Field trip to the St Austell area (Geology Section)

A field trip over two days to the St Austell area to be led by Professor Chris Morley.

The field trip to the St Austell area will examine the history of the Permian granite intrusions in the area and their economic exploitation. Today the topography of the area is dominated by the china clay industry, but in the past various metalliferous ores (copper, tin, uranium, nickel, tungsten) and building stones were also exploited.

The focus of the trip is the late stage processes of granite emplacement that created unusual rock-types and mineralization, together with some of the industrial history of the area and related historical figures who exploited, or were touched by the geology of the area.

We will visit two valleys that preserve the industrial-geological heritage of the area: the Tregargus valley (< 2 km walk on a good path {there and back}, gentle topography) and the Luxulyan valley (<1km walk on a good path, with a hill). Other stops include the Tresayes Geological reserve (800 m easy walk, good path) and Roche Rock (500 m, narrow path up a hill and somewhat challenging vegetation). We will have an opportunity to visit the Wheal Martyn Museum. 26 km (16 miles) west of St Austell is the abandoned WW2 Tungsten mine at Cligga Head, which displays excellent examples of greisen veins. This involves a round trip coastal walk of about 2km. In the St Austell area we will try to consolidate into as few cars as possible, because of the narrow roads and potential parking issues.

DA members £10, non-members £14.

Booking will be essential as numbers will be limited to a maximum of 15.

Contact the organiser to book, or for any enquiries.