Field Excursions
Field excursions are a key attraction for participants at International Geological Congresses – a chance to see famous geo-sites, to meet and discuss geology with other delegates. Scotland… the birthplace of James Hutton, the ‘Father of Modern Geology’, offers a stunning variety of inspirational geo-sites, many of which underpin the geological understanding of our planet. For the 38th IGC in Glasgow, we are developing a great array of field excursions – from day-trips, some of which you can take during the Congress itself, to residential trips across Scotland, the UK, and Ireland. These longer trips, between two days to a week in duration, will run before and after the Congress itself. Many excursions will visit geo-sites across the UK’s network of UNESCO geo-parks and World Heritage sites. Some of our excursions will explore today’s geology, with visits to investigate the geology of major energy infrastructure sites and active mines. Here are a few tasters!
Day trips from Glasgow
Localities such as the Isle of Arran, the Highland Boundary Fault and the Southern Highlands, Glasgow’s own Fossil Forest, Lapworth’s graptolite locations at Dob’s Linn, fragments of Iapetus ophiolites, volcano-sedimentary systems in Fife, and former mines and industrial sites across the Central Belt, are all within striking distance of Glasgow. But the jewels in the crown for day excursions are Siccar Point and Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park – key field sites for James Hutton. By running these, repeated on demand, as day-trips, we hope to maximise the opportunities for all participants at the 38th IGC to visit geo-sites.
Elsewhere across Scotland
The variety of Scotland’s geo-heritage will feature in our field programme. These include the classic localities for crust formation in the Lewisian, tectonics and structural geology including the Moine Thrust Belt all in the NW Highlands Geopark: the fossil treasures of Cromarty and Hugh Miller’s Old Red Sandstone; Barrow’s metamorphic sites in the Grampian mountains along with the granites of the Cairngorms; Mesozoic outcrops as analogues for offshore basins; the Tertiary lava fields and volcanic centres of Skye, Rum and Mull; and the Pleistocene glacial landscapes of the Highlands. Some trips will stay on Scotland’s mainland – others take in the archipelagos of Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles.
Elsewhere in the UK, Ireland and the Faroe Islands
There’s even more to visit by heading south – from the Jurassic Coast of Dorset, on England’s southern shores, to the mining heritage locations of Cornwall. There’s the Cleveland basin, with the world’s largest underground fertiliser mine. Wales provides exquisite geo-sites from the tectonically significant sites on Môn (Anglesey), to the Ordovician volcanoes of Eryri (Snowdonia), the World Heritage sites for slate mining, and the structures of the Variscan Front in Pembrokeshire. Over the sea in Ireland, there’s the World Heritage site of the Causeway Coast and the stunning Marble Arch caverns in the Cuilcagh Lakelands Global Geopark. The west coast has famous sections of Carboniferous turbidites, as well as important sites for reconstructing circum-Atlantic orogens, and for understanding granite emplacement. We also plan an excursion to the Tertiary lava fields of the Faroe Islands.
Accessibility
Our field trip programme aims to include excursions that are accessible to everyone. Each trip will have an accessibility rating and a full suite of information about the available facilities, so that all attendees will have the chance to experience the wonderful geology of the UK and Ireland.