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Programme of Indoor Meetings 2009 - 2010MGA President's Dinner - Saturday 26 September 2009 at Quarry Bank Mill in Styal Country ParkA geological stroll, guided by Fred Owen and Fred Broadhurst, round the newly restored garden, followed by dinner. Afterwards, a talk about the garden's history and restoration, by the Head GardenerDetails Wednesday 14 October 2009 - Conversazione at 18:00, wine, juice and nibbles; students welcome; lecture at 19:00 - Feathered Dinosaurs of ChinaDr. John Nudds, University of ManchesterIn little more than a decade many accepted theories of palaeontology have been turned upside down by some remarkable fossils coming out of China. Colourful insects, fossil birds, giant mammals, and most amazing of all - the 'Feathered Dinosaurs'. More remarkable is that these fossils are preserved complete with their soft tissue - so that they are giving us much more information on life in the early Cretaceous than we have ever seen. Wednesday 28 October 2009 at 19:00 - Spiders: The Ultimate Predators - 400 Million Years of EvolutionDr David Penney, Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of ManchesterGiven their geological longevity and numerical abundance in terms of both described species and numbers of individuals, spiders probably represent the most successful group of predators ever to have existed. This lecture explores important events in the spider fossil record, including origins, diversification, mass extinctions and co-radiation with their insect prey. It also examines how data derived from fossil spiders can be used to address interesting palaeobiological problems. Finally, new imaging techniques employed on fossil spiders will be illustrated. These now permit digital dissection of specimens trapped in amber to the point where they can be incorporated into cladistic analyses alongside their extant relatives. Saturday 21 November 2009 at 10:30 - 17:00 - Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle10:30 - 11:15 Darwin's Welsh Geology - Reverend Michael Roberts, Lancaster11:15 - 12:00 Charles Darwin (1809-1882) - A Mercian 'Glacial' Geologist - Professor Peter Worsley, University of Reading 12:00 - 14:15 Lunch - bring packed lunch or use local cafes - and visit the Darwin Exhibition across the road at the Manchester Museum 14:15 - 15:00 Charles Darwin: Gentleman Geologist aboard H.M.S. Beagle - Dr. Robert Callow, University of Manchester 15:00 - 15:30 Coffee Break 15:30 - 16:15 The Beagle Collection as a Collection of Geological Objects: Acquisition, Usage and Continuing History - Dr. Lyall Anderson, University of Cambridge 16:15 - 17:00 On the Geological Origins of Darwinian Theory: Charles Lyell, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace - Professor Jon Hodge, University of Leeds H.M.S. Beagle set sail from Falmouth on the 27th December 1831 bound for South America, where it was to conduct the second leg of a coastal survey for the Admiralty. On board was the young naturalist, Charles Darwin, equipped with microscopes, collecting equipment and a library of reference books. Darwin had accepted the invitation of Captain Fitz-Roy, and the voyage would take him over the Atlantic to Brazil, Argentina, the Falklands, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Chile, then across the Pacific to New Zealand and Australia via the Galapagos and other islands, before returning home to Portsmouth on 2nd October 1836. Saturday 12 December 2009 at 13:30 - Volcanoes and Volcanic Hazards13:30 - 14:15 Diverse Volcanism of the Western Pacific Ocean Floor - Dr. Peter Floyd, University of Keele14:15 - 15:00 Volcano-Ice Interactions in Iceland - Dr. Dave McGarvie, Open University 15:00 - 15:30 Coffee Break 15:30 - 16:15 Improving the Monitoring at Volcan de Colima, Mexico - Dr. John Stevenson, University of Manchester Volcanoes can be broadly classified into three groups based on their tectonic setting: - those formed at constructive plate margins, at destructive plate margins, or within plates. The greatest outpouring of magma, mainly basaltic, takes place at ocean ridges (constructive margins), but this is mostly extruded as lava, not in the form of volcanic cones - an exception being Iceland. Saturday 16 January 2010 at 13:30 - Scenes from the Precambrian13:30 - 14:15 Precambrian Shields - What can they tell us about the Origin of Continents? - Professor Hugh Rollinson, University of Derby14:15 - 15:00 Early Life - The Archaean Story - Professor Euan Nisbet, Royal Holloway, University of London 15:00 - 15:30 Coffee Break 15:30 - 16:15 Continental Evolution during Archaean and Proterozoic times: The Palaeomagnetic Evidence - Dr. John Piper, University of Liverpool The name 'Precambrian' dates from Adam Sedgwick's original investigations into the geology of Wales, where he dubbed the system of rocks 'Cambrian'. In Caernarvonshire he observed that some gnarled rocks underlay, and were therefore older than, the Cambrian rocks; these he termed pre-Cambrian. Wednesday 17 February 2010 at 19:00 - AGM followed by the Presidential AddressVarious Volcanoes - Vesuvius et al - Dr. Christine Arkwright, University of ManchesterA collection of images taken on visits to a range of volcanoes will be used to illustrate the wide variety of eruption styles, types of magma and tectonic settings seen around the world today. Sites include the currently active Etna, Vesuvius, Stromboli, Iceland and Hawaii, together with ancient volcanoes seen in the Auvergne, Scotland and the Lake District. Wednesday 10 March 2010 at 18:30 - The Sichuan Earthquake DisasterProfessor David Petley, University of DurhamJoint Meeting with the Geographical Association, 18:30 |