaceous: global and local perspectives
Talk by Professor Andy Gale. The Cretaceous-Paleogene unconformity in England. Uplift and erosion related to the Icelandic mantle plume. During the late Cretaceous to early Paleogene, the present-day area of Britain and Ireland emerged from nearly total submergence by the chalk sea. What mechanism was responsible for this major marine regression? This is the third of a series of Earth Science-based lectures organised by DGAG in collaboration with other groups. As the Dorset County Museum is closed for refurbishment, 'til summer 2020, the lectures will…
Find out more »Purbeck Field-trip
Includes a visit to Lander's Quarry for 10.30 a.m. We'll be shown round by Trev Haysom, a leading authority on the Purbeck Beds. We will visit both the quarry and the mine. Therefore participants should have a torch, hard hat, waterproofs and wellies. We will then go to the Square and Compass for lunch before a circular walk to Winspit and Seacombe Cliff and Quarry and then returning to Worth Matravers. Alan Holiday is leading the second half of the…
Find out more »April 2019
The deep structure beneath the Dorset region
Using seismic lines, gravity, magnetics, boreholes and pure conjecture to re-construct the history from the Lower Paleozoic to the Triassic. Talk by Dr Malcolm Butler. This continues the series of Earth Science-based lectures organised by DGAG in collaboration with other groups. As the Dorset County Museum is closed for refurbishment, 'til summer 2020, the lectures will take place in Committee Room 1 at County Hall. They will follow the familiar pattern of being on the second Wednesday of the month starting at…
Find out more »Ringstead Bay Field-trip
Starting from the main (lower) car park at 10.30 a.m. At this location there is an opportunity to view the Jurassic-Cretaceous unconformity and the basal Kimmeridge Clay. We will then work down the Corallian sequence as far as the Osmington Oolite at Bran Point. As usual, sign up with Alan or Kelvin if you'd like to come along.
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