Fossils, geology and minerals. Highly acclaimed international earth science blog with over 850 articles and book reviews.
Deborah Painter (USA) I am an ecologist and general environmental scientist specialising in transportation, energy and industrial development planning to minimise deleterious environmental impacts. I live in the United States and have also written several articles for this magazine. One of the things I really appreciate is just how important … Read More
Dr Kendal Martyn (UK) This article describes several processes producing the shape of crystals. Such processes are illustrated in the most common mineral from the Earth’s surface, quartz. Quartz or “simple” silicon dioxide, is made up of interlocking atoms of silicon and oxygen, arranged into various symmetrical structures depending on … Read More
Ken Brooks (UK) During the Lower Cretaceous period, between 110 and 145 million years ago, Britain was part of the European land-mass. Southeast England was covered by meandering rivers, extensive flood-plains, lakes and lagoons which extended across to central France. Rivers flowing from the London Uplands and the west brought … Read More
The second edition of this guide is written to explain the key concepts of tectonics and rock structures to students and to interested amateurs. I have reviewed a number of Graham Park’s books in recently years (see below) and he is clearly a prolific and excellent writer of books about the earth sciences.
Tony and Anna Gill (UK) The best time to look for fossils in Dorset is after heavy rain and winter storms. These conditions make the cliffs unstable and collapse. High winds produce rough seas, which wash the mud away, leaving the nodules that contain the fossils exposed on the beach. … Read More
Dr Richard J Hubbard (UK) Introduction The Thanet Anticline is an uplifted area forming the northeast corner of Kent and is home to the four coastal towns of Birchington, Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate (Fig. 1). Historically, the area has been known as the Isle of Thanet and, in this article, … Read More
Helen Gould (UK) Chemistry is the key to identifying the source of a meteorite. The commonest rock in the Solar System – and on Earth – is basalt. Erupted at mid-ocean ridges and many hotspot volcanoes, it also floors the oceans. However, each of these situations can be identified as … Read More
The Crowood Press are really developing a nice little series of books on the landscape and geology of select regions of the British Isles, and Tony Waltham’s addition to the series about the Peak District is well worth a read. This new one follows the same format as the others – beautiful, full colour photos and diagrams, a fascinating chapter on each of the important geological and geomorphological aspects of the area (including buildings and industry), and an author who knows his stuff and can write it down with an easy and authoritative style.
Thomas H Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich (Australia) Whether they had horns or not, the ceratopsian “horn faced” dinosaurs are distinctive, not only from other dinosaurs, but all other vertebrates as well, in the structure of their skulls. In addition to the horns, another element of their skeleton, the lower arm … Read More
Lutz Andres (Germany) The giant-toothed ‘Megalodon’ shark (Carcharocles megalodon,) is one of the most impressive extinct creatures to have excited our imagination, and its fossilised teeth are one of the most desired objects in the fossil collecting world. A lot of collectors and scientists believe that Megalodon is closely related … Read More
Deborah Painter (USA) I am an ecologist and general environmental scientist living in the USA and specialising in transportation, energy and industrial development planning to minimise deleterious environmental impacts. I have also written several articles for this magazine. As such, I appreciate just how much local geology is a vital … Read More
By David N Thomas and David G Bowers The extent to which our planet is covered by oceans and seas (about 70%), and the increasing concern that right-minded people have about climate change, means that there is a both a desire and an urgent need to know more about and … Read More
Byron Blessed (UK) 9:30am, Saturday, 15 April 2006. I set off with my fossil- hunting party from my shop “Natural Wonders Ltd” on Grape Lane in Whitby. The weather was overcast but fine, and bright enough for the sun to break through later in the day. As I led the … Read More
This is an ambitious little field guide, which aims to allow amateurs to identify basic rocks and rock formations, for the first time, in a systematic way., as it says: “… using only careful observation, a magnifying glass, a pocket knife – and a bit of patience”.
Stephen Moreton (UK) Our journey around Ireland concludes in Ulster. This comprises Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, which are part of the Republic of Ireland. As geology is no respecter of politics, the national border is ignored here. I … Read More
Helen Gould UK) What are meteorites? Lumps of rock left over from the formation of the solar system or “chipped off” planets during major impacts can become trapped in the Earth’s gravitational field and fall as meteorites. The three main types are iron, stony and stony-iron. All of these are … Read More
I like local geological guides, which aim to get you out and about, visiting areas you might not have known are worth a daytrip. And this is a good example. I sat down and read it cover to cover, as it is only 90 pages long. And I now really want to visit this bit of Kent coastline. Largely concentrating on the Upper Cretaceous Chalk, this guidebook explains and illustrates what seems to be some marvellous geology that can also be explored during what could be a lovely day out on the beach.
Stephen Moreton (UK) In the first two articles of this series, we looked at Leinster and Munster. Continuing in a clockwise fashion brings us to Connaught. Some of Ireland’s oldest rocks are to be found here, forming the Ox Mountains. The rugged and mountainous west is dominated by metamorphic rocks … Read More
Stephen Moreton (UK) In the second part of our tour of Ireland, we head for Munster, which occupies the southwest corner of the island. Geologically, the rocks are mostly inland Carboniferous shales and limestones, with Devonian sandstones forming the coastal peninsulas. All host mineral localities of note. Starting in County … Read More
Jesse Garnett White (USA) “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” Jiddu Krishnamurti My Great Grandfather and his son both gave me some advice at a very young age. “Never trust anyone that won’t look you in the eye when they shake … Read More
Stephen Moreton (UK) The island of Ireland has much to offer the mineral collector, but is relatively unknown to most. This may in part be due to a lack of published information, although, for years, the troubles in the north also served to deter visitors for many years. This series … Read More
Helen Gould (UK) Following on from my articles on plate tectonics and the rock cycle, the tables below will hopefully be useful as an aide-mémoire to identify rock samples on your field trips. Further reading Introducing Metamorphism, by Ian Sanders, Dunedin Academic Press Ltd, Edinburgh (2018), 148 pages (Paperback), ISBN: … Read More
After having favourably reviewed the first two books in this three part series, I must admit I was very much looking forward to the publication of this last one. And, of course, I wasn’t disappointed. This is the third in a series of guides to safe and responsible fossil collecting along (this time), the East Dorset coast from the Chalk cliffs at Bat’s Head, across what are some of Dorset’s more remote coastal locations, to Hengistbury Head.
Deborah Painter (US) The Los Angeles Times reported on 5 April 2021 that a magnitude 3.3 earthquake struck around 4:15a.m., followed by a magnitude 4.4 quake 29 minutes later. Several aftershocks followed. Seismologist Lucy Jones of the Lucy Jones Center reported that two quakes were 19.31km deep, with an epicentre … Read More
Helen Gould (UK) In Plate tectonics (Part 3): The rock cycle, I presented an overview of the relationship between the rock cycle and plate tectonics, and then went on to look more closely at igneous rocks. This time, I want to discuss sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, and review the occurrence … Read More
Helen Gould (UK) What is the rock cycle? Usually, the first thing that budding geologists learn about rocks is that there are three kinds: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. These three major kinds are divided up into many different types of rock. For example, marble, slate and metaquartzite are all metamorphic … Read More
Dr Paul D Taylor (UK) There’s a small Cambrian trilobite (Fig. 1) that is collected in copious quantities from a site in the Wheeler Amphitheatre of Utah. Sold just as it is or mounted in jewellery, this trilobite lacks a common name and goes by its scientific name. In its … Read More
Helen Gould (UK) As we saw last time (Plate tectonics (Part 1): What are they?), the Earth is a pretty dynamic place, with tectonic plates moving about on the surface, driven by convection cells in the upper mantle. But producing a workable theory, which combined most of the observations of … Read More
Helen Gould (UK) What does “plate tectonics” really mean? The Earth’s surface bears about 20 plates, which are able, over millions of years, to move about on layers beneath the crust. Some of the surfaces of these plates consist of continental crust, some of oceanic crust, some both (Fig. 1). … Read More
Mike Thorn (UK) In his book, “Architects of Eternity: The New Science of Fossils”, Richard Corfield coins the term “reluctant palaeontologists”. He has in mind those chemists, biochemists and biologists who use the techniques and skills from their own disciplines to shed new light on our ideas about evolution. Ross … Read More
