Geology and the liberation of Normandy, France, 1944

The Allied victory in Europe in May 1945 marked the end of an 11-month campaign which began with the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 - D-Day. Geologists participated in both the planning and operational phases of the campaign. Geological factors influenced the trafficability of the Normandy beaches, site selection for temporary airfields, quarrying for road metal and development of potable water supplies, and were also involved in ground response to aerial bombardment, vehicular movement cross-country and characteristics of both sea floor and river beds. Little-known applications of geology thus contributed to the final victory.     

Karl von Raumer: a pioneer of German military geology

Napoleon Bonaparte was in 1798 the first general to involve geologists as such in a military campaign. But geologists were attached to his army as civilians, without military rank or command function. In contrast, the Prussian general (later Field Marshal) Gebhard von Blücher has generally been credited with first making use of a geologist in military uniform: Professor Karl von Raumer, during the 1813–14 war of German liberation from French Napoleonic domination. Authors have claimed that Blücher consulted Raumer for information on the terrain of Silesia before triumphing over the French at the Battle of the Katzbach in 1813, and that Raumer was therefore the first geologist to help plan a military operation. But is this true? Did Raumer in effect initiate German military use of geology – pioneering the widespread use of geologists, many of them professors, in the 20th century German army?     

Fortress Wytschaete: geological controls on the German frontline in Flanders, 1914–1917

The Battle of Messines (Wytschaete Bogen) of June 1917 is hailed as a triumph of military geology, with the simultaneous explosion of some 19 mines leading to the Allied destruction of the German frontline positions. This story is well known and rightly celebrated; but less well understood and often overshadowed by this success is the story of the effectiveness of the German fortress positions. These were constructed in late 1914 in order to maintain the strategic aim of holding the Allies in the west while pressing the Russians through a series of offensives in east. In this, they were highly effective, even in the face of continuous Allied bombardment. This article seeks to redress this unbalance in our understanding, drawing on archaeological evidence and archival resources to present a clearer picture of the nature of the German positions.     

Military uses of groundwater: a driver of innovation?

Military need has been a positive driver to the development of the modern day, and now mature, science of hydrogeology. The important synergy between geology and water supply was appreciated by military men in the mid-nineteenth century but the first real test of this learning only took place in the First World War. German, British and American geologists then mapped water resources and the potential for exploiting groundwater in Belgium and northern France. Technical innovations included deployment of rapid drilling techniques and the promotion of well screens for use in unconsolidated sediments. The mapping techniques were developed further during the Second World War when innovative remote mapping of enemy-occupied territory became an important planning tool to both Allied and German armies. Work in North Africa and other arid and semi-arid terrains promoted insight into the occurrence of groundwater in fresh-water aquifers little replenished by recharge. Mapping of hard rock basement-type environments in the islands of Jersey and Guernsey by German geologists was a concept new to the British Isles. Collectively, these varied initiatives provided part of the foundation for post-Second World War development of modern-day applied hydrogeology.     

Thinking like a geologist: The culture of geology Mawson lecture 1996∗

Geology plays a crucial role in both the scientific and the popular culture; it has transformed the way ordinary people look at the world over the last two centuries. Much of this transformation is understood in terms of information about the age of the earth, the disposition of the continents, and the evolution of living things. The two main concerns of this paper are with geology as education, and geology as a system of thought, a way of thinking about the world. My central question is how does a grounding in geology affect the cast of mind, the way one thinks, perceives and behaves? What is the culture of geology? Conclusions are of two kinds. Some of the propositions advanced about the nature of geology in relation to the other sciences and our general culture are: (i) there is no hierarchy of the sciences; (ii) geology is a Romantic science rather than a Classical one; (iii) there is no such thing as the scientific method; (iv) geologists often attempt to reconcile competing hypotheses; (v) geological phenomena are often of an almost irreducible complexity and their investigation is beset by problems of scale, both spatial and temporal; and (vi) the concept of ‘universality’ has a distinctive application in geology. Among the non‐professional uses of geology are: (i) human history is incomplete without environmental history; (ii) geology has application in environmental planning and management, but this requires judgement and experience as knowledge of the geology is not enough, it is equally important to know when it can safely be overridden, when it is useful background, and when it is critically important to decision‐making; and (iii) an awareness of the geology of a region enhances the sense of place—our sense of our individual and communal identities owes much to an awareness of place.     

Overcoming disciplinary solitude: The archaeology and geology of native copper in Eastern North America

Although native copper has attracted the scholarly attention of both geologists and archaeologists since the middle of the 19th century, it is only recently that native copper studies have benefited from interdisciplinary research. This history of disciplinary solitude can be traced to the professionalization of the two fields in the early 20th century, an era in which crossdisciplinary communication began to wane. The effects of this phenomena resulted in the development of a model of aboriginal native copper procurement by archaeologists that did not take into account the geological literature, which had long identified numerous—rather than a single—source of native copper in North America. In this article, the author discusses how this disciplinary solitude developed and how it resulted in the creation of a dominant model for native copper procurement that constrained our understanding of aboriginal lifeways for generations. The author also considers how increasing collaboration between geologists and archaeologists since the 1970s has led to the reevaluation of an old model of native copper procurement that has been uncritically accepted by most archaeologists for over a century and a half. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Feature

Several geologists accompanied the army of Napoleon Bonaparte that landed in Egypt in 1798 – indicating that perception of the military value of geology is almost as old as Earth science itself.     

Pioneers of Jamaican geology and the Jamaica Group of the Geologists’ Association (1955–1959)

The formation of a geological society in Jamaica was dependent upon attaining a sufficient number of interested geologists on the island. Although the earliest study of Jamaican geology dated to the 1820s (De la Beche), few major geologists worked on the island in the 19th (Barrett, Sawkins, Hill) and early 20th centuries (Matley, Trechmann). A ‘critical mass’ of geologists was only attained in the 1950s after foundation of the third Geological Survey of the island, when, for the first time, the island had a resident geological intelligentsia. The director, V.A. Zans (1904–1961), was a Latvian geologist appointed from a camp for displaced persons. His staff included L.J. Chubb (1887–1971), who popularised geology in Jamaica. Chubb and his colleagues devised a three part plan for geological education in Jamaica: high schools were encouraged to introduce geology as an examination subject; introduction of geology as a part of the Natural Sciences curriculum at the University College of the West Indies was supported; and a local geological society for both amateurs and professionals was established. This society, the Jamaica Group of the Geologists’ Association, was established in 1955 and was the only such overseas group ever founded; Chubb was elected President. The first field trip was led by Zans and A.D. Foster in November 1955. The Group was reformed as the independent Geological Society of Jamaica (GSJ) in late 1959, again with Chubb as the first President. The GSJ remembers the name of its first President in the prestigious L.J. Chubb Award.     

新疆地质矿产事业光辉灿烂的五十年

首先首要回顾了新疆百余年来的地质工作历史,在此基础上,主要从基础地质、矿产地质和地矿科研三个方面论述了新中国成立后,五十年来新疆地质矿产事业取得的辉煌成就和巨大贡献,讴歌了新疆地质矿产工作者艰苦创业、开拓进取、无私奉献的精神。最后展望了２１世纪新疆地质矿产事业的灿烂前景。     

现代战争特点及军事地质调查

作为地质学研究对象的地形、地貌、工程地质和地质灾害在传统的接触式战争中发挥过重要的作用,创造了许多战争奇迹,但在以精确全球打击,前线与后方界线模糊、陆军作战作用弱化的现代战争,地质对战争是否还有影响?本文围绕这一问题,通过对战争阶段演化及地质应用历史分析,从现代战争特点和对军事地质需求分析人手,利用军事学思维,讨论了地质学的地质体力学性质、地球化学性质、地球物理性质和地质灾害等内容在现代战争中的作用,主要包括精确打击和重点防御目标的优选、打击地面工事的武器选配、目标侦测和靶区选择、海洋战争环境建设和战争评估、地面临时机动路线规划和工事选址等方面;探讨了军事地质调查的重点区域、方法手段、比例尺选择问题,以及在区域地质、工程地质、水文地质、灾害地质、地球物理调查基础上开展军事地质调查的工作流程及成果表达问题,分析了未来军事地质重点研究发展方向,为地质学在现代战争中的应用提供思路。     

Touchable topography: 3D printing elevation data and structural models to overcome the issue of scale

The fundamental problem of geology is scale. Geological length scales range from angstroms for atoms to thousands of kilometres for planets. Geological processes are often very slow (and geological events so very infrequent). Since the beginning of our discipline, it has been the business of geologists to integrate observations at a variety of length and time scales to answer questions about Earth's history and to make predictions about its future. While this may sound like one of the most academic of pursuits, multi‐billion dollar decisions are routinely made by governments and the largest multi‐national corporations on the basis of geological studies that, for example, model groundwater or petroleum occurrence.     

LOMONOSOV AND MODERN GEOLOGY

The tribute to Mikhail V. Lomonosov on the occasion of his 250th anniversary of his birth enables better students of the history of geological science to identify the obvious confusion and glaring flaws in this overstated presentation of Lomonosov as the father of geology. Perhaps it will stimulate interest in Lomonosov's On Terrestrial Strata, published in 1763. The article contains evidences of overwhelming self-pride of the Communists in the fact that Lomonosov was Russian, but in identifying him as somehow linked with progressive Communism leaves one to wonder.--B. N. Cooper.     

Molluscan successions from the Holocene tufa of St Germain‐le‐Vasson,Normandy (France) and their biogeographical significance

A detailed molluscan succession from a 10 m thick deposit of Holocene tufa at St Germain‐le‐Vasson, Normandy, provides the most complete record from northern France and has shed new light on the historical biogeography of several species of land snail. The succession has been reconstructed from four profiles and a chronology provided by accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of charcoal, wood and shell. The onset of tufa formation occurred after 9700±90 yr BP and persisted until 4213±77 yr BP. The tufa appears to have accumulated at a remarkably constant rate (14.4–16.5 cm 100 yr^?1), except for the upper levels, where the rate increases fourfold. The succession has been divided into six local molluscan zones. An early assemblage consisting of ecologically tolerant species and those indicative of marshy grassland is replaced by a sequence of shade‐demanding taxa, reflecting the encroachment of woodland. Shaded conditions persist until the end of the sequence but the most hygrophilous elements decline after 5422±60 yr BP (zone 5), a change also reflected in the tufa lithology by the development of silty grey horizons. Notable species recovered from the tufa include Acicula fusca, Vertigo substriata, V. alpestris, V. moulinsiana (all rare or unknown living in northern France). Hygromia limbata, a twentieth century introduction to Britain, was previously thought to be a relatively recent arrival in northern France, but its record at St Germain shows that it has been present in Normandy since 6500 yr BP. Azeca goodalli, another shade‐demanding species, appeared at St Germain much later, just after 4420±65 yr BP. Several other species present in the tufa, such as Pomatias elegans, no longer live on the site, adding to the evidence for a distributional decline in Normandy and elsewhere. Perhaps the most noteworthy record is that of Leiostyla anglica, between about 8500 yr BP and 5000 yr BP, because this constitutes its only Holocene occurrence from mainland Europe. Following this discovery it seems likely that further Holocene sites with L. anglica may be found along the western seaboard of Europe connecting populations in Iberia with those of the British Isles. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On equilibrium in non‐hydrostatic metamorphic systems

Metamorphic geology has accumulated a huge body of observation on mineral assemblages that reveal strong patterns in occurrence, summarized, for example, in the idea of metamorphic facies. On the realization that such patterns needed a simple explanation, there has been considerable a posteriori success from adopting the idea that equilibrium thermodynamics can be used on mineral assemblages to make sense of the patterns in terms of, for example, the pressure and temperature of formation of mineral assemblages. In doing so, a particularly simple implicit assumption is made, that mineral assemblages operate essentially hydrostatically. Structural geologists have studied the same rocks for different ends, but, remarkably, the phenomena they are interested in depend on non‐hydrostatic stress. We look at the effect of such behaviour on mineral equilibria. With adoption of some plausible assumptions about how metamorphism in the crust works, the consequence of minerals being non‐hydrostatically stressed is commonly second order in equilibrium calculations.     

怀念李四光老师,学习他的治学精神

际此李四光老师诞辰100周年之际,回忆当年受业情景,思绪万千。二院荷花池畔的憧憬、庐山野外实习及课堂受业的教诲犹历历在目。他一贯认真严谨的治学态度和科学的开创精神永远激励着我们。他是中国地质事业的奠基人之一,他对中国地质科学的贡献、他的治学精神和高风亮节都堪称后世师表。     

国外军事地质工作现状与发展趋势

军事地质伴随着军事活动而生,并伴随军事活动和地质科学的发展而发展。通过对国外军事地质的发展历史和现状进行系统的研究,将国外军事地质分为早期孕育期、快速发展期和稳定发展期3个阶段,介绍了国外在军事工程地质、军事水文地质、军事矿产地质、军事海洋地质、军事地球物理和军事遥感地质六大研究方向取得的进展,总结了国外军事地质工作的3个特点,分别为军民共同推进军事地质工作、地质工作与国防建设统筹部署,及军民联合攻关技术成果双向转化应用。提出了未来军事地质的三大趋势,大数据和云计算将成为军事地质工作的重要支撑技术、军事地质将由资源保障走向空间拓展、现代军事地质的保障工作由国内(局部)扩展到全球(全时域),为中国国内军事地质工作发展提供借鉴和参考。     

Growing up a geologist—John Phillips and William Smith

William Smith's 1815 Map of the Geology of England and Wales was a ground‐breaking achievement that changed the understanding of geology forever. However, perhaps Smith's greatest contribution to science lay in nurturing the talent of his orphaned nephew, John Phillips, who grew up to become one of the most versatile and distinguished geologists and polymaths of the nineteenth century.     

我国地质学基础研究人才战略

基于地球系统科学对地质学基础研究人才的需求, 对我国40余所高校、8个中国科学院研究所的地质学人才存量、结构、培养状况和147名国家杰出青年科学基金获得者、407名青年基金项目负责人进行了问卷调查.调查发现全国现有4418人从事地质学基础研究工作, 年龄峰值为41~45岁, 人数随年龄降低而大幅度减少; 地质类博士毕业生占全国当年博士毕业总人数的比例从1993年的8.76%下降到2003年的4.7%.研究结果表明, 我国现有青年地质学人才数量呈急剧下降趋势, 未来5~10年地质学基础研究人才远不能适应地球系统科学发展、国民经济建设和人类社会进步的需要.为了加强地质学基础研究人才队伍建设和规划, 实现从地学大国走向地学强国的战略目标, 提出了设立“国家自然科学育才基金”、创新地质学青年拔尖人才培育模式和改善人文环境等措施.      

Early Farming in the Northern Boreal Zone: Reassessing the History of Land Use in Southeastern Finland through High‐Resolution Pollen Analysis

The early stages of agriculture in the Boreal forests of Northern Europe remain poorly understood. Although pottery appeared during the 6th millennium B.C., this has not been seen as an indication of a true Neolithic in the north. In later prehistory, vast parts of the region are thought to have remained a wilderness. In order to test these assumptions, a high‐resolution pollen analysis and an archaeological survey were carried out at Lake Huhdasjärvi, SE Finland. The results indicate signs of cultivation already by the early Neolithic, 5260–4260 B.C., and slash‐and‐burn cultivation concentrated on deciduous forests is recorded from ca. A.D. 600 onwards. By A.D. 930, an intensive form of swidden cultivation began in the coniferous forests, indicating a well‐established agricultural settlement. The discovery of Neolithic (late 6th millennium B.C.) buckwheat pollen suggests that the roots of agriculture in northernmost Europe may have to be searched for in China rather than the Near East.     

A critical review of rock slope failure mechanisms: The importance of structural geology

Geological structures such as folds, faults, and discontinuities play a critical role in the stability and behaviour of both natural and engineered rock slopes. Although engineering geologists have long recognised the importance of structural geology in slopes, it remains a significant challenge to integrate structural geological mapping and theory into all stages of engineering projects. We emphasise the importance of structural geology to slope stability assessments, reviewing how structures control slope failure mechanisms, how engineering geologists measure structures and include them in slope stability analyses, and how numerical simulations of slopes incorporate geological structures and processes.