England – Page 6 – DEPOSITS MAGAZINE

BOOK REVIEWS England Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Palaeontology

Book review: Geology of the Jurassic Coast: The Red Coast Revealed – Exmouth to Lyme Regis, by Richard A Edwards; and Geology of the Jurassic Coast: The Isle of Purbeck – Weymouth to Studland, by Paul Ensom and Malcolm Turner

04/09/2020

The Jurassic Coast Trust is certainly producing some good books these days. I have alraedy reviewed one (The Jurassic Coast: An Aerial Journey through time by Peter Sills) and I think these two might even be better. As is well known, in recognition of its wonderful geology, the coast between Orcombe Rocks in southeast Devon and Old Harry Rocks in south Dorset was granted World Heritage status in December 2001.

England Geology Glaciers History & biographies Scotland

Historically important unconformities in Scotland and Northern England

28/08/2020

Mark Wilkinson (UK) Scotland has a number of sites of historical interest to geologists. I described one of these, Hutton’s Unconformity at Siccar Point near Edinburgh (see Hutton’s unconformity and the birth of ‘Deep Time’). James Hutton described several Scottish unconformities in his book of 1795 and, while the one … Read More

BOOK REVIEWS England Fossils Geology Palaeontology

Book review: Carboniferous Geology: Bowland Fells to Pendle Hill, edited by Paul Kabrna

21/08/2020

This is an odd little book. Produced by the Craven & Pendle Geological Society and edited by Paul Kabrna, it sets out to cover the geology of Craven Lowlands through a series of chapters written by different contributors.

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Giant file clams: A common fossil as an exciting document of Earth history

01/08/2020

Jens Lehmann (Germany) Plagiostoma – a record of about 200 million years Are there any boring fossils out there in the ground? I do not think so and to demonstrate this, an “ordinary” fossil find is focussed on here. We are talking about “just” a mussel, but one that belongs … Read More

England Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Palaeontology

Book review: Geology of the Yorkshire Coast: Geologists’ Association Guide No 34 (4th edition), by Peter F Rawson and John K Wright

30/07/2020

Jon Trevelyan (UK) This is the much anticipated 4th edition of the GA’s Yorkshire Coast guide and it was well worth the wait. From personal experience, I was aware that the previous editions were extremely good for any geologist – professional, academic or amateur – who is attracted by the … Read More

BOOK REVIEWS England Fossils Geology Palaeontology

Book review: English Wealden fossils (Palaeontological Association Field Guide to Fossils No 55), edited by David J Batten

24/07/2020

The long awaited PalAss guide to Wealden fossil flora and fauna has finally arrived and what a magnificent tome it is. At 769 pages and 35 chapters, it is by far the most ambitious and complete of their guides, covering various vertebrate groups, together with invertebrates, plants and stratigraphical descriptions of what can be found on the coast and in the quarries of southern England and the Isle of Wight.

Dinosaurs England History & biographies Palaeontology

The walk that changed history: New evidence about the discovery of the Iguanodon

17/07/2020

Martin Simpson (UK) Newly unearthed documentary evidence substantiates the classic story that Mary Ann Mantell found some worn down Iguanodon teeth in Cuckfield, Sussex, before 1822 in some rocks by the roadside, while her husband Gideon was elsewhere. She was accompanied by a friend and purchased the specimens from a … Read More

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Flints in the Late Cretaceous Chalk of NW Europe

17/07/2020

Rory Mortimore (UK) Flint in the Late Cretaceous Chalk: links across the European platform In a recent issue of this journal Paul Taylor wrote “We are very fortunate in Britain to host one of the most remarkable deposits in the entire geological record, the Chalk” (Deposits Issue 55, 2018, p.35, … Read More

BOOK REVIEWS England Europe Geology Minerals Minerals Mining

Book review: Logging the Chalk, by Rory N Mortimore

17/07/2020

I have stood several times in front of an (apparently) plain white, chalk cliff-face along with others, while Prof Mortimore discussed the implications of what we were seeing. And, every time, I left not just thinking but knowing this was the most fascinating piece of geology I had ever seen.

Climate England Geology Glaciers Urban, art & anthropology

West Runton revisited

13/07/2020

Jan Willem van der Drift (The Netherlands) Historic finds In 1900, nobody knew what kind of tools man used before the handaxe. Some scholars assumed that early-man used ‘eoliths’ – handy natural forms. That theory turned out to be false. The earliest tools were manmade flakes and cores, and this … Read More

England Fossils Geology Palaeontology

Fossils of the Gault Clay

09/07/2020

Dr Neale Monks (UK) The Gault Clay is an Albian (Lower Cretaceous) deposit of blue-grey clay exposed primarily in Southeast England. At the classic exposure at Copt Point, Folkestone, the Gault Clay is sandwiched between the Lower Greensand underneath and the Upper Greensand on top. It is a stiff clay … Read More

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Rummages through the core collection of British cephalopods (Part 1): Introduction

06/07/2020

Neale Monks (UK) Alongside trilobites, ammonites are by far the most popular invertebrate fossils. Whether you’re an enthusiastic fieldworker or more of an armchair geologist, chances are that your collection includes a fair number of ammonites of one sort or another. These may well have names and localities, but details … Read More

BOOK REVIEWS England Geology Minerals Minerals Mining Urban, art & anthropology

Book review: Lakeland Rocks, by Alan Smith

02/07/2020

There are many good guides the geology of the Lake District and this is no exception. However, this is first and foremost an illustrated guide to the region’s rocks and an introduction to the common rock types to be found, largely through the use of colour photographs.

Dinosaurs England Palaeontology

Lost Dorset dinosaur footprint site

29/06/2020

Paul Cox (UK) The year was 1991, we were on holiday in Dorset and we had gone to the beach for the day. The children were engrossed in a game of make believe, my wife was reading a book and I, as I often do, had started to walk down … Read More

England Glaciers Palaeontology

John Hesketh and the finding of the ‘Aveley Elephants’

21/06/2020

Bob Williams (UK) These days, there is little doubt that amateurs can influence science. This is commonly encountered in astronomy, with the regular discovery of comets and asteroids by amateurs. On the other hand, with some noteworthy exceptions, it is not such a frequent occurrence in the science of palaeontology. … Read More

England Fossils Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

Wealden insects (Part 3): An artist’s impression

19/06/2020

Biddy Jarzembowski, Neil Watson and Ed Jarzembowski (UK) This is the third part of the mini-series in which selected Early Cretaceous insects from the Wealden of Southern England are restored in colour for the first time. The aim is to give a visual idea of the variety of British insect … Read More

England Fossils Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

Wealden insects (Part 2): An artist’s impression

17/06/2020

Biddy Jarzembowski, Neil Watson and Ed Jarzembowski (UK) This collection of illustrations, the second in the series, continues with seven more watercolour insects from the Wealden. Further reading English Wealden fossils, Palaeontological Association Field Guide to Fossils No 14, edited by David J Batten, The Palaeontological Association, London (2011), 769 … Read More

England Fossils Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

Wealden insects (Part 1): An artist’s impression

15/06/2020

Biddy Jarzembowski, Neil Watson and Ed Jarzembowski (UK) Fossil arthropods carry their skeletons on the outsides of their bodies. These exoskeletons may not only be preserved in the fossil record, but also the colour patterns that once adorned them. Therefore, the reconstruction and restoration of the appearance of fossil insects … Read More

England Fossils Palaeontology

Salthill Quarry, Clitheroe: A resource degraded

12/06/2020

Stephen K Donovan (The Netherlands) The Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) is often referred to as the ‘Age of Crinoids’. Historically, the best collecting area for fossil crinoids in the Carboniferous Limestone of the British Isles has been Clitheroe, in Lancashire. The late Stanley Westhead, who lived in Clitheroe, rightly claimed that: … Read More

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Fossils from the Lias of the Yorkshire Coast

11/06/2020

Alan R Lord (Germany) Palaeontological Association Field Guide to Fossils: Number 15 As the editor of this new publication by the Palaeontological Association (see Palaeontological Association Field Guide to Fossils Number 15: Fossils from the Lias of the Yorkshire Coast), I think that it may be time to explain why … Read More

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The body of a mighty giant

05/06/2020

Matt Salusbury and Tim-Holt Wilson (UK) “The Wonder of Our Times: Being the True and Exactly Relation of the Body of a Mighty giant dig’d up at Brockford Bridge neer Ipswich in the county of Suffolk.” That’s the title of a printed pamphlet from 1651, now in the Thomason Collection … Read More

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Geology museums of Britain: The Booth Museum of Natural History, Brighton

02/06/2020

Jon Trevelyan (UK) Those of you with a long memory (and an admirable loyalty to Deposits magazine) may remember that, several years ago, I produced a few articles on British geology museums, including the National Stone Centre in Derbyshire and Whitby Museum (the latter jointly with Dean Lomax). I have … Read More

BOOK REVIEWS England Geology Minerals Minerals

Book review: Derbyshire Blue John (2nd edition), by Trevor Ford

02/06/2020

This is a new edition of the classic little guide on Blue John by Trevor Ford, who has now sadly passed away. The guide provides a comprehensive overview of the geology and mineralogy of Blue John fluorite from Derbyshire and also provides a description of its mining in the past and today, and its use in the production of ornaments and jewellery.

England Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Museums & societies Palaeontology Plate Tectonics

Excursion to the South Devon coast led by Prof John CW Cope (National Museum Wales)

01/06/2020

Mervyn Jones (UK) GA field meeting on 6 and 7 April 2019 This field meeting was the second following the publication of Prof Cope’s GA Guide No 73, Geology of the South Devon Coast (reviewed in Issue 51 of Deposits), the companion to GA Guide No 22, Geology of the … Read More

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Book review: A Guide to Fossil Collecting on the South Dorset Coast, by Steve Snowball and Craig Chivers, with illustrations by Andreas Kurpisz

28/05/2020

Just a couple of days before the Covid-19 lockdown, I was with friends at Tidmoor Point collecting wonderful pyrite ammonites from the Oxford Clay with this excellent guide to the South Dorset Coast.

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Book review: GeoBritannica: Geological landscapes and the British peoples, by Mike Leeder and Joy Lawlor

27/05/2020

This is a very ambitious work. The authors discuss the geology of Britain as a “geological legacy”, that is, they believe it is “an inheritance bequeathed to 11 millennia or so of its post-glacial inhabitants”.

BOOK REVIEWS Dinosaurs England Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Palaeontology

Book review: The Isle of Wight (Geologists’ Association Guide No 60), by Andy Gale

18/05/2020

Andy Gale’s update of his guide to the Isle of Wight (this is the sixth edition) is an important change to an already excellent geological guide. The Geologists’ Association has been updating several of its guides – using a modern format, and providing better colour pictures and diagrams – and this is another great example.

BOOK REVIEWS England Fossils Geology Palaeontology

Book review: Fossils from the Lias of the Yorkshire Coast (Palaeontological Association Field Guide to Fossils No 15), edited by Alan Lord

12/05/2020

So, PalAss has published another of its excellent field guides, this time to the fossils from the Lias of the Yorkshire coast. Readers of this magazine will know that I have a soft spot for these guides.

BOOK REVIEWS England Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Palaeontology

Book review: Geology of the Dorset Coast (Geologists’ Association Guide No 22) (2nd edition), by John C W Cope

01/04/2020

The is a second edition of Prof John Cope’s excellent geological guide to the Dorset coast for the Geologists’ Association (GA). It is slightly shorter than the first edition, with some minor corrections and some of the figures revised, together with new photographs.

England Fossils Palaeontology

Crinoids at Hartington

01/10/2019

Stephen K Donovan (The Netherlands) Much of the secondary railway route in Derbyshire, from Buxton south to Ashbourne, was closed in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, only the northern section is still in use as a railway, providing a route for major limestone quarry traffic (Roberts and Emerson, 2018). But … Read More