Papers by Anthony H Cooper
Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special Publications
Gypsum and anhydrite are both soluble minerals forming rocks that can dissolve at surface and und... more Gypsum and anhydrite are both soluble minerals forming rocks that can dissolve at surface and underground resulting in sulphate karst causing geological hazards, especially subsidence and sinkholes at the surface. The dissolution rates of these minerals are rapid and cavities/caves can enlarge and collapse on a human time scale. In addition, the hydration and recrystallisation of anhydrite to gypsum can cause considerable expansion and pressures capable of causing uplift and heave. Sulphaterich water associated with the deposits can react with concrete and be problematic for construction. This paper reviews the occurrence of gypsum and anhydrite in the near surface of the UK and looks at methods for mitigating, avoiding and planning for the problems associated with these rocks.
Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special Publications
Salt mining along with natural and human-induced salt dissolution affects the ground over Permian... more Salt mining along with natural and human-induced salt dissolution affects the ground over Permian and Triassic strata in the UK. In England, subsidence caused by salt mining, brine extraction and natural dissolution is known to have occurred in parts of Cheshire (including Northwich, Nantwich, Middlewich), Stafford, Blackpool, Preesall, Droitwich and Teeside/Middlesbrough; it also occurs around Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. Subsidence ranges from rapid and catastrophic failure to gentle sagging of the ground, both forms being problematical for development, drainage and the installation of assets and infrastructure such as ground source heat pumps. This paper reviews the areas affected by salt subsidence and details the mitigation measures that have been used; the implications for planning in such areas are also considered.
A brief synopsis of a paper published in Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire,... more A brief synopsis of a paper published in Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, describing the evidence for building materials found during test pit excavations in Bingham, Nottinghamshire
Abstract: This guide is for a one-day field excursion to examine gypsum dissolution geohazards at... more Abstract: This guide is for a one-day field excursion to examine gypsum dissolution geohazards at Ripon in North Yorkshire. Gypsum is a highly soluble rock and under suitable groundwater flow conditions it can dissolve forming caves and karstic features including collapse and suffosion dolines. These have the capability of causing subsidence damage of the type that affects much of the Ripon area. The guide details the processes involved, the localities visited and some of the remedial measures undertaken. Résumé: Ce guide concerne l'excursion d'une journée ayant pour but d'étudier les géo-aléas liés à la dissolution du gypse à Ripon dans la région du North Yorkshire. Le gypse est une roche hautement soluble et, dans des conditions adéquates d'écoulement de l'eau souterraine, pouvant se dissoudre et engendrer des grottes et formes karstiques telles qu'effondrements et dolines de suffosion. Celles-ci peuvent causer des dégâts de subsidence du type de ceux...
Selective Neck Dissection for Oral Cancer, 2017
Underground open spaces or cavities may be of natural or man-made origin. Natural structures incl... more Underground open spaces or cavities may be of natural or man-made origin. Natural structures include caves, dissolution and collapse cavities in soluble rocks, cambering fissures (or gulls), open fault cavities, and lava tubes. Man-made voids include all the different types of mines, habitation, religious and storage spaces, military excavations, tunnels, and shafts.
This paper was presented at the PLACE (People, Landscape & Cultural Environment Education and Res... more This paper was presented at the PLACE (People, Landscape & Cultural Environment Education and Research Centre) conference 3rd October 2015. It describes some of the major contributions made to the understanding of Yorkshire geology by geologists of the British Geological Survey from the early directors through to the end of the 20th Century. It briefly describes the founding work of William Smith in Yorkshire and the early years of the Geological Survey under Sir Henry De La Beche then Sir Roderick Impey Murchison. The outstanding work of Murchison's Yorkshire "boys" is noted including details of the contributions made by A H Green, J R Dakyns, R H Tiddeman, J C Ward, C E Fox-Strangways and G. Barrow. These outstanding geologists laid the foundations for our understanding of the Yorkshire coalfield, the Pennine sedimentary blocks and basins, the structures and hydrogeology of the Carboniferous rocks, the Yorkshire Jurassic and glacial deposits. The years of the 2nd Wor...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017
Significance Gypsum alabaster in medieval artwork equaled or even surpassed the importance of mar... more Significance Gypsum alabaster in medieval artwork equaled or even surpassed the importance of marble for religious sculptures and effigies. Based on isotope fingerprints, a large corpus of European alabaster sculptures are linked to historical quarries and trade in the Middle Ages and Renaissance period. We demonstrate that English alabaster export was competed on the continent by the Spanish and by a particularly long-lived (>500 y) French Alpine trade. Our study reveals historical trade routes and transport, the diversity of supply of medieval artists and workshops, as well as the presence and provenance of restoration materials.
The Anthropocene Review, 2018
The transformation of the Earth’s land surface by mineral extraction and construction is on a sca... more The transformation of the Earth’s land surface by mineral extraction and construction is on a scale greater than natural erosive terrestrial geological processes. Mineral extraction statistics can be used as a proxy to measure the size of the total anthropogenic global sediment flux related to mineral extraction and construction. It is demonstrated that the annual direct anthropogenic contribution to the global production of sediment in 2015 was conservatively some 316 Gt (150 km3), a figure more than 24 times greater than the sediment supplied annually by the world’s major rivers to the oceans. The major long-term acceleration in anthropogenic sediment flux started just after the Second World War and anthropogenic sediment flux overtook natural fluvial sediment flux in the mid-1950s. Humans are now the major global geomorphological driving force and an important component of Earth System processes in landscape evolution. The changing magnitude of anthropogenic sediments and landfor...
Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, 2016
International Journal of Speleology, 1996
Solid Earth Discussions, 2015
It is generally accepted that geological linework, such as mapped boundaries, are uncertain for v... more It is generally accepted that geological linework, such as mapped boundaries, are uncertain for various reasons. It is difficult to quantify this uncertainty directly, because the investigation of error in a boundary at a single location may be costly and time consuming, and many such observations are needed to estimate an uncertainty model with confidence. However, it is also recognized across many disciplines that experts generally have a tacit model of the uncertainty of information that they produce (interpretations, diagnoses etc.) and formal methods exist to extract this model in usable form by elicitation. In this paper we report a trial in which uncertainty models for mapped boundaries in six geological scenarios were elicited from a group of five experienced geologists. In five cases a consensus distribution was obtained, which reflected both the initial individually elicted distribution and a structured process of group discussion in which individuals revised their opinions. In a sixth case a consensus was not reached. This concerned a boundary between superficial deposits where the geometry of the contact is hard to visualize. The trial showed that the geologists' tacit model of uncertainty in mapped boundaries reflects factors in addition to the cartographic error usually treated by buffering linework or in written guidance on its application. It suggests that further application of elicitation, to scenarios at an appropriate level of generalization, could be useful to provide working error models for the application and interpretation of linework.
Detailed mapping, section logging, sampling and petrological description of a tufa deposit in the... more Detailed mapping, section logging, sampling and petrological description of a tufa deposit in the Via Gellia, Cromford, Derbyshire UK has enabled interpretation of the depositional and post-depositional history of the deposit. This has been interpreted in the context of the geomorphology and hydrogeology of the area
Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 2012
Subsurface 3D geological models of aquifer and seal rock systems from two contrasting analogue si... more Subsurface 3D geological models of aquifer and seal rock systems from two contrasting analogue sites have been created as the first step in an investigation into methodologies for geological storage of carbon dioxide in saline aquifers. Development of the models illustrates the utility of an integrated approach using digital techniques and expert geological knowledge to further geological understanding. The models visualize a faulted, gently dipping Permo-Triassic succession in Lincolnshire and a complex faulted and folded Devono-Carboniferous succession in eastern Scotland. The Permo-Triassic is present in the Lincolnshire model to depths of-2 km OD, and includes the aquifers of the Sherwood Sandstone and Rotliegendes groups. Model-derived thickness maps test and refine Permian palaeogeography, such as the location of a carbonate reef and its associated seaward slope, and the identification of aeolian dunes. Analysis of borehole core samples established average 2D porosity values for the Rotliegendes (16%) and Sherwood Sandstone (20%) groups, and the Zechstein (5%) and Mercia Mudstone (<10%) groups, which are favourable for aquifer and seal units respectively. Core sample analysis has revealed a complex but well understood diagenetic history. Re-interpretation of newly reprocessed seismic data in eastern Scotland has significantly reduced interpretative uncertainty of aquifer and seal units 21/2/12 GeolFrameworkPaper_postreview_v2acceptchanges_editorcomments 2 at depths of up to-6 km OD in a complex faulted and folded Devonian-Carboniferous succession. Synthesis of diverse data in the 3D geological model defines a set of growth folds and faults indicative of active Viséan to Westphalian dextral-strike slip, with no major changes in structural style throughout the Carboniferous, in contrast to some published tectonic models. Average 2D porosity values are 14-17% in aquifer units and <2% in the seal unit, with a ferroan dolomite cement occluding porosity at depth. Low-carbon use of fossil fuels could be achieved by capture of CO 2 at power stations and storage in the pore space of rock units deep below ground. Volumetrically, CO 2 can be most efficiently stored underground because it undergoes a sharp reduction in volume with increasing pressure and temperature as it is injected deep into the subsurface, associated with a phase change from gas to a liquid or supercritical fluid. The conditions required are generally reached at depths of between 500 and 1000 m, dependent on the geothermal gradient. Thus the basic requirements for the subsurface storage of CO 2 are the identification of porous candidate aquifer formations in the vicinity of power stations, a sufficient volume of rock to accommodate the CO 2 , and suitable seal rocks and structural traps to contain it. Bestpractice criteria are a homogeneous aquifer sandstone buried at depths between 1 and 2.5 km, with porosity greater than 20%, permeability greater than 500 mD, and a thickness of greater than 50 m, capped by a greater than 100 m thick mudstone seal with very low porosity and permeability (see Chadwick et al. 2008 for more information). However, a lower porosity of greater than 10%, an aquifer sandstone greater than 20 m thick, or a seal rock greater than 20 m thick could be acceptable. Commonplace in the hydrocarbons industry using good quality well and seismic data since the 1990s (see examples in Davies et al. 2004, 2005), digital 3D geological modelling is increasingly being used in a much wider range of geological applications as a mechanism to integrate diverse spatial data and geological understanding into a consistent representation of the subsurface (Turner 1992; Turner & Gable 2007). Such framework models make explicit the distribution, geometry and structure of key stratigraphical units, providing a basis for a refined understanding of the geological record and the discovery of hitherto unknown aspects 21/2/12 GeolFrameworkPaper_postreview_v2acceptchanges_editorcomments Period Group Formations-West Lothian Formations-East Lothian Formations-Fife Status CARBONIFEROUS Scottish Coal Measures Group Scottish Upper Coal Measures Formation Cyclical sandstone, siltstone, mudstone with minor coal, >1200 m Overburden Scottish Middle Coal Measures Formation Cyclical sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, seatrock and coal, 350 m Scottish Lower Coal Measures Formation Cyclical sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, seatrock and coal, 240 m Clackmannan Group Passage Formation Sandstone, conglomerate and claystone with minor coal, limestone and ironstone, 380 m Upper Limestone Formation Cyclical limestone, mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, seatrock and coal, >600 m Limestone Coal Formation Cyclical sandstone, siltstone and mudstone, seatrock and coal, >550 m Lower Limestone Formation Cyclical limestone, mudstone, siltstone and sandstone with minor seatrock and coal, 240 m Strathclyde Group West Lothian Oil
Journal of the Geological Society, 1988
Abstract The Crummock Water aureole, an ENE-trending elongate zone of bleached and recrystallized... more Abstract The Crummock Water aureole, an ENE-trending elongate zone of bleached and recrystallized Skiddaw Group rocks, 24 km in length and up to 3 km wide, is a zone in which pervasive metasomatism has modified the composition of the dominantly siltstone and mudstone lithologies. The bleached rocks show a substantial net gain of As, B, K and Rb and loss of Cl, Ni, S, Zn, H 2 O and C. Carbon loss is responsible for the bleaching. There are smaller and more localized net losses of Cu, Fe, Li and Mn, and gains of Ca, F and Si, ...
Journal of Structural Geology, 1988
Major folds with associated thrust faults and a major olistostrome are described from the Skiddaw... more Major folds with associated thrust faults and a major olistostrome are described from the Skiddaw Group, a Lower Ordovician turbidite sequence in the Lake District of NW England. The style and geometry of the structures are shown to be compatible with their generation as submarine slumps or slide masses although they are much larger than any slump structures hitherto described from Britain. The predominant strain is shown to be simple shear. Spatial and temporal variations in strain permit a developmental model to be erected. The opposing vergence of the structures across the mapped area indicates a relatively narrow, probably fault controlled, depositional basin.
International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, 1995
Dissolution subsidence affords some of the most difficult ground conditions with which engineerin... more Dissolution subsidence affords some of the most difficult ground conditions with which engineering geologists have to deal. Within the UK, areas underlain by gypsiferous Permo-Triassic strata, most notably around Ripon in Yorkshire, are prone to dissolution structures and resultant building failures are well documented. Conventional drilling of such unstable sites is often a 'hit and miss' affair and most geophysical techniques do not provide sufficient resolution to offer adequate confidence in the results. Proposals for the redevelopment of a site within the urban area at Ripon could not rely on such frequently inconclusive methods and it was necessary to implement a phased approach to site investigation. Following a desk study, high-resolution microgravity geophysics was carried out both inside and outside the existing building. This indicated a major negative anomaly of peak amplitude-74 µGal. Subsequent static core probing, rotary drilling and trial trenching confirmed the existence of a potentially unstable breccia pipe which could therefore be taken into account in the engineering design.
Geological Magazine, 1995
A new lithostratigraphy is presented for the Skiddaw Group (lower Ordovician) of the English Lake... more A new lithostratigraphy is presented for the Skiddaw Group (lower Ordovician) of the English Lake District. Two stratigraphical belts are described. Five formations are defined in the Northern Fells Belt, ranging in age from Tremadoc to early Llanvirn. They are all mudstone or sandstone dominated, of turbidite origin; in ascending order they are named the Bitter Beck, Watch Hill, Hope Beck, Loweswater and Kirk Stile formations. Two formations are defined in the Central Fells Belt, ranging in age from late Arenig to Llanvirn. These are the Buttermere Formation – a major olistostrome deposit – overlain by the Tarn Moor Formation, consisting of turbidite mudstones with volcaniclastic turbidite sandstone beds. A revised graptolite and new acritarch biostratigraphy for the Skiddaw Group is presented with eight graptolite biozones and thirteen acritarch assemblages and sub-assemblages. The provenance of the group is assessed from detailed petrographical and geochemical work. This suggests...
Archaeometry, 2013
Multi-isotope fingerprinting (sulphur, oxygen and strontium isotopes) has been tested to study th... more Multi-isotope fingerprinting (sulphur, oxygen and strontium isotopes) has been tested to study the provenances of medieval and Renaissance French and Swedish alabaster artwork. Isotope signatures of historical English, French and Spanish alabaster source quarries or areas reveal highly specific, with a strong intra-group homogeneity and strong inter-group contrasts, especially for Sr and S isotopes. The chosen combination of isotope tracers is a good basis for forensic work on alabaster provenance allowing verification of hypotheses about historical trade routes as well as identification of fakes and their origin. The applied analytical techniques of continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) only require micro-samples in the low mg range thus minimising the impact on artwork.
Memoir of the British …, 2004
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Papers by Anthony H Cooper