Dear Geoadventers,

We made it! We have crocheted, eaten, reminisced and cartooned our way to the final blog of the year.

Thanks for sticking with us, even when we got so desperate as to start googling names of people who sounded a bit like geological terminology. (It’s not too late, Dr Ann T Klein. A career in structural geology could still be yours!)

All that remains is the great moment you have all been waiting for…the announcement of our #geoadvent competition winner!

All month, you’ve been identifying the geoadvent windows, all of which are from our list of 100 Great Geosites in the UK and Ireland. Some of you, with such alarming rapidity we wondered if you might be some kind of geosite identifying robot. It was very impressive.

Thanks and congratulations to all who played along – here’s the final leader board!

1 point: Rallish

2 points: Martin Heys

3 points: Chris Jack

5 points: Clark Fenton

And magnificently taking the lead with 9 points, Sue Greig! Congratulations – we’ll be in touch to arrange delivery of your Fabulous Prize….

We’re shutting up the Geology Castle for Christmas now – but we leave crochet Ted, mini Darwin and mini Mary Anning to keep each other company, and Ted the Red Nosed Elk to preside over the proceedings.

Huge thanks to this year’s geoadventers, without whom I would have rapidly run out of youtube videos and historical figures with obscure links to geology. I am eternally grateful to you all.

2014 geoadvent credits:

Map Librarian Paul, for Christmas love letters, a mysterious UFO, James Parkinson and the Popgun Plot, and the Heart of a King

Policy Assistant Flo, for four On This Days: the December Giant sinkhole, the 1631 eruption of Vesuvius, the Wold Cottage Meteorite and the New Madrid Earthquakes

Archivist Caroline for four fabulous extracts from the sadly extinct Magazine of Natural History, featuring mermaids, a purloined armadillo, the music of snails and an unfortunate toad

Library Assistant Sarah, for bringing crochet to the geolsoc blog at last! Three mini geologists, each more fabulous than the last: mini Darwin, crochet Ted and mini Mary Anning.

Director of Policy and Communications Nic, for a Christmas quiz which, quite frankly, had nothing to do with geology, but we enjoyed it all the same.

As ever, I take full responsibility for all errors, ridiculous puns and general desperate attempts to shoehorn in Christmas references.

Have a very happy Christmas and New Year!

Sarah