This is the third of four articles on the quarries of the ancient world and later, and, in particular, the marble that was quarried there and the works of art made from it. The first […]
Deposits Magazine
The Magazine on Fossils, Geology & Minerals. Deposits is both a printed and online magazine featuring articles by high profile authors.
Marble from the Isle of Paros in Ancient Greece – a tour of the ancient quarries
This is the secondof fourarticles on the quarries of the ancient world and later, and, in particular, the marble that was quarried there and the artwork that was made from it. The first (Mining in […]
Wieliczka Salt Mine of Poland part-2
This the second of two articles on the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland. The first appeared in Issue [51] and covered some of the highlights that can be seen there. This one covers some more […]
The Wieliczka Salt Mine of Poland: part-1
The Wieliczka Salt Mine of Poland was included in the first UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978. It is also on the Polish List of Historic Heritage and, when visiting, provides an interesting way to […]
The Tully Monster: is this the world’s most mysterious fossil?
The Tully Monster Mystery The Tully Monster is a mysterious 307myr-old marine animal known only from the famous Mazon Creek fossil locality in Illinois. Its body plan is unlike any other animal that has ever […]
One way to ‘collect’ a massive specimen: simple photogrammetry in the field using a mobile phone
Inspired by the recent excellent series of articles by Trevor Watts discussing the types of Mid-Jurassic dinosaur footprints to be found along the Whitby coast (Deposits, Issues 46, 47, 48 and 49), when recently working […]
Pallasites: the meteorite jewels in the crown
Perhaps unsurprisingly (as a professional dealer in space rocks), I find all meteorites equally fascinating and, in their own way, aesthetically appealing. However, I have to admit, the meteorites known as the Pallasites, with their […]
Urban micrometeorites – a myth?
Is it possible to find micrometeorites in populated areas? The question has been raised for nearly a century and, despite numerous attempts to find them, the answer up to this day has been a very […]
Urban geology: the Worsley Park wall game, Manchester
Wall games are a very geological form of light entertainment and education. I certainly have amused myself by identifying rocks and their features in walls since my days as an undergraduate and before. I was […]
Fossil fish from the north of Scotland
The north of Scotland is famous to scientists and amateur collectors for its wealth of localities where fossil fish of Devonian age can be collected. From plate tectonics, we know that in Devonian times Scotland […]
Great Plains geology – a personal journey
I grew up in the 1940s and 50s in the eastern US state of Maryland and went to cinemas on my own from the age of six, mostly to see what were then to me […]
Fake fossils by the hundred: the story of Johann Beringer’s ‘lying-stones’
The sorry tale of Johann Beringer has been part of the folklore of palaeontology for almost 200 years. In 1726, Beringer published a book illustrating some extraordinary ‘fossils’ reputedly found in the rocks close to […]
Agate: a mineral that develops with age, water and moganite
Agate is banded or variegated chalcedony and this distinctive appearance allows a ready identification from any source. Many agate thick sections from basic igneous hosts are reminiscent of a series of distorted onion-like rings with […]
A pale white dot
“There’s nothing new under the sun” goes a famous saying and these words are very apt when trying to understand Earth’s climate trends. Thanks to numerous discoveries made about Earth’s ancient past, we now know […]
What’s so special about South Devon?
Take a trip to the South Devon coast around Easter time and you are bound to come across student parties from universities engaged in fieldwork. What is it about this area that makes it so […]
The tongue-twisting horror – or beauty – of the names of organisms: a Linnaean heritage
Sometimes, your name is a tell-tale sign of who you are, or your heritage if you wish. Not too long ago, the surname Andersson logically enough meant “the son of Anders” in my native frozen […]
Siri Scientific Press: A UK-based publisher specialising in palaeontology
I have written this article as a summary of how I established myself in the fossil publishing business because it might be of interest to a general readership. First, a little background about myself is […]
The Anthropocene: should we designate a new epoch? A geologist’s perspective
Whatever your views, this is a subject that will not go away, and the concept of the Anthropocene is gaining more impetus and consideration as time goes by. In a nutshell, the Anthropocene has been […]
Discovering dinosaurs in Britain –the significance of the British dinosaur record
Palaeontology and Britain In its simplest form, palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life, through examination of fossils. Palaeontology is, however, not just dinosaurs. Dinosaurs constitute a miniscule portion of what palaeontology is. After all, […]
The Jurassic Coast (or is it?) with the Geologists’ Association
Since 2012, the Geologists’ Association (GA) has put on annual field trips to the Dorset coast led by Prof John CW Cope (of the National Museum Wales), who is author of the definitive Field Guide […]
The Armboth Dyke, Lake District
The Armboth Dyke makes a good half day geology excursion in a scenic but quiet part of the UK Lake District. Parking is on the west shore of Thirlmere, in a pay-and-display car park accessed […]
Seeing into the ‘Stone Age’: the stone tools of early man
In the early part of his evolution, man made great use of rock and stone to assist him in his activities. The term ‘Stone Age’ has been given to the period of time during which […]
Fulgurites: with the look and shape of lightning bolts
If the characteristics referred to in the title were their only quality, fulgurites would be fascinating. However, they have other unusual qualities that make them even more amazing. For example, some hold ancient air within […]
Folklore of fossil fish
Fish are the most diverse animals with backbones – that is, vertebrates – living today. Bone and teeth of fishes abound in the fossil record, from the armour-plated, primitive fishes of the Devonian, through the […]
The Musée-Parc des Dinosaures (Dinosaur Museum-Park) in Mèze, France
Just a few kilometres inland from the Mediterranean Sea in the south of France, and not too far from Montpellier, is an extraordinary theme park. Driving along the D613 from Mèze towards Pezenas, a life […]
Worm monstrosity – a giant extinct worm
In a new study published in Scientific Reports (Earth’s oldest ‘Bobbit worm’ – gigantism in a Devonian eunicidan polychaete) by Luke A Parry of Bristol University in the UK, David M Rudkin of the Royal […]
Urban geology: a rostroconch in Hoofddorp
Part of my job is to provide service teaching for the University of Leiden. The university lacks a geology department, but my colleagues and I provide tuition in stratigraphy and palaeontology for life science students […]
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – using geology to fight climate change
Practically everyone has an opinion on climate change by now, although for the vast majority of scientists, the weight of evidence is overwhelming – emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are causing climate […]
Australia’s Polar Cretaceous mammals
The Cenozoic Era is commonly referred to as the ‘Age of Mammals’. That is certainly the time in the history of life when their fossils are most abundant and diverse. However, two-thirds of mammalian history […]
All change at Selsey, West Sussex, UK
Issue 26 of Deposits magazine in the Spring of 2011 included my article on fossil collecting at Bracklesham Bay in West Sussex, following in the footsteps of my guide book on Fossil hunting at Bracklesham […]
