Rockstar Young Geologists’ Competition 2021 details announced
We’re thrilled to announce details of the Rockwatch’s Rockstar Young Geologists’ Competition 2021! It’s a key highlight of the Rockwatch Calendar and we look forward to receiving your entries in this year’s competition. You don’t have to be a Rockwatch member to enter and we have different age categories and media types to choose from – there’s so much scope for you to get creative with...
The Royal Society’s Summer Science Programme dates announced
Save the dates! The Royal Society have announced that this year’s Annual Summer Science Programme is taking place from 8-11 July 2021. As part of this there will be special school events online on 8-9 July which you need to register for in advance. Sign up to receive an email so they can contact you when the full Programme is...
Look into the eye of a volcano
This stunning film of the dramatic eruption of an Icelandic volcano on 21st March will be sure to thrill our Rockwatch members. Reported in the Icelandic newspaper, Morgunblaðið’s at mbl.is, photographer and entrepreneur Björn Steinbekk shares this incredible footage which was filmed by drones. With this new technology, Steinbekk was able to see right into the eye of the eruption and over the eruption fissure. Many of our...
Issue 87 of the Rockwatch Magazine: published April 2021
Issue 87 Contents List: published April 2021 basalt-biscuits Image 1 of 7 Basalt Biscuits recipe MINERALS IN YOUR MOBILE What goes into your cellphone TOOTHY TALE OF A SPINOSAURUS Fossil inspiration for a good story SITE-SEEING IN PARYS An adventure near to home WOOD YOU BELIEVE THE GEOLOGY? Fossils in inner-city London CURLING STONES – STRAIGHT FACTS The special granites behind a sport TAKING ON THE POLYHALITE CHALLENGE Mining...
New Rock Show Online Launching Today
Rockwatchers may be interested to know that The Harrow and Hillingdon Geological Society’s Rock Show Online goes live today! The show features exhibits about the rock cycle, fossils and dinosaurs, fluorescent minerals, industry and the arts so there’s something for everyone whether it’s to support your GCSE science curriculum or you have a passion for geology. Check out the Rock Show...
The Bendricks Fossilised Dinosaur Footprints in South Wales
Bendricks dinosaur trackways Image 1 of 6 Bendricks dinosaur trackways Steve Howe shares his fascinating geological insights into The Bendricks, where Lily Wilder recently hit national news with her dinosaur footprint fossil find, as featured on the BBC website. The coast between Cardiff and Barry exposes a wonderful succession of 220-200 million year old Upper Triassic rocks. Around Penarth and Lavernock, just to the west of...
Issue 86 of the Rockwatch Magazine: published December 2020
Issue 86 Contents List: published December 2020 BEACH CLUES TO LOST WORLDS Image 1 of 7 BEACH CLUES TO LOST WORLDS BEACH CLUES TO LOST WORLDS Delving into Triassic/Jurassic times HOW AMMONITES CLOCK CLIMATE The special qualities of a widespread fossil FULGURITES: GLASS AT THE SPEED OF LIGHTNING How bolts from the blue create a mineraloid THE SONG OF THE ICE The science and sounds of Antarctica in music DEVON’S GRANITE TRAMWAY A...
A Tribute to the Late Dr Matthew Parkes
Dr Matthew Parkes, the geological curator for the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, died suddenly this October of a heart attack. Matthew was passionate about geology, and about sharing his knowledge with museum visitors especially the younger visitors. He encouraged budding geologists of all ages to learn how to understand and identify rocks and fossils. He’s been a staunch supporter of Rockwatch as an adult member for...
Adventures of a robot geologist on Mars – Imperial College Christmas Lecture
Rockwatchers may be interested in the Imperial College London’s Children’s Christmas Lecture which this year is being held online. The lecture will take place on Tuesday 8 December 2020 at 17.30 – 18.30. Join Professor Sanjeev Gupta on a journey to Mars, to search for evidence of ancient extraterrestrial life! Find out how geologists use robots to explore the Red Planet and work out what the Martian landscape looked...
Rockstar Competition Winners and Entries 2020
To coincide with this year’s Virtual Festival of Geology, Rockwatch is delighted to showcase a selection of this year’s Rockstars 2020 Competition Winners and Entries in this short movie. As in previous years, judges were really impressed with the very high standard of entries this year and enjoyed the broad range of imaginative, creative and comprehensive geology-related projects. Entrants wowed us with their...
Live Events Schedule for vFOG 2020
To help you plan your visit to the Virtual Festival of Geology – aka vFOG 2020 – here’s a handy summary of the Live Events taking place on Saturday 7 November. Rockwatch was in the Discovery Room all day for the interactive sessions with the Geobus Earthquake Challenge, and then at 2pm with the Chalking with Dinosaurs workshop, both of which you can watch on the festival website. There were lots of FREE public...
Download the Guide to the Virtual Festival of Geology
Download the full programme Guide for the first ever Virtual Festival of Geology today and start planning your virtual visit ahead of this weekend! Use the Guide to discover the exciting programme of live events and use it to navigate around the first virtual Festival of Geology. The Guide contains details about the live events taking place, the fun you’ll encounter in the Rockwatch Discovery Room, details of Tours and Field...
Walks and Talks at the Virtual Festival of Geology
There was so much to see and do at this year’s first ever Virtual Festival of Geology – you needed a whole weekend to cover it all! We’ve already highlighted some of the activities you can get involved with in the Discovery Room, where you’ll find Rockwatch, but did you know there were some fantastic walks and talks planned too which you can either do virtually or for real. Here’s a quick run-down of the...
Register now for the Festival of Geology Discovery Room Events! – Now Closed!
You’re in for a treat if you join in with the activities taking place in the Rockwatch Discovery Room at this year’s Virtual Festival of Geology! There’s a whole weekend of fun planned for geology lovers and it’s all FREE and can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home! The live festival may has finished but the fun doesn’t stop there! You can still visit the festival site to explore all the resources. Recordings of...
Lyme Regis Fossil Festival this weekend
Come along to the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival this weekend! The popular Festival had to be cancelled from it’s usual summer spot and is now VIRTUAL. There will be lots to see and do and aimed particularly at children. The site goes live at midnight tonight and all tomorrow there will be films to watch, talks to listen to with live questions to the speaker – you can find out how to become a palaeontologist, ask what’s...
Metamorphic Marble Fudge
By Fureya Nelson Riggott FUREYA NELSON RIGGOTT made a fantastic geological recipe book in a previous Rockstar competition. Here we share three of her recipes to illustrate three different kinds of rock: one sedimentary, one igneous and one metamorphic. This is the third, or more specifically, metamorphic marble fudge. Metamorphic rock is formed when limestone is exposed to high temperatures and pressures. The word ‘marble’ comes from...
Edible Sedimentary Oolitic Limestone
By Fureya Nelson Riggott FUREYA NELSON RIGGOTT made a fantastic geological recipe book in a previous Rockstar competition. Here we share three of her recipes to illustrate three different kinds of rock: one sedimentary, one igneous and one metamorphic. Let’s start with sedimentary, or more specifically, Oolitic limestone. Oolitic limestone was formed in England in the Jurassic Period, and forms the Cotswold Hills, the Isle of...
Pancake Rocks
By Kate Salmon Where were pancakes invented? New Zealand of course! They have the oldest pancakes in the world, 33 million years old that is… Are they still edible? KATE SALMON investigates… On the West Coast of New Zealand South Island, in the small town of Punakaiki, people from all over the world gather to see these rocks. The coastline around the town is made up of what appears to be stacks of giant pancakes. They look like...
Puddingstone Cake
By Susanna van Rose Britain has lots of pebble beaches. What happens to these huge collections of shingle when they turn into rock? SUSANNA VAN ROSE explains by using a fruit and nut cake you can make at home. What is a conglomerate? A real, proper conglomerate should be made of rounded pebbles, some of which touch each other. In between the pebbles is fine-grained material, often sandy in texture, which holds everything together....
Igneous Obsidian Toffee
By Fureya Nelson Riggott FUREYA NELSON RIGGOTT made a fantastic geological recipe book in a previous Rockstar competition. Here we share three of her recipes to illustrate three different kinds of rock: one sedimentary, one igneous and one metamorphic. This is the second, or more specifically, igneous obsidian toffee. Obsidian is a igneous rock type that is a natural glass very rich in silica (around 70%) and low in water. It is...
Nothe Gardens Landslide, then and now
Week 10 is the final in our current Dig Deeper series where Alan Holiday shares a visually dramatic account of a major landslide that took place in the 1980s in Nothe Gardens, in Weymouth. A popular area for residents and holiday makers, Nothe Gardens is located on the southside of Weymouth Harbour along the Jurassic Coastline in Dorset. Alan shows us the huge impact the landslide had on the area, though luckily spared nearby Nothe...
Earth Materials – Geology Topics Found in GCSEs
With September seeing a return to school for most children and young people, week 9 of our Dig Deeper series takes a look at geology-related topics students may encounter in their lessons over the coming months. Rockwatch aims to nurture children and young people’s interest in geology outside of school informally as a hobby, but geology enthusiast, Robert Chandler, shows us it is possible to enjoy learning more of the science behind...
Coastal Protection at West Bay
In week 8 of our Dig Deeper series we return to the topic of coastal defences. This time, Alan Holiday tells us about Coastal Protection at West Bay. Found along Dorset’s impressive Jurassic Coastline just south of Bridport, West Bay is a quaint harbour resort with a fascinating geological history. Alan explains the geology of its East and West cliffs, formed from sand, clay and Forest Marble of the Lower and Middle Jurassic periods...
My friend discovered a dinosaur & now it’s named after him!
Discovering a dinosaur must be every fossil-hunter’s dream, right? It’s a dream that motivates many young geologists to pursue a career in palaeontology, the study of dinosaurs. We’re excited to announce Week 7 of our Dig Deeper series as the first of our planned Geological Tales, capturing the story-telling behind many geological discoveries. In this presentation, fossil expert and Rockwatch supporter, Robert Chandler, charms us with...