The Geological Society

Writing a research article and need to know what information has been published on a certain subject? You can request a GeoRef database search via our library team.

The GeoRef database contains over 4.7 million references to geoscience journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports, theses and continues to grow by around 100,000 references a year.

Discover more. Contact the library team [email protected]

📢 Last chance to register!

Join us for a free online training to become a Climate Ambassador. No experience needed, just a passion for sustainability and community impact.

You'll gain the skills and confidence to support nurseries, schools and colleges across England on their climate journey.

Training is taking place online on 14 September from 18:00–20:00.

🔗 Register now: https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/.../getting-started-as-a.../

In collaboration with Climate Ambassadors

Happy birthday to one of our founders, William Allen, born today in 1770.

The Geological Society originally started as a series of meetings between William Allen, William Babington, Richard Phillips and William Phillips, with the goal of publishing a monograph on mineralogy by Jacques-Louis, Comte de Bournon (1751-1825).

After this, they enjoyed the meetings so much that the group – now a collection of 13 friends – continued to hold the meetings and on 13 November 1807 the Geological Society was inaugurated at a dinner at the Freemasons Tavern, Great Queen Street, Covent Garden.

Read more about the history of the Geological Society www.geolsoc.org.uk/about-us/history/a-brief-history
Join William Allen as a member of the oldest Geological Society in the world www.geolsoc.org.uk/membership

The programme for our hybrid conference ‘Water as a Critical Geological Resource’ is now live on our website! 👉 www.geolsoc.org.uk/water2026

Across two days, the event covers sessions on regulation, risk and protection, tools and data-driven approaches, and water as a commodity, resource or tool.

View the full programme and register your place on our website.

More time to submit your abstract! We’ve moved the deadline for our conference ‘GeoFutures 2026: Critical Minerals’ to 18 September 2026.

GeoFutures is a conference series exploring 21st century geoscience solutions to global challenges. This year’s event focuses on critical minerals as a crucial element of the energy transition.

Explore the conference themes and submit your abstract today for a chance to present your research to the interdisciplinary community working along the critical minerals value chain 👉 www.geolsoc.org.uk/geofutures26.

We are looking forward to welcoming the public to our Burlington House headquarters on 19 September, our home for 152 years!

Before moving to Burlington House in 1874, the Geological Society occupied a number of premises around London. This map shows the location of these from the first meeting in the Freemason's Tavern pub in 1807 to the present day:

1. Freemason's Tavern, Great Queen Street, 1807-1810.
2. Garden Court, 1809-1810.
3. Lincoln's Inn, 1810-1816.
4. Bedford Street, 1816-1828.
5. Somerset House, 1828-1874.
6. Burlington House, 1874 to present.

Read more about each of these buildings on our website at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/about-us/history/a-brief-history/

And don't forget you can visit our current home on Saturday 19 September! Find out more at www.geolsoc.org.uk/openhouse

Open City

Journal of the Geological Society
📍 Reviewing chronostratigraphic uncertainty of the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition, by Fred T. Bowyer and Lyle L. Nelson. Read more in the Lyell Collection ➡️ www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/jgs2025-100

📍 Geological characterization of the Viking South carbon storage complex: injecting new life into the depleted Victor gas field, by John R. Underhill, Anna L. Fletcher, Tom Martin, Duncan W. Taylor, Christopher N. Izatt and Paul Middleton. Read more in the Lyell Collection ➡️www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/gslbooks2025-29

📍The El Soplao Konservat-Lagerstätte: a key Cretaceous amber deposit from Spain, by Alba Sánchez-García, Enrique Peñalver, Xavier Delclòs and Ricardo Pérez-de La Fuente. Read more in the Lyell Collection ➡️ www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/jgs2026-022