Category: LOCATIONS

England Fossils Geology History & biographies Palaeontology

The death of the Upper Greensand: A stratigraphic obituary for a vanished formation

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 sequence, with two sands bracketing the impervious Gault and the Chalk resting neatly above. It seemed so natural that few doubted it.

Fossils Geology North America Palaeontology

The weird and wonderful of the Ediacaran Period (Part 5): Fractofusus – the dominant rangeomorph of the Mistaken Point biota

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

Climate Europe Fossils Geology Glaciers Minerals Minerals Museums & societies Palaeontology Plate Tectonics

Geology museums of mainland Europe: The Naturmuseum Südtirol Bolzano, Austria

Jon Trevelyan (UK) The Naturmuseum Südtirol is housed in an historic building in the old town of Bolzano and was opened in 1997 in its current form. Its major theme consists of the geology of South Tyrol, that is, the region’s rocks, minerals (Fig. 1) landscapes, tectonics, its natural habitats … Read More

Climate England Europe Fossils Geology Palaeontology Plate Tectonics Volcanoes

Volcanoes, monsoons and a flooded supercontinent (Part 1): The climate engine of the Carnian Pluvial Event

This is the first of three articles on the Carnian Pluvial Event (CPE), often referred to as an ‘event’, although increasingly recognised as a prolonged episode, as I will discuss) of the Triassic that seems to have grown in importance and interest, and only become more widely known in relatively recent times. In this article, I will introduce the topic, concentrating on what might be called the “climate engine” driving what was happening.

England Geology Glaciers Plate Tectonics

A pebble across Deep Time: From Staffordshire to Budleigh Salterton and back again

I found the pebble almost by accident, while staying with friends near Eccleshall in Staffordshire. We had taken their two dogs (the much missed Holly and Chutney) out for an afternoon walk – the kind of slow, stop-start loop where the dogs dictate the pace and the conversation meanders as much as the footpath. Along a muddy stretch of track, something smooth and rounded caught my eye: a faintly banded, reddish stone lying half-buried among the usual Midlands gravel and mud.

England Fossils Geology Palaeontology

The weird and wonderful of the Ediacaran Period (Part 2): Charniodiscus – a frond in the quiet depths of the Ediacaran seas

Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the second of my series of short articles on fossils of the Ediacaran Period. Charniodiscus is one of the most characteristic frondose organisms of the Ediacaran Period, living around 560-555 million years ago in the quiet, low-energy seafloors that preceded the Cambrian explosion. With its … Read More

BOOK REVIEWS England Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Mining Palaeontology Plate Tectonics

Book review: The Southern Pennines, by John Collinson and Roy Rosen (Classic Geology in Europe 13)

The Classic Geology in Europe series has, over many years, established a distinctive and reliable identity: authoritative regional syntheses written by specialists, designed for geologists who want to understand landscapes through field observation rather than armchair generalities. The Southern Pennines sits comfortably within that tradition and, in several respects, exemplifies the mature strengths of the series.

Australasia Fossils Geology Palaeontology

The weird and wonderful of the Pre-Cambrian (Part 2): Strelley Pool stromatolites – among the oldest signs of life

Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the second of my series of short articles on fossils of the Pre-Cambrian. The Strelley Pool stromatolites, preserved in the ~3.45-billion-year-old Strelley Pool Formation of Western Australia, rank among the oldest widely accepted macroscopic evidence of life. Formed on shallow marine carbonate platforms during the … Read More

BOOK REVIEWS Climate Europe Geology History & biographies Minerals Minerals Northern Ireland Urban, art & anthropology

Book review: GeoHibernica: The Irish Landscapes, Peoples and Cultures, by Paul Lyle

Paul Lyle begins GeoHibernica with a slightly mischievous acknowledgement: the book exists only because the author of GeoBritannica was unable to take on its Irish counterpart himself. It is a revealing admission, and one that immediately invites comparison between the two works. That comparison is instructive, although not always in the ways one might expect.

Climate Europe Fossils Geology Palaeontology

Geology museums of mainland Europe: Agios Georgios Cave, Kilkis: 50 years of history – 30,000 years of prehistory

Vassilis Makridis (Greece), Evangelia Tsoukala (Greece), Evangelos Vlachos (Greece), Katerina Tsekoura (Greece), Wilrie van Logchem (The Netherlands) and Dick Mol (The Netherlands) In northern Greece, 45km north of Thessaloniki, one of the few public caves in Northern Greece is situated in the Agios Georgios Hill, near Kilkis (Figs. 1 and … Read More

Geology North America Palaeontology

The weird and wonderful of the Pre-Cambrian (Part 1): Gunflint stromatolites – microbial life in an oxygen-shifting world

Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the first of my series of short articles on fossils of the Pre-Cambrian. The Gunflint stromatolites, preserved in the 1.88-billion-year-old Gunflint Iron Formation of Ontario and Minnesota, offer one of the clearest windows into early complex microbial ecosystems. Formed by thriving mats of cyanobacteria long … Read More

Fossils Geology Palaeontology Wales

Plants, fish and floodplains: The Heol Senni story

High in the central Brecon Beacons, not far from the quiet village of Heol Senni, a small disused quarry cuts into green-grey sandstone, not far from the quiet village of Heol Senni, lies a small disused quarry cut into green-grey sandstone. To most passers-by, it is an unassuming feature – a slice of rock along the hillside with ruined quarry buildings, streaked with moss and fern. Yet, within those thin beds of rock, lies one of the most eloquent records of life’s first steps onto land: a fossil flora that captures the dawn of terrestrial ecosystems, and a single, irreplaceable fossil fish that swam among the earliest green riverbanks.

BOOK REVIEWS England Fossils Geology Palaeontology Scotland

Book review: Fossils on the Seashore: Beachcombing and Palaeontology, by Stephen K Donovan

At first glance, the title might mislead you into expecting a simple guide to finding fossils while strolling along the beach – a sort of field companion for holiday rock-hunters. But Stephen Donovan’s Fossils on the Seashore is a very different creature. It’s not about collecting curiosities for the mantelpiece. It’s about understanding the dynamic relationship between the living and the fossil record, and how coastlines act as natural laboratories for palaeontological and neoichnological study

Asia BOOK REVIEWS Climate Fossils Geology Palaeontology Plate Tectonics

Book review: At the Foot of the Himalayas: Paleontology and Ecosystem Dynamics of the Siwalik Record, by Catherine Badgley (editor), Michèle E. Morgan (editor) and David Pilbeam (editor)

Have you ever wished to time-travel to the Miocene while armed with a PhD and a GPS unit? Well, At the Foot of the Himalayas is your next best thing. This sweeping but masterfully integrated volume brings the Siwalik Hills – the sediment-rich, fossil-packed foothills of the Himalayas – into sharp scientific focus.