Two new LGS at Burwell

Two new Local Geological Sites designated at Burwell We are very pleased to announce that our latest proposal for designation as Local Geological Sites (LGS) were recently (October 2020) approved by the County Wildlife and Geological Sites Panel. The two sites, 400m...

The sea in the Fens

The Fens have been inundated by the sea on various occasions as shown by the marine silts and clays that can be found over large areas, even in the southern fenland of Cambridgeshire. The complex history of freshwater marshes changing to salt marshes and back again,...

New Local Geological Site: The Great Fen

New Local Geological Site The Great Fen: Holme Fen and Whittlesea Mere LGS We are very pleased to announce that our latest proposal for designation as a Local Geological Site (LGS) was recently (Feb 2020) approved by the County Wildlife and Geological Sites Panel. The...

Ice Age display, Sedgwick Museum

A superb mammoth tusk is now part of the Sedgwick Museum’s new Ice Age display. Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated expedition to the North-West Passage has often been in the news ever since he left England on the 19th May, 1845 never to return. Successive searches...

Protecting the landscape heritage of the fens

The fenland has always been a land of mystery. This is particularly true when trying to unravel the complex history of dynamic changes in the landscape, which are directly linked to both sea level and climate. Thanks to an increase in research in recent years, much...

Lime kilns at Isleham

Built around 1860, these listed buildings are the remains of a thriving clunch quarrying industry in this Fen Edge village. Three of the kilns are preserved, with the fire hearths visible inside. The clunch rubble was loaded in through the circular openings at the top...

The economic geology of Burwell

Download our leaflet on the Aspects of Geological Interest in Burwell. Burwell is a “Fen Edge” village which lies to the North East of Cambridge. It has a long history, some of which was dependent on the geology of the underlying rock. It has evidence of...

Nine Wells LGS display at the Cambridge Museum

A display about the Nine Wells Local Geological Site has been featured as part of an exhibition at the Cambridge Museum on the importance of Hobson’s Conduit.The exhibition runs from 26th September to 22nd October 2017 and can be seen in the tea rom at the...

Nine Wells designated as Local Geological Site

Nine Wells Local Nature Reserve is now (February 2017) a Local Geological Site. This designation highlights its geological value for scientific, educational, historical and/or aesthetic reasons. As well as being the source of Hobson’s Conduit, the chalk springs at...

Monthly talks

All are welcome to our monthly talks which cover a range of topics and are aimed at those with a general interest in geology and landscape, as well as those with a more specific interest or a geological background. The talks are held in Cambridge, on the 2nd Monday of...

Promoting interest in the geology of Cambridgeshire, the UK and worldwide

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CGS Monthly Talk

Monday 10th May 2021 7.30pm

‘Geological mapping of the core-mantle boundary:

Unravelling the mysteries of the deep Earth‘

Dr Sanne Cottaar, Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

The boundary between the core and the mantle, nearly 3000 km deep, is a strikingly geologically heterogeneous zone. This talk will show how we use seismic core-diffracted phases to map out the most anomalous zones discovered to date, and named ‘Ultra-Low Velocity Zones or ULVZs. The ULVZs discovered are near major hotspots (Hawaii, Iceland, Galapagos) and thus might represent the roots of whole mantle plumes feeding the surface hotspots.

This talk is by Zoom – please contact us to register. Please also visit the events page for more details and for future talks by Zoom.

Newsletters

Our April 2021 newsletter is now available to members. Our previous newsletters are available to everyone. They have plenty of ideas for some virtual geology!

CGS Newsletter July 2020

CGS Newsletter April 2020

CGS Newsletter December 2020

Email updates

Sign up for our email updates to hear about future talks. Contact us.

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Cambridgeshire Landscapes

Cambridgeshire has a fascinating landscape and an interesting geology. See our Local 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.