Bognor Regis in West Sussex was wheret I spent my teenage years (a long time ago) and it is still a locality that I regularly visit and to where I also lead fossil hunting expeditions. […]
Deposits Magazine
The Magazine on Fossils, Geology & Minerals. Deposits is both a printed and online magazine featuring articles by high profile authors.
Dinosaur quarries of Hastings
For over two hundred years, dinosaur bones and other fossils have been found along the beach to the east of Hastings, between Rock-a-Nore and Pett, but by far the most spectacular specimens were collected from […]
Mary Anning – by Oscar Roch (Age 10)
This amazing article about the life of Mary Anning, was written by Oscar Roch who is just TEN years old, for a school project. It is his own work, with just books and guides to […]
Inclusions in precious and semi-precious gemstones
Gemstones are commonly regarded as natural wonders, and their infatuating beauty and rareness has fascinated us from time immemorial. Besides the obvious macroscopic appearance, many a gemstone is characterised by a ‘hidden’ microscopic inner life […]
The nautilus and the ammonite
This article was inspired by a poem in which an ammonite and a nautilus travel the world’s oceans for millions of years, until they are finally separated by extinction, and is based on a talk […]
Salthill Quarry, Clitheroe: a resource being revitalised
A while ago, SKD published a critique of the poor geoconservation practices on one of England’s most productive Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) of Mississippian age – the so-called scraped surface at Salthill Quarry, […]
Utah: A Geologist’s Wonderland
Often referred to as the Red Rock Country, the state of Utah boasts some of the most breathtaking landscapes formed from years of erosional artistry. Dominating this impressive landscape is the Colorado Plateau that spans […]
Folklore of fossil echinoderms
The distinct five-fold – or pentameral – symmetry of echinoderms makes them particularly striking fossils. Some even have a vaguely mystical appearance. Modern echinoderms – starfish (asteroids), sea urchins (echinoids), feather stars and sea lilies […]
Fossils protecting the coastline at Barton-on-Sea
Many people regard fossils, quite rightly, as rare and exotic objects. Yet how often do people come into contact with palaeontological remains without appreciating it? Probably the easiest example to cite is that of quarried […]
Chrissie and the fossil tree
There’s a saying on the Isle of Mull – “If you come to Mull the once you return again for sure” – and it’s not an idle boast, as those who have visited and subsequently […]
Exploring the Jurassic at Zalas Quarry, southern Poland
The area of southern Poland is well known for its widespread Jurassic deposits, in particular, Middle and Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks that outcrop in a belt running from south-east to north-west in the area known […]
Collecting rocks and minerals: a recollection
Collecting is natural. We all do it to a greater or lesser degree and what we collect is motivated by many factors including value and the appeal to the eye. Rarity is often a factor, […]
Understanding heteromorph ammonites
Heteromorph ammonites were a group of externally shelled cephalopods that were particularly diverse during the Cretaceous period. Many species were abundant and geographically widespread and, for this reason, they have been used to date and […]
Antarctic amphibian: a fossil from 245 million years in the past
The beautiful thing about the Antarctic is that it is one of Earth’s last unexplored frontiers. New climatoligical, geological and palaeontological advances are regularly made on this continent and, recently, the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology […]
Mineral collecting Down Under
I got the collecting bug at about eight years of age, collecting (or ‘fossicking’ as it is called in Australia!) fossilised sharks’ teeth and ancient whalebones eroding out of beach cliffs in my hometown of […]
Arthropleura – a prehistoric bug hunt
Picture yourself strolling through lush, green woodland, on an Earth unspoiled by man and yet to witness the rise of the dinosaurs. You’d be forgiven for feeling at peace with the world, even slightly euphoric […]
An Exceptional Mammoth Discovery from the North Sea
If we consider the huge number of fossil remains of ice age mammals dredged up from the floor of the North Sea, we can only conclude that the Pleistocene era must have resembled a paradise […]
Amber – Frozen Moments in Time
Amber has a deep fascination for people, both as a gem and as a chance to look back into the past with a remarkable clarity. Its warm, lustrous touch beguiles us and the remarkable inclusions […]
Amber – Frozen Moments in Time
Amber has a deep fascination for people, both as a gem and as a chance to look back into the past with a remarkable clarity. Its warm, lustrous touch beguiles us and the remarkable inclusions […]
Dinosaur mines of the Kem Kem
The great transgressions that occurred in the mid part of the Cretaceous have had a profound influence on the geology of many parts of the world. In North America, the seas flooded the central part […]
The secret life of starfish
In every sea, in every ocean, Beasts of freakish locomotion Prowl the substrate, seeking prey To feast on in a monstrous way. Dinner is served. On a plate before you, there is a delicious roast […]
Bite marks in Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonites: what did it?
Ammonites are among some of the best fossils to collect. They are relatively easy to find, for example, in the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale in Germany and the Jurassic sediments of Dorset in the south […]
The Bradshaw Foundation: rock art
For one of the oldest forms of human expression, there is still much uncertainty regarding rock art. What is it? Where is it? How old is it? And what purpose did it serve? The last […]
Sands of Gobi Desert yield new species of nut-cracking dinosaur
Plants or meat – that’s about all that fossils ever tell palaeontologists about a dinosaur’s diet. However, the skull characteristics of a new species of parrot-beaked dinosaur and its associated gizzard stones indicate that the […]
Fossil sea urchins from the Middle Eocene of Barton
the spectacular fossil gastropods and the teeth of sharks – found at the type locality of the Middle Eocene Bartonian in Christchurch Bay (Hampshire and Dorset) – overshadow the other fauna and flora found there. […]
Suffolk Coralline Crag bryozoans
Britain is not richly endowed with fossiliferous Pliocene localities. However, the Red and Coralline Crags of East Anglia make up for this deficiency in the sheer abundance and quality of their fossils. Whereas the Red […]
A Guide to Fossil Collecting in England and Wales
This is a guide to the collection, preservation and display of fossils from more than 50 locations in the UK, with a forward by ichthyosaur expert, and sometime Deposits contributor and TV star, Dean Lomax. […]
Fossils on the Floor
Fossils on the Floor: Mosaics in the Rotunda of the Nebraska State Capitol and Fossils on the Floor in the Nebraska State Capitol: A Coloring and Activities Book by Robert F Diffendal Jr As you […]
William Boyd Dawkins & the Victorian Science of Cave Hunting
Three Men in a Cavern William Boyd Dawkins is an immensely fascinating character, who dominated British geology during his time, and yet is mostly forgotten today. He received a professorship and a knighthood, along with […]
Volcanoes and the Making of Scotland
I remember reading and enjoying this book when the first edition came out many years ago. I am also a keen hillwalker and have stood on top of many of the Scottish mountains referred to […]
