A Level Geology - Leeson House

At Leeson House, we offer a 3-5 day geology field course that will take your students through every step of the fieldwork enquiry process from planning to evaluation. At Leeson House, we are surrounded by world-class geology sites. Our field sites all relate to the principles of basin analysis and sea-level change. Here are just a few of those sites:

At Kimmeridge we study folding and faulting with fantastic exposures of reverse and normal faulting including some slickenlines. Kimmeridge is also a fantastic location to study the Kimmeridge Clay, the source of much of the UK’s hydrocarbons. Students can visit a working oil well and examine local seismic data to understand how geologists discover hydrocarbon prospects. We can also visit the Steve Etches Museum to see his fantastic collection of trace and body fossils.

Swanage has fantastic exposure of sedimentary rocks including sedimentary structures and evidence of palaeoenvironments. We discuss the effects of weathering and erosion on different rock types and show the students cliff stability management.

We are lucky enough to be a short 5-minute drive from a working limestone quarry. The lead engineer at the quarry gives the students an hour-long quarry tour highlighting the principles, economics and sustainability of a working quarry.

Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove outcrops are fantastic for introducing students to the concept of geological mapping. This locality is also perfect for the classification of carbonate and siliciclastic rocks. The exposures are great for studying folding (axial plane/trace/hinge), faulting (fault breccia/pseudotachylite) and unconformities.

Students will develop various practical skills whilst undertaking fieldwork including:

• Field navigation skills (OCR PAG 6, 9, 10 and 11)
• Identification and description of hand specimens and field exposures (OCR PAG1, 4, 5 and 9)
• Identification and description of geological structures (OCR PAG 6 and 9)
• Field sketches (OCR PAG 6, 10, 11)
• Dip and strike (OCR PAG 6, 9 and 11)
• Graphic sedimentary logs (fossil assemblages, sedimentary structures, lateral variation and diachronous beds) (OCR PAG 4, 6 and 9)
• Construction of geological cross-sections from a geology map
• Fossil identification (OCR PAG 5)

Our Address: 
Leeson House Field Studies Centre
Langton Matravers
Swanage
Dorset
BH19 3EU

Phone: 01929 422126  
Email: leesonhouse@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk