Geophysics Research Group

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Irish Geological Research Meeting (IGRM) 2007

The 50th Annual Irish Geological Research Meeting was held over the weekend of Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th February 2007 at the University of Ulster, Coleraine.

On behalf of the Geophysics Research Group, I'd like to thank everyone who sponsored, attended and contributed to this year's meeting, ensuring that it remains one of the highlights of the Irish geoscience calendar. The standard of talks and poster presentations this year was, once again, excellent, representing the diverse interests of our community and the international standard of research which is undertaken here.

Rachel Cassidy (Organiser)

Guest Lectures

"The last of the giant pterosaurs: skeletal modifications for flight"

David Martill , School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth

"Geophysics in the cold: capturing ice stream dynamics"

Tavi Murray, Glaciology Group, School of the Environment and Society, Swansea University.

Guest Lectures
Prize Winners
Scientific Programme - Abstract Book now available for download
Sponsors
Press Release

Guest Lectures

The IGRM Lecture 2007 was given by Dr David Martill from the University of Portsmouth on:

"The last of the giant pterosaurs: skeletal modifications for flight"

Pterosaurs were the flying reptiles of the Mesozoic Era. They made their first appearance in the Late Triassic as relatively small (crow sized) animals and persisted until the end of the Cretaceous, when their demise coincided with that of the more famous dinosaurs. During the late Jurassic some pterosaurs underwent skeletal modifications that permitted them to increase their wing spans, and by mid-Cretaceous times at least two groups of pterosaurs achieved gigantic proportions with wing spans in excess of 6 metres. By the very end of the Cretaceous the very last of the pterosaurs had wing spans of between 9 and 11 metres and perhaps even as large as 14 metres.

Such large dimensions posed considerable strain on the pterosaur air frame, and this is reflected in the way that the skeleton was constructed. The pterosaur skeleton was modified to be both light and strong. Weight reduction was achieved by reducing the amount of bone in each skeletal element, loss of some skeletal elements, loss of teeth in some forms, and the development of a pneumatic system within the skeleton. Strength was provided by modification of the cross sectional shape of most of the long bones of the limbs, geometric organisation of internal bone trabeculae and by a variety of changes to the osteohistology of the skeleton, included the helical bandaging of microlamination in long bones. Airframe engineers and material scientists could do well to study pterosaurs.

The IGA Lecture 2007 was given by Professor Tavi Murray of Swansea University on:

"Geophysics in the cold: capturing ice stream dynamics"

Fast flowing ice streams occupy only 10% of the Antarctic coastline but deliver ~90% of ice from the Antarctic interior to the coast. Their flow rate controls the volume of ice stored in the ice sheet. Glaciologists are faced with the problem that many processes which control ice motion occur kilometres beneath the surface at the interface between the ice and the underlying substrate. However, ice is an ideal environment for the application of many geophysical techniques and these techniques have led to significant advances in our understanding of glaciers and ice sheets. Surface and airborne radar has a long pedigree in glaciology and has been used extensively to map beds of ice streams. Cold ice, such as that in Antarctica is easy for radar energy to penetrate and recent advances have meant that it has been possible to image structures within the ice and use the reflectivity at the bed to capture aspects of the basal water system. Radar energy does not normally penetrate the beds of ice masses – which are often wet sediments. However, reflection seismic surveys allow us to image deeper into the basal environment. Using the impedance contrast across the basal interface it is possible to determine whether basal sediments are frozen or unfrozen, and whether they are actively deforming or the ice is sliding over the bed. These questions are key to understanding the dynamics of an ice stream. As an ice mass moves over its bed, seismic energy can be released that provides information on the nature of the basal environment. These events record different source types and relative friction between regions of the bed (so-called “sticky” and “slippery” spots). Considerable work is required to fully exploit the potential of this technique which requires integration with GPS measurements, locating events, and modeling of source types. Geophysical techniques are an ideal tool for exploring the inaccessible environment beneath ice streams. In this presentation I will outline geophysical success stories in understanding ice stream dynamics, highlight some remaining challenges and identify areas where the continued exploitation of geophysics in the cold has great potential.

Student Prize Winners

The oral and poster presentations at this years meeting were judged to be of the highest standard with international quality research being presented by the undergraduate and postgraduate students who participated.

The 2007 Prize for Best Student Poster presentation, sponsored by PESGB Irish Exploration Group, was awarded to:

Lucie Baudouy from UCD School of Geological Sciences for

Tectonics and sedimentation in a confined deep-water basin, Alfaro sub-basin, Tabernas, SE Spain.

The 2007 Prize for Best Student Oral presentation, sponsored by the Irish Geological Association, was awarded to:

Marco Patacci from UCD School of Geological Sciences for

"Behaviour of fully ponded turbidity currents in confined basins: an experimental study"

Scientific Programme

A pdf of the 2007 Abstract Book can be downloaded here.

Friday 23rd February

From 4pm	Registration
19.45	Introduction and Welcome
20.00	Guest Lecture “The last of the giant pterosaurs: skeletal modifications for flight” Dr David Martill, University of Portsmouth
21.30	Reception in Senior Common Room

Saturday 24th February

8.45	Welcome and Introductory remarks
09:00	Google Earth Science and Virtual Geological Heritage in Connemara Ronán Hennessy and Martin Feely
09:15	Breaking boundaries: Geopark expansion on a trans-national scale Kirstin Lemon
09:30	TOPO-Europe: Monitoring the changing Earth we live on Alan G. Jones and the TOPO-Europe Team
09:45	Integration of soil fingerprinting techniques for forensic applications - rapid, non-destructive screening of adhered rock and crystalline material for criminal investigations Antoinette Keaney
10:00	Geostatistics applied to data integration of multi-source geophysical and geochemical data from the Tellus Project Jennifer M. McKinley, A. Ruffell, C. van Dam, D. Smyth, C.V. Deutsch and C. Neufield
10:15	Completion of the national geochemical and geophysical surveys of Northern Ireland Michael Young and Garth Earls
10:30	COFFEE
11:00	A Fluid Inclusion and Stable Isotope Investigation of Alteration and Mineralization in the Rosses Granite Complex, Co. Donegal. James Conliffe, M. Feely and K. Faure
11:15	Preliminary White Mica dates from the Upper Devonian in SW Ireland. Meg Ennis, P. Meere and M. Timmerman
11:30	Vesta comes of age: an appraisal of basaltic meteorite chronology and petrogenesis Ian S. Sanders
11:45	Sedimentary processes on the north-west Porcupine Bank: cold-water coral carbonate mounds and erosional scarps Boris Dorschel, A. Wheeler, X. Monteys, V. Huvenne and H. De Haas
12:00	Fluorescence lifetime study on crude petroleum oils using the frequency domain technique. Peter Owens, Alan G. Ryder and Nigel Blamey.
12:15	Preliminary fluorescence lifetime measurements on hydrocarbon-bearing fluid inclusions from the Porcupine Basin, offshore Western Ireland. Nigel Blamey, Alan Ryder, Martin Feely and Peter Owens.
12:30	LUNCH
13:30	Electrical resistivity surveying of the Cloyne Cave system and surrounding area. John Savage, B. Higgs, R.Unitt and I.A.J. McCarthy.
13.45	Temporal evolution of long-period seismic activity at Mt. Etna – no apparent link with the 2004 eruption I. Lokmer , B. Di Lieto, G. Saccorotti and Chris Bean
14:00	Controls on the Propagation of Tsunamis in the Near-field of Megathrust Earthquakes John McCloskey, Andrea Antonioli, Alesio Piatanesi, Kerry Sieh, Sandy Steacy, Suleyman Nalbant, Jiandong Huang, Paul Dunlop, Massimo Cocco and Carlo Giunchi
14:15	DEM Simulation of dynamic Fault Slip Steffen Abe and C. Bean
14:30	Fault heterogeneity and earthquake scaling Alison Hetherington and Sandy Steacy
14.45	Behaviour of fully ponded turbidity currents in confined basins: an experimental study Marco Patacci, William M. McCaffrey, Peter D. W. Haughton, Jaco Baas and Gareth Keevil
15:00	Computation of Interseismic Stress from GPS Measurements in the Marmara Region, Turkey Emre Evren, Suleyman Nalbant, Sandy Steacy and John McCloskey
15:15 - 17.15	Poster session
20.00	IGA Lecture “Geophysics in the cold: capturing ice stream dynamics” Tavi Murray, Swansea University
21.30	Reception in Senior Common Room

Sunday 25th February

9.00	Coffee
09:15	High-resolution digital image analysis and palaeoecology for dummies Breandán Anraoi MacGabhann, Paul D. Ryan, John Murray and Chris Nicholas
09:30	X-ray microtomographic studies of exceptionally preserved three-dimensional Triassic shrimp Aoife Braiden, Patrick J Orr, Paul Tafforeau and Stuart L. Kearns
09:45	Ecological reconstruction of exceptionally preserved tadpoles from the Miocene Libros fauna, Spain Maria E. McNamara, Patrick J. Orr, Stuart L. Kearns, Luis Alcalá, Pere Anadón and Enrique Peñalver-Mollá
10:00	North African dinosaur faunas during the Cretaceous with an emphasis on Moroccan dinosaurs Nizar Ibrahim
10:15	Waterloo Bay, Larne, Northern Ireland: A potential Global Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Jurassic System. Michael J. Simms and Andrew J. Jeram
10:30	Discovery of new rugose corals from Lower Carboniferous Waulsortian mud-mounds Ian Somerville
10.45	COFFEE
11:00	A Miocene fault in SE Ireland revealed by Ar-Ar dating of hydrothermal cryptomelane David Jordan and R. Burgess
11:15	Physical modelling of basement controlled normal faulting in wedge-shaped cover sequences Martin Schöpfer, H. Koyi, C. Childs, J. Walsh and T. Manzocchi
11:30	A new model of fault zone and fault rock thickness variations John Walsh, C. Childs , T. Manzocchi, M. Schöpfer and A. Nicol
11.45	A synsedimentary deformation unit within the Porter’s Gate Formation (Early Carboniferous) of Hook Head, Co. Wexford and its possible regional significance Jenny Brittain
12:00	Regional evolution of Permo-Triassic basins along the NW European Atlantic Margin Katerina Stolfova and P. M. Shannon
12:15	Sediment dispersal across the Pangean Supercontinent: insights from provenance analysis of Mesozoic sandstones, offshore western Ireland Shane Tyrrell, Peter D.W. Haughton and J. Stephen Daly
12:30	In situ U-Pb analyses of detrital titanite: a new provenance tool applied to Neoproterozoic metasedimentary cover sequences in SW Scotland. Claire A. McAteer, J. Stephen Daly, Michael J. Flowerdew and Martin, J. Whitehouse
12.45	LUNCH
13.45	Reconstructing the configuration of the British/Irish Ice Sheet off the north west coast of Ireland. Paul Dunlop, Rachel Shannon and Rory Quinn
14:00	Characterization of Quaternary sediments using geophysical techniques in the Tullamore region of Co. Offaly Xavier Pellicer, Gibson, P.J. and Warren, W.P.
14:15	IODP 307: A high resolution record of contourite deposition and paleoclimatic forcing on the eastern Porcupine Seabight (Irish continental margin). Rory O’Donnell, B Dorschel and A.J. Wheeler
14:30	Deposits of thermohaline currents on slopes west of Ireland - implications for climate change Lee T. Toms, N. Owen, P.D.W. Haughton, R.J. Edwards and P. Shannon
14:45	Climate proxy response to late Holocene 14C fluctuations in European stalagmites Alex Jackson, F. McDermott, L. Baldini, D. Mattey and A. Mangini
15:00	Closing Remarks, Student Prizes

Posters

Saturday 3.15pm – 5.15pm

Tectonics and sedimentation in a confined deep-water basin, Alfaro sub-basin, Tabernas, SE Spain.

L .Baudouy, P.D.W. Haughton, and J.J. Walsh

Using seismic velocities to estimate magnitude of denudation.

F. Biancotto, R.J.J. Hardy & S.M. Jones

Middle to Upper Jurassic tectono-sedimentary development of the northeastern Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland.

C. Bulois and P.M. Shannon

Wide-angle seismic imaging of the Hatton Basin (North Atlantic)

A. Chabert, C. Ravaut, P.W. Readman, B.M O'Reilly, P.M. Shannon.

Monitoring seismic velocity changes in the Gulf of Corinth using Coda Wave Interferometry

L. Cociani, C. J. Bean and M. Möllhoff

Looking down to look up: Results of a DC resistivity study of the grounds of Birr Caste, Co. Offaly, Ireland

L. Collins, J. Spratt, B. Higgs, and A.G. Jones

Simulations and analysis of seismic waves in volcano seismology.

R. Davi, G. S. O'Brien and C. J. Bean

The Triassic – Jurassic boundary in Ireland

R.C. Doyle, J. E. Murphy, C. J. Nicholas, R. Goodhue

Field observations and geochemical investigation of the pre- and post-El Golfo landslide eruptions of El Hierro Island, Canary archipelago

Karina Fernandes, Orla McKenna, Marc-Antoine Longpré, Valentin R. Troll, Thor H. Hansteen

The Porcupine Irish Margins Project: First data examples from an onshore/offshore seismic experiment in SW Ireland

F. Hauser, B.M. O’Reilly and P.W. Readman

Nitrogen and Carbon Isotopes: a New Tool for Palaeontologists?

J. Hellawell, C.J. Nicholas and R. Goodhue

High-resolution spatial variation of soil and sediment content

Heather Kerrigan, Lorraine Barry, Jennifer McKinley, Barry Rawlins, Alastair Ruffell

Local transport and erosion of bedrock geology by recent quaternary glaciation at Knocknaskibbole, Castlebar

A. Lavelle

Processing of seismic data from the Irish sector of the Hatton-Rockall Plateau

L. Leacy, R. Hardy, and S. Jones

Crystal size distribution analysis of crystal-rich lava flows from the pre- & post-El Golfo landslide eruptions of El Hierro, Canary archipelago

Orla McKenna, Marc-Antoine Longpré, Valentin R. Troll and Brian O’Driscoll

Seismic evidence for mantle exhumation and serpentinisation in the Porcupine Basin

B.M. O’Reilly, F. Hauser, P.W. Readman and P.M. Shannon

Constraints on crustal structure in SW-Ireland from shear-wave refraction and density data

P.W. Readman, F. Hauser, B.M. O’Reilly, V.C. Do and H.-M. Rumpel

ying of the Cloyne Cave system and surrounding area.

Mr. J. Savage, Dr. B. Higgs, Dr. R.Unitt, Dr I.A.J. McCarthy.

Re and Os isotopic systematics in organic-rich shales from the Clare Basin, Ireland – preliminary results

M. Stanislawska, D. Selby and D. Chew

Field Observations on Phonolitic Lavas at Teide Volcano, Tenerife

S. Wiesmaier, McKenna, C., Caulfield, L., Carracedo, J.C., Troll, V.R.

Earth Science Brought To Life At UU

20th February 2007

Geoscientists from across Ireland will be attending the 50th Annual Irish Geological Research Meeting at the University’s Coleraine campus this weekend.

Experts will discuss a wide range of topics such as global climate change and tsunami hazard.

Two public lectures will also be presented as part of the event.

Dr David Martill, University of Portsmouth, will speak about the evolution of giant pterosaurs on Friday 23 February.

These flying reptiles grew from crow sized animals in the Late Triassic to gigantic creatures with wingspans of nine to eleven metres by the end of the Cretaceous and the size changes were accomplished by modifications of the pterosaur skeleton to reduce weight and increase strength.

Professor Tavi Murray, Swansea University, will speak on Saturday 24 February about the fast flowing ice streams in Antarctica that occupy only 10% of the coastline but deliver 90% of ice from the interior to the coast. Her talk will focus on how a variety of geophysical techniques can be used to understand the dynamics of these ice streams.

Professor Murray was recently awarded the Polar Medal for Arctic and Antarctic research. Previous recipients of the prestigious award include Captain Robert Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Both lectures will be held at 8pm in LT1, South Building, Coleraine campus. A limited number of free tickets are available and these can be reserved by phoning the School of Environmental Sciences at: 028 7032 4428.

More information about the 50th Irish Geological Research meeting is available at: http://www.science.ulster.ac.uk/geophys/igrm_2007.htm.

This meeting and the public lectures have been made possible by the sponsorship of the School of Environmental Sciences and the Environmental Sciences Research Institute, the Irish Geological Association, Breifne Mountains Company Ltd., Boville-McMullan Ltd., Cemex (NI) Ltd., the Geological Surveys of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Irish Salt Mining and Exploration Company, James Stevenson Ltd., Omac Laboratories, O’Neill Groundwater Engineering, Quinn Manufacturing Ltd., and Statoil.

Guest Lectures

"The last of the giant pterosaurs: skeletal modifications for flight"

"Geophysics in the cold: capturing ice stream dynamics"

Scientific Programme - Abstract Book now available for download

Sponsors

"The last of the giant pterosaurs: skeletal modifications for flight"

"Geophysics in the cold: capturing ice stream dynamics"

A pdf of the 2007 Abstract Book can be downloaded here.

The Irish Geological Association (IGA)

Earth Science Brought To Life At UU