Deposits Earth Science Archive
An acclaimed international collection of articles and book reviews on fossils, geology, minerals, palaeontology and earth science
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the ninth in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Microdictyon sinicum is one of the most distinctive and intriguing creatures of the Early Cambrian, known primarily from the Chengjiang biota of Yunnan, China. Dating to around 518 million years ago, it … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) Modern Britain lies far from active plate boundaries. It has no active volcanoes and experiences only minor earthquakes, and is often described as tectonically quiet. Yet its landscape is anything but passive. Hills and lowlands, coastlines and drainage patterns all reflect a deep structural inheritance established during … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the eighth in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Marrella splendens is one of the most recognisable and abundant animals from the Burgess Shale, offering an invaluable window into the complexity of Cambrian ecosystems. Often nicknamed “the lace crab” by early … Read More
Matthew Myerscough’s In Search of Sea Dragons: A Fossil Hunter’s Odyssey begins not with fossils, but with survival. Early in the book, Myerscough recounts how he and his future wife narrowly escaped death in an avalanche on Snowdon. The experience casts a long shadow over everything that follows. What initially appears to be a book about fossil hunting, gradually reveals itself as something rather more personal: a memoir about recovery, obsession, friendship and the strange hold that collecting can exert over people.
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the seventh in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Leanchoilia illecebrosa is one of the most striking and memorable arthropods from the early Cambrian, known from the Chengjiang biota of China and represented by exquisitely preserved soft tissues. Living around 518 … Read More
Heather Middleton, Mike Harvey and Steve Snowball (UK) This article describes a series of pliosaur remains recovered from the Lower Kimmeridge Clay Formation at Smallmouth Sands, Weymouth (Dorset). The material, collected as isolated elements from a single locality within the Rasenia cymodoce Biozone, includes cervical and caudal vertebrae, ribs and … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the sixth in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Few Cambrian fossils have caused more confusion – and more delight – than Hallucigenia sparsa, a tiny, spike-covered creature from the Burgess Shale, whose anatomy was so baffling that early reconstructions were … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the fifth in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Among the remarkable organisms preserved in the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota, Haikouichthys ercaicunensis occupies a special place. Living around 518 million years ago, this small, fish-like animal is widely regarded as one … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the fourth in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Fuxianhuia protensa is one of the most informative animals from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota, dating to roughly 518 million years ago. Often described as a “problematic” or “transitional” arthropod, it occupies … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) The collision that assembled Britain at the end of the Silurian (see A history of the plate tectonics of Britain (part 1): Britain assembled – oceans, collisions and the making of a geological patchwork) did not mark the end of tectonic influence on the landscape. Instead, it … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the third in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. When the Burgess Shale was first uncovered in the early twentieth century, few creatures caused as much confusion, misinterpretation and eventual astonishment as Anomalocaris. Today, it stands as one of the most … Read More
At first glance, Geology: an illustrated history appears to be another entry in the now familiar genre of large-format, image-rich popular science books. In practice, however, David Bainbridge has produced something rather more distinctive: a visually driven history of geology in which images – maps, diagrams and artefacts – take a leading role, with the text providing interpretation and context.
Steve Snowball (UK) This article is a response to a request by the editor of Deposits to write about my inspiration and reasons for writing a series of fossil collecting guides, the latest of which is A Field Guide to Collecting British Cenozoic Fossils, by myself and Alister Cruickshanks, and … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the second in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Amiskwia sagittiformis is one of the most intriguing and persistently debated animals from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. First described over a century ago, it long occupied a taxonomic no-man’s-land: too soft-bodied … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the first in my series of short articles on fossils of the Cambrian. Among the most intriguing arthropods of the Cambrian and Ordovician are the agnostids – tiny, simplified, and often beautifully preserved creatures long grouped together with trilobites, but still raising questions about their … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the eleventh and last of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. Yorgia is one of the most distinctive members of the Ediacaran biota – a broad, quilted, segmented organism that thrived on the shallow seafloors of the White Sea region … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) Britain is often described as geologically quiet. There are no active volcanoes, no subduction zones, and only modest earthquakes. Yet, for its size, few countries display such a concentration of geological variety. Mountain uplands, volcanic terrains, deeply folded rocks, and ancient metamorphic cores all occur within a … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the tenth of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. Of all the organisms populating the Ediacaran oceans, Tribrachidium stands out as one of the most geometrically extraordinary. Living around 555 million years ago, it possessed a perfectly tri-radial body plan … Read More
Books devoted specifically to collecting Britain’s Cenozoic fossils are surprisingly rare. While collectors are well served by guides to the country’s Palaeozoic and Mesozoic fossils, the younger deposits that record the last 66 million years of Earth history have received far less attention. A Field Guide to Collecting British Cenozoic Fossils aims to address that gap by providing a practical introduction to the fossils and collecting sites associated with these deposits.
Jon Trevelyan (UK) The geology and palaeontology section at the Museo di Storia Naturale: geology and palaeontology in Verona is one of those museum experiences that perhaps quietly insists you pay attention if you notice it there among the other attractions of this lovely town. It doesn’t shout with flashy … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the ninth of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. Spriggina is one of the most iconic animals of the late Ediacaran Period, living around 550 million years ago, just before the Cambrian explosion transformed life on Earth. Known from beautifully … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the eighth of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. Rangea is one of the most distinctive and important members of the Ediacaran biota. Dating to roughly 550 million years ago, it is amongst the earliest organisms to exhibit complex, modular … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the seventh of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. Kimberella is one of the most influential fossils from the Ediacaran period, living around 555 million years ago and preserved primarily in the White Sea region of northwest Russia. Unlike the … Read More
The Oldest Rocks on Earth is composed in a consciously popular-science style, making it an enjoyable read, as well as an informative one for readers interested in how geologists reconstruct the earliest history of our planet. This approach allows Simon Lamb to interweave the science with his own research history, particularly his PhD work and later field studies in Swaziland (now renamed Eswatini), where he investigated some of the oldest rocks on Earth.
Jon Trevelyan (UK) For much of the twentieth century, generations of students (and amateurs like me) learned a tidy, mid-Cretaceous succession for southern England: Lower Greensand – Gault Clay – Upper Greensand – Chalk. It appeared in every textbook, diagram and museum panel. There was an appealing symmetry to the … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the sixth of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. Funisia dorothea is one of the most revealing fossils from the late Ediacaran Period, offering a rare glimpse into the behaviour of early animals rather than only their anatomy. Found in … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the sixth of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period Fractofusus is one of the most abundant and ecologically revealing organisms of the Ediacaran Period, flourishing around 565 million years ago in the deep-marine settings of the Mistaken Point Formation, Newfoundland. … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the last of three articles on the Carnian Pluvial Event (CPE). The first covered the climate engine of the CPE and the second described the marine ecosystem upheaval during those times. This final article turns to the continents, examining how the CPE transformed terrestrial landscapes … Read More
Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the fourth of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. And among the most intriguing organisms of the late Ediacaran Period is Ernietta, a sack-shaped, partly infaunal creature that lived around 548-541 million years ago in the shallow seas of what … Read More
Stephen K Donovan (UK) If asked what is my favourite fossil collecting site, I would have to say the Farquhar’s Beach oyster bed on the south-central coast of Jamaica. I taught at the University of the West Indies for over 12 years and this locality was an easy drive. In … Read More
