geology – Page 3 – Deposits Mag

geology palaeontology

Carbonate platforms and coral reefs: The Coralline Oolite Formation of the Yorkshire Upper Jurassic – a prime source of palaeontological information

10/10/2018

Keith Eastwood (UK) 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 information. Examination of outcrops within this small quarry enables the geologist to … Read More

geology palaeontology

Dendermonde Mammoth: Fighting pyrite decay and the preservation of unique palaeontological heritage

10/07/2018

Anthonie Hellemond (Belgium) 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 historical collections are currently suffering because of years of storing and neglect. … Read More

geology palaeontology urban

Urban geology: Gabions in the Dutch townscape

10/07/2018

Stephen K Donovan (The Netherlands) 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, gabion, and Italian, gabbione, and originally referred to “A wicker … Read More

geology palaeontology

Folklore of fossil molluscs

28/06/2018

Paul D Taylor (UK) 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 in the number of species living today and the resistant calcareous … Read More

geology mineralology palaeontology

Carrara marble from the Apian Alps: Another famous ancient workable stone

26/06/2018

Dr Robert Sturm (Austria) 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 Greece and Rome, Marble from the Isle of Paros in Ancient … Read More

mineralology urban

Roman quarries in Austria and Germany: A short sight-seeing tour

05/06/2018

Dr Robert Sturm (Austria) 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 (Mining in Ancient Greece and Rome) was published in Issue 41 … Read More

mineralology urban

Marble from the Isle of Paros in Ancient Greece: A tour of the ancient quarries

31/05/2018

Dr Robert Sturm (Austria) 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 Ancient Greece and Rome) was published in Issue 41 of this … Read More

geology mineralology palaeontology

Wieliczka Salt Mine of Poland (Part 2)

22/05/2018

Khursheed Dinshaw (India) 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 of these features, but also deals with the geology of the site. … Read More

geology palaeontology

Wieliczka Salt Mine of Poland (Part 1)

17/05/2018

Khursheed Dinshaw (India) 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 get to know how salt has been mined underground for almost nine … Read More

dinosaurs geology palaeontology

One way to ‘collect’ a massive specimen: Simple photogrammetry in the field using a mobile phone

26/04/2018

Nigel Larkin and Steven Dey (UK) 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 in the area I (NL) made sure that I … Read More

geology mineralology space

Pallasites: The meteorite jewels in the crown

24/04/2018

David Bryant (UK) 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 beautiful structure of olivine fragments suspended in a nickel-iron matrix, are probably … Read More

mineralology palaeontology space urban

Urban micrometeorites: A myth?

19/04/2018

Jon Larsen (Norway) 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 short “no”. Meanwhile, our knowledge about these amazing stones has gradually increased. … Read More

geology urban

Urban geology: The Worsley Park wall game, Manchester

17/04/2018

Stephen K Donovan (The Netherlands) 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 introduced to the name for the wall game (obvious, I … Read More

geology palaeontology

Fossil fish from northern Scotland

05/04/2018

Bob Davidson (UK) 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 was situated just below the equator, as part of a continent that … Read More

geology palaeontology

Great Plains geology: A personal journey

03/04/2018

Professor Emeritus Robert F Diffendal, Jr (USA) 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 exciting western movies. In 1962, I was off … Read More

geology mineralology palaeontology

Agate: A mineral that develops with age, water and moganite

27/03/2018

Terry Moxon (UK) 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 the initial bands closely replicating the shape of the supporting gas cavity. … Read More

dinosaurs geology palaeontology

Pale white dot

22/03/2018

Steven Wade Veatch (USA) and Vishwam Sankaran (India) “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 that our climate has never been static. … Read More

geology palaeontology

What’s so special about South Devon?

15/03/2018

Prof John CW Cope (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff UK) 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 popular as a centre for … Read More

geology palaeontology

Siri Scientific Press: A UK-based publisher specialising in palaeontology

08/03/2018

David Penny (UK) 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 in order. I have had a life-long interest in natural history, especially … Read More

geology palaeontology urban

Anthropocene: Should we designate a new epoch? A geologist’s perspective

06/03/2018

David Wharton-Street (UK) 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 proposed as a new third epoch of the Quaternary Period that directly … Read More

geology palaeontology

Jurassic Coast (or is it?) with the Geologists’ Association

30/01/2018

Mervyn Jones (UK) 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 No 22. The second edition was published in April 2016 and is … Read More

geology palaeontology

Armboth Dyke, Lake District

25/01/2018

Mark Wilkinson (UK) 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 by the narrow road that winds around that side of the lake … Read More

geology

Seeing into the ‘Stone Age’: The stone tools of early man

23/01/2018

Bob Markham (UK) 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 stone was the main material used for the manufacture of functional tools … Read More

geology palaeontology urban

Urban geology: A rostroconch in Hoofddorp

07/12/2017

Stephen K Donovan (The Netherlands) 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 at the undergraduate and masters degree level. One of my … Read More

geology palaeontology

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Using geology to fight climate change

07/12/2017

Mark Wilkinson (UK) 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 change, sometimes referred to as global warming. One possible technology for fighting … Read More

geology palaeontology

Australia’s Polar Cretaceous mammals

05/12/2017

Dr Thomas H Rich (Australia) 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 was during the Mesozoic Era – and they appeared about … Read More

geology palaeontology

All change at Selsey, West Sussex, UK

30/11/2017

David Bone (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 & Selsey, published in 2009. This area has been well known for … Read More

geology mineralology

Erzberg Mine in Austria: An iron ore reserve with a long tradition

16/11/2017

Dr Robert Sturm (Austria) The Erzberg Mine is situated in the Austrian county of Styria. From a geological point of view, it belongs to the so-called greywacke zone, which represents a band of Palaeozoic metamorphosed sedimentary rocks intercalated between the Northern Limestone Alps and the Central Alps. The Erzberg Mine … Read More

geology palaeontology

Hutton’s unconformity and the birth of ‘Deep Time’

07/11/2017

Dr Mark Wilkinson (UK) I sometimes ask a question to students in an introductory class about geology: “What is the most famous geological site in the world?” For students from the western hemisphere, the Grand Canyon in the USA is a popular choice. However, if you were to ask the … Read More

geology palaeontology

Giant’s Causeway (Part 2): Other volcanic highlights

19/10/2017

Dr Trevor Watts (UK) This is the second and final part of an article on the volcanic highlights of Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway and surrounds. We were in the area for several days and the weather was fairly mixed, but there were glorious skies between the showers, and the high … Read More