Lecture: The Last Glaciers of the Brecon Beacons
Speaker:
Entry Fee
Members: Free
Visitors: £5.00
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
The higher parts of the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales, represent the most southerly area of the UK that had glaciers during the final, relatively brief cold phase (known as the Younger Dryas or Loch Lomond Stadial) of the last glacial cycle. This phase lasted only about 1,400 years from about 12,900 to 11,500 years ago, after which there was an abrupt change of climate to the comparatively warm conditions of the Holocene, which have continued until today. It appears that conditions in the Brecon Beacons only allowed very small glaciers to exist at the bases of steep escarpments where copious quantities of wind-drifted snow could accumulate. Evidence for the existence of these glaciers comprises some impressively large, steep-sided moraines and moraine complexes that appear to be almost as fresh today as when they were deposited so many thousands of years ago. Not everyone has accepted either the period of formation or a glacial origin for these scarp-foot depositional landforms. The talk will be illustrated with examples of the landforms and will consider some of the past and current debate concerning their origins, together with the climatic implications for this last occasion when climate was radically different from what we experience today.
Attending via Zoom
This is a hybrid meeting: you can attend in person or join online via Zoom.
Bath Geological Society Members: Free of charge. Joining instructions and the Zoom link are sent to members by email prior to the lecture.
Visitors & Non-Members: (including members of the Geologists' Association and affiliated societies) Please book via Eventbrite to receive Zoom access (see the Entry Fee details above).
How to join: Click the Zoom link provided in your email or Eventbrite confirmation. You can join using the Zoom desktop or mobile app, or directly via your web browser without installing any software. The virtual waiting room opens approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time, and attendees will be admitted before the talk commences.
For any queries about joining online, please contact [email protected].