That sinking feeling

Ripon, a small and pleasant cathedral city in North Yorkshire, made headlines in recent years when sinkholes opened up in 2014, 2016 and as recently as this August. During the 1980s and 1990s, sinkholes appeared in the area every two to three years. The geological sequence of marls, limestone and gypsum combined with the topographic groundwater flow, makes Ripon highly susceptible to dissolution features such as sinkholes. On September 7-9, the Engineering Group of the Geological Society met for their Annual Field Meeting to discuss the geological hazards and engineering implications of the dissolution features there. We also discussed the Quaternary Geology of the Vale of York, which is characterised by glacial moraines and lake sediments, till and gravel left over from the last ice age. The aim was to explore conceptual ground models for these regions and to share our knowledge and experience with Engineering Geologists across academia and industry.