Promoting interest in the geology of Cambridgeshire, the UK and worldwide
MONTHLY TALKS
We have a programme of 10 Monthly talks running from September to June each year, held on the second Monday of every month. All talks (unless specified otherwise) are at 7.30 pm (doors open 7.00 pm). Everyone welcome, free to CGS members, £3 for non members. These are held at St Andrew’s Centre, Histon.
NEXT TALK
Monday 13th February 2023 (7.00 for) 7.30pm
Fossil brachiopods shells as outstanding archives of climate in the deep past
Dr. Claudio Garbelli, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
Brachiopods are present in the marine benthic communities all over the Phanerozoic and they were the dominant bivalved organisms in the Palaeozoic. Their calcite shells have a high preservation potential, allowing the palaeobiologists to reconstruct their life histories from individual to community level. Because their physiology constraints, these organisms change in response to environmental parameters, and they thus represent a powerful archive of past oceans conditions and climatic variations. Also, their episodic growth patterns provide a sequential record of growth increments which can then be analyzed through morpho-structural and geochemical proxies for tracing environmental variables even at seasonal scale. Fossil brachiopods shells can thus be considered excellent archive for the study of ancient ocean condition.
Another Walk Guide published on the Fen Edge Trail
‘an iconic fen island – monks, marshes and a model village’
In January 2023 the Walk Guide for the Thorney Fen Edge Trail walk was published. This walk is a good introduction to the geology of the northern part of the Cambridgeshire Fens, including silt from extensive tidal marshes and ancient river beds (roddons), the River Terrace Gravels of the Nene and the complex ’March’ Gravels. The latter created the island itself, raising it above the low fenland; these gravels also form the islands of Whittlesey, March and Chatteris.
All Walk Guides can be downloaded from the Fen Edge Trail website.
The walk has been designed in partnership with Thorney Museum and the Thorney Society. We hope to organise a guided walk on the route later in the year.
4 New Walk Guides published on the Fen Edge Trail
December 2022,has seen the publication of 4 new Walk Guides including two with a difference: we have now expanded into the realms of podcasts and YouTube videos! Thanks to Paul S, Paul M (especially for the video) and Jeff for their work on the first three. Also thanks to Peter from the Word Garden who designed the fourth walk and produced the accompanying history podcast.
Earith: Old Bedford and 100 Foot with the Word Garden
This makes a total of 15 Guides published with at least another 7 due in 2023. An additional 21 are being put together leaving only 6 or so to be started. All Walk Guides can be downloaded from the website and there are also links to the podcast and videos. We hope to have guided walks on these and other Fen Edge Trail walks in 2023.
Previous Events
Field Trip Report – Burwell Local Geological Sites
The society organises occasional field trips to view important geological sites within the county and hopefully further afield in post pandemic times. These trips are primarily for our members.
In early summer 2021 we had a popular visit to the Burwell Local Geological Sites and are scheduling some others to East Pit, Cherry Hinton, a walk along the Fen Edge from Swaffham Bulbeck to Reach, a visit to Nine Wells chalk spring and a tour of the building stones of Cambridge city center. These are primarily for the benefit of members: any member wishing to participate should contact us.
A write up for this trip may be found here.
Newsletters
Our Winter 2022-23 newsletter is now available to members.
Our previous newsletters are available to everyone (download below). They have plenty of ideas for some virtual geology!
Email updates
Sign up for our email updates to hear about future talks, events and news of our projects.
Contact us
Cambridgeshire Landscapes
Cambridgeshire has a fascinating landscape and an interesting geology. See our Landscapes page for more details and download the excellent leaflet ‘The Mapping of Landscapes, Geology and Soils of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire’ by Timothy Farewell, Peter Friend, Martin Whiteley and Joanna Zawadzk.
© Cambridgeshire Geological Society