26^th March 2017 was when the stage 2 Earth Science students went to the Isle of Arran on a field mapping field trip. We set off early on the Saturday morning getting on the coach to the ferry across to Arran and the views were amazing (see photo 1).

1: Amazing views from the ferry.

We then had a short drive to the field centre which was in the north of the island (see photo 2).

2: Lovely views from the field centre.

After settling into our rooms and having a tour of the facilities, we went to Hutton’s Unconformity as this is a famous geological landmark of the place we were staying in.

3: Students having a closer look at Hutton’s Unconformity

The next day was where the lecturers took us to see all of the main types of rock that we would be seeing during the next week. This was useful as there is a big difference between looking at a hand sample in a lab to looking at an in situ outcrop. That evening we had a classroom session to go through our plans for the week and work out our strategy for creating the geological map. We were in groups of three and had a 5km² area of land to map.

The next morning we got dropped at the location that we had chosen, the weather was great, so we were in for a good day. My group decided to map the south of the area first and to complete our graphic log so that we didn’t have to worry about it later in the week. We started off on the beach to map the boundary between one formation and the volcanic formation which we had seen the previous day. The beach was a good idea to start with as the geology often outcrops in large areas on the beach. We found lots of what we thought might be crossbedding but we took photos to show our lecturer in the evening (see photo 4).

4: Crossbedding on South Corrie beach with pencil for scale.

The next day we chose to map the river in the north of the site because in a similar way to on the beach, there are many outcrops (see photo 5). We started at one end of the river and walked along it towards the coast noting when we saw a change in appearance of rock, and taking dip and strike measurements frequently as we went.

5: A small section of the North Sannox river.

In the evening we transferred all of our observations onto our maps and made plans for where we wanted to map the next day.

This field trip really helped us to put what we had learned in lectures into practice in terms of rock identification and making links between the geology and environment. It also gave us skills and ideas for our individual project in Stage 3.

Studying at university doesn’t just involve lectures.  In our latest blog post, Hannah, a first year Earth Science student, writes about her 6 day field course that starts today.

The ‘Geology and GIS’ module in the first year of my Earth Science degree course, will be spent on a 6 day field trip in the Lake District.

We’re going to spend time in the mountainous areas studying the diverse geology and we will be visiting local working quarries. One of the aims of this trip is to introduce field mapping. Our field observation and measurement skills will be developed and we will use these to help us understand the geological history of this region. Our tablets will come in handy whilst out in the field, for taking notes and photographs, these will be used in our final presentations and group reports at the end of the residential.

The course is based in Grange-over-Sands at the Castle Head field centre.  It looks like a great location as we’ll be able to see a broad range of earth processes nearby including coastline and river morphology.

I am really looking forward to this field trip, spending time with my course friends and learning new practical skills in the outdoors.

Useful Links:

• MEarthSci Earth Science at Newcastle University
• VIDEO: Earth Science Student Experience

Elizabeth, a first year Earth Science student, writes about a typical day,

In Earth Science there is a mix of lectures and practical sessions, the lectures teaching you the theory which is then put to use in the practicals. A typical day will start at 9 with lectures, normally a couple, but the timetable varies day to day. The lectures are usually in a lecture theatre with the seats banked, and the lecturer at the front. Copies of the lecture slides are normally available beforehand so, if you want, you can download everything beforehand.  Most lectures are recorded as well meaning you can play them back to help with revision or to re-visit something you didn’t quite get first time round..

After a few lectures it is usually time for lunch. As the campus is so close to the city centre, a lot of people go to buy lunch, but if you want to bring lunch with you, maybe to save a few pennies, then there is a large common room that we use with a mix of tables and comfy seats. This is a great space for chatting with friends but also getting work done.

The afternoons are often for practicals, from field trips to microscope practicals they are all great fun and are very hands on, so if you are a practical learner then they are great. The microscope practicals are pretty cool – we are trusted to use petrological microscopes as these are what professionals actually use. We work in pairs to go through worksheets aimed to get us used to the particular minerals to look for. Don’t worry though, you aren’t expected to be an expert straight off! There is always a lecturer and a few PhD students to help if needed.  First year is about getting everyone to the same level of knowing fundamentals, so there will be things that you have learnt before and brand new topics all mixed together. In the practicals tablets can be connected to a camera on the microscope so that what you are looking at is shown on the tablet. This is very useful when it comes to the coursework, as instead of drawing the samples, you can just take a picture to include in your work.

A normal day can finish anytime between 3 and 5, giving you plenty of time to take part in other activities around the University. Overall the days on the Earth Science course are pretty varied, but that is what makes them so good!

Useful Links:

• MEarthSci Earth Science at Newcastle University
• VIDEO – Earth Science at Newcastle University