161st Session programme - 2019/2020

2019 PLEASE NOTE Because there are now barriers at the entrance to the main LJMU building, visitors have to be swiped in by a member of staff and sign in as a visitor. This takes longer than previously so you will need to arrive earlier. 22nd Oct Lecture by Dr Peter Falkingham (Senior Lecturer in Vertebrate Biology, LJMU) Motion in the fossil record: Using computer simulation and X-ray video to understand dinosaur track formation. Fossil footprints provide direct evidence about the lives of extinct animals, recording limb movements, soft-tissue anatomy, and environmental conditions. But interpreting tracks fraught with difficulty, not least because the track formation process is poorly understood. By combining bi-planar X-ray video with computer simulation, we can create virtual tracks that provide new insight. I’ll describe how I’ve used these methods to reconstruct foot motions of dinosaurs living over 200 million years ago. Peter Falkingham’s website can be viewed at: https://peterfalkingham.com/ 29th Oct Lecture by Laura Roberts (Geology for Global Development - GfGD) Demystifying science communication: how talking plainly can help geoscientists apply their skills where they are needed most. At Geology for Global Development (GfGD) we work toward empowering the global geology community to help deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). How we communicate the importance, value, and applications of our science are key to ensuring the geoscience community can effectively contribute to the SDGs. In this talk, I'll explore effective (science) communication techniques and ask the question: is it time for geoscience to rebrand? Information about GfGD can be viewed at: http://www.gfgd.org/ Joint meeting of LGS and Herdman Geological Societies -7.30 Tuesday 19 November, Herdman Building, University of Liverpool. £ 3 to cover refreshments - (£5 payment gives Herdman members LGS membership for the year)

Liverpool: Geology, History, Water ….. and

Beer!

Jim Marshall University of Liverpool This talk will review how geological processes have shaped the landscape and historical development of Liverpool. Triassic sedimentary rocks cut by later north-south trending faults define the underlying landscape. They provided building stone and the sites suitable for the development of cathedrals, universities and football stadia. This bedrock housed the water resources used by local industry including the brewery trade. Quaternary erosion by glaciers and glacial outwash streams with subsequent deposition of softer sediments give us the Mersey and the ‘Liver Pool’, and the foundation of a global city. Geological investigations have proved crucial in the construction of tunnels and major building projects and continue today. 26th Nov Lecture by Prof. Andy Biggin, University of Liverpool - Palaeomagnetic insights into the deep Earth and its evolution. The lecture will be about the work of the DEEP (Determining Earth Evolution from Palaeomagnetism) group of 12 researchers at the University of Liverpool and about our recent findings. We combine field geology, lab measurements and numerical simulations to try and unlock the secrets of Earth’s core and lower mantle using records of the ancient geomagnetic field. Such records are a unique resource in studying how the interior of our planet has changed because they contain a signal derived directly from the outer core and retained in rocks at the surface for up to several billion years.