University of Glasgow Spain field trip 2014 - team photo!

Here are the Glasgow final year Earth Science students and staff, on a beautiful sunny day in the sandstone hills north of El Chorro in Spain.

Another great day on a fantastic field trip. The rocks under and behind us represent the filling of almost the last channel connecting the Atlantic and Mediterranean, between 7.3 and 6.2 million years ago. Once the Mediterannean became isolated, it dried up completely for around 400000 years, before being refilled through the Straits of Gibraltar.

Spanish chameleon and dog

I am currently on the Level 4 Earth Science field trip to southern Spain, with 35 students and colleagues Tim Dempster, Trevor Hoey, Martin Lee and Cristina Persano. Weather is scorching, and rocks are great (more on this elsewhere), but first, some animals.

First, a squashed and mummified chameleon, seen two days ago in  Carboneras Fault zone

in SE Spain:

Today we were working around Sorbas, and at the Cuevas de Sorbas car park, during our assessement and summary lecture-ette sessions, we we joined by a very nervous Spanish dog. She eventually got up the courage to come close enough for a pat, and was eventually rewarded with a ham sandwich from Viviane.