Third International Palaeontological Congress (IPC3)

Iapetus – from Coast to Coast

This fieldtrip will take the form of a 650 km transect across the Caledonide mountain belt of Scotland and northern England or, in palinspastic terms, a coastline to coastline traverse across the Iapetus Ocean. The trip will commence by looking at the Ordovician–Silurian succession in the Lake District, including an examination of the Ashgill in its type area. We will then cross the Scotland–England border, making the leap from Avalonian to Laurentian crust, with the next stops at the Ordovician–Silurian boundary stratotype at Dob’s Linn and deep water Ordovician localities in the Southern Uplands, where current controversies over the tectonic interpretation of the Southern Uplands and Midland Valley terranes will be discussed. Crossing the Midland Valley of Scotland, the Neoproterozoic Dalradian Supergroup will be traversed from the Highland Boundary Fault, where obducted Ordovician ocean floor and islands with shallow water Laurentian faunas can be seen at Dounans, north to the Great Glen fault and Loch Ness. We will then continue northwards across the Moine thrust belt, where Neoproterozoic metasediments are thrust over the Laurentian foreland, to end the trip on the shoreline of Laurentia at the classic Cambro-Ordovician sections in Durness. In addition to providing the opportunity to visit some classic geological and palaeontological localities, the trip will also consider the history of geological exploration in this region, together with current interpretations and controversies regarding the margins of Iapetus, its constituent terranes and the final closure of the ocean in the Silurian. The trip will traverse some of the most scenic parts of northern England and Scotland, and the majority of localities will be close to the road.

Other details
Led by Paul Smith (University of Birmingham) and Rob Raine (Ichron Ltd)

4th–10th July with five field days. The trip commences with a coach journey from the Natural History Museum, London, to the English Lake District. The trip ends on Saturday 10th July when the party will fly from Inverness to London Luton, and then catch the flight bus to London Victoria railway station.

Minimum number of participants: 12
Maximum number of participants: 22

Cost
£850. The cost includes coach travel, flight ticket, hotel accommodation, breakfasts, lunches, some evening meals, and the field guide. Participants may be required to pay separately for some evening meals.

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Glencoul

Eriboll

Durness

Images courtesy of Paul Smith