Geological art by Dr. Elizabeth Pickett

BGS Image ID P551745

Geological art by Dr. Elizabeth Pickett, (North Pennines AONB, formerly of the British Geological Survey)

Gouache painting showing creation and destruction of oceanic crust.  The painting shows how oceanic crust (shown in black) is created and destroyed. Magma (molten rock) is erupted along a mid-ocean ridge where it solidifies to become new oceanic crust. As more oceanic crust is created in this way the older, cooler crust moves away from the ridge and millions of years later may eventually be subducted beneath the continents at one or both sides of the ocean. Subduction is the process in which oceanic crust descends into the Earth's mantle. When subduction occurs at the edges of continents (as in this painting) it is marked by major oceanic trenches and the formation of chains of volcanoes known as volcanic arcs in the overlying continent (e.g. the Andes). The processes shown in this painting form part of the theory of plate tectonics. In this theory it is recognised that the Earth's surface is fragmented into tectonic plates (which carry both oceans and continents), which are continually moving across the surface of the planet. The boundaries of these plates interact with each other and are the sites of subduction zones, mid-ocean ridges (both shown in the picture), rift valleys, continental collision zones and transform faults.

BGS Image ID: P551755

Gouache painting of mineralizing fluids. This painting shows how mineral veins in the North Pennines were formed. Mineral-rich waters (represented by the arrows), heated by the Weardale Granite intrusion circulated through cracks and faults in the overlying rocks (a sequence of Carboniferous limestones, shales and sandstones), depositing minerals as they cooled. The mineral veins in the North Pennines area were formed from deep saline water solutions which contained dissolved minerals. These contained iron, lead and copper minerals which were dissolved from surrounding rocks, including the Weardale Granite. The granite acted as a 'heat engine', warming the water and causing it to flow in a convection circuit along faults and fissures. As the fluids cooled, the dissolved minerals crystallized as crusts on the fissure walls. The North Pennines area in northern England has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is also the site of Britain's first 'European Geopark'. The area is one of high fells, open moorland and wide dales. The unique character of the area owes much to human activity over hundreds of years, especially in relation to mining of the mineral deposits in the rocks.

BGS Image ID: P551756

Gouache painting showing block diagram of Pennine escarpment. This painting shows the main features of the Pennine escarpment. The North Pennine hills (on the right) are composed of horizontal beds of Carboniferous rocks. These rocks rest on older, folded Ordovician slates and volcanic rocks. Faults separate the escarpment from the red Permo-Triassic sandstones of the Vale of Eden. The terracing on the North Pennine hills is the result of weathering of a sequence of alternately hard and soft Carboniferous rocks. This sequence is composed of sandstone, shale and limestone; the harder limestone layers clearly stand out on the hillsides. The Weardale Granite lies beneath this sequence. The North Pennines area in northern England has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is also the site of Britain's first 'European Geopark'. The area is one of high fells, open moorland and wide dales. The unique character of the area owes much to human activity over hundreds of years, especially in relation to mining of the mineral deposits in the rocks.

Posted by Bob McIntosh

Louis Bernacchi notebook. British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04

Photographs from the 'Pendulum observations' notebook by Louis Bernacchi from the 'Discovery' Antarctic Expedition 1902-1903. Bernacchi was recruited as physicist for Captain R.F. Scott's British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-04).

This journal records Pendulum Observations and includes certificates and notes.  The two photographs show the interior of a hut in 1902 with the pendulum apparatus within it. The photographs are annotated with details of the equipment. The image also includes other items held in the hut, including snow shoes, a kettle and an appetizing looking crate of ‘Special Cabin Biscuits’.

Title page of Bernacchi's Pendulum observations notebook.

Sample page from Bernacchi's Pendulum observations notebook.

Pendulum observations were undertaken within a vacuum apparatus to determine the local value of gravity which helps indicate the extent to which the earth is oblate. There were three pendulums and each observation took many hours.

New Light on the British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott’s Discovery Expedition) 1901-1904 by Andrew Atkin. Graduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies (GCAS X), 2007/2008.

Posted by Fiona Menzies and Bob McIntosh

Standing stones and burial chambers, geoarchaeology

BGS Image ID: P000605

Standing Stones of Stenness, south-east end of Loch of Stenness. Orkney. The henge and stone circle have radiocarbon dates suggesting that Stenness was constructed during the 3rd. millennium B.C. Four thin, unshaped flagstones now survive, the tallest over five metres high; it is thought that there were originally twelve stones set in a circle about 30 metres in diameter. Ploughing has almost levelled the henge earthworks but the circle once stood within a ditch and bank, with an entrance causeway to the north. The henge and stone circle of Stenness together with the Ring of Brodgar and associated outlying stones and burial mounds form part of a great ceremonial complex in the heart of Orkney, comparable to Callanish on Lewis in the Western Isles and to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.

BGS Image ID: P000597

Dwarfie Stane, north-west Hoy, Orkney. The Dwarfie Stane is a neolithic burial chamber hollowed out from a solid block of cross-bedded Hoy Sandstone (Upper Old Red Sandstone). It is thought that the Dwarfie Stane is derived from cliffs on the downthrow side of the Bring Fault where massive beds of yellow or more rarely red sandstones of the Hoy Sandstone are found (the escarpment in the background).

BGS Image ID: P211066

Avebury stone circles, Wiltshire. Avebury is the largest 'henge' or stone circle in Britain.The standing stones of the Avebury circles, which range from 0.5 m. to 6 m. in height and number over 150 in total, are pale grey, silica-cemented sandstones of Tertiary age commonly known as sarsen stones. The source of the sarsen stone used in the megalithic site at Avebury is believed to be the Marlborough Downs. The stones were formed by the cementation of loose sands in the remnants of the Tertiary succession that once covered the downs. Some of the stones were revealed by weathering but others were probably dug from the succession and transported to Avebury. Sarsen stones are widely used in southern Britain at prehistoric sites including Avebury, Long Kennet and Stonehenge. Although best known as standing stones the sandstones were once extensively quarried on the Marlborough Downs for building stone. However, many standing stones are also believed to have been removed from the prehistoric structures for building purposes in earlier times.

BGS Image ID: P211066

Wayland's Smithy long barrow, Berkshire. Looking north. The Chalk downland area known as the Ridgeway, forming the southern edge of the Vale of the White Horse, is one of several areas littered with sarsen sandstone blocks. The sandstones are the remnants of a former Tertiary sedimentary cover and in some areas may be very abundant as at Clatford Bottom. Wayland's Smithy, named after the Saxon god of metalworking, is a neolithic long barrow constructed of silica-cemented, sandstone blocks known as sarsen stones or sometimes greywethers. 

See also Stonehenge on BGS Geoheritage

Posted by Bob McIntosh

Broughton Moor near Coniston, Cumbria - slate working

BGS Image ID: P538078

Broughton Moor, Lakeland Green Slate, 7 miles south-west of Coniston, Cumbria. Excavator level - NCK 304 excavator.

BGS Image ID: P538063

Broughton Moor. Green Slate Quarries, Spout Crag Quarry, 7 miles south-west of Coniston, Cumbria. Loading a large block in the quarry - NCK 304.

BGS Image ID: P538093

Broughton Moor, Lakeland Green Slate, 7 miles south-west of Coniston, Cumbria. Circular saw - Anderson saw.

BGS Image ID: P538101

Broughton Moor, Lakeland Green Slate, 7 miles south-west of Coniston, Cumbria. Trimming roofing slate

BGS Image ID: P538105

Broughton Moor, Lakeland Green Slate, 7 miles south-west of Coniston, Cumbria. Slab riving.

BGS Image ID P538115

Broughton Moor, Lakeland Green Slate, 7 miles south-west of Coniston, Cumbria. Polishing

The photographs are part of a large collection donated by Mr. Hugh O'Neill, former Special Correspondent for Quarry Manager Journal and Cement, Lime and Gravel in the early 1960s. The full set of Broughton Moor slate working images can be viewed on the BGS Geoscenic. image resource.

There may be discrepancies with some of the stated locations e.g. P538063 is listed as Spout Crag Quarry which was in Langdale not Broughton Moor.

Posted by Bob McIntosh

Northern Ireland geology

BGS Image no: P006468

Just E. of Ballintoy Harbour, Co. Antrim. Looking E. Upper Chalk and Tertiary dolerite intrusions just east of Ballintoy Harbour, Co. Antrim. Intrusive plug of Bendoo on right-hand side with chalk stack in centre. Sheep Island still in centre middle distance with Rathlin Island on horizon. View facing east from small cave 200 yd. south-east of Ballintoy Harbour.
Old photograph number:  NI00317

BGS Image ID: P224977

Port Reostin. Looking NE. Spaniard Rock and Chimney Tops. Five flows of dark-weathering Lower Basalts seen above sea level and below the Interbasaltic Bed which outcrop along the path. The overlying irregularly columnar lowest two flows of the Tholeiitic Basalts are seen to the right, the Chimney Tops being the columnar base of the second flow.
Date taken: 01/05/1959
Old photograph number:  NI00290

BGS Image ID: P225388

Irish Harp and Chimney Tops. Looking S. The footpath cut in the Interbasaltic Bed underlies the irregular columns of the first flow of the tholeiitic basalts. The isolated columns of the Chimney Tops are part of the second flow and a small part of the third flow is seen at the cliff top.
Date taken: 01/01/1969
Old photograph number:  NI00712

Posted by Bob McIntosh

Geologists' Association Field Excursion to Leith Hill June 3rd 1912

Geologists' Association Field Excursion to Leith Hill June 3rd 1912. Names of those listed:
C. Bromehead, Miss Cadmore, Miss Bassett, Miss Crosfield, A.C. Young, A Crosland (?), C. Candler (?). Dr. Bernstein, W. Watts, A. Gibbons. H. Lapworth.

From the Geologists' Association 'Carreck Archive' held at the British Geological Survey.

Posted by Bob McIntosh

Cartographic curiosity - Geological Survey of Scotland 1:10,560 Argyll Sheet 18

Geological Survey of Scotland 1:10,560 Argyll Sheet 18. 1878 [eastern half added c.1933]  The 'Clean Copy' deposited for public consultation. 

While searching the old Survey geological maps of the Beinn Mheadhoin/Strontian area for information about mineral workings, Don Cameron, a BGS geologist, came across this handwritten note which seemed to be scurrilously referring to Edward Battersby Bailey (E.B.B.) the then Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. Further investigation by Marcus Mulcahy of the BGS Enquiries Team in Edinburgh unearthed the original fieldslip with an admission in Bailey’s handwriting that he mapped the area in question, noting: 'I know this part may be very badly mapped. I did it myself before I knew anything at all about gneiss rocks.' This matches the writing on the 'Clean Copy' above, so its likely that Bailey made the admission before the map was copied! The field slip is shown below.

Original fieldslip: Geological Survey of Scotland 1:10,560 Argyll Sheet 18 NE by 'R.C.B.J.' i.e.   Robert Cyril Briscoe Jones with manuscript notes by  Edward Battersby Bailey.

Note on the maps: A geologist would survey the area by taking a set of Ordnance Survey maps cut up for convenience in the field. The geologist would walk over the ground drawing in the geology he sees and making notes on the field slips and collecting rock samples for identification. In the evening during field days he would 'ink in' the lines he had surveyed. Much later, back in the office a 'Clean Copy' of the map would be made with the final interpretation and deposited in the Survey Library for consultation, the map would also be used when compiling the various published maps. 

To learn about geological mapping in the early days of the Survey visit here. 

Today, the process of mapping is all digital.

Posted by Don Cameron, Marcus Mulcahy, Gill Nixon and Bob McIntosh

Nodule tools, Kent's Cavern, Torquay.

BGS Image ID: P232125

Photographs of nodule tools (breccia) from Kent's Cavern, Torquay. Photographs taken by A.R. Hunt. Photographs are from the British Association for the Advancement of Science photograph collection.

BGS Image ID: P232126

BGS Image ID: P232127

BGS Image ID: P232128

BGS Image ID: P641048

BGS Image ID: P641049

Posted by Bob McIntosh

Black Moss, Dinnet, Aberdeenshire. Kieselguhr or diatomite works 1917

BGS Image ID: P000025

Black Moss, 2.4 km. north of Dinnet Station. Aberdeenshire. 1917. The kieselguhr (diatomite) works. Extracting the kieselguhr. Kieselguhr overlain by peat marking site of silted-up lake. The vertical trenches show the method of draining the peat. Before silting-up, the shallow lakes had an abundant supply of nutrients and silica from the surrounding granites. Conditions were ideal for the prolific growth of lacustrine diatoms and the formation of fairly pure diatomite. Subsequent climate change and lowering lake levels lead to the formation of the overlying peat.

BGS Image ID: P000028

Processing the kieselguhr (diatomite). Drying in open-sided covered sheds. A close-up of the second process in the method of drying the kieselguhr. The cut blocks are clearly seen in rows of low open sheds. On the left blocks are placed on an uncovered low wooden structure with the blocks of the first drying process on the ground behind.

BGS IMage ID: P000031

Inside the large kieselguhr (diatomite) storage sheds. The photograph shows the method of building and piling the dried kieselguhr blocks within the sheds. The blocks are arranged in a herringbone fashion. Two bicycles are propped against the blocks.

BGS Image ID:  P527719

A specimen of diatomite from the deposit at Muir of Dinnet near Ballater, Aberdeenshire. Diatomite is a fine-grained earth substance resembling chalk or white clay in appearance and when dry easily breaking down into a white powder. Some specimens are as light as cork and can absorb four times their weight of water. It is composed of frustules of diatoms, extremely minute siliceous organisms. British Geological Survey Petrology Collection sample number MC 7496. In about 1880 a substance referred to as 'white moss' was reported underneath the peat at Muir of Dinnet. It was recognized as a diatomaceous deposit by the Rev. George Davidson and was regarded as a substance that could replace kieselguhr in the manufacture of dynamite. Practically the whole commercial output was sent to the Ardeer explosive works in Ayrshire where the organic matter was burnt away in kilns before use as an absorbent for nitro-glycerine in the manufacture of dynamite.

Posted by Bob McIntosh

Plates from James Sowerby's British Mineralogy 1802-1817

BGS Image ID: P704650

PLUMBUM Galaena. Sulphure of Lead; Galena. Plate no. 24. From: Sowerby, James. 1802-1817. British Mineralogy: Or Coloured figures intended to elucidate the mineralogy of Great Britain. Plate from vol: 1. page no.55. Modern name: Galena. Location: Collected found in Derbyshire.

BGS Image ID:  P705138

FERRUM carbonatum. Carbonate of Iron in rhomboidal spiculae. Plate no. 512. From: Sowerby, James. 1802-1817. British Mineralogy: Or Coloured figures intended to elucidate the mineralogy of Great Britain. Plate from vol: 5. page no.209. Location: Highgate Tunnel.

BGS Image ID: P704728

SILEX Quartzum, crystallisation. Crystallized Quartz; Cairn Gorum Crystals. Plate no. 102. From: Sowerby, James. 1802-1817. British Mineralogy: Or Coloured figures intended to elucidate the mineralogy of Great Britain. Plate from vol: 2. page no.1. Modern name: Smokey quartz (var. Cairngorm).

Posted by Bob McIntosh