Ever since Charles Darwin pointed out the problem, evolutionary biologists have been worried by the incompleteness of the fossil record. Whilst our knowledge of the diversity of life in deep time has greatly improved in […]
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Coal Mining in the East Neuk
As the author, John McManus, writes: “The East Neuk of Fife was blessed with a mineral resource that was relatively easy to access”. This resource was coal – the driver of the industrial revolution and, […]
Fossils of Folkestone
There are several good books on the fossils of the Gault Clay and, by extension, Folkestone (and of course, there is the late Jim Craig’s brilliant website, ‘Gault Ammonite’, at http://www.gaultammonite.co.uk/). However, this little guide […]
Microfossils in 3D – stereophotography of ancient micro-organisms
In the past 60 years, microfossils have increasingly attracted the attention of earth scientists for several reasons. Firstly, they are highly useful in biostratigraphic respects; secondly, they can be easily determined by light- or electron-microscopic […]
Headbanging, rocking and moonwalking fossils
One can never be too careful when given the opportunity to name a fossil organism that has proved to be new to science. In addition to a meticulous description and accompanying images showing the characteristic […]
Fulletby brickyard – a classic locality in the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation in Lincolnshire
The Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation in Lincolnshire crops out along the western edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds scarp (Swinnerton and Kent, 1981) and many years ago was formerly exposed in many small workings that […]
Boxstones – in search of Miocene Suffolk
The date is 24 May 2014 and I am browsing across East Lane Beach at Bawdsey in southeast Suffolk. A brown lump of sandstone with a white fossil shell impression catches my eye. A boxstone. […]
A ‘Heavy Metal painter’ meets a ‘Heavy Metal palaeontologist’ – the conception of an unusual portrayal of the past
Sometimes, the stars just seem to align perfectly and make you appreciate life more than at other times. You know those ephemeral moments when, all of a sudden, you find yourself in the midst of […]
Trilobites of the British Isles
I’ve been waiting for a book like this for a very long time and am delighted that a publication of this quality has now arrived. New books covering British palaeontology are always welcomed by this […]
Spacerocks
A collectors’ Guide to Meteorites, Tektites and Impactites This is a nice little guide for the non-specialist collector of all things that go bump from above (and the effects they have on the rocks they […]
A Guide to Fossil Collecting on the West Dorset Coast
This newly published guide is another near-perfect fossil book from Siri Scientific Press, who are rapidly becoming my favourite publisher of esoteric palaeontology. This one is perhaps less arcane, as it deals with an area […]
Saltwick Bay, North Yorkshire
Saltwick Bay is located along the Yorkshire Coast, between Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay, and can be accessed from the Cleveland Way, which passes the spectacular Whitby Abbey. The geology of the area is predominantly […]
Colorado mountain memories
While headed for the California Gold Rush of 1849, George Giggey (who was my great-great-grandfather) first made his way through the mountainous and untamed wilderness of what would later become Colorado. He was among a […]
‘Finders, keepers’: the lost world of some Isle of Wight geological heroes
There is a growing misconception that most of the earliest important fossil discoveries were made by a select few famous geologists – established names, who were supposed to have ‘found’ everything in their collections. In […]
Carbonate platforms and coral reefs: the Coralline Oolite Formation of the Yorkshire Upper Jurassic – a prime source of palaeontological information
The Malton Oolite Member of the Coralline Oolite Formation (Corallian Group), as exposed in the Betton Farm South Quarry (TA00158555) at East Ayton, near Scarborough (Fig. 1), provides a wealth of fascinating palaeontological and sedimentological […]
Big Island, Hawaii, Part 3
This is the last of a three part article about the volcanoes of Big Island, Hawaii. In the first part, I discussed their background and explained some of the terms used to describe the lava […]
Big Island, Hawaii, Part 2
This is the second of a three part article about the volcanoes of Big Island, Hawaii. In the first, I discussed their background and explained some of the terms used to describe the lava that […]
Big Island, Hawaii: Part 1
We (my wife Chris and I) enjoyed our fourth visit to Big Island Hawaii in May 2013 so much that we decided to return to the same places in October 2014. We were hoping to […]
The Dendermonde Mammoth: fighting pyrite decay and the preservation of unique paleontological heritage
Collecting fossil vertebrates is rather popular among amateur palaeontologists. However, little interest is shown in the different stages one should undertake to treat and safely guard these specimens for the future. Loads of fossils from […]
Urban geology: gabions in the Dutch townscape
Gabions are tools of the engineering geologist, facing elements that are used to stabilize over-steep slopes, such as sea cliffs or railway/roadway cuttings; they also have military applications. The word is derived from the French, […]
Images of cells preserved in stone
As a child, petrified wood captured my imagination. However, as an adult, when someone taught me to look at the fossil wood at a microscopic level, I was in awe. At that moment, I like […]
Folklore of fossil molluscs
The final article of this series on fossil folklore focuses on molluscs, excluding the ammonites, which were covered earlier (see Fossil folklore: ammonites in Deposits, Issue 46, pp. 20–23). Molluscs are second only to arthropods […]
The trouble with pyrite
On Wednesday, 26 April 1882, the Queenborough Chemical and Copperas Works were auctioned off, heralding the demise of the copperas industry on the Isle of Sheppey. Green copperas was used to make sulphuric acid or […]
Carrara marble from the Apian Alps – another famous ancient workable stone
This is the last in a series of four articles I have written on the quarries and marble of the ancient world and the works of art made from it. The others (Mining in Ancient […]
Roman quarries in Austria and Germany – a short sight-seeing tour
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 […]
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 […]