The Chalk of the Northern Province: its regional context
Symposium
a joint meeting of the Hull Geological Society
with the Yorkshire Geological Society and Hull University
Original aims of the Symposium (Paul Hildreth February 2014)
The Yorkshire Geological Society (YGS) and Hull
Geological Society (HGS) propose to hold a joint meeting hosted by the
Department of Geography, Earth and Environmental Studies of the University of
Hull to focus on new research into the stratigraphy of the Chalk Group, in
particular that of the Northern Province recognised by the BGS Stratigraphy
Committee report (RR/05/01), but with a potentially wider significance. The
meeting, which would be scheduled for mid-September 2015, is seen as an
opportunity for a “Chalk Symposium” consisting of four days of activities:
•
DAY ONE (Thursday) – field work in the North Lincolnshire area
• DAY TWO
(Friday) –identification of issues/ discussion/formulation of proposals etc.
• DAY THREE (Saturday am) – possible continuation of Friday business
• DAY
THREE (Saturday pm) – YGS General Meeting comprising three or four original
papers on a topic related to Chalk stratigraphy together with a summary of the
outcomes of the symposium
• DAY FOUR (Sunday) – field work on the East
Yorkshire coast (and possibly Flixton)
It is hoped that the discussion element (Friday and
Saturday am) of the symposium would be focussed on the issue of macrofossil
biozones which, though used for over a century, have never been defined. The
zones of Jukes Brown and Hill (1903 and 1904) are largely inappropriate in the
Northern Province and even relatively recent work by Whitham (1991, 1993) and
Mitchell (1994) in the Santonian and Campanian (Flamborough Chalk Formation),
highlights the need for standardisation of boundary definition. Indeed, the
variations in several authors’ recorded thicknesses of biozones are probably
largely attributable to this. The BGS report (RR/05/01) quoted above gives no
diagrammatic macro-biozone scheme for the Northern Province other than that for
the whole of England. There is international recognition of some problems or
issues which need to be resolved in Chalk stratigraphy in the North Sea and may
bring interest from the oil industry.
In summary, the objectives of the symposium are:
1. to bring together Chalk stratigraphers to identify current
macro-biostratigraphy problems
2. to discuss identified problems and issues
3. to propose definitions of existing, workable zones with a view to bringing to
the attention of the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London
4. to consider the implications for microbiostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy and
event stratigraphy
5. to present original research papers.
There will be an understanding that original papers and any summary proposal originating from the symposium would be published in the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society. Further it is proposed to produce a YGS-supported field guide to the “Chalk of the Northern Province” to mark this event.
Programme - Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th September 2015
Thursday - Registration and field meeting Ulceby and Melton Ross Quarries in Lincolnshire led by Paul Hildreth (travel by coach from Hull).
Thursday 6-30pm to 8pm - "icebreaker" at the University of Hull
Friday -
10am Registration.
10-30am welcoming addresses by Dan Parsons of the University of Hull, John Knight of the YGS and Mike Horne of the HGS.
talks on the Northen Province and chemostratigrphy.
lunch
talks on flints, biostratigrphy and engineering geology ending at 6pm
Conference Dinner at 7-30pm with after dinner guest speaker at the Station Hotel in Hull
Saturday
Sunday - field meeting at Dane's Dyke (or South Landing) and Selwick's Bay led by Mike Horne (note the coach has been canelled due to low numbers of dlegates booking). Syposium ends at 3pm.
Registration was required for all parts of the meeting including the free lectures on the Saturday afternoon.
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