280112 EX Erdwissenschaftliche Exkursionen II (2026S)

We will look at the development of the southern UK in terms of its geological development from the Late Precambrian through to the Cenozoic. The majority of the field days will be spent at coastal sections with incredible exposures in (i) Pembrokeshire Coast National Park (SW Wales), (ii) the Wessex Basin / Jurassic Coast in Dorset, and (iii) the North Devon / Somerset coast. We will have three bases from which which work in each of these areas.

We will look at the development and closure of the Iapetus Ocean, including volcanic / deep sea interactions throughout the Ordovician and Silurian, Late Silurian / Devonian red beds ("Old Red Sandstone" of Gondwana), classic Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) coal measures / deltaic systems with Gondwanan flora and arthropod traces, the effects of the Variscan Orogeny including large-scale chevron fold development at Hartland Quay, post-variscan continental deudation and "New Red Sandstone" deposition, all of the classic "Jurassic Coast" exposures from Lias to Cenozoic with a vast array of shallow marine to brackish fossil-bearing sites, Alpine deformation styles in the Jurassic Coast, a Cretaceous Oil Seep, growth faulting and basin development, and more.