Deposits Earth Science Archive
An acclaimed international collection of articles and book reviews on fossils, geology, minerals, palaeontology and earth science
Back in 1994, Scottish Natural Heritage, together with the BGS, published a guidebook entitled Cairngorms: a landscape fashioned by geology. With the publication of Argyll and the Islands a landscape fashioned by geology, they have now extended this excellent series to 20 such guides.
Here at Deposits, we like our amber and this certainly isn’t the first book on the subject I have reviewed. In fact, over the years, we have published many articles on the fossilised sap and its inclusions, and have just finished publishing a short, two-article series by the authors of this excellent little publication.
I like the GA guides. They are excellent resources for amateurs and professional geologists alike and I frequently browse mine, planning geological trips I will probably never take, because I live in geological unexciting London.
John L Morton certainly came to popular geological publishing by an interesting and circuitous route. Trained as a pilot, he flew Herons, Viscounts, Comets, Boeing 707s and Lockheed TriStars for British European Airways and subsequently published a book on aspects of flying for an airline.
Over a period of 20 years, Ian Tyler has written a series of books on the metalliferous mining industry of the English Lake District and this has clearly been a significant labour of love for him.
This is the second guide to be published in a series of three books produced by Dunedin (the first of which, Introducing Geology – A Guide to the World of Rocks by Graham Park was reviewed in Issue 23 of Deposits) and this second book does not disappoint at all.
There are several passions in my life – geology and geomorphology being a couple and hillwalking being another. And it doesn’t take much to see that that these go together rather well.
Roderick Impey Murchison must have been a remarkable man. He was one of the first people to rigorously use the principles of stratigraphy discovered by William Smith, which allowed him to erect the Silurian system and to name about 123myrs of geological time.
Terry Moxon likes his agates. It is easy to see his enthusiasm and it is just as easy to appreciate it from this short book on the science of these colourful minerals. However, his is not just a casual interest.
There are a lot of ‘introduction to geology’ books being published these days and, just for a moment, one might wonder why. However, what it clearly shows is that there must be a healthy market for these and this can only be good news for geology as a popular science.
It is always exciting when Palass publishes a new field guide to fossils. This one, number 12 in the series, is likely to be the constant companion for anyone, who (like me) loves the Gault Clay.
For many years, the Geologists’ Association has published some of the best geological guides to the UK (and a few other places). This new one, the 67th in the series, covers the Dalradian of Scotland.
I am a local geology enthusiast and have been leading fossil hunts at Bracklesham for over 30 years. I recently decided that it was time to write a new guide (published April 2009) aimed at visitors who, more often than not, will be faced with a uniform blanket of beach sand and need some idea of where to start.
The island of Cyprus is a truly classic area of geology in Europe. Perhaps nowhere else on Earth does so small an area provide such an excellent illustration of the dynamics of Earth processes through abundant exposures of spectacular and diverse geology.
The Scottish Borders region is famed for its frontier history and attendant myths and ballads. This book concerns its more ancient geological history that is revealed by its rocks. These indicate that the area was once on the edge of a huge ocean.
The Caithness area of Scotland is important for its geology, but is also well known for its palaeontology. The area even once had its own ‘gold rush’ and you can still try your luck at panning there today at Kildonan.
The fossil bearing rocks of the British Isles contain the remains of life from the last 2,900myrs and the UK is seen as the cradle of modern geology. With this is mind, palaeontologist Peter Doyle offers a comprehensive guide to UK fossils.
In this book, you will travel back millions of years in time to join wildlife safaris and visit, as though a time-traveller, ancient environments teeming with life. As the fossils come alive, you will experience and understand the fauna, flora and landscapes seen at ten localities in the geological past of Scotland.
For a long time Watchet has been known to be a superb location for those interested in both fossils and geology but surprisingly, the location has had little in the way of media attention. However, within the last couple of years, this area has begun to attract a lot of interest and this book will further increase its growing popularity.
Minerals of Britain and Ireland is a comprehensive account of the minerals found in Britain, Ireland and the surrounding islands. At over 600 pages and illustrated throughout by over 550 images (mostly in colour), the book provides exhaustive coverage of the remarkably wide range of minerals found in this part of the world.
The Pentland Hills in Scotland yield a large number of Silurian marine fossils. Although these fossils are only found within a small area of the Pentland Hills, the formations are extremely rich in fossils. The majority of these are preserved as moulds.
Fossil Hunting along the Jurassic Coast is presented by Dr Colin Dawes, a well-known, fossil hunting guide in the world-famous palaeontological site of Lyme Regis. The film is split into sections covering the fossilisation process, fossil hunting hotspots and safety information. It also has aerial views of the fossil hunting sites featured in the DVD.
Dorling Kindersley (DK) are well-known for producing popular reference media for beginners and enthusiasts. No doubt, most readers will be familiar with their ‘Eyewitness Guides’. The Eyewitness Handbook of fossils, certainly makes a useful starting point for anyone new to geology or palaeontology.
Any serious collector of fossils will certainly have heard of the famous Green River, Morrison and Hell Creek formations. These, however, are not commonly detailed in guides that can easily be obtained in the UK.
This latest publication from the British Geological Survey follows the success of its earlier publication, ‘Exploring the Landscape of Assynt’. It consists of a special pack containing both an explanatory booklet and a new 1 : 25,000 scale geological map of the Charnwood Forest and Mountsorrel area.
