BSRG deep-water core workshop and field trip 2013

The BSRG deep-water core workshop and field trip was held at the British Geological Survey, Keyworth and in Castleton, Derbyshire between the 21st and 23rd March 2013. The event was designed as a training event for postgraduates and provided an opportunity for students of wide-ranging experience to examine and debate interpretations of deep-water deposits. We were very fortunate to have Professors Peter Haughton (University College Dublin) and Bill McCaffrey (University of Leeds) to lead the event and to also have two representatives from our industry sponsor, Badley Ashton. The tantalising schedule proved extremely attractive and the 34 student places on offer were snapped-up like hot-cakes by BSRG members from twelve institutions across the UK and Europe.
The meeting commenced midday on Thursday as the troops mustered in the BGS canteen for a spot of lunch, before proceeding on to a full afternoon of core workshop. For the benefit of those new to core, we were given an overview of the approach taken by sedimentologists when attempting to reconstruct deep-water systems using sub-surface data. Following this we began at bed-scale and examined an array of deposit types and flow processes associated with sediment gravity flows. These included debrites, turbidites and transitional deposits along with a range of other interesting features such as sand injections, dewatering fabrics and slumping. Replete with deep-water discussion by the day’s end, we made our way back into Nottingham for a well-deserved Indian feast. Dinner was followed by a beverage or two in some of Nottingham’s finest watering-holes and began in the Hand and Heart pub, whose rooms are carved into the Lower Triassic Sherwood Sandstone, and in-keeping with the geo-theme, we proceeded onwards to a pub with Dyke in its name. Rock City would have followed next on the itinerary but it proved a tavern too far as we faced up to the prevailing bleak, wintery conditions.

After rounding-up one or two of our not so early risers from the night previous, our second day of core workshop had us thinking on a larger scale. We discussed depositional elements, lateral variability and the stratigraphic organisation of deep-water systems using cores from the Penguin, Nelson and Magnus fields. The workshop culminated in a challenge, wherein the group was presented with cored sections from two unidentified North Sea systems with the aim of teasing-out and applying the newly-acquired knowledge of deep-water deposits that had been studied throughout the workshop. Regrettably, confronted by the unscheduled Arctic spring and the likely prospect of outcrop burial beneath snow, we were compelled to curtail the meeting at this point and abandon the planned visit to the classical deep-water outcrops of the Pennine Basin. Scuppered!
Amid concerns of a snowy siege derailing outward travel plans the following day, many in the group took the difficult decision to fall-out and head back home from Nottingham; however, the Stalwart geological hearts that remained in the group triumphed over adversity and braved treacherous conditions to reach snow-covered Castleton where we were rewarded with a welcome hearty meal at the Hollowford Centre. Dinner was followed by a short seminar given by Mateusz Cyprych on his early career experiences with Badley Ashton which proved insightful and enjoyable. With work done for the day, we made a beeline for a friendly village local to enjoy ice-breaking drinks (no pun intended!) that lasted into the early hours of the morning and included an impromptu variety performance, complete with our very own divas and a snowball fight on the return to our beds!
Saturday morning we gathered ourselves early for breakfast and a geo-hike up the picturesque Cave Dale, passing through the Lower Carbonate reef system (Derbyshire Massif). Here it was just possible to observe the dipping fore-reef talus slope facies, central-reef facies and sheltered back-reef facies - the Derbyshire Massif formed the distal southern margin to the Pennine Basin and locally deflected gravity currents fed from the Lower Kinderscoutian turbidite fronted delta system during the Upper Carboniferous.  After setting out with only the best intentions, we quickly surrendered and succumbed to the banal pleasures of careering down the blanketed valley sides in spectacular fashion, utilising Blue Peter-style sleds fashioned from cardboard and plastic bags that we had, quite by-chance, made earlier. A sensational end to a tremendous trip!
Special thanks go to Badley Ashton and to the convenors of the Geological Society-badged submarine channels conference (2011) whose generous financial contributions made the meeting possible, and to Professors Peter Haughton and Bill McCaffrey who gave up their valuable time to lead the workshop and make the event such a success. Finally, a big thank you to BSRG members old and new who got involved and brought such enthusiasm to the meeting - it was a pleasure to be a part of. And it is safe to say that for all its educational merit, weird weather and new friendships it will be a meeting long remembered!