Apologies for the long gap in blog posts for a while but we have been so busy lately and the last 3 days we had been on a houseboat without wifi, so no blogging!
Previously in the main trip, Fiona, Miles, Maurice and I met with Geologists on a Chevron- Petrobras Joint Field Trip led by Mitch Harris and Gregor Eberli. The Field trip, simply Geology of the Bahamas, the modern carbonate environment. Some of the sites they looked at were on North Andros, so why not join up for an argument? I am getting ahead of myself... Mitch and Gregor were very welcoming and after a quick introducing session we headed to Captain Morgan's Cave (Morgan's Bluff); a large flank margin cave in an aolinite ridge, right at the Northern tip of North Andros.
After Mitch said hes bit on the geology we were looking at, he opened the floor for questions and a general discussion. When I say discussion I mean polite arguments. Maurice, being in the know, lunged in and (in my opinion) "won" the discussion. Of course winning as nothing to do with the pursuit of knowledge and a group understanding but Maurice did seem to have spring in his step after the bout was over!
Much learned and contacts made!
Later on in the week....
Maurice Tucker and I were given permission to leave the group for a mini field trip back on new providence! This was recommended by Fiona after seeing a huge road cutting after arriving off the plane from Blighty. Huge thanks goes to KT, Fiona and Miles for running down this new cutting in the evening before leaving for Andros and basically getting a section ready to be stitched together back in Bristol. After our run in with the oil geologists at Morgan's bluff, Maurice had a list of sites to go to and we set off from the chemistry and the heat of the Nicholl's Town house to the relatively crowded and busy capital of the Bahamas, Nassau.
After dumping our stuff at the hotel, we made for the road cutting. Fiona et al were not wrong, the very very recent cutting was amazing. Massive karst features extended down from the surface to varying depths and widths. Fascinating stuff.
After travelling around the south of the island observing possibly the highest outcrops on the island (up to to 40 meters in places); we decided to called it a day and have a beer or three and great dinner.
The next day was more of the same, looking at reef rocks similar to Nicholls Town Point and generally confirming the knowledge in the literature. It is so much better seeing and describing these outcrops yourself than reading a field guide about it (which listed outcrops we couldnt find!). You gain a greater understanding of the environment around you and what was in the past. Great trip all round!
Next up a trip to fresh creek to stay on a house boat for 3 days! Sounds exciting but 24 hour sampling does not....
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