Speed Dating

The Himalayan Mountains are a spectacular product of the colossal tectonic forces that shape the surface of our planet. Movement of the rigid plates that form the Earth’s crust cause continents to collide, resulting in the formation of mountains. Fifty million years ago, India collided with Asia; rocks that were once at the bottom of the ocean were thrust up to form the highest mountains on Earth. This talk will delve deep into the roots of the mountain belt, explore how the Himalaya were formed, and introduce some of the pioneering scientists that have defined the roof of the world.

For more than 100 years geologists have assumed that the formation of the Alps caused faulting and folding along the south coast of England. The Lulworth Heritage Coast visitor centre and Dorset Brewery ales supports this point of view! However, this long held notion is puzzling, so we decided to ‘test the hypothesis’ with a relatively new technique in geochronology. This talk explores how calcite filled fractures in limestone have been used to calculate the age of the folds along the south coast, revealing that the Alps may not be to blame!

Earthworms carry out a variety of activities - moving plant materials, rearranging soil layers and ultimately changing the earth’s surface. This is most evident in archaeology, but the same things can be seen in parks and gardens all around us. If you’ve ever wondered about the different worms you see, how they live, what they eat and what they are doing in the ground, then this is the talk for you.