Deposits Magazine (Issue 33) Reviewed

The spring edition of the magazine for geologists, mineralists and fossil fans has duly arrived and this UK produced magazine certainly packs a punch with issue 33.  The front cover shows an artist’s interpretation of the palaeoenvironment of Russia during the Late Permian.  This is an example of the artwork of Lyme Regis based illustrator Richard Bizley and inside there is a highly informative article all about Richard’s work re-creating prehistoric and alien landscapes.

Richard likes to focus on some of the unsung heroes from the fossil record.  His landscapes feature a whole range of prehistoric animals and plants, the fauna and flora depicted all painstakingly researched to ensure accuracy.  The artwork is truly stunning and the detail simply exquisite.

The Front Cover of Deposits Magazine (Spring 2013)

A huge array of topics covered inside.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Deposits Magazine

Visitors to Holland can perhaps be inspired about an article about hunting for Ice Age fossils on the Dutch beach of Hoek van Holland. It seems that land reclamation and construction work to prepare sea defences leads to a lot of material being dredged up from the bottom of the North Sea – amongst the sand there are many fossils of prehistoric mammals that get deposited on the beaches of this low-lying country.

Fossil hunters can find teeth of Woolly Mammoths, bones from Woolly Rhinos (Coelodonta) and even Mesolithic spear tips and fishing harpoons.  Further afield, there are very well illustrated articles on fossil hunting for Mesozoic aged fossils including beautiful Ginkgo fossils in southern Sweden and a fascinating article on Jamaican fossil crabs.  Decapod crustaceans (crabs) have got their own army of dedicated fossil collectors who specialise in collecting specimens of these arthropods.  The article outlines the types of fossil crabs that can be found on the Caribbean island of Jamaica.  The handy glossary of terms presented at the end of the article helps the uninitiated to gain an insight into just how fascinating collecting fossils of crabs can be.

Arachnid Article

Arachnids, the likes of spiders, mites, scorpions and their near relatives have a large article dedicated solely to them in this issue of Deposits magazine.  This feature jointly written by Dr David Penney (University of Manchester) and Dr Jason Dunlop, the curator of myriapods and arachnids at the Berlin Natural History Museum is extremely comprehensive and packed with beautiful photographs and computer enhanced images.  As artist Richard Bizley loves to incorporate Arachnids into his artwork it makes perfect sense to include a detailed review of the Arachnid fossil record in the same issue as a feature on the artistic reconstruction of palaeoenvironments –  a unique fusion of science and art.

The magazine provides book reviews, including a couple on the volumes published to help walkers explore the Jurassic coast of southern England, lots of news stories and there is even a feature on fossil amber found in Scotland.  For those prepared to get out and about this spring there are articles on hunting for Middle Eocene sea urchins and a detailed review of the fossils to be found on a visit to Herne Bay in Kent.

Update on Recent Fossil Discoveries

For readers who live in Colorado (United States of America), there is an update on some of the rare, recent fossil discoveries from the famous Morrison Formation of western North America.    A rare fossil of a gastropod (snail) has been discovered, it has been turned to agate over millions of years (shell replaced by the mineral agate).  Dinosaur fossils may make the headlines but this snail fossil provides scientists with valuable evidence to help reconstruct life in freshwater habitats during the Late Jurassic.

All in all, this is an excellent magazine that covers a whole range of subject areas of interest to palaeontologists, geologists, mineralists and fossil fans.  The articles are written in a way that allows the layperson to follow what is being said with scientific terms reduced to a minimum.  Issue 33 of Deposits magazine is well worth reading.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.

A Review of Deposits Magazine (Issue 32)

Deposits magazine is a quarterly publication dedicated to fossil collecting and geology.  Published in the UK, this colourful magazine covers a wide variety of topics in each edition, and issue thirty-two which arrived at our offices yesterday is no exception.

In memory of Dr David Mayhew

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Dr David Mayhew who sadly passed away in October, after a short illness.  The first article in this edition, provides information on the discovery of a Middle Jurassic trace fossil showing crocodilian footprints and a possible Chelonia (member of the tortoise family) track as well.  The fossil was found in Scalby Bay, north of the seaside resort of Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast.  This part of the English coastline is famous for its Jurassic fossils.

Moving to slightly warmer climes, although we acknowledge that Yorkshire was a tropical fluvial delta 160 million years ago, there is an article continuing a series of presentations mapping the geology of Jamaica, there is also the second part of a feature explaining the geology of the Giants’ Causeway in Northern Ireland.

The Front Cover of Deposits (Issue 32)

A magazine for rock fans.

Image credit: Everything Dinosaur

Deposits Magazine

Pictures taken of reader’s fossil finds over the summer months are also included, with a number of successful fossil hunting trips from locations around the British Isles and overseas  being highlighted.  This dovetails nicely with a feature written by one contributor which discusses the invertebrate fossils to be found in the Lower Muschelkalk Formation of the Netherlands.  Brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods and arthropods are all represented by the fossil specimens.

It is hard to believe that around 240 million years ago (Early Triassic), that Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark and north-eastern France was covered by warm, shallow tropical sea that teamed with ancient life.  Some of these prehistoric creatures have left a fossil record to be explored.

Examining Graptolites

Under the title “The Strangest of the Graptolites” there is a highly informative description of  retiolite graptolites with amazing, high magnification electronic microscope images of the structure of these bizarre colonial creatures that lived in marine environments during the Palaeozoic Era.

Packed with news stories concerning fossil finds, the latest research and events this magazine provides an excellent read for anyone with a passing interest in geology, rocks and the fossils that can be found in some of them.  There is even an article highlighting the controversial research into understanding whether or not significant amounts of DNA could survive the fossilisation process.  Any magazine that includes a piece entitled “Could you Receive a Blood Transfusion from a Neanderthal”, gets a big thumbs up from us.

For replicas of prehistoric animals and scale models of dinosaurs: Prehistoric Animal Figures and Dinosaur Replicas.

Deposits Magazine- the International Rock and Fossil Magazine

As subscribers to the Deposits magazine we thought it high time that we wrote a brief review on this quarterly bulletin which concerns itself with all things related to geology, palaeontology and fossil collecting.  Team members at Everything Dinosaur have been readers for some time but as yet we have not put anything down in print with regards to this particular publication.  However, with the threat to the foreshore at Bracklesham Bay (West Sussex) we could effectively “kill two birds with one stone” as it were, combining a review with a bit of publicity concerning the campaign to save the Bracklesham Bay site as a location for family fossil hunts.

Deposits Magazine

First the review of Deposits.  This is a full colour glossy, fifty-two page high quality Earth science magazine.  It is aimed at both beginners, enthusiasts and professionals.  The magazine has gained a strong reputation worldwide, for its superb quality of articles in topical areas.   Certainly, each issue does cover a great deal of ground (no pun intended).  Take for example issue 28 (Autumn 2011) which ever since its arrival before Christmas, it has been in residence in our board room available for all the staff to read.  In this particular edition, topics covered include an insight into the working day of a North Sea wellsite geologist, Palaeozoic fossils to be found in the southern Alps of Austria, ammonites from New Guinea and the last part of a highly informative overview of the geology of Barbados.

The Front Cover of Deposits Magazine

Issue 28 – Deposits Magazine.

Picture credit: UKGE

Aimed at the General Reader

One of the great benefits of this magazine, is that it is written for the general reader.  Technical areas of geology are discussed using terms and concepts that everyone including casual fossil collectors can understand.  Scientific papers are summarised in such a way that much of the technical language is removed thus permitting all readers to learn about new discoveries and such like.  We at Everything Dinosaur, try to do the same for aspects of vertebrate palaeontology within this humble web log, so we greatly appreciated the efforts of the editorial team behind this excellent publication.

An example of this would be the article on the fossils of the Carpathian Basin (a substantial and highly fossiliferous region of eastern Europe covering Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and portions of Austria).  The authors of what will be a series of articles about the Carpathian Basin (Gareth Dyke and Istvan Fozy), have provided a well-written and hugely enjoyable article and we look forward to reading more about this fascinating area of eastern Europe in future issues of the magazine.

Now for the plea for help.  The foreshore at Bracklesham Bay running to Selsey in West Sussex is under threat and could potentially be closed to fossil collectors.  The local district council intends to close the beach to families, visitors and fossil collectors to the east of the Bracklesham car park, as they want to designate this area as a kite surfing zone.

Bracklesham Bay

We know the Bracklesham Bay area very well, although it has been a few years since we visited this site whilst in the Chichester area.  It is a beautiful part of the world and a very popular location for fossil collectors as the foreshore has abundant fossils, bivalves, sharks teeth, teeth from rays, gastropods etc. all dating from the Palaeogene Period (50-45 million years ago).  The site has easy access and fossils can simply be picked up off the beach, it is a great location for families and many a young fossil collector has started their collection and fired their enthusiasm for geology after a visit to this part of West Sussex.  Proposed changes to sea defences are already threatening the site, but if the Bracklesham Bay site is closed to fossil collectors this would be a great shame.

Whilst we accept that this location is also very popular with wind surfers and surfers, it remains one of the most family friendly fossil hunting locations in the whole of southern England and as such if this site or part of it were to be closed to families, then this would be extremely sad.

For models and replicas of iconic animals from the fossil record including belemnites and ammonites: Replicas of Iconic Fossil Animals and Models.