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West Sussex Geological Society

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WSGS PROGRAMME. January 2024

WSGS meetings are held on the third Friday of each month at 7.30pm at St Stephens Church, Angola Road, Worthing BN14 8DU.

It should be noted that there are no meetings, during the holiday period, in July and August.

Although every effort is made to notify of any changes, members are advised to confirm lectures at least a few days in advance.



Tap or 'Hover Over' a meeting summary to display additional details.


This meeting has now passed.
Chris Duffin
A brief history of the earliest discoveries of a Saurichian lizzard-hipped dinosaur and the recognition of a new species of Therapod, to be followed by the latest evidence of the type of creature it was.
21st January 2023
Tyrannosaurus Rex presented by Chris Duffin from Natural History Museum
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Roger Smith
A discussion of what is referred to as 'hidden holes'. Types include solution features in the Chalk, Ironstone Mining - Brick Clay - Gravel Pits - Stone Quarries, cambering within fissured ground infilled by till, landslips & subsidence, solifuction and bomb craters.
21st April 2023
Geotechnical Hazards in South-East England presented by Roger Smith
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Professor David Nash
Discussions of the stone tools, made of Silcrete, in Botswana, to tests performed on the Stonehenge Sarsens indicate their source and dressing.
19th May 2023
From Stone Tools to Stonehenge presented by Professor David Nash from University of Brighton
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Dr Robert Chandler
A discussion on the "fuzzy nature" of using Ammonites of the original Standard Zones refined to recognise more biohorizons in each.
16th June 2023
Toarcian to Bathonian Biostratigraphy in Southern Brittany presented by Dr Robert Chandler
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David Bone
They comprise a variety of non-local Igeous, Metamorphic & Sedimentary rocks ranging in size from pebbles to large multi-ton boulders. They are scattered widely, though more commonly found around the coast where active erosion has revealed their presence.
14th September 2023
The Ice Enigmatic Rocks of the West Sussex Coastal Plain presented by David Bone from WSGS
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James Langdon
A demonstration of Lapidiary techniques and hand tools to shape / repair stones using different grades of grit to final polishing. This is the Christmas Meeting accompanied with generous cheese, wine & "nibbles" and a substantial selection of Raffle Prizes -- NOT to be MISSED.
8th December 2023
A demonstration of Lapidiary techniques presented by James Langdon
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Dr Chris Duffin
These late Jurassic lagoonal limestones are a fantastic example of a conservation lagerstatte. This lecture presents an overview of the deposits and its fauna, discusses its importance and also looks at some of the more important examples of fossils, such as the celebrated Archaeopteryx, in a little more detail.
19th January 2024
The late Jurassic lagoonal limestones of Solnhofen in Bavaria, southern Germany, presented by Dr Chris Duffin from the Natural History Museum
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The report by the committee for the last year. Election of the committee for the upcoming year. Plus some short "Show & Tell" talks by society members.
16th February 2024
the AGM plus talk, show and tell
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Dr Dave Went
The talk will use field rock samples from the Northern Cotentin Peninsula to accompany it and to explain the origin of the Palaeozoic rocks of NW France and Dr Went will be available to discuss them after the meeting.
15th March 2024
The Palaeozoic Geology of North Western France presented by Dr Dave Went from the Geological Society Geophysical ASA
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David Alderton
Gypsum is a relatively common mineral, yet one that has a surprisingly wide variety of uses in every day life. It has been mined in Sussex for the last 150 years but probably few people are aware of the existence of the mines, let alone have actually seen them. The talk will cover the history of the mines from discovery up to the present day, paying particular attention to the geological setting and how an original academic exploratory venture led to the rather serendipitous discovery of these mineral deposits.
19th April 2024
Evaporites and the Sussex Gypsum Mines presented by David Alderton from the Royal Holloway Earth Sciences (Honorary Researcher)
Dr Mark Eller
For the last few years the Mole Valley Geological Society has been monitoring earthquakes using a RaspberryShake seismometer, funded by a grant from the Geological Associations Curry Fund. We are part of a citizen science network of hundreds of seismometers situated around the globe. While we acquired the RaspberryShake following some small earthquakes in Surrey, which have not recurred, we have been able to detect earthquakes from all over Europe and beyond, especially the larger ones, including, incredibly, earthquakes from the other side of the world.
17th May 2024
Getting the Shakes: the world's earthquakes as seen from Surrey presented by Dr Mark Eller from the Mole Valley Geological Society (chairman)
Paul Garner
Creationism has a very negative reputation among earth scientists, and in the scientific community generally, often for completely understandable reasons. But is it possible for creationists to contribute positively to the earth sciences? We will explore this question by considering the contributions that some creationists have made and are continuing to make to the earth sciences, illustrated with case studies drawn from the mainstream scientific literature.
21st June 2024
Can creationism ever be good for the earth sciences ? presented by Paul Garner from the Biblical Creation Trust
Professor John Boardman
A series of projects over the last 15 years in the Rother valley have focused on soil erosion on agricultural land, sediment delivery to the river, pollution aspects of the river and the function of weirs / mills etc along the river particularly considering the possibility of their removal.
20th September 2024
The Valley of the Western Rother: soil erosion. river pollution and management presented by Professor John Boardman from the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Eve Horsfall
Environmental changes since the end of the last Ice Age have transformed Britain from an unrecognisable past into the familiar landscape we know today - but what exactly were these changes? Did they happen all at once or steadily over a period of time? A project based at the University of Portsmouth is using volcanic ash and environmental reconstruction using pollen, diatoms and charcoal to look at environmental changes in the Isle of Wight region over the past 13,000 years and seeks to bring further clarification as to the nature of these changes.
18th October 2024
Tracking Environmental Changes on the Isle of Wight over the past 13,000 years presented by Eve Horsfall from the University of Portsmouth
David Bone
Calcareous tufa forms from the precipitation of calcium carbonate in springs where the water is saturated in calcium bicarbonate from dissolution of limestone. Over time, the soft tufa hardens and can be quarried and used as a building stone. Although better known from hard limestone terrains, appropriate conditions also occur in the Chalk of the South Downs. The use of local tufa as a Roman and medieval building stone in West Sussex is described and former quarry sites are identified near Duncton and Steyning. The former occurrence of tufa near Steyning is suggested to be the previously undetermined origin of its place name.
13th December 2024
Tufa in West Sussex and the place name of Steyning presented by David Bone from the WSGS
Steve Russell
My research into this subject was inspired by some jaw-dropping encounters in the 1970-80s showing that these things are hiding in plain sight. Although known within local folklore the lack of reliable, observations together with measurements and data have prevented scientific investigation until now. Indeed, many professional, oceanographers remain completely unaware of their existence. The talk also references some unknown Victorian hydrographers who, although they did not know it at the time, would provide the final clue that unlocked the mystery. We concludes with an astonishing mechanism to explain another local mystery from the 13th - 14th century and might impact on every shipwreck ever investigated.
17th January 2025
The Solent's Tsunamis presented by Steve Russell

The report by the committee for the last year. Election of the committee for the upcoming year. Plus some short "Show & Tell" talks by society members.
25th February 2025
the AGM plus talk, show and tell
Dr. Craig Storey
Further details not yet available
21st March 2025
The Onset of Modern Style Plate Tectonics. presented by Dr. Craig Storey from Portsmouth University
Chris Bohea
Explore the Mixon Hole, the Worthing Wall and Kingmere, plus room size sandstone boulders sitting on the chalk bedrock. Chris has dived and video-d these fascinating geological features off the West Sussex coast and will share them with us.
11th April 2025
"Provisional" -- Underwater Geology presented by Chris Bohea from the WSGS

Logo of the Geologists' Association We are a Local Group of the Geologists' Association; therefore we can attend any of their lectures or field trips at a minimal cost.

Details of their field trips are in the Geologists' Association Magazine available at our meetings located on the table at the back of the hall.

If you cannot find it, then please ask a committee member.

The Geologists' Association holds a combined Ancillary Policy with Zurich Insurance Company through which our Society members are insured. On any field trip you are required to wear helmets and high visibility jackets in quarries. This is always advised. Goggles must be worn when hammering and suitable footwear be worn at all times.

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