BCGS

Monday 22 September (Indoor Meeting): 'Geological perspectives on the 'world’s largest' conventional explosion at Fauld Mine Staffordshire'. Speaker: Noel Worley.

Biographical Details
Noel graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1973 with a BSc in Geology, and gained a PhD in 1978 from the University of Leicester, his topic 'Mineralization in the Peak District'. He was employed with British Gypsum, (a subsidiary of Saint Gaobain) from 1977 - 2012 holding various positions including Mine / Exploration Geologist working in the UK and Europe and retired in 2012 from the position of Minerals & Estates Manager.

He was Vice-President of the Minerals Group of the CBI and a Director of the Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology. He is a member of the Geological Society, East Midlands Geological Society, and Yorkshire Geological Society where he was President 2011-13. He also has membership of the British Cave Research Association and Quekett Microscope Club.

Talk Abstract

The disregard of Britain’s defences during the interwar years resulted in rapid expansion of investment in military infrastructure during the later years of the 1930s. The additional threat posed by aerial bombardment led to the advancement of covert storage facilities for military ordnance. During the 1930s the Air Ministry hastily acquired interests in many room and pillar mines throughout Britain with a view to adapting them for ordnance storage and other operations. Six sites were eventually shortlisted, and for one of the northern depots the former Peter Ford gypsum mine at Fauld in north Staffordshire was procured to become RAF Fauld. The storage facility was gradually developed, and by 1941 it had expanded to become the RAF's premier example and the largest in the country, known as RAF 21 MU, operated by approximately 1,000 personnel. In early 1944 a detachment of United States Air Force personnel was billeted at Fauld for the storage of 4,000 lb 'blockbuster' bombs and the total capacity of the store rose to some 35,000 tonnes of mainly High Explosive ordnance.

On the 27th November 1944 at the height of the allied bombing campaign over Germany, over 4,000 tons of HE exploded causing the death of some 70 people, most of whom were civilians. The explosion caused massive damage and left a crater covering 5 ha and 50 metres deep. At the time, this was the world’s largest explosion and arguably remains the largest ever non-nuclear explosion. Fortunately, the robust design and site geology of the facility allowed the explosion to be partially contained. After the explosion the store was rapidly repaired, remaining in operation until 1966, finally closing in 1973.

The scale of the event attracted scientific investigation, initially concerning its seismicity. During the 1960s interest was revived in the United States by N.A.S.A. as part of investigations associated with the lunar orbiter mission and the studies of the Fauld crater becoming influential in the development of thinking about the formation of lunar craters.

The geological setting of the RAF MU 21 Fauld will be illustrated, including some of the difficulties that hampered the underground operations. The site geology was little understood when the facility was developed and it has been subsequently discovered that the overburden above the underground store comprises unstable glaciogenic sediments. The pattern of damage resulting from the explosion, formation of associated impact craters, and large number of casualties can now be analysed and explained.

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Monday 20 October (Indoor Meeting): 'What Lies Beneath? Discoveries from Deep-Sea Drilling at Santorini Volcano (IODP Expedition 398).' Speaker: Ralf Gertisser, Volcanologist / Igneous Petrologist, Keele University. Since the 1960s, much of our understanding of the Earth's ocean floor has come from systematic scientific ocean drilling, carried out through long-standing international initiatives - most recently the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) - using iconic research vessels such as the Glomar Challenger and, more recently, the JOIDES Resolution. This presentation will focus on IODP Expedition 398, offering an inside look at the shipboard scientific operations aboard the JOIDES Resolution and sharing key findings that shed new light on the fiery geological history of Santorini and its neighbouring volcanoes.

Biographical details

Ralf grew up in a small town in SW Germany at the edge of the Black Forest, and studied geology close to home at the University of Freiburg. This was followed by a PhD (awarded in 2001) at the University of Freiburg on Merapi volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. He moved to the UK to take up a postdoctoral research fellow position at the Open University in Milton Keynes, working on the 1815 eruption of Tambora volcano, and Ralf delivered a talk on this subject to BCGS in September 2015. During this time, During this time he also spent a couple of months at the University of the Azores in Ponta Delgada working on the volcanic stratigraphy of Terceira as well as on Furnas volcano on Sao Miguel.
Since 2005, Ralf has been at Keele University, where he is currently a Reader in Mineralogy and Petrology, teaching mainly mineralogy, petrology and volcanology in the geology programme, and conducting research at volcanoes in Indonesia, Japan, Italy, the Azores and Greece (Santorini). In December 2022, he had the opportunity to take part in the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 398 to the central Hellenic volcanic arc, Greece, aboard the JOIDES Resolution - the topic of this talk.

Talk Abstract

Since the 1960s, much of our understanding of the Earth's ocean floor has come from systematic scientific ocean drilling, carried out through long-standing international initiatives—most recently the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)—using iconic research vessels such as the Glomar Challenger and, more recently, the JOIDES Resolution.
From 11 December 2022 to 10 February 10 2023, IODP Expedition 398 drilled 12 sites within and around the Santorini caldera in the central Hellenic volcanic arc of Greece. The drilling penetrated the thick basin fills of the crustal rift system that hosts the Christiana–Santorini–Kolumbo (CSK) volcanic field, as well as the volcano-sedimentary sequence within the Santorini caldera.
The primary objectives of the expedition were to document the volcanic history of the CSK volcanic field; investigate the interplay between volcanism, tectonics, and sea-level change; understand the dynamics of shallow submarine silicic eruptions; and validate the seismic stratigraphy of the Santorini caldera.
This presentation will focus on IODP Expedition 398, offering an inside look at the shipboard scientific operations aboard the JOIDES Resolution and sharing key findings that shed new light on the fiery geological history of Santorini and its neighbouring volcanoes.
 

Click here for a Google map for The Lamp Tavern.