Organised by the Bath Geological Group

Venue: Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute (BRLSI) in Queens Square in Bath
Date: 20th March 2008

Title: Living with earthquakes: know your faults.
Speaker: Professor James Jackson

This has already been a shocking century for natural disasters, with many tens of thousands of people killed in earthquakes in Gujurat (2001), Iran (2003), Sumatra (2004) and Pakistan (2005). Moreover, in the last few decades several devastating earthquakes have apparently targeted population centres in otherwise sparsely inhabited regions, particularly in Asia. A close examination of this situation reveals that ancient settlements are often located for reasons to do with water supply, access, strategic defence or controlling positions on trade routes, and that these considerations are, in turn often controlled by natural geological phenomena, particularly features of the landscape that are created by earthquakes. What were originally small villages grow into towns, then cities, and now mega-cities of with several million people. But their growth has, in general, not been accompanied by any reduction in earthquake hazard. It is this close relation between where people live and earthquakes that leads to the apparent bulls-eye targeting of cities by earthquakes. As a result, we should expect many more disasters this century, some of which will be far worse, in terms of mortality, than those we have already seen. At the same time, earthquakes in the developed world have largely become stories about economic loss, rather than loss of life. An earthquake of moderate-size can kill 40,000 in Iran (at Bam in 2003) but only a handful in California. The question of what to do with the huge populations concentrated in earthquake-prone mega-cities of the developing world is one of the most pressing of our time, and has no easy solution.
The tickets are £3 and available from Mrs Valerie Griffiths telephone 01225 858123. There may be some on the door on the night but no guarantees. It’s a 19:00 pm meet for a 19:30 kick-off and the talk should last around an hour. It’s best to park in the Charlotte Street car park which is close to the venue and free after 19:00 though you still need to take a ticket and validate etc when leaving. The web-site for the BRLSI has directions on how to get there and the hyperlink… http://www.brlsi.org/ . Hope this all helps though if not please get in touch.

In Celebration of the Carboniferous - The Manchester Connection

Organised by: Manchester Geological Association

Venue: University of Manchester
Date: 12 & 13 April 2008

Event Type: Local Heroes Event to mark 200 yrs of the Geological Society of London and 150 yrs of the Geologists Association

To highlight the work of some Manchester University researchers over the last 50 years who greatly advanced the study of Carboniferous rocks in the UK and to bring their work into a more recent perspective.

Programme

Saturday 12 April - Day of lectures covering recent work on topics such as basin evolution, stratigraphy, palaeo-environments, climate change.

Sunday 13 April - Field trips visiting Carboniferous sites in the region.

Registration: Cost £10 and includes:

Saturday lecture programme and displays, buffet lunch, refreshments.

Sunday field trips starting at various points in Greater Manchester and Derbyshire.

Advance registration only for the whole weekend event by completing the form below.

Further details and enquiries: ja69@tutor.open.ac.uk / www.mangeolassoc.org.uk