There is some irony in the fact that ‘Krakatau’ was actually a corruption (probably by foreign sailors) of ‘Rakata’, which was itself a corruption of an even earlier name. When it comes to prescribing usage, therefore, i t doesn’t do to be too holier-than-thou. On the other hand, as R.D.M. Verbeek observed in his book Krakatau (188S), ‘to corrupt the name KrdkdtaU even further, to Krakataoe, Krakatoa or Krakatoea, as some do, should be condemned, as there is no valid reason for this’ (which shows, incidentally, that the Royal Society’s red penciller didn’t invent the name ‘Krakatoa’). In the late 20th century there is surely a case for standardising the spelling once and for all; and since ‘Krakatau’ is the most common form (and is even becoming more widely used in Britain) that would be the better version. Geology Today will henceforth use ‘Krakatau’.

The BGS at 150 1985 is the 150th anniversary of the British Geological Survey; and in our next issue we shall be publishing a short article on the foundation and early years of the organisation. In the meantime, readers may like to know that to celebrate its sesquicentenary the BGS is to hold open days at its various offices around the country, to which both geologists and the general public are invited. At each office there will be dis- plays, demonstrations, films, lectures and conducted tours depicting the Survey’s wide-ranging activities. In view of the fact that the Survey is now facing what is probably the greatest crisis in its history, in the form of severe cutbacks imposed by the government via the Natural Environment Research Council, it is important that the open days successfully demons- trate to the public just how the BGS is serving, and has long served, the nation.

The timetable of open days between now and the end of the year is as follows, where ‘day’ is defined as the period 10.00 a.m.-5.00 p.m.

BGS Headquarters at Keyworth, Nottinghamshire NG12 SGG: 10 October, for people in central and local government, industry, etc; 11 October, for members of universities and other educational estab- lishments; 12 October, for the general public.

Scottish Headquarters at Murchison House, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3LA: 24 October, for univer- sities and polytechnics; 25 October, for schools; 26 October, for the general public.

Small Local Offices at S t Just, 30 Pennsylvania Road, Exeter EX4 6BX: 22 October, for local government officials and members of public bodies; 23-24 Octo- ber, for staff at universities, polytechnics, sixth-form colleges, schools, libraries and museums; 25 October, for MPs and representatives from industry; 26 Octo- ber, for the general public.

Geochemical Laboratories at Windsor Court, Windsor Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 2HE: 6 Novem- ber, for universities and schools; 8 November, for industrialists, planners and local government officials; 9 November, for the general public.

General information on the programme of open days and specific information about the Keyworth open days may be obtained from the Information Directorate, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire NG12 5GG (06077-61 11). Specific information about the other open days may be obtained from Edinburgh (031-667 IOOO), Exeter (0792-78312) and Newcastle upon Tyne (0632- 817088).

Opinion 1 first became interested in geology when doing sixth-form work. Perhaps, if student grants had ex- isted at the time, I might well have gone on to read geology. However, in those days only 35 or so State Scholarships were awarded in Lancashire where I lived at that time. So off to National Service and then to earning a living. Visiting Swanage with young children actively restimulated my dormant interest and away things went.

o n e way in which many amateurs, including myself, gain inspiration and knowledge about geology is through extra-mural classes. No qualifications are necessary - just an interest, and payment of a fee, naturally! Instructors at extra-mural classes vary but I have only once in many years met a poor extra-mural lecturer. You see, the lecturers are composed of two sorts of geologists - the newly-qualified needing the money but full of youthful drive, and the experienced geologist who really likes teaching, informing and leading, and chooses to teach amateurs because 01 their refreshing enthusiasm. Also, many a good extra- mural lecturer undertakes such lecturing precisely because first principles must be continually examined when lecturing or leading amateurs in the field. Some

of the amateurs are not shy of asking questions; they want to learn. It is from such continual questioning of our preconceived ideas that established theories and assumptions are constantly queried.

O n e contribution that the amateur can make to the science is supporting a local or national geological society, some of which publicise their activities on the Diary page of this magazine. Naturally, because of my position in one of these, the Geologists’ Association, my principal thoughts concern the role that the Association can play for both professionals and amateurs. The Association provides an interface be- tween the parties, with an opportunity for the profes- sional to meet others whom he may not meet in the normal course of his working day. Through the Association, the amateur has the advantage of meeting the academic or industrial geologist in an informal environment. Our amateurs include mathematicians, microbiologists and civil engineers who all cheerfully hide their other lights under bushels as they learn something about their chosen hobby. The field is where they often come into their own with the ability to interpret the geological map using their specialist knowledge. ‘Weed Watchers’ are also very useful to the geologist!

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The aim of Ceodigesr is to bring to the attention of amateur and student Earth scientists some of the discoveries being made by professionals, who report their work in the specialist scientific journals.

B u t any amateur with a good grasp of funda- mentals can contribute worthwhile work if he or she has a strong interest and disciplined thinking. Some of the good amateurs know more about their favourite aspect of the subject than a professional precisely because they have the time and mental discipline to assemble knowledge and apply it. They are a part of their local area with which they identify; so that one way amateurs can offer invaluable help is by finding and recording temporary sections on their own or in groups guided by their local museum or geology society.

I n recent times, many amateurs have become recognised authorities on specific subjects, such as trilobites, Jurassic ammonites, the Chalk and its echinoderm fossils, mineralogy and geological map- ping. The knowledge accumulated by amateurs must not be lost; that would be a tragedy. There must be scope for encouraging such amateurs to publish in some worthwhile medium or at least leave their carefully assembled and curated collections of speci- mens to a museum able to appreciate the value of such collections and make them available for others to share.

Lacking the substantial grants needed to buy expensive equipment or finance field work in way-out exotic places, the amateur geologist in Britain never- theless has one enormous advantage; we live on a small island. We can see every sub-era in the geologi- cal column within our island and the practical result of the influence of geology upon our day-to-day lives. Those of us who, upon meeting a ‘rival’ party in the field, do not react with interest upon learning that they are American, French, Spanish or other national- ity, fail to realise how lucky we are, living in this island. Just think of the names of the sub-eras of the geological column. Most of them are British or of British derivation. Those who originally designated the names may not have always got the boundaries right in the light of present-day knowledge, but geology is always a ‘state of the art’ science. We can never know all about geology; and anyone who

assumes that all is known makes major mistakes in such an assumption. After all, at the beginning of the science all were amateurs. Sedgwick himself knew no geology when first appointed; but he soon learnt geology in the one active laboratory, that is, in the field.

Geology has a role to play in the understanding of all our problems, and all geologists have a role to perform. Whenever we can we must, without over- playing our hand, try to influence events. Such influence can be exercised at any time and in any place. Much of this Opinion column is the result of my getting away from everything into the field with friends from the Edinburgh Geological Society. There I was forced to think about the role of a very unfit amateur chasing across the Lewisian after some much fitter professionals from BGS who still find time to indulge in the principal activity of all geologists, whatever their speciality - looking at the rocks in the field and trying to interpret what is there for all to see. When one realises just how good the field geologists were who mapped the area and how close they came to an understanding of what had happened over a period of some 2700 million years, without the benefit of plate tectonics as the source of many explanations, one cannot help but feel that in one hundred years’ time some party of geologists, professional and amateur, may well be passing over the same rocks saying ‘Pretty good, those old boys (and girls!). Shame how they got distracted by plate tectonics. Just as well we were able to get back to first principles with an opportunity to think, instead of having to search continually for contract sponsorship as they had to. And they so nearly got it right!’

TONY KING President, The Geologists’ Association

Geodigest Extinction of the asteroid-extinction hypothesis?

The idea that the impact of a large asteroid resulted in the extinction of about three-quarters of the Earth’s species (including the dinosaurs) about 65 million years ago has gained considerable popularity since L.W. Alvarez and his colleagues first put it forward in 1980 (see Geology Today, v. 1, p. 38, 1985). The most compelling evidence in its favour is held to be the existence, at more than 50 locations around the world, of an iridium anomaly at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary - a concentration of iridium and associated elements conspicuously higher than those in the sedimentary layers immediately above and below. The argument then goes that, as the anomalous concentration of iridium is significantly higher than the average concentration of the element in the crust

but is comparable to that in the solar system as a whole, the cause of the Cretaceous-Tertiary anomaly must be extraterrestrial. The simplest conceivable way of distributing extraterrestrial iridium around the Earth would be through the impact of an asteroid, which would disintegrate and throw up huge quan- tities of dust into the atmosphere.

It must be said that many palaeontologists - those most concerned with biological evolution and extinc- tions - have never been convinced by any of this, preferring to choose, if at all, from the scores of other extinction. hypotheses that make no appeal to non- terrestrial sources. The occasional geochemist, too, has been heard to object, arguing that the excess iridium at the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition could well have resulted from volcanic activity. Ironically, Alvarez et al. themselves first drew attention to volcanism, noting that the atmospheric effects of their

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