Geological Society of Norfolk

Field Meetings

2011 - Field Meeting Programme

16th July: The Chalk of North Norfolk with Rory Mortimore

Professor Rory Mortimore followed up on his lecture into the Society in February with a trip to North Norfolk Chalk exposure. The trip visited Wells Chalk Pit, Weybourne Hope, West Runton and finished at Overstrand/Sidestrand. Members from the Geological Society of Norfolk, the Geological Association and the East Herts Geology Club enjoyed a day discussing the Chalk, its features and fossils. Rory spoke with knowledgeable ease and good humour, but to say it rained a lot would be an understatement. At Wells Pit we examined the marl bands in the Newhaven Chalk Formation. This marl is considered to be of volcanic origin. Both the micro and macro fauna differs either side of these bands. Martin Warren found a good example of the bivalve Sphenoceramus (Inoceramus) lingua.

In Wells Pit (Photo: Russell Yeomans)

At Weybourne Chalk cliffs to the East of the car park we examined the flint bands and discussed differences in flint shapes and looked at Pleistocene sediments weathering down through chalk tubes and stacks. At West Runton Chalk was exposed on the foreshore revealing flint rings and paramoudras and a debate ensued about these and other trace fossils that are found within these curious flints and in the Chalk.

28th July: Sutton - Coralline and Red Crags with Bob Markham and Roger Dixon
Sutton Knoll (Rockhall Wood SSSI) shows fine exposures of Coralline Crag with myriad fossils. Pollen tells of Sciadopytes (Jananese Umbrella Pine), Sequoia (Redwood) and many more living here in Pliocene times. We can't show you the pollen, but we will show you GeoSuffolk's 'Pliocene Forest' - an interpretation project using living relatives of our extinct flora. After lunch we can visit a Red Crag site. Meet at Sutton Heath picnic site (just before reaching Sutton village), on the B1083 Woodbridge to Bawdsey road, TM 306475, at 10.30 am - we shall drive on from there. Appropriate wear, packed lunch or local pub. Further details if required from Bob Markham 01394 384525.

10th September (Morning): Weybourne Crag with Dr Ian Candy
This trip demonstrated the work done by Ian Candy and colleagues at Royal Holloway on the Weybourne Crag and started from the car park at Weybourne. We discovered just how important the Weybourne Crag (or rather the Wroxham Crag nowadays) is to the story of the early Pleistocene of Europe and came to appreciate how the different facies displayed in the cliff strata tell of changing sea levels and the infilling of the sedimentary basin.

Examining the Weybourne Crag with Dr Ian Candy Ian Candy explains about the Wroxham (Weybourne) Crag and the dramatic overlying drift of the Anglian glaciation. (Photo: Russell Yeomans)

10th September (Afternoon): Pre-Glacial and Glacial deposits of North Norfolk: Part 2, Sheringham to Weybourne:
Leaders: Dr Jonathan Lee and Dr Emrys Phillips (BGS)
This was a follow-up to the successful 2010 Field Excursion to West Runton. The trip examined: (1) Early Pleistocene shallow marine 'Crag' deposits; (2) the highly-deformed glacial succession which includes evidence for several ice-marginal oscillations of the Middle Pleistocene British Ice Sheet; (3) multiple episodes of periglacial activity; and (4) the geomorphology of ice-marginal retreat. Attendees were actively encouraged to examine the sections and put forward their own ideas.

Scientist interpreting Ice Age deposits in the field Emrys Phillps (BGS) interprets a recumbent fold in the till complex below Skelding Hill, Sheringham (Photo: Martin Warren)