Geology

Schiehallion and the Weight of the World

It’s 250 years ago this year that Mr Charles Hutton did some very difficult sums and also came up with the contour line.

Jan 14 • Ronald Turnbull

Bacterial sludge: Stromatolites

A tale of two planet-destroying organisms [1700 words 7 mins

Nov 5, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Gordale Blimey!

At the end of October, putting back the clock by a full 200 years, while walking from the limestone to Lancashire [1600 words 6 mins

Oct 15, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Is basalt an ocean bottom rock?

An Auvergne investigation along the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail [1900 words 7 mins

Oct 8, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

The Big Brecon Ridge

Not jaggy, but flat. Not volcanic, but made of the Old Red Sandstone. Even so, this could be Britain’s biggest cliff. [1400 words 6 mins

Mar 26, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

The Tertiary Volcanic Province

where else in the UK would you go for your hilly holidays? [1400 words 6 mins

Jan 8, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Utah and the Line of Beauty

Canyonlands National Park and the shapes of scenery [2100 words 12-15 min

Dec 25, 2024 • Ronald Turnbull

spectres, spectra and weird optical effects

Dec 11, 2024 • Ronald Turnbull

Lovable limestone

and a moment of déja view in the Yorkshire Dales [1200 words 5 mins

Nov 6, 2024 • Ronald Turnbull

Getting passionate about volcanic ash [1100 words 5 mins

Oct 2, 2024 • Ronald Turnbull

Schellenberg Ice Hole

Ice underground inside a Bavarian mountaintop [1250 words 6 mins

Aug 21, 2024 • Ronald Turnbull

Scratching the surface

Striae and slickensides, marks made by glaciers and marks made by great movements of the Earth [1200 words 5 mins

May 15, 2024 • Ronald Turnbull

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