Fieldtrips
Fieldtrips
The PGK organizes about two or three field trips per year. Members have the opportunity to see interesting geological features in The Netherlands and surrounding countries. During the trips participants have plenty of time to meet other PGK members. Mostly there is one one-day field trip, proximal to the Hague, and one three-four day field trip to an area farther afield. Apart from visiting outcrops or quarries, companies regularly welcome PGK-groups in order to explain their production techniques. The fieldtrips are organized by one of the board members but specialists are always invited to explain local geology.
Past fieldtrips
← previousexcursion
Wednesday 16 May 2012 - Saturday 19 May 2012
GEO-GASTRONOMICAL FIELD TRIP TO SICILY
Organiser: Geert-Jan Vis
Guide: Ben Dewever
Stratigraphy, sedimentology, diagenesis and structural evolution of the Mesozoic carbonates
The field trip is now fully booked!
During this field trip we will visit the Mediterranean island of Sicily that plays a key role in the African-European plate convergence. The island is (in-)famous for Mount Etna and the mafia, none of which form the focus of this field trip. Instead, the trip will focus on deformed Mesozoic carbonates and the better side of gastronomy in Sicily.
The field trip will unravel the palaeogeographic and structural evolution since the Mesozoic. Furthermore, diagenesis and fluid flow reconstruction will be discussed in the light of this evolution. Some world-class structural and sedimentological outcrops will be visited, amongst others a 100 ft thick melange thrust zone and splendid outcrops of the Ammonitico rosso. Finally, attention will be given to the implications for hydrocarbon prospectivity; we will even see in-situ hydrocarbons dripping from the outcrops!
Due to its central position, Sicily has been invaded by the Arabs, Normans, Spanish and Greeks. Their presence is reflected in the local cuisine which uses fruits, vegetables, olives, cheese, fish and spices. We will try to savour many of the gastronomic delights of the region.
Accessibility: 0-99 years old
When: Wednesday 16 – Saturday 19 May 2012
Price: about €325
Flights: excluded from the excursion price, please book and pay yourselves with Transavia
Provisional programme:
Wednesday 16 May 2012
- Flight Amsterdam-Catania: 18h00-20h45 (Transavia flight: HV 547);
- Dinner in Catania;
- Hotel in Catania.
Thursday 17 May 2012
- Morning: Monte Iudica & Monte Scalpello region;
- Lunch: typical rural lunch;
- Afternoon: mountains near Cefalú;
- Dinner in mountains near Cefalú;
- Hotel in Cefalú.
Friday 18 May 2012
- Morning: Kumeta region;
- Lunch in Palermo (?);
- Late-afternoon city walk in Cefalú and visit to outcrops;
- Dinner in Cefalú;
- Hotel in Cefalú.
Saturday 19 May 2012
- Montelepre region;
- Lunch in Terrasini;
- Flight Catania-Amsterdam: Saturday 19 May 2012 21h55-01h00 (Transavia flight: HV 936).
For registration please use the following link.
excursion
Friday 9 March 2012 08:15 - Friday 9 March 2012
Geothermal Energy in the Netherlands: a day trip to three “hot” sites
Organiser: Geert-Jan Vis
According to the Dutch Mining Law geothermal energy is heat extracted from depths below 500 m. In practice, groundwater with economically producible temperatures is found deeper than 1500 m. The use of geothermal energy in the Netherlands got on track since the successful exploration wells by Rik van den Bosch in 2007 to a Cretaceous aquifer in the West Netherlands Basin. Since then, some 106 license applications have been submitted and 9 wells have been drilled. This field trip will focus on several aspects of this new branch of energy production such as geology, technology, interference with hydrocarbons, spatial planning, applications and the state-of-art.
Pictures from the excursion can be found here.
excursion
Thursday 29 September 2011 - Sunday 2 October 2011
PGK-excursion: Dolomites
Organiser: Henk Kombrink
Guide: John Reijmer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Lorenz Keim (Amt für Geologie und Baustoffprüfung, Bolzano)
The Dolomites in Italy are well known to hikers and climbers, but they offer a very interesting and famous geology too! In the first weekend of October, a group of 30 PGK-members went there, in ideal weather conditions. The themes of this excursion were carbonate sedimentology and the architecture of carbonate platforms. We spent three days in the mountains to have a look at carbonates both at macro and micro scale. The first day we saw a nicely exposed platform-basin transition in the Dürrenstein mountains in the northeastern Dolomites. The untilted Sella platform and its surroundings were the theme of the second day. Especially the walk uphill to the Hauptdolomit on top of the Sella platform offered spectacular views. A clearly prograding platform (Rosengarten) was visited during the third day. The walk along the base of the slope nicely illustrated the toe of the clinoforms.
Pictures from the excursion can be found here.
Downloads
Geobrief_Dolomites_PGK.pdfexcursion
Thursday 26 May 2011 - Sunday 29 May 2011
A geo-gastronomical fieldtrip to the Tagus River in Portugal - A modern analogue for an incised valley-fill: from proximal to distal domain
Organiser: Henk Kombrink
Guide: Dr. G.-J. Vis (TNO)
This fieldtrip visitited the well-developed valley-fill succession of the Lower Tagus Valley in Portugal. This classic incised valley has developed during the Quaternary icehouse world under the dominant influence of sea-level movement and fluvial sediment supply. The system can be seen as an analogue for ancient incised valley-fill systems, such as the Upper Carboniferous systems in the Netherlands (e.g. Tubbergen sands). Detailed 3D sedimentological and chronological data allow for an in-depth discussion of depositional environments, sequence stratigraphy, reservoir characteristics, shallow gas production etc. Due to the setting of this fieldtrip in the agriculturally most productive region of Portugal, the geology was accompanied by gastronomical pleasures of the region, including local dishes and wines.
Pictures from this excursion can be found here.
Downloads
Geobrief_Portugal_PGK.pdfexcursion
Friday 15 April 2011
West-Netherlands Basin from the surface
Organiser: Henk Kombrink
Guide: Dr. A. Speksnijder (Panterra, ex-NAM)
The West-Netherlands Basin is a well studied basin with a long history of exploration and production. Nowadays, when most hydrocarbons have been found, the basin still attracts a lot of interest because of its potential for geothermal energy. This fieldtrip addressed the most important geological aspects of the (petroleum) geology of the West-Netherlands Basin.
Pictures from this excursion can be found here.
Downloads
Geobrief 4 2011.pdfexcursion
Thursday 14 October 2010 - Sunday 17 October 2010
Miocene-Oligocene Eridanos delta deposits in Denmark
Organiser: Henk Kombrink
Guide: Erik Rasmussen (GEUS)
The succession that crops out in the Lillebælt and Vejle Fjord area, east Jylland, shows exceptionally detailed sedimentary structures and demonstrates clear facies changes within a shallow marine and back barrier depositional environment. High quality seismic data illustrates the development of a wave-dominated delta and how to predict thick reservoir sands.
Photos of the excursion can be found by clicking here.
Read more...
Going to Denmark in October? Must be cold, windy and wet. It was not warm and there was some wind indeed, but we did not encounter any rain and the sun was shining for most of the time….perfect weather to explore the Miocene sediments of Jylland.
In eastern Jylland, around the small city of Vejle, many outcrops can be found of Early Miocene age, showing sedimentary features ranging from shallow marine sands to floodplain clays. Those sediments were deposited in a huge delta in Early Miocene times, which was draining the Scandinavian craton. Our excursion leader, Erik Rasmussen from the Danish Geological Survey (GEUS), perfectly explained the depositional setting and made us aware of the variety of sedimentary structures that can be found. In the evenings, the overall picture was again clearly set out; Sean Kelly from Maersk established the link between the delta-sediments we had been studying during the day and the shallow gas found in their depositional equivalents in the Danish offshore area. And, despite some traffic jams on our way back to Utrecht on Sunday, we arrived exactly according to plan; it has been an interesting and enjoyable field-trip!
Downloads
Geobrief-Article.pdfexcursion
Monday 21 June 2010
AKZO Nobel salt mining facilities and the Winterswijk Muschelkalk quarry
Organiser: Henk Kombrink
Guide: Wim Paar (AKZO), Willem Peletier (Groeve Winterswijk)
The salt-deficits of this year’s winter led to an increasing public interest in evaporites (see below); the first PGK-excursion of the year 2010 will pay attention to these materials as well! Frans Bianchi will drive us to the eastern part of the country, where the AKZO Nobel salt mining facilities in Hengelo will be visited. We will listen to a presentation about the mining techniques and will learn about the production process. In the afternoon a visit to the Winterswijk Muschelkalk quarry, where limestones and dolomites are being mined, is scheduled. First a presentation will be given on the geology of the area (in Dutch), followed by a walk through the quarry itself.
Pictures of the event can be found here.
Downloads
Geobrief-Article-AKZO.pdfexcursion
Friday 30 October 2009 - Saturday 31 October 2009
Schoonebeek and Emlicheim
Organiser: Douwe van Leverink
Guide: Harmen Mijnlieff (TNO)