C

Caption: For cover Image

Ballochmyle Quarry, Mauchline.

Ayrshire. Permian red desert sandstones showing large-scale aeolian (wind-blown) dune-bedding.A close-up of C02912. The view shows five quarrymen standing in front of the working face. Thedune-bedding is composed of three large wedges, the bounding surfaces represent a time when theunderlying dune was eroded prior to the deposition of the next dune. New Red Sandstone ofPermian age. The dune-bedding is often seen in the polished faces of the stone in buildings, mon-uments and bridges throughout Ayrshire and Glasgow.

Source: British Geological Survey archive. P number: P000072

years

celebrating

THE HISTORY OF APPLIED GEOLOGY

16-17 November 2010

Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly London, WIJ OBG.

Abstracts BookCompiled and edited

by

Richard T. J. Moody

David Earle

Helen Reeves

The practice and application of geological methods and skills probably predates geology as a writ-ten or pure science! Applied Geology has developed rapidly over the last 50 years but its roots arefounded in the work of builders, craftsmen, engineers, surveyors and natural historians over hun-dreds, even thousands of years. The use of metals, building materials and medicines stimulated peo-ple into the acquisition of local and regional knowledge of outcrops and the association of mineralsand materials to a common source. With time new areas of knowledge were developed with modernapplied geology comprised of a host of disciplines based on knowledge of core geological skills.Applied geologists use their knowledge to the benefit of society, the economy and an ever-changingenvironment.This meeting broadly traces the history of Applied Geology over the last 400 years;bringing to life the travails of individuals and the development of institutions that played major rolesin the development of a diverse but increasingly important science.

Acknowledgements

The convenors wish to thank the History of Geology Group and the Engineering Group of theGeological Society for their support given during the organisation of this meeting. We also like tothank ARUP, BGS (Claire Chetwyn), the Curry Fund of the Geologists’Association and GSK for thelogistical and funding support that made this meeting possible.

The convenors are also indebted to the authors who have subscribed to this book of abstracts andSarah Stafford (Geologist’ Association), Jenny Parry, Dee Summers and Linda Mcardell of theOUGS and Georgina Worrall of the Geological Society for all the help given with the organisationand advertising of this meeting.

HISTORYOFGEOLOGYGROUP

“Anglo-Irish "advances"? William Smith (1769-1839), James Ryan(c.1770-1847) and the invention of scientific mineral prospecting”.

HUGH TORRENS

Keele Universityh.s.torrens@esci.keele.ac.uk

The technology of boring for minerals arrived here well before any science. Boring devices, "totry the deepnesse and thicknesse of Coale", by recovering a ground-up paste of the rocks boredthrough, were available by the early 17th century, but remained much too long in use as they werecheap. But such pastes could then all too easily be "improved" or, as equally easily, sabotaged.Any prospecting science had first to separate stratiform minerals - coal, clay, ironstone etc - fromveiniform ones, with their still very different prospectivities. England was the first country toutilise a stratiform deposit, coal, in any "industrial revolution". At first coal was easily availablefrom surface outcrops followed down dip, but soon greater depths had to be explored,as well asnew areas in which no coal appeared at surface. First inklings of how stratigraphy could now beused came from the Gloucestershire surveyor, a Quaker called John Player. In 1764, he reportedhow "some certain sign, on or near the surface, could direct the search for coal. I would proposethe stratum of Bath Stone for the standard, since no coals are to be met with to the south or eastof that stratum".

By 1797, William Smith had orderedBath's strata and crucially could start toseparate the many repetitious lithologies,which had so confused his predeccesors,and continued to fool too many of thosewho failed to note his advice, for at leastthe next century. Smith was able by 1801to indicate where coal etc might be scien-tifically sought (as at Batheaston) or, by1805, where it was impossible for any suchcoal search to be successful (as atBrewham). But by 1807 Smith had been struggling for six years to get his ideas intoprint, in a way which would procure himsome financial reward. He was nowadvised to wait until the "public" wasready, and so got sidetracked into work onhis long-lost book on Norfolk.We have tounderstand how Smith's studies of geolo-gy had already got him deep into debt. 1807 also saw the Irish engineer James Ryan demonstratehis recently patented (1805) improved boring device here. This recovered cylindrical cores which"supplied the means of a more accurate knowledge of the depth and quality [of strata] while alsoindicating their dip and inclination". But his device was more expensive than the traditionalmethod, and so was not widely taken up. Ryan died a pauper in the Black [from coal] Country.Smith fared little better, after his claims were recognised by the Geological Society, and he wasin receipt of a small annual pension. Both Smith and Ryan had been ostracised by, or ignored by,that gentlemanly Society. One has to ask if we have learnt enough from history of the problemswhich face those who try to bring science and technology into practice.

William Smith (1769-1839)

The Life and Work of Thomas Sopwith (1803-1879): Mining & CivilEngineer, Surveyor and Geologist.

DAVE GREENWOOD

The Kirkaldy Society, 7 Vernon Crescent, Barnet, Hertfordshire, EN4 8QG.Email kirksoc@sky.com.

Thomas Sopwith was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne the son of a cabinet maker and came from a longestablished local family. He had little in the way of formal education and was largely self-taught;something that would stay with him throughout life. At an early age he developed an interest inastronomy and geology and was also renowned for having great practical skills. After some time inthe family business he started out in 1822 as a land-surveyor for the Corporation of Newcastle andthen in 1824 moved to Alston, Cumberland, as the unpaid assistant of Joseph Dickinson, who wassurveying the lead mines belonging to the Greenwich Hospital Estates. After one year of training,Dickinson made him a partner and by 1828Sopwith had already published a series of geo-logical sections of the Alston Moor mines, not-ing that it would have been of great benefit ifhis predecessors had adopted the same course.

Sopwith's contact with Dickinson also gaverise to him becoming one of the new breed ofrailway surveyors and through this he metmany local engineers including WilliamArmstrong and George and RobertStephenson. The work led to surveys forParliamentary Bills with frequent trips toLondon, initially by Stage Coach. He becamewell known in London scientific circles andwas a frequent dinner guest at various gather-ings where he came in contact with peoplesuch as Babbage, de la Beche, Buckland,Cubitt, Dalton, Daniell, Darwin, Faraday,Greenough, Hutton, Jukes, Lyell, Murchison,Owen, Phillips, Prestwich, Sedgwick, WilliamSmith and Wheatstone, encounters that wereall carefully recorded in a diary that he keptfrom1822 to 1879 (now preserved on micro-film in the Library of Newcastle University).His London contacts also resulted in him con-ducting a survey of the ancient mining rightsin the Forest of Dean and later to becomingone of the Crown Commissioners under theForest of Dean Mining Act that reported in 1841. During this period he was elected to the Instituteof Civil Engineers; became a Fellow of the Geological Society; and was elected a Fellow of the RoyalSociety in 1845. His interest in geology and his background in woodworking also led him to makethe earliest three-dimensional geological models in the world that he demonstrated to both theGeological Society and the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1841, winning him the Telford medal in1842. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Mining Records Office in 1840.

Thomas Sopwith (1803-1879) Image sourced from University of California website

In 1845, Sopwith took up the final challenge of his career when he became the Chief Agent forthe W.B. Lead Mines that were owned by the Beaumont family in the northern Pennines. At thetime the mines were considered to be almost worked out, but Sopwith instituted a major pro-gramme of both surface and underground surveying providing the basis for a methodical pro-gramme of mineral exploration that extended the life of the mines for over 25 years until manywere closed as a result of foreign competition in the 1870s. Even then, some, such as AllenheadsMine, continued up to 1896 whilst others went on to be worked, first for lead and later fluorspar,by the Weardale Lead Company and many others into the late 20th century.

The lead-zinc-fluorite-barite deposits of the northern Pennines are stratigraphically controlledwith the veins being wider in the harder sandstones and limestones of the Yoredale Beds andalmost absent in the shales and mudstones. In addition metasomatic lead and zinc replacement“flats”, restricted to just three horizons in the Great Limestone known locally as the High, Middleand Low Flats, are found adjacent to the veins in some areas. Because of this association, Sopwithadopted a unique form of mine mapping in which the mine levels were colour coded according tostratigraphic horizon rather than their absolute level providing a wealth of useful geological infor-mation. Such plans were widely used by explorationists during the mini-fluorspar boom of the1970s and provided the basis for many mine development decisions, justifying Sopwith's beliefstated back in 1820s of the need to leave accurate records of mining activity for the benefit offuture generations.

Richardson, B. W. 1891. "Thomas Sopwith: With Excerpts from His Diary of Fifty-Seven Years".Longmans Green. London, 400 pp.

W. Henry Penning: A 19th Century Applied Geologist

M. G. CULSHAW & A. FORSTER

School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT,UK (email: martin.culshaw2@ntlworld.com)

Over more than 30 years, W (William) Henry Penning worked in the United Kingdom (UK) as anengineer building railways in the West Country, a mapping geologist in eastern England and consult-ant geologist for gold mining opportunities in South Africa. He was not an academic. However, hepublished, frequently, on the geology of eastern England, engineering geology and the geology ofSouth Africa (with particular reference to gold) and also wrote at least one article in a 'popular' pub-lication (on 'Darwinism'). Probably his greatest achievement, a book entitled “Engineering Geology”published in 1880 was still quoted until at least the 1930s. Yet, today, he is almost completelyunknown.

Henry Penning was born in Eye, Suffolk in 1838 and died, 64 years later, in 1902, probably inRedhill, Surrey, UK. His obituary appeared in Nature, the Journal of the Geological Society and theGeological Magazine. His father was a well established builder and surveyor and it seems likely thatPenning worked with his father in his teenage years as, later, he won at least one building contract,himself, for a school in Wiltshire in 1863. In around his early twenties he became a 'railway contrac-tor's agent,' probably on the Somerset andDorset Railway, which was under constructionat that time, being completed in 1863. His'boss' and mentor was the renowned civil andrailway engineer, Charles Hutton Gregory,who was later knighted and became Presidentof the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1867,Penning was recruited by the GeologicalSurvey of England where he worked as a map-ping geologist till 1882 when he retired on thegrounds of ill-health following around 15months of sick leave. However, he had gone toSouth Africa the year before and began a newcareer as a consultant providing geologicaladvice on gold mining opportunities. He car-ried on this work, travelling back and forth toSouth Africa, until shortly before his death. Hemarried Marianne Somerset, a land-owningwidow who was considerably older than him,in Pewsey, Wiltshire in 1862, while workingon the railway.

Penning's publications fall into three main cat-egories: Geological Survey memoirs and asso-ciated papers on the geology of EasternEngland, books and articles on building andengineering geology and books and papers o

William Henry Penning (1832-1902)

on the geology of South Africa with particular reference to gold and also diamonds. His book enti-tled on engineering geology was based on a series of articles in 'The Engineer.' The first of thesearticles contains the earliest so far discovered use of the term 'engineering geology' in the UK. Hisearlier training as a builder and civil engineer gave him sufficient insight into the relationshipbetween geology and building and construction to produce a book that contains a number of state-ments that are still valid today. It is interesting to note that he was recruited to the GeologicalSurvey on the same day as the more renowned Horace Woodward who later wrote a memoir, pub-lished by the Survey, on aspects of the engineering geology of London. However, it seems that therecruitment of two applied geologists was not a deliberate act by the Survey and it is interestingthat none of Penning's books were published by the Survey itself. No record has been found, sofar, as to why Penning wrote his book on engineering geology, nor why he wrote his other books.Whilst he did not establish any geological principles, he consistently published useful papers andbooks on what he had observed in three principal fields of applied geology. For this, he deservesto be remembered.

The contribution of the Royal School of Mines to Applied Geology

DICK SELLEY

Imperial CollegeRichard Selley <r.selley@btinternet.com>

The Royal School of Mines was founded by Sir Henry de la Beche in 1841. It was one of his trinityof foundations that included the Geological Survey and Museum of Economic Geology. Henry's aimwas for the RSM to produce geologists for the home and colonial surveys, as well as for the miningindustry. Thus the primary object of the RSM was to teach geology rather than to research the sub-ject. In the early years there was an ongoing battle between those who wanted pure and applied geol-ogy to be taught in separate departments, lead by Huxley, and those who wanted a single departmentof geology, lead by Murchison. Huxley won. For many years pure geologists graduated Associate ofthe Royal College of Science. Applied geologists graduated Associate of the Royal School of Mines.Bizarrely, however, both cadres were taught in a single Department of Geology housed within theRoyal School of Mines building. The Mining Geology and, since 1917, Oil Technology sections werepart of the RSM, while the pure geologists were part of the Royal College of Science. This geo-schiz-ophrenia continued long after the RSM, Royal College of Science and City & Guilds were united inthe Imperial College in 1907. Thus Royal College of Science geology alumni include RichardOldham, the discoverer of 'p', 's' and 'l' seismic waves, Arthur Holmes, the first person to scientifi-cally date rocks, Sir Thomas Holland, Rector of Imperial College, Sir James Stubblefield, Directorof the Geological Survey, and Sir John Knill, Chairman of the NERC. Whereas the 'greats' of theRSM include Sir Rilwanu Lukman, President of OPEC, Sir Peter Baxendell, Chairman of Shell andthe multitude of graduates who explored and exploited minerals and petroleum all over the Earth.Since 1968 the anomaly was rectified, and geologists pure and applied are all now members of theRoyal School of Mines. Over the years the Geology Department has produced 20 FRSs, 10 FREngs,13 Presidents of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 7 Chairmen of the Petroleum ExplorationSociety of GB, 11 Presidents of the Geological Society, 13 Wollaston medallists, 3 William Smithmedallists, and one Deputy Sheriff of McKinley County, N Mexico. The main contribution of theRoyal School of Mines to applied geology is its alumni rather than its research.

John Stuart Webb, FREng, and Applied Geochemistry at theImperial College of Science and Technology, London

RICHARD J. HOWARTH

Dept. of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, United Kingdom (e-mail: r.howarth@ucl.ac.uk)

The life and work of the pioneering applied geochemist, Professor John Stuart Webb (1920-2007),FREng, founder and long-time Director of the Geochemical Prospecting Research Centre (1954-1963) and Applied Geochemistry Research Group (1963-1979), and Senior Research Fellow until1988 is reviewed. The work began with his recognition of geochemical provinces as the key tolocation of areas which might contain mineral deposits, initially recognised in New Brunswick,proven in Zambia and Sierra Leone.

The initial focus of the work was on mineralexploration but, with the passage of time, itbroadened to embrace multi-purpose geo-chemical mapping; agricultural and environ-mental geochemistry; the publishing of pio-neering regional geochemical atlases ofZambia (1964), Derbyshire (1970),Denbighshire (1970), Devon and NorthCornwall (1971), Northern Ireland (1973)and England and Wales (1978); appliedmarine geochemistry (especially the investi-gation of metalliferous brines and manganesenodules); and urban geochemistry. Over 100students have now graduated with higherdegrees from the school which Webb began,to apply the techniques in industry, geologicalsurveys, or to train a new generation of explo-ration and environmental geochemists aroundthe world.

Sadly, the recognition which he well deservedwas much greater abroad than in his homecountry. Following his retirement, research in environmental and marine geochemistry continuedto prosper for another 20 years.

John Stuart Webb (1920-2007)

The pressures driving the development of hydrogeology in Britainover the past 400 years.

JOHN D MATHER

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EXJohn Mather <mather@jjgeology.eclipse.co.uk>

During the last 400 years a series of “drivers” can be identified which resulted in advances in ourknowledge of hydrogeology. The first of these is the increasing interest in mineral springs in the early17th Century which resulted in the questioning of traditional ideas on the origin of springs. 1660 sawthe foundation of the Royal Society and the use of experiments to test hypotheses and explain natu-ral phenomena. Scientific enquiry continued to be a driving force into the 18th century but the needto bring more land into agricultural production, to feed an expanding population, encouraged a gen-eration of land drainers to build up a broad understanding of the movement of shallow groundwaterand its control.

From the beginning of the 19th century the search for water supplies to support the industrial revo-lution became a priority. Technological advances in France and the stratigraphical work of WilliamSmith enabled wells to be sunk and/or bored with a much greater chance of success. By the middleof the century traditional sources of supply to many conurbations were proving inadequate and theconflicts which arose between water engineers and early hydrogeologists led to measurements of per-colation and estimates of recharge to groundwater reservoirs.

The increasing demand for water supplies led to an interest within the fledgling Geological Survey.William Whitaker was an avid collector of records of well sections and, although most of his workwas descriptive, its sheer volume enhanced the profile of groundwater as a source for water supply.His colleague Joseph Lucas used the term hydrogeology in its modern context, drew the first Britishmaps to show groundwater contours and was probably the first person to call himself a hydrogeolo-gist. Charles de Rance produced the first hydrogeological map of the whole of England and Wales.

By 1900 the study of underground water had become an accepted branch of geology but the follow-ing 30 years was a period of relative inactivity in Britain. The few practitioners were active in devel-oping groundwater supplies but contributed little to the science. Despite the clear need for a hydro-geological survey of the whole country no Government staff were appointed to work on undergroundwater until the 1930s and perhaps this was the reason why the important advances in hydrogeologytook place in mainland Europe and North America rather than in Britain.

The position changed in the early 1930s when a severe drought put a strain on water resources. Thesetting up of an Inland Water Survey Committee led to the formation of a Water Unit within theGeological Survey in 1937 and, shortly afterwards, at the beginning of the Second World War, manystaff were diverted to groundwater work. At the end of the War, the 1945 Water Act provided, for thefirst time, a framework within which groundwater resources could be assessed and heralded a newera for hydrogeology in which the Geological Survey, joined after 1965 by the Water ResourcesBoard, led the way. Although initially development took place in a piecemeal fashion with theemphasis on local problems and solutions, the Water Act of 1945 saw the beginnings of a quantita-tive approach to hydrogeology and the recognition that sectional interests needed to be subordinateto the national interest.

The period between 1963 and 1974 was probably the most significant in the development of British

hydrogeology and saw the subject develop into a mainstream branch of geology, taught atUniversity level, and represented within the Learned Societies These developments have seen acontinual increase in the number of practising hydrogeologists and a gradual change in the empha-sis of their work, a trend which is likely to continue into the future.

Section of the London Basin - Artesian Wells

Luna B. Leopold (1915-2006): A Giant of Geoscience

STEVEN WAINWRIGHT

King's College London, University of Londonwww.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/interdisciplinary/cbas/

In this paper I reflect on the life and achievements of Luna B. Leopold (1915-2006), one of the great geologists and ëphysical geographersí of the Twentieth century. His varied training includeddegrees in Civil Engineering, Meteorology, and Geology. Leopold is most famous for his contribu-tions to hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, and environmental policy. I review the impact of his sem-inal books (including Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology, 1964; and Water & EnvironmentalPlanning, 1978). I also highlight the influence of some of Leopold’s key papers from his 150 or sopublications. This account of his intellectual accomplishments is interwoven with my selection fromhis own reflections on his 50 year career in science (taken from several hundred pages of his oral his-tory, Hydrology, Geomorphology & Environmental Policy, [1993] 2010), in places and institutionsas varied the US Soil Conservation Service; the US Army Weather Service; the Pineapple ResearchInstitute Hawaii; the US Geological Survey and at the University of California Berkeley where hisbreadth of interests was reflected in his title of Professor of Earth and Planetary Science andLandscape Architecture.

Luna B. Leopold (1915-2006)(Image is in Public Domain)

John Milne 'Father of Modern Seismology' - his life and work

PAUL KABRNA

University of LeedsPaul_Kabrna@msn.com

John Milne (1850 - 1913) was born and educated in Lancashire. When the family moved southhis education continued as an undergraduate in the Department of Applied Sciences, King'sCollege London. His distinguished science-based studies, in particular geology and mineralogy,helped gain him one of the coveted Royal Exhibition scholarships to the Royal School of Mines.

During 1873 and 1874 he was recruited for an expedition to assess mineral resources ofNewfoundland. In between his Newfoundland commitment, Milne participated as geologist on athree month biblical expedition sent out by the Royal Geographical Society to the Middle Eastwith the intention of fixing the exact location of Mount Sinai.

Milne's wide-ranging social contacts with both people of influence and those with practicalknowledge and technical expertise must have played a part in him being offered (and enthusiasti-cally accepting) employment by the Meiji government of Japan in 1875 - a three year contract asProfessor of Geology and Mining at the newly established Imperial College of Engineering inTokyo. Being prone to sea-sickness, he decided to travel overland to Japan via Europe, Russia,Siberia, Mongolia and China. His contemporaries thought the journey too fraught with danger andthat he should reconsider the sea route option instead. Milne however saw it as an excellent oppor-

tunity to increase his geologicalknowledge.

Between 1876 and 1880, Milne visitedmany volcanoes and began to developa deep interest in the prehistory of theJapanese people. From 1880 he begandedicating his available time to elevat-ing “seismology” from a geologicalpastime into a modern 'instrument-based' science. For the next 15 yearshe was at the centre of the new Anglo-Japanese science of seismology. Hisenthusiasm and dedication helped himto enlist colleagues, local residents,and elements of the Japanese govern-ment into the fledgling science. Milnefounded the Seismological Society ofJapan and made a significant contribu-tion to the development of the Gray-Milne Seismograph that could suc-cessfully inscribe earthquake shocks.

He also promoted the need for a network of personnel who would deploy and monitor his seismo-graphs and send the recorded data back to him in Tokyo. By now his colleagues affectionatelyreferred to him as Earthquake Milne.

John Milne and Guests

In 1895 Milne returned to England and 'retired' to Shide on the Isle of Wight. Part of his propertywas converted to an observatory where he could continue to develop his horizontal-pendulum seis-mograph; this was to form the backbone of an international network of seismograph stations acrossthe British Empire and other foreign observatories.

His sudden death in July 1913 sent shock waves through the academic community. The President ofthe International Seismological Association at the time of his death was Prince Boris Galitzin.Hereflected on Milne's academic achievements by emphasising the exceptional work that he had donein establishing seismology as a new and important branch of geophysics

“Sand, wind, war, and water” - the extraordinary work ofRalph Bagnold

MICHAEL WELLAND

Orogen Limited, London, United Kingdommjpwelland@hotmail.co.uk

Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold pursued two highly distinguished careers, one military, the otherscientific. His early pioneering expeditions through the Eastern Sahara demonstrated the meansby which motor travel in such landscapes could be achieved and inspired his lifelong love of thedesert. These were brought together in his establishment of the Long Range Desert Group, the dra-matically mobile raiding force that arguably changed the course of the North African campaign inthe Second World War. His enduring scientific legacy lies in his groundbreaking work on sedi-ment transport by both wind and water, work that began in the 1930s and continued for the rest of

his life.

Bagnold as a scientist is difficult to categorise. Hedescribed himself as an amateur who had never held anacademic position “or had any professional status.” But,as he wrote in his autobiography, he felt that this gave him“the rather unusual advantage of considering problemswith an open mind, unbiased by traditional textbook ideasthat had remained untested against facts”. He was, atheart, an engineer, but one with an acute and perceptivecapacity to apply other disciplines - physics, mathematics,geology - to his identification and analysis of any prob-lem.

It was Bagnold's intuitive and radical interdisciplinaryapproach to sediment transport by wind and water, overthe course of morethan fifty yearsand fifty scientific

papers, that enabled today's earth scientists and engineersto plan and pursue research and projects equipped with adeep, if still imperfect, understanding of these critical nat-ural processes. Bagnold's classic book, The Physics ofBlown Sand and Desert Dunes, continues to hold the posi-tion of the second most-cited academic publication of anykind in the field of geomorphology. And modern text-books, at least in the earth sciences, will contain wordingsuch as “In the absence of any modern readable text sole-ly dedicated to the principles of sediment transport, areturn to Bagnold's 1954 classic (for wind) and to his 1966(for water) should provide the necessary inspiration.”(M.R. Leeder, Sedimentology and Sedimentary Basins).

Ralph Alger Bagnoldin 1932. Instigator of the Long Range

Desert GroupSourced Bagnall Village website

Ralph Bagnold (1896 - 1990)

15th Earl of Derby, Bryce Wright and Britain's Darkest Hour

A.J.BOWDEN & W. SIMKISS

, Earth Sciences, National Museums Liverpoole-mail: alan.bowden@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Serendipity plays a large part in discovering the forgotten history of museum collections and thechance find of some scraps of correspondence has helped to unravel a little known story of WorldWar II.

Edward Henry Stanley (1826-1893), 15th Earl of Derby, was a politician who rose to become for-eign secretary and Secretary of State for the Colonies. He acquired mineral specimens purchasedfrom the mineral dealers Bryce M. Wright Sr. and Bryce McMudo Wright Jr. between 1870-1893.

This collection was regarded as one of the finest collections of cut and polished Agates in existence,made possible through his personal fortune.

During the Second World War an incendiary device fell upon the City Library in the first week ofMay 1941. The resulting fire destroyed the library as well as the adjoining museum - the geologycollections were largely lost to the blaze.

Amongst the losses were the prime Agate specimens from the Derby Collection. However, not all iswhat it seemed as recent uncovering of correspondence showed that the War Office had requisitionedsome of the Derby specimens prior to this event for use in vital war work.

Letters from C. Mathews & Son (Lapidiarists) indicated that the Director of Liverpool Museum,Douglas A. Allen, was asked to provide samples of Agate which displayed little or no banding foressential war purposes. This correspondence, dated from 26th September to 29th October 1940, indi-cated the parlous state of the supply of raw material into Britain during the latter months of 1940prior to the introduction of Lend-Lease on 11 March 1941.

Some of the remains of therequisitioned Derby Agatesreturned the LiverpoolMuseum in 2005.

The reason for this request was due to the sinking of the supply vessels as a result of U-boat activ-ity in the North Atlantic. The sinking of Merchant vessels was sporadic during the early to midpart of 1940 and confined to British near coastal waters. However, they increased in intensityafter the fall of France when the Germans had access to the French naval base of Lorient. Thisenabled their U-boats to operate at longer range with improved signal transmission and thereforeeasier to hunt as a group. The introduction of Wolf Pack tactics against convoy HX 72 set the tonefor what became known as the Battle of the Atlantic.

Agate was regarded as essential as it had particular properties that made it suitable for high pre-cision bearings for military equipment, balance knife edges and most importantly master viscome-ter jets used in the development of Merlin engines (the engine that powered the Spitfires andHurricanes). The high chemical purity of agate produced an extremely high abrasion resistancewhich was superior to steel. It was also resistant to all acids and solvents except hydrofluoric acidand had a superior hardness to hardened steel (950 on the Knoop scale, 7.2 on the Moh's scale.Hardened steel is 800 on the Knoop scale, 6.5 on the Moh's scale).

In 2005, the remains of the requisitioned Derby Agates were returned to us cut up as rejected frag-ments from balance vees and Merlin viscometer jets.

The ground instability legacy resulting from historical chalk miningin south east England

CLIVE EDMONDS

Partner, Peter Brett Associates LLP

Historical mining in various parts of Britain is widely recorded. However, while coal mining is com-monly known to geologists, the past mining of chalk is less well known. A combination of academ-ic study and commercial practice during the last 30 years has revealed the spatial pattern and char-acteristics of past chalk mining. The PBA Mining Cavities Database presently contains records ofalmost 1800 chalk mines and more are being discovered each year. The exploitation of chalk throughtime correlates to the development of agricultural practices, construction and industrial processes thatare now defunct. Just as today, industrial revolution, technology advances, tax regimes and needsrelating to the health, welfare and new travel opportunities of society are all reflected in the histori-cal development and use of chalk.

The widespread need for mined chalk largely ceased in the early 1900s and passed from memory.Contemporary accounts describing the mining activities and use of chalk are limited and tend to becontained in more specialist and obscure publications. The relative inaccessibility of information hasresulted in slow recognition of the scale of the problem until relatively recent times. During the last30 years or so, in particular, many old, forgotten chalk mines have been revealed as a result of sub-sidence. This has had significant impacts upon many urban areas, such as Blackheath, Hatfield,Hemel Hempstead, Norwich and Reading, where large sums have been spent investigating and sta-bilising mines. Case study details will be presented that illustrate the nature and scale of mining prob-lems, subsidence hazards and the manner in which engineering solutions to the hazards posed havebeen carried out. These will draw upon particular experience

Hannover Mine: The tunnels typically vary from about 3m to 5m in height depending on where the existingfloor level is relative to the roof, though if the spoil on the existing floor was removed to reveal the insituchalk then the tunnels shown in the photo, as originally dug, are probably at least 6m high.

European “schools” of applied micropalaeontology; a science drivenby conflict and competition.

HAYDON W. BAILEY

Network Stratigraphic Consulting Ltd.haydonbailet@btconnect.com

This study is very much a personal historical review and colleagues may differ in how they interpretevents. This is just one biased perspective, restricted to European micropalaeontology, but at leastfrom the 1970's onwards I was personally involved.

During the 19th Century the new science of micropalaeontology was developed by a small, butimportant group of European geoscientists who were basically descriptive in their approach. At thisstage men like Alcide d'Orbigny, Alfred Reuss and Heron-Allen whilst producing extensive cata-logues of microfossils, particularly the foraminifera, were carrying out academic studies and not util-ising these protozoan remains in an applied sense.

It is widely agreed that applied micropalaeontol-ogy as recognised today commenced towards theend of the late 19th Century in the centralEuropean province of Galicia, then part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire, but seeking independ-ence as part of a self-governing Poland. The firstdistillation of crude oil to produce kerosene inLvov in 1853 resulted in increased exploration foroil resources as the century progressed, first forlighting and subsequently for the embryonic auto-mobile industry. Josef Grzybowski working in thepetroleum fields of Potok, first demonstrated howforaminifera could be systematically obtainedfrom well samples and consequently used to corre-late the geological succession between wells.

The discovery of oil in the Middle East in 1908provides the next milestone and the origins of thefirst “British school of micropalaeontology” whichflourished during the first half of the 20th Century,through the conflict of the First World War and theearly development of the oil fields in Iran, Iraq and

Saudi Arabia (although the last of these was largely American dominated and outside the scope ofthis study).

Without going into strategies used by German high command during the Second World War, it isclear that a ready supply of oil was essential to their progress across Europe. This led to an indige-nous industrial “German school of micropalaeontology” whose isolation led them to pursue the sci-ence to new heights on the home continent. High quality publications which came out of Germanyduring the 1950's and 1960's, by Bartenstein, Brand, Plumhoff and colleagues, were almost certain-ly the result of disciplined efforts made a decade earlier. The classic work “Leitfossilien derMikropaläontologie” first published in 1962 still provides the foundations of stratigraphic

Josef Grzybowski (1869-1922)

micropalaeontology used in North Sea exploration.

The Second World War had also forced U.K. geologists to develop their skills in home coal pro-duction, one of which was the application of palynology in the subsurface mapping of the coalfields. The research group at Sheffield under Leslie Moore led the field in this area until its clo-sure in the late1980's. The history of North Sea exploration is not repeated here, but after almost60 years of conflict we enter a period of outright competition, both commercial and academic. Inthe former, the year 1964 saw the establishment of both Robertsons Research in North Wales ledby Robert Cummings and Paleoservices in Watford by Vittorio Roveda. The latter half of the1960's also saw the advent of competition between the schools of micropalaeontology establishedat University College under Tom Barnard and at Imperial College under Dave Carter. Competitivedrive is basically regarded as a good thing and for a further twenty five to thirty years it under-pinned the continuing production of high quality micropalaeontologists throughout the U.K.

The oil industry is cyclical and competitionbecomes greater during times of low oil prices.Such a phase during the late 1980's led to the pro-gressive reduction of in-house micropalaeontologyin companies such as BP and Shell, the demise ofPaleoservices and the sale of the Geochem group.Nevertheless, applied micropalaeontologists arenothing if not resourceful. As established laborato-ries closed across the UK, the “acme” of specialiststrained during the 1980's responded to the compet-itive drive and new companies such as Ichron,Network Stratigraphic and Petrostrat rose from theashes during the 1990's.

The advent of horizontal drilling technologies dur-ing the 1990's has placed further demands on exist-ing trained micropalaeontologists and ironically thelast U.K. school of micropalaeontology at UCLwas closed precipitately in 2008. Although com-mercial competition still exists, we are now wit-nessing more co-operation between appliedmicropalaeontologists, simply to fulfil contractual demands from their clients, rather than overtcompetition. If competition has already been acknowledged as being a “good thing” for the devel-opment of the science, then it is unclear where co-operation will lead.

Grzybowski’s microscope

Interesting claims for Nummulites from Herodotus to poor oldRandolph Kirkpatrick!

RICHARD T. J. MOODY

Kingston University London. Penrhyn Road, Kingston, KTI 2EE.rtj.moody@virgin.net

The descriptive history of the larger foraminiferids known as nummulites began when they were mis-takenly identified as petrified lentils by Heredotus (484-425BC) in his chronicles (Historiae (II)).Strabo (63/64BC-ca.AD 24) was also aware of this interpretation with the idea that they were essen-tially traces of the food supplied to the many thousands of workers constructing the pyramids of Giza(Strabo, Geographiká, Book 17, 1 - first published 7BC). The name nummulites is derived from theLatin nummulus which means “little coin”. The pyramids were built of blocks of Giza Limestone andthe white, often nummulitic limestones of the Lutetian Mokattam Formation.

Nummulites first appear in geological recordin the Middle-Late Palaeocene and are prolif-ic locally during the Eocene and Oligocene;their Eocene distribution essentially parallel-ing the coastline of Tethys. Great thicknessesof nummulitic limestones indicate the pres-ence of significant carbonate factories duringthe Ypresian and Lutetian.

Nummulites range in size from a few millime-tres to 5-6 centimetres. Gigantic forms over15cm in diameter are recorded from theMiddle Eocene of Turkey. The larger B formsare known in folk law as “angels money”.

Nummulite populations are comprised oflarge asexual forms and small sexual forms.The ratio of these forms are indicative of in-situ or modified faunas and with other factorsgive a good indication of depositional envi-ronments. Nummulites are good index fossils and nummulite accumulations can host huge hydrocar-bon resources. Sequences can be highly modified by bioturbation, winnowing, transport or diagene-sis. The Romans used nummulitic limestones to build some of their finest cities, with limestoneblocks cut from quarries close to the city.Therefore it is strange that according to some scientists the builders of the Great Pyramid of Cheopsused a “concrete” rather than blocks of stone extracted from local quarries. The polished dressingstones apparently herald the use of concrete or the development of geopolymers four and half thou-sand years ago. An innovation that surely marked the birth of the applied and materials sciences.

The identification and classification of nummulites began in the early 1800's although both Leonardoda Vinci (1452-1519) and Georg Bauer (Agricola (1494-1555)) are attributed with recognising theorganic nature of their shells. The name Nummulites is attributed to Lamarck 1801. There are now59 species of nummulites identified and they are important in the stratigraphic correlation of Eocene-Oligocene strata. At a specific level they are difficult to identify and an in-depth knowledge of their

A-Form nummulites or “petrified lentils”!

ornament and structure is essential. Their study can become an obsession and obsession plusrepetitive stress can result in a touch of madness.

Randolph Kirkpatrick (1863-1950) an assistant keeper at the BMNH who was the first to describethe coralline-sponges published a book in 1905 entitled “The Nummulosphere”: an account of the“Organic Origin of so-called Igneous Rocks and Abyssal Red Clays,” proposing the theory thateffectively all rocks have been constructed by the accumulation of mostly Nummulites.

Sadly for Kirkpatrick, he was subsequently regarded with a degree of scepticism by other geolo-gists and was referred to as 'poor old Randolf Kirkwood by Stephen Gould (1978). More recent-ly the Danby Society at Downing College, Cambrige (Danby-Orlando de Lange) voted thatRandolph Kirkpatrick was their favourite scientist - 'who thought every rock in the world wasmade out of microscopic fossils called Numulites - what a crazy bastard'.

B-form nummulites or Angels Money

The history of petroleum exploration: multiple evolving technologiesbased on a handful of underlying principles

KEN CHEW (IHS) & ANTHONY SPENCER (Statoil)

ken.chew@ihs.comams@statoilhydro.com

This presentation will chart petroleum exploration from 1900 to show the patterns of (i) discovery ofresources; (ii) evolution of technologies (and organizations); and (iii) establishment of principles andthe relationships between the three.

The history of petroleum exploration can be illustrated most simply by the results obtained - thegraph of discovered resources through time from 1900 onwards. This shows that the discovery ofconventional resources outside North America peaked during 1956-1980, when almost 60% out ofthe total 3615 Bbbloe of technically recoverable resources discovered through 2008 were found.Most of the 88 super-giant fields were also found during that period.

Since 1900 the organizations involved in exploration have become steadily more numerous anddiverse (Organizations vs time), as have the geoscientists employed (Geoscientists vs time), but bothwere affected by the oil price shock in 1985. The technologies for drilling and well geosciencesevolved steadily. Similarly, seismic reflection technology, starting in 1920, has progressed relentless-ly. Geochemical technologies, to analyse source rocks, their maturation and hydrocarbon generation,developed rapidly from 1970.

Four geological 'principles' have developed to guide exploration. The 'anticlinal theory' of oil entrap-ment was first proposed in the middle of the 19th Century, but the search for traps - both structuraland stratigraphic - fully replaced drilling on seeps only in the 1930s. The exploration play conceptwas formulated in 1984; the more general principle of the petroleum system was devised in 1988.Most recently, the idea of the 'resource play' (e.g. shale gas) arose in the 1990's.

This history shows that the pattern of resource discovery and the patterns of manpower, technologyand the development of principles have followed different paths in the period since 1900. While indi-vidual technological advances can provide a small boost to exploration capabilities (e.g. sub-saltimaging), in general technological advance is one of steady progression (drilling in deeper and deep-er water; longer and longer horizontal wells). Principles, on the other hand, while devised infrequent-ly can create a real step change and drive technology (anticlinal theory - leading to development ofgeophysical methods of mapping; resource plays - leading to multi-stage well fracing and accompa-nying real-time microseismic monitoring ).

Aspects of Geological Employment in the Extractive Industries andthe rise of the EIG

GEOFFREY WALTON

PGW&A LLP and Leeds UniversityGeoffrey Walton <GeoffW@pgwassoc.co.uk>

This paper reviews the sources of employment for those in geology and related disciplines since1950 with particular reference to the surface extraction of minerals. Employment levels havefluctuated considerably reflecting the importance and organisation of the different sectors overtime. The 1960s and early 70s saw the number of geologists employed in opencast coal miningrise to nearly 100, a sector that now employs less than 10% of the peak level. In the 1960s fewwere employed in the aggregates sector whereas there has been a marked increase reflecting theimportance of related environmental and geotechnical issues to the maintenance of mineralactivity.

From 1978 there have been 16 Extractive Industry Geology conferences, dealing with a widerange of topics. Although initially the organisation of these conferences was supported by theGeological Society and the IMM this appears to have changed reflecting the relative disinterestof existing academic and professional bodies to what some regard as a pariah activity. In conse-quence, the EIG has developed as a separate entity with its own publications and meetings sup-ported by a Company Limited by Guarantee.

Quarry slopes and plant.

Geomaterials: Highlights of a Developing Concept

IAN SIMS

Director, RSK STATS Limited, UKwww.rsk.co.uk

Although now an established term, the grouping of geological materials used in construction withinthe all-embracing 'geomaterials' is little more than twenty years old. A definition was proposed byFookes in 1991 and remains entirely valid: "processed or unprocessed soils, rocks or minerals usedin the construction of buildings or structures, including man-made construction materials manufac-tured from soils, rocks or minerals". The scope and integrated variety of this definition will beexplored, showing that there are two main Groups of geomaterials: I) earth materials that are used inconstruction directly or after processing, and II) man-made geomaterials that are generated intention-ally (products) or adventitiously (by-products or wastes) using Group I geomaterials, variously byjudicious combination or by alteration into new geomaterials. It will be shown that Group II geoma-terials look and behave like some varieties of Group I geomaterials. A new classification of geoma-terials is suggested and the environmentally important question of recycled geomaterials is alsoaddressed.

The author once described natural building stone as "the ultimate geomaterial" (Sims, 1999), and thisGroup I geomaterial will be briefly considered, alongside aggregates (coarse & fine), rock fill, rip-rap, armourstone, asphalts, soils, volcanic ash and other geological materials that are more-or-lessdirectly sourced and employed in construction. However, in this presentation, particular attentionwill be directed towards Group II geomaterials, including cements, concretes, bricks (and other fired-clay products), fibre-cement products and some lightweight aggregates. It will be explained thatsome by-product or waste types of Group II geomaterials are further processed to create a new deriv-ative form of Group II geomaterial, with examples including some reactive mineral additions for con-crete, such as ground granulated blastfurnace slag (ggbs), and some aggregate materials such a sin-tered fly ash ('Lytag').

A main focus of the presentation will be on concrete, the main Group II geomaterial, which can com-monly comprise Group I geomaterials (aggregates) bound together using a complex and highly engi-neered Group II geomaterial (cement), often with a derivative Group II geomaterial (such as ggbs)being used to optimise its performance. It will be demonstrated that Group II geomaterials, such ascement and ggbs, exhibit fascinating mineralogies and textures that vary widely from those found innatural materials, but can be studied using the same traditional geological, geochemical and miner-alogical techniques. The presentation will explain that the application of petrography to study theartificial rock known as 'concrete' is now well established, having mainly developed in post-second-world-war decades, following the commercial availability of the epoxy resin needed for consolida-tion of concrete and consequentially successful thin-section preparation (St John et al, 1998).Examples of useful concrete petrography will be described, including its vital role in diagnosing thecauses of some forms of concrete deterioration and even, recently, its ability to prove or disprove theevidence in a murder trial.

References cited in the Abstract:Fookes, P G, 1991, Geomaterials, Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, 24 (1), 3-15.St John, D A, Poole, A B, Sims, I, 1998, Concrete Petrography: a handbook of investigative tech-niques, Arnold, London, 474pp. (revised 2nd edition in preparation)Sims, I, 1999, Stone - the ultimate geomaterial. Natural Stone Specialist, 34 (11), 20-26.

The last 50 years of mineral exploration in Britain

TIM COLMAN

British Geological Surveytimcolman@tiscali.co.uk

Mineral exploration in Britain faces unusual challenges: privately owned mineral rights whoseownership is frequently unknown, no Ministry of Mines with mineral developments beingadministered by a variety of Ministries and a small island where every hectare is precious tosomebody!

Nevertheless over one hundred UK and overseas companies have carried out exploration proj-ects for a variety of metals and deposit types in Britain over the past 50 years. Several haveresulted in mines and there are currently at least five projects which may soon develop intomines for gold, tungsten, tin, copper or zinc.

The talk will describe how the exploration focus changed from uranium and lead in the 1950s tocopper and tin in the 1960s then to nickel and fluorspar in the early 1970s before a hiatus in themid to late 1970s. Gold has been the main target from the 1980s to the present day.

White rock, Parys Mountain, North Wales

Leadhills, RTZ drilling in 1983

Peak District Mining

R. P. SHAW

British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham

Mining of metal ores has been going on in the Peak District for around 3,500 years. The earliestknown workings are for copper on Ecton Hill in the Staffordshire part of the area where stone ham-mers are found and an antler pick has been recovered from some ancient workings. While there areno other known workings of this age in the Peak District copper was also worked at Alderley Edge,not far to the north west, during the Bronze Age and lead ore was extracted in the Northern Penninesbefore the Roman occupation and it is likely that lead was worked in this area prior to the Romaninvasion. Bonze Age lead artefacts found in the area support this supposition. The Romans definite-ly produced lead in the area and well over 30 Roman lead pigs have been found that can be attrib-uted to the Peak District. They are distinguished by lettering believed to refer to Lutudarum either aRoman town in or close to the orefield, perhaps Chesterfield, Matlock or Wirksworth, or the area asa whole. While no workings can be demonstrably attributed to the Romans in the Peak District,except perhaps at Roystone Grange where a wall of probable Roman age bridges workings on a smalllead vein, they definitely worked underground at Alderley Edge.

Mining continued, at least intermittently, following the departure of the Romans. The Wirksworthmines were owned by Repton Abbey and in 714 they sent a lead coffin to Crowland Abbey for theremains of St Guthlac. Records in the Doomsday Book suggest that lead production at the time thatthe survey was carried out (1086) in the manors of Hope, Ashford and Bakewell amounted to about250 tons annually.

Mining in the Peak District is governed by ancient laws, the oldest documentation of which is aninquisition in 1288. These customary laws were outside common law until acts of Parliament in 1851and 1852 which are still in force. Lead mining has continued under the guidelines laid down in thecustomary laws, which do not apply to all 'liberties' in the Peak and only apply to lead mining.Initially these would have been generally small concerns worked by a small, often family, partner-ship perhaps in conjunction with agricultural practice. They started as open workings where the veinsoutcropped and worked down until water prevented further working. By the seventeenth centurymany mines had exhausted the accessible lead ore and larger companies and associations of smallerconcerns developed schemes to drain the mines at depth by driving drainage levels, known as soughs,to allow gravity drainage to greater depths leading to a significant increase in lead production duringthe later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries which arguably was the peak of lead production in thearea. Some of these drainage schemes took decades to achieve their goals and where out side themeans of the small, independent miners. The deeper soughs, such as Meerbrook (started in 1772) andHillcarr (started in 1766 and the longest in the area) where still being extend well into the nineteenthcentury.

With a few notable exceptions mining in the area declined through the nineteenth century as theaccessible ore deposits were exhausted. Towards the end of the nineteenth century other commodi-ties associated with the lead ores started to have significant commercial value. Fluorite was producedfor use a flux and, later, the chemical and is still worked in the area. Baryte has been produced for avariety of uses including point manufacture and drilling mud. In the latter part of the twentieth cen-tury more lead was produced annually as a by product of fluorspar production

than was often produced during the heyday of recorded lead mining. Fluorspar continues (just!)to be produced in the orefield.

While the orefield is perhaps best known for its lead, and more recently fluorspar, production awide range of other metals and commodities have been mined in the past. Metals include copper,particularly from the Ecton Mines which was the deepest mine in Britain, an perhaps the world inlatter part of the eighteenth century and were the source of the Dukes of Devonshire's wealth inthe seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, silver extracted from the lead and zinc. Other productsincluded various pigments, calcite (for decorative purposes), decorative stones (black marble, bluejohn, stalactitic baryte), chert and high purity limestone.

.

Magpie Mine

The remains of 19th and 20th century working of Magpie Mine, Near Sheldon,Derbyshire. The engine house dates from the 1860s and the steel headgear from are-working in the 1950s.

Lead Pigs

Two lead ingots recovered from the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman Hollandiasunk off the Scillies in July 1743. They are likely to have originated from PeakDistrict smelters and the rectangular pig has 1733 stamped into the surface

Scientific Advice versus Government Policy: the Haswell Collierydisaster of 1844

ANTHONY BROOK

West Sussex Geological Society

In 1964 the newly-elected Labour Government established the post of Chief Scientific Adviser,whose remit was to provide the best advice on scientific and technology-related activities andpolicies to the Prime Minister and Cabinet. On the whole Governments have accepted such adviceand acted accordingly, but there have been times when scientific advice has run counter toGovernment policy, occasioning controversy and resignations. The Haswell Colliery disaster of1844 is probably the first time that the recommendations of premier scientists were ignored by theGovernment of the day.

On Saturday 28 September, following a prolonged strike, the Hutton Seam of the Little Pit ofHaswell Colliery in County Durham exploded, and 95 men and boys were killed by the blast andfireball: see accompanying map from the official Report. It made headlines in The Times and TheIllustrated London News, and was extensively reported nationwide. At the Coroner's Inquest, theoutspoken representative of the Miners' Association took advantage of an adjournment to travel toBrighton to plead with the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, to send 2 eminent scientists to inves-tigate conditions at Haswell Colliery, and write a Report suggesting 'Means of Preventing SimilarAccidents'. The result was that Michael Faraday and Charles Lyell attended the latter stages of theInquest, examined certain miners in Court and spend a day down the pit, closely inspecting theworking environment and safety measures, such as they were. Despite their advocacy theCoroner's Jury still brought in a verdict of Accidental Death, absolving the mine-owners of anyresponsibility for the deaths of so many coalminers.

The Report into the Haswell Colliery disaster was published on 21 October, and 1250 copieswidely distributed. It was also published in full in The Philosophical Magazine, a leading scien-tific periodical, in January 1845. After reviewing all the circumstances leading to this disastrousexplosion, Lyell recommended considerable improvements in the basic education of coalminers,to include some general principles of science, including geology. Faraday was more concernedwith improving the general ventilation of coalmines to prevent the build-up of potentially-explo-sive gases, particularly in abandoned workings known as goafs. Both would be costly, and themine-owners, many of whom were large landowners and Parliamentarians, objected strenuouslyto any changes that would infringe upon their authority and revenue. In these circumstances theGovernment was forced into a devious parliamentary manoeuvre in order to avoid any consider-ation of the Faraday-Lyell recommendations.

Abolition of dangerous working practices in British coalmines in general came about gradually inthe 1850's, after the Mines Inspectorate was established in 1850. A strict series of Rules forWorking the Mine were issued by the Haswell Colliery Office in December 1847. However, thethick but gaseous Hutton Seam remained liable to explode, with great loss of life, as it did atSeaham in 1880, killing 164, many more than at Haswell.

Geology and landslips

EDDIE BROMHEAD

Kingston University Londone.bromhead@kingston.ac.uk

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, first canal constructors and later railway engineers in Britain had tocontend with failures of earthworks of a variety of types. By the middle of the 19th century, engi-neers were producing detailed cross-sections of slope failures, based on investigations done in thecourse of remedial action. These invariably showed that the surface on which movement took placewas associated with one or more peculiarities of the geology. There was a clear but qualitativeappreciation of the effect of water on the shear strength of soils. However, without a formalisationof what we know as the principle of effective stress, the effect could not be quantified. As a result,the mechanics of slope instability were long delayed.

In the early 20th century, a number of slope failures played seminal roles in the development ofideas, and one of them, the failure of the jetty at Gothenburg in Sweden, led directly to methods ofanalysis still in use today. It did, however, introduce the concept of the “slip circle” to the fledglingscience of soil mechanics, and this had a deleterious effect on the development of ideas. Almostequally as damaging was the insistence on soil as an isotropic and homogeneous material - a nec-essary fiction to develope elementary theories, but clearly wrong in the field. The presentation describes a few of the landslides and slope failures in the UK that have had animportant impact on the development of ideas in slope stability engineering, showing how some-times ideas developed along false lines, and the cases that brought ideas back on track.

Line blocked at Folkestone Warren 1915

Slide at Folkestone Warren 1915

Steady hole at Folkestone Warren 1915

UK SITE INVESTIGATION IN THE EARLY 1960S

MAX BARTON

School of Civil Engineering and The EnviromentSouthampton University SO17 1BJ.

m.e.barton@soton.ac.,uk

Soil Mechanics, and by implication the science of Geotechnology in general, can be said to haveestablished itself as a scientific study in its own right with the publication of Karl Terzaghi's"Erdbaumechanik" in 1926. Terzaghi was an internationally recognised engineer thoroughly versedin the problems associated with the siting and design of dams. From his extensive experience hewas able to fully understand the vital role that a thorough study of Geology played for the design,safety and performance not only of dams but of foundations in general. In his numerous publica-tions, including those in the first international conference on Soil Mechanics and FoundationEngineering in 1936, he constantly referred to this vital role and again stressed it in the textbook hewrote in collaboration with Ralph Peck: "Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice" with its first edi-tion in 1948. However, in spite of Terzaghi & Peck being on most engineer's bookshelves throughthe 1950s, the progress of Geology in establishing itself as a necessary part of an Engineering SiteInvestigation was astonishingly slow and we have to ask why was this? What was in the educationand background of the UK Civil Engineering profession, that they so failed to assimilate the wisdomand experience of Terzaghi, that the employment of Geologists within the ranks of Civil Engineeringconsultants and contractors was slowed to the point where a foundation design could proceed in theabsence of an adequate understanding of the site conditions?

The author is able to draw upon hisexperience of entering the SiteInvestigation industry in May 1960 at atime when the numbers of geologists soemployed in the UK were less than ahandful. Geologists were sometimescalled upon to give advice in a consult-ing role but very few firms then consid-ered that their presence was essential tothe work they were undertaking. Theattitude is exemplified by failure toappreciate that S.I. meant an investiga-tion in the same sense as that whichmight be used by a sleuth. So a tenderfor the S.I. of a rectangular site couldspecify 4 boreholes, one at each cornerand each to 50 feet irrespective of whatthe might underlay the site (which couldbe guessed at least from the GeologicalSurvey map had the engineering team taken the trouble to look). Disparities between the boreholelogs did not automatically lead to further investigation. Suggestions that the S.I. should proceed asan investigation ran up against the need for the clients (frequently Architects or purely StructuralEngineers) to have a pre-determined basis for their financial accounting. The concept that "you willhave to pay for a proper site investigation whether you have one or not" had yet to be enunciated.

Construction of the M1 through Leicestershire in 1963. Scraperin cutting within an Anglian till complex (chalky-Jurassic till tothe left and Triassic derived till to the right) over lying glaciallydeformed Mercia Mudstone.

The 1960s were a time when the UK was fast recovering from the post-war stagnation which hadlingered through the 1950s. Many capital programmes were put into practice, most notably ofMotorway Construction. Surprisingly in view of later developments, large car factories andassembly plants were also being built as well as innumerable tower blocks, many of which wenow consider to be of unappealing brutalist design. All these works generated extensive siteinvestigations throughout the UK and many new geological details were being brought to light,some of which were recorded but others buried in reports archived and probably subsequentlylost. It is unfortunate that the S.I. activity at that time preceded the setting up of an adequate sys-tem for the central recording of geological information without infringing confidentiality but onehas to bear in mind that it was also a time before personal computers were available and the inter-net required another 30 years to get established. Typescript and paper were still the norm.

The paper concludes with a brief look at how aspects of Soil Mechanics such as the Casagrandesystems of soil classification could mislead engineers into thinking it told them all they needed toknow about geological materials. They could also use a particle size classification withoutanalysing what they meant by a "particle". On the other side of the coin, it is relevant to note thatsome of the discoveries being made by the sub-surface investigations were not always subject tothe thorough geological analysis that they should have had.

Contaminated land management: quo veni? Quo vadis?

C P NATHANAIL

University of Nottingham

It has been said that geologists' unique abilities are to think in long time scales and in three dimen-sions. Indeed my own first experiences of field geology were assisting Brian Harland's group intheir search for evidence of pre Cambrian ice ages. Yet as we live through the 'anthropogene'understanding the two way interaction of man and its earthly home has become ever more urgent.To the contaminated land specialist, 1990 is the equivalent to the start of the Cambrian.Modern approaches to the challenge of contaminated land trace their origins to incidents such asLove Canal (USA), Lekkerkerk (NL), Bhopal (India), Seveso (Italy), Minamata (Japan) and, near-er home, Aberfan (Wales), Loscoe (Derbyshire) and Abbeystead (Lancashire). However theadverse effects of poor environmental stewardship have been recognised from biblical times.Protecting public health from hazards transmitted via environmental vectors became a significantconcern in 19th century Britain and Ireland. Public Health Acts contained embryonic source-path-way-receptor, suitable for use and even polluter pays principles.

In the UK, post world war 2 regeneration catalysed the need to consider land condition as bombedout sites were cleared and new housing estates built. It soon became apparent that chemical sub-stances had to be added to the inventory of unexploded bombs, debris and craters that had to bedealt with. For two decades it was redevelopment that drove contaminated land issues. Howeverreports by RCEP and the House of Lords led to a recognition that a distinctly unwelcome legacyof the industrial revolution and post world war 2 growth were sites currently in use that could becausing serious impacts on health and the environment.

Over the last two decades the UK, our European partners and the rest of the world have formulat-ed and reformulated approaches to identifying, evaluating and mitigating the consequences of his-toric contamination. This policy rollercoaster has been accompanied by an explosion in our abil-ity to access, sample and analyse the subsurface. There is no sign of either abating.Whether it is industry's desire to disengage from closed sites or societal concerns about the wis-dom, dare one say sustainability, of our actions today; the regulator's toolkit is constantly beingadded to; as indeed is the site investigator's, risk assessor's and remediator's. The challenge in aworld of seemingly shrinking financial capital is how to deploy the intellectual and technologicalcapital in the most effective way.