DURING October, A level geology students from John Kyrle High School, accompanied by their teachers, travelled to Culzean Castle in Ayrshire for a week of A level geology fieldwork.

The group of 12 started their activities with a bang by taking the early morning ferry from Troon to Brodick on the Isle of Arran for a full day of fieldwork.

During which the group visited one of Hutton’s unconformities at Lochranza to solve the puzzle of how an unconformity forms and how much deep time it must take.

Students then studied the island’s igneous rocks during which they developed field observation skills at Drumadoon and Kildonan where they used igneous dykes to estimate the crustal extension that had taken place in the area some 60 million years ago.

The students eventually got back to Dolphin House Field centre late that night after experiencing proper Scottish fish suppers in Brodick.

During the remainder of the trip students learned, developed, and demonstrated new investigative skills when it came to geological problems.

The other locations the students visited in Ayrshire included Ballantrae, the Rhins of Galloway and Bracken Bay where they produced their own geological maps of the area.

A level geology has been on offer at John Kyrle High for 25 years for which many students’ have excelled achieving excellent A level results in the process.

Many of the High School students have since gone on to successful careers in geoscience.

If you are a current year 11 student, or the parents of a 15/16 year-old and geology may be of an interest it would be an ideal opportunity to meet the school staff us at the upcoming sixth form open evening on Tuesday November 18 to find out more.