Geology - Part 24

Articles, features and stories with an emphasis on geology.

23 09, 2009

Quaternary Period Just Gained 800,000 Years

By Mike|2023-03-03T16:52:11+00:00September 23rd, 2009|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Geologists and Earth Scientists Agree to change the start date of the Quaternary

The International Commission on Stratigraphy has formally agreed to re-define the boundary dates for the Quaternary, back dating the start of this particular period of geological time to approximately 2.6 million years ago. This new ruling super-cedes the ruling made in 1983 when the Quaternary period, the most recent period of geological time was set as lasting from 1.8 million years ago to the present day.

The Quaternary

The debate over where the boundary for the Quaternary/Neogene periods should be has raged for decades with the origins of the argument lost in the confusion that arose when the science of geology first began. Back in the days of Cuvier, Barrande, Sedgwick, Darwin et al geological time was divided into four epochs, the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and the present epoch the Quaternary. If you read any of the original texts from these scientists and their contemporaries you will come across these terms when the ages of fossils are discussed.

The terms Primary and Secondary have long since been renamed (the eras of the Palaeozoic and the Mesozoic), but the term Tertiary representing a sub-era that dates from the end of the Cretaceous to the beginning of the Quaternary is still used widely today. This particular interval of geological time consists of five epochs. The first three are the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene (forming the Palaeogene period) and the final two are the Miocene and Pliocene (Neogene period).

Everything Dinosaur stocks a range of models that represent prehistoric mammals from the Cenozoic.

To view this range: Models of Prehistoric Mammals.

Dating a Geological Period

A number of attempts have been made in the past to agree the start date for the Quaternary. The old boundary of 1.8 million years ago, does not represent a significant natural event. Major cooling of the Earth began approximately 2.6 million years ago, much of the Northern Hemisphere became covered in ice sheets and many scientists have long argued that this point in geological time would make a more appropriate boundary.

Commenting on the change of dates, Professor Philip Gibbard stated:

“It has long been agreed that the boundary of the Quaternary Period should be placed at the first sign of global climate cooling. What we have achieved is the definition of the boundary of the Quaternary to an internationally recognised and fixed point that represents a natural event, the beginning of the ice ages on a global scale”.

Until this new agreement was reached, it has been widely felt within the scientific community that the Quaternary boundary should be located earlier, at a time of greater change in the earth-climate system. (rapid and extensive cooling).

A Typical Landscape after the Last Ice Age

Ancient landscapes - global climate change

A wet and boggy landscape, a typical landscape of western England after the last Ice Age (Quaternary).

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Professor added:

“For practical reasons, such boundaries should ideally be made as easy as possible to identify all around the world. The new boundary of 2.6 million years is just that”.

Looks like a lot of textbooks are going to be re-written. The formal start date of the Quaternary is now 2.58 million years ago and a paper has been published in the scientific journal “Journal of Quaternary Science”, clarifying the new position.

Extract published in part from Science Daily.

5 06, 2009

A Chance to go Digging for Remarkable Dinosaurs

By Mike|2024-04-17T10:23:24+01:00June 5th, 2009|Categories: Geology, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Digging for Dinosaurs in the Dinosaur Provincial Park (Canada)

Looking for something to do over the Summer holidays, something a little bit out of the ordinary and unusual, well how do you fancy taking part in a real dinosaur excavation at a World Heritage site?

Digging for Dinosaurs

The Dinosaur Provincial Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, situated in the Badlands of Southern Alberta, Canada, is offering a new dinosaur excavation programme. For either one or two days participants (must be over 14), get the chance to take part in a real dinosaur bone bed excavation, working on real dinosaur fossils and helping to map the site and excavate Late Cretaceous dinosaurs.

The programme has been titled: “Bone Bed 30 – Guided Excavation Program” not perhaps the most exciting or catchy title but an opportunity to help excavate dinosaur bones and take part in real research is a very serious business and there are very few opportunities to participate in such excavations. The package is being offered throughout the Summer months (runs July to early September), and one or two day programmes are available.

Digging for Dinosaurs

Pause for a pic next to a digs station. Team members at Everything Dinosaur have worked on fossil dig sites.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For any person lucky enough to be in that area of southern Alberta this Summer, we would heartily recommend you taking up this opportunity to, as the tourism information says:

“Unearth the past, contribute to the future”

To learn more about the opportunity to help excavate real dinosaur bones, visit the Dinosaur Provincial Park’s official website.

Dinosaur Models

Everything Dinosaur stocks a wide variety of prehistoric animal models and replicas including many models of dinosaurs, fossils of which come from the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Dinosaur Provincial Park Formation.

For example, the PNSO range includes models of ceratopsians, tyrannosaurs and duck-billed dinosaurs: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Models and Figures.

2 06, 2009

Remains of a Plesiosaur found at Lyme Regis

By Mike|2022-12-25T07:25:04+00:00June 2nd, 2009|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Plesiosaur Fossil Discovery Announced

No sooner have record visitor numbers been declared for the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, the Dorset town is back in the news again with the announcement of the discovery of a 70% complete plesiosaur fossil on Monmouth beach.

Plesiosaur Fossil

First the good news about the Fossil Festival, according to the organisers, an estimated 15,000 to 16,000 people attended the event, which was run from Friday 23rd May to the following Sunday. A number of team members from Everything Dinosaur attended and we are sure the excellent attendance figures were helped by the super Bank Holiday weather the Dorset coast enjoyed.

Now, the finding of a fossilised plesiosaur is a very rare event at Lyme Regis, occasionally vertebrae are found (they look like cotton reels), but to discover a 70% complete specimen including skull material is a find of a fossil hunter’s career. This is exactly what happened to Tracey Marler and her partner, keen fossil hunter Chris Moore on a visit to Monmouth beach to the west of Lyme Regis.

A close examination of the bones (which are in association and partial articulation), reveal teeth marks where the carcass was scavenged by another prehistoric animal. Plesiosaurs first appear in the fossil record from the Late Triassic, they were typically, long necked animals with small heads with jaws lined with needle-like teeth. The Loch Ness monster is regarded as a plesiosaur. It is believed these animals were specialist fish hunters (piscivores). The new discovery from Monmouth beach is believed to represent an individual that was over 4 metres long.

An Replica on Display in a Museum Similar to the Lyme Regis Plesiosaur

Oxford University Museum of Natural History plesiosaur.

A replica of a long-necked plesiosaur swims into view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Richard Edmonds, Science Manager at the Jurassic Coast World Heritage site, stated:

“They [plesiosaurs] are rare. There are only ten known examples of complete or partial skeletons of this species. I have been doing this for thirty years and I have only ever found the odd bone”.

A Single Bone

Tracey and her partner Chris Moore, first found a single bone encased in the limestone rock, but they returned again and again to the location and were able to excavate about 150 vertebrae plus parts of the skull, the jaws and even a tooth.

To view a model of a plesiosaur, other marine reptiles and dinosaur toys: Prehistoric Animal and Dinosaur Models.

Commenting on their discovery, Mr Moore said:

“It came out in pieces but you could clearly see how it looked. The tail bone was in position. Some of the back bones were completely in place where they should be and the neck bones were there as well. You could see some of the bones had actually been chewed up a bit”.

It is not known what animal could have scavenged the carcass, but some scientists have speculated that it probably was another marine reptile, probably an ichthyosaur.

To see a scale model of an ichthyosaur and dinosaur models, take a look at the range of prehistoric animal models and figures in the PNSO section of the Everything Dinosaur website: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Models.

Plesiosaur

Natural England worked closely with the Jurassic Coast World Heritage team to ensure the fossilised bones were extracted from their matrix, it is hoped the bones will eventually be put on display at the Lyme Regis Museum. A fitting location, as this building is very strongly associated with the famous Georgian fossil collector Mary Anning, the finder of the first plesiosaur fossils at Lyme Regis.

31 05, 2009

Fossil Hunting at the Beautiful Cleeve Hill Site

By Mike|2024-04-17T10:26:06+01:00May 31st, 2009|Categories: Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Fossil Hunting at Cleeve Hill

Team members take time out of their busy schedule to go fossil hunting at Cleeve Common.

Having had to spend some time in the south of England due to work commitments one of our team members had the opportunity to visit a popular fossil collecting site at Cleeve Common in Gloucestershire.

The area is popular with hikers and walkers as Cleeve Hill itself, is the highest point in the county of Gloucestershire as we recall and from the top there are stunning views of the English countryside.

The View from Cleeve Hill

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The views from this location are wonderful and although there are no toilets or other facilities at this site, it is a wonderful place to walk and take a picnic.

Fossil Hunting

There is a private golf course on Cleeve Hill, and care should be taken to avoid the players and give them plenty of room, particularly considering the hilly nature of the course that they are playing on. However, a public car park is available and makes a great starting point to explore the geological formations that are exposed along the western side of the hill. Cleeve Hill has the remains of many old quarries and it is here in the scree and rubble that a number of good fossils can be found, given a keen eye and a little patience.

The exposed fossiliferous rocks date from the Jurassic period (Aalenian/Bajocian faunal stages), 178-166 million years ago and represent marine deposits. Similar strata can be found elsewhere in the United Kingdom, notably in Dorset and also in Lincolnshire.

Hammering at the bedrock is not permitted, and care must be taken when close to overhangs as rocks have been known to fall, but with a little care some interesting fossils can be located. We found a number of excellent examples of brachiopods associated with Jurassic oolite rocks from this location and a couple of fragments of belemnite guards (belemnites are a group of extinct cephalopods). The crystalline structure of the guard can still clearly be made out, although the belemnite guards were not as numerous as in locations such as Charmouth near Lyme Regis.

A Belemnite (Extinct Cephalopod)

A belemnite model. A replica of an extinct cephalopod.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

CollectA have added several highly accurate replicas of extinct invertebrates to their model series. This series includes replicas of ammonites, nautiloids and a model of a belemnite.

To view the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs range: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Prehistoric Life Models.

One of the pleasant things about visiting a site like this is that sometimes you can find yourselves in little, tucked away exposed faces of rock were lots of fossils can be seen. Towards, the end of our visit, it was decided to explore one last rise and as made our ascent the location did not seem very promising. However, on reaching the top we were rewarded with the discovery of a hidden away area of rock and scree slope which had lots and lots of fossils to observe and photograph.

The “Hideaway” at Cleeve Hill

The “Hideaway” at Cleeve Hill.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

This particular location is probably very well known to local collectors. It is very probably featured in guidebooks, but to us it was a magical place that we simply stumbled upon at the very end of our trip that made the journey well worthwhile. We were able to observe and photograph a number of fossils in situ and we had the site to ourselves (apart from one baby rabbit). This might not be the Flaming Cliffs of Mongolia but sat on the grass leaning back on our rucksacks with a sandwich and a cup of coffee we felt like we were a million miles away.

26 05, 2009

Reflections on Lyme Regis – Rockwatch – The Unique Club for Young Geologists

By Mike|2024-04-17T10:27:03+01:00May 26th, 2009|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Lyme Regis Reflections – Rockwatch the Greatest Club on Earth!

After a pleasant couple of days digging for fossils at Church Cliffs between Lyme Regis and Charmouth on the Dorset coast and participating in the Fossil Festival we get the chance to reflect on our bus-man’s holiday.

One of the great pleasures of the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival is that we get the chance to meet up with all kinds of people involved with geology, palaeontology and general science. The festival has become a magnet for science enthusiasts from all sorts of organisations representing a myriad of scientific disciplines.

Lyme Regis

For example, whilst enjoying an evening walk back from the famous harbour with its Cobb, as featured in the film of the John Fowles novel “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”; we bumped into Sue Brown, the Chairperson of Rockwatch.

Rockwatch, is a nationwide club for junior geologists, or indeed young persons with an interest in Earth sciences. Part of the Geologists Association, Rockwatch is a club for anyone fascinated with rocks, fossils, landscapes and minerals, giving young people the chance learn more about geology and to be a part of the world renowned Geologist Association, one of the oldest scientific institutes dedicated to geology in the world.

Based in London, Rockwatch sends out a special magazine three times a year to members, it features loads of information, stories, quizzes, puzzles… lots and lots of super stuff is crammed into each edition. It takes really complicated science and makes it easy to understand. For instance, if you ever want to know about Earthquakes or meteorites there is an article somewhere in the Rockwatch magazine archives which you can refer to.

Best of all, members of Rockwatch get exclusive invitations to special Rockwatch Club events taking place round the country. If you have ever wanted to meet a real geologist or to go out fossil hunting with a professional, then Rockwatch is the club for you.

If you want to be a “Rock Star” (pardon the pun), then we would heartily recommend Rockwatch, their magazine even features the latest news on dinosaur discoveries.

For fans of prehistoric animals, Everything Dinosaur offers a wide range of models of dinosaurs as well as replicas of typical animals such as ichthyosaurs and ammonites that once swam in the shallow tropical sea that is now southern England.

To view the extensive range of prehistoric animal models and figures including the CollectA Prehistoric Life ammonite and belemnite models, visit the CollectA section of Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Models and Figures.

Examples of Prehistoric Animal Models that Reflect Lyme Regis Fossils

The CollectA ammonite and belemnite models next to examples of fossils found at Lyme Regis.

To learn more about the Geologists Association: The Geologists Association.

Sue and her enthusiastic team had been making Jurassic landscapes, as part of the Fossil Festival, reflecting on the age of the rock strata all around them, we think that this was a very appropriate activity to set in Lyme Regis. I am sure Mary Anning herself, would have approved.

23 05, 2009

Time to Scour the Beach

By Mike|2023-03-02T16:19:46+00:00May 23rd, 2009|Categories: Geology, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

Time to Scour the Beach

A number of our team members are spending the day fossil hunting at Charmouth, near Lyme Regis on the UNESCO World Heritage site the “Jurassic Coast”. The predicted dry, warm Bank Holiday weather has drawn us to the south coast and we are going to be scouting around the beach looking for ichthyosaur bones and ammonite fossils.

Fossil Hunting

With a bit of luck we will find some interesting pieces. The great thing about palaeontology is that unlike other forms of science you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment, just good walking shoes, waterproof clothing and some basic tools. At Lyme Regis we don’t bother hammering away at the nodules that we find, we much prefer to scan the foreshore to see what time and tide has produced.

Typical Fossils Found at Lyme Regis on the Famous “Jurassic Coast”

Lyme Regis full of fossils. Typical fossils that can be collected along the beach at Lyme Regis (Dorset). Everything Dinosaur team members advise visitors to the area to heed the tide timetables and to avoid getting too close to the dangerous cliffs.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Depending on the tide time tables we will probably be out on the beach shortly after 9am and spend most of the day on them. Our intention is to cover the area from Lyme Regis to Charmouth to see if we can find any vertebrate bones, our focus will be around Church cliffs, but we will probably go along the beach to Charmouth itself. Should be a nice day for a bit of beach combing.

Everything Dinosaur stocks a wide range of prehistoric invertebrate models in the CollectA range of prehistoric animal models. There are ammonite, nautiloids and belemnite models to collect.

To view the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs range of models: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Prehistoric Life Models.

12 04, 2009

The Joy of Beautiful Belemnites

By Mike|2024-04-15T14:38:04+01:00April 12th, 2009|Categories: Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Geology, Main Page|14 Comments

The Joy of Belemnites – An Easy Fossil to Find

Belemnites extinct members of the cephalopod class and consequently close relatives of extant animals such as squids and cuttlefish are often a young person’s introduction to the joys of fossil hunting.

Belemnites

Complete belemnite fossils are exceptionally rare, although several Jurassic-aged fossil specimens are known from southern England. However, the part of the animal that is usually preserved as a fossil is a solid piece of calcite called the guard. The guard was an element of the internal skeleton positioned towards the rear of the creature. These distinctive bullet shaped fossils with a pointed end are easy to find in certain Jurassic marine sediments. They often occur in great numbers, perhaps indicating how numerous these marine invertebrates were or how well preserved the guards are. Indeed at Lyme Regis for example, some of the strata between the Cobb at Lyme and Charmouth are named after the number of belemnite fossils found therein.

Fossil Belemnites from Lyme Regis

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture above shows a selection of belemnite fossils found by members of the Everything Dinosaur team on the beach between Charmouth and Lyme Regis. The pound coin in the photograph provides scale. The word belemnite comes from the Greek for “dart” and looking at the picture above it is easy to see the reason for this name. Finding belemnite guards is relatively easy, they do stand out against the small, round pebbles and stones found on the foreshore and collecting them can be fun. Everything Dinosaur team members have picked up over a dozen or so in just a few minutes of searching a small area.

We supply a model of a belemnite. This is a useful item as it allows us to illustrate where on the animal the guard would be located and helps to “bring to life” the fossils that young dinosaur fans have found.

To see the model of a belemnite, prehistoric animal figures and dinosaur models: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

The Model Belemnite available from Everything Dinosaur

A typical model of a belemnite.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

22 02, 2009

Exploring the Geology of Cheshire – Alderley Edge

By Mike|2022-12-20T13:13:45+00:00February 22nd, 2009|Categories: Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Exploring the Geology of Cheshire – Trip to Alderley Edge

Just a few miles from our warehouse the Cheshire plain ends and gives way to a huge sandstone ridge that rises to something like 190 metres above sea level. This is the famous sandstone landscape of Alderley Edge, a place where legends of wizards, witches and warlocks are abundant, but unfortunately fossils are very rare indeed.

However, feeling the need for a bracing walk and wanting to get out of the warehouse and office for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, a couple of Everything Dinosaur team members took the opportunity to visit the this National Trust site and do a little exploring. Although this site is owned by the National Trust, much of the sandstone outcrop is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and indeed, the rock formations in the area have been designated RIGS – Regional Important Geological Sites.

The sandstone was laid down as sedimentary rock under the action of wind and water deposition during the Triassic period (approximately 230-240 million years ago). A number of beds are visible in the area, the sediment of the beds vary in terms of composition, hardness, size of sand grains and their colouration. During this part of the Triassic period, Cheshire was much closer to the Equator than it is today. It made up part of the super-continent Pangea, the northern part, known as Laurentia, land that would eventually form the Americas and Europe. To the east there were salt marshes and ultimately shallow seas forming the mighty Tethys ocean. To the west, travelling inland you would have encountered a harsh, desert environment similar to the Sahara desert in North Africa. The area was very hostile to life, being hot, dry and effectively classified as “red desert”. The lack of water and subsequently the lack of life explains the very poor fossil record for this part of Cheshire. Only a few tiny brachiopod fossils (shellfish) are associated with this part of eastern Cheshire.

The stratigraphy of the sediments, the order in which the various sediments have been deposited is quite complicated. Two main stratigraphic groups are represented, Sherwood sandstones and the more recent Mercia mudstone deposits. The oldest exposed sediments belong to the Wilmslow formation (Wilmslow is a large town in the area). A number of layers of conglomerate can be viewed at Alderley edge. These layers represent deposition of sediment by rivers. It is believed that during this time in the Triassic, this area had a number of seasonal rivers that ran in an north-westerly direction, eventually reaching the coastal salt marshes and then the sea. Occasionally, flash floods occurred and the action of water bringing sediment into the area for eventual deposition can be viewed at a number of exposed rock outcrops. For example, a layer of conglomerate deposition, lying directly above sandstone can be seen at the Church Quarry site, one of the places of interest we visited on our walk.

Close up of Conglomerate Layer (Church Quarry site)

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

In the picture, a number of rounded, small pebbles can be seen. This is evidence of deposition by the action of water. The pebbles range in size from a few millimetres to up to 8 cm across, one of our trusty geology hammers has been placed in the picture to provide a scale. As the water lost energy, it was unable to carry so much sediment and so these pebbles were deposited to form what are termed “inclusions” within the conglomerate.

This part of Cheshire has been mined for metals such as copper, lead and iron. Archaeological evidence indicates that mining first began in this area around 4,000 years ago. As we walked towards the very edge of the sandstone ridge we encountered the Pillar and Doc mines, evidence of excavation deep into the sandstone. Looking carefully amongst the debris and scree on the steep slopes we found several examples of malachite.

The sandstone has veins of green minerals (the malachite) running through it. This is the most common ore found at the Alderley Edge site (copper carbonate hydroxide) and from this ore copper can be extracted. Malachite is formed by the reaction of water containing dissolved carbon dioxide with sulphide ores.

Some of the pieces of Malachite found near the Pillar and Doc Mines

Exploring the Geology of Cheshire. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

In the picture, the green veins of malachite can be seen, we put the 20 pence piece in for scale.

Although we did deviate from the designated walk we were supposed to be on (the wizard walk), we did manage to see most of the points of interest our guide book had informed us about. The walk took about 3 hours and it was a most pleasant afternoon.

View from “the Edge” the end of the Sandstone Ridge

What a view! Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

We did make frequent stops to admire the views and examine the exposed strata, even finding a couple of thin layers of mudstone (but no fossils). The above picture is the view from the edge of the sandstone ridge looking out towards Derbyshire. On a clear day, it is possible to see the city of Manchester to the north (twenty miles away) and out over the Cheshire plain to the Derbyshire hills.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

9 01, 2009

Fossil Sites in Running to be Nominated as Natural Wonders

By Mike|2022-12-13T08:40:08+00:00January 9th, 2009|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Dinosaur Provincial Park and Flaming Cliffs up for “Seven Natural Wonders” Status

The Dinosaur Provincial Park Formation, one of the richest dinosaur fossil sites in the world is in the line up of contenders to be named one of the world’s top natural wonders. However, amongst the competition for this prestigious accolade is the Flaming Cliffs site of Mongolia, the location of the discovery of many Asian dinosaurs, including the first fossilised dinosaur eggs and nests.

Fossil Sites

The on-line competition which permits the public to vote for their favourite natural wonder is being run by the New 7 Wonders Foundation. This is a Swiss based, not-for-profit organisation, founded by Bernard Weber, Swiss-born Canadian film maker and adventurer.

The list of nominees consists of 261 locations from around the world, split into categories like “mountain”, “river” and “rock formation”. The United Kingdom is represented by a number of entries, Loch Ness in Scotland is joined by the Calf of Man (in the island category), and a nature reserve in the Channel Islands.

Many Superb Dinosaur Specimens Have Been Collected from the Dinosaur Provincial Park Formation

Albertosaurus fossil exhibit. One of the famous dinosaur specimens from famous fossil sites.

The “Death Pose” of a dinosaur! One of the famous tyrannosaur specimens from the Dinosaur Provincial Park Formation (Canada).

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Natural Wonders Nominated

The list of nominations also includes natural wonders such as Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon and Mount Fuji.

Commenting on the inclusion of the Dinosaur Provincial Park, Brad Tucker, visitor services co-ordinator for the park said:

“This is a wonderful thing. We want to encourage all Canadians to go online and vote for us”.

Acknowledging how stiff the competition was he added:

“We’re up against some stiff competition. We’re amazingly honoured to go to the next step.”

Once the votes have been counted and assessed a short-list of 77 entries will be created. For Dinosaur Provincial Park, this moonscape of amazing rock formations, already a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just making the initial 261 locations is a real honour.

“It’s absolutely unique on a global scale,” said David Eberth, a senior research scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, the world-renowned museum where many of the dinosaurs and other fossils from the Dinosaur Park are displayed.

In July, voting will close on the short-list and then a panel of experts will decide the top seven. The announcement will be made sometime in 2011.

To view the nominations and to vote for the seven natural wonders of the world (hopefully a fossil site such as Dinosaur Provincial Park or Flaming Cliffs), you have to visit the official website for the competition.

In the meantime, take a look at the selection of replicas of iconic fossil animals available from Everything Dinosaur’s website: Replicas of Fossil Animals – Educational Toys and Games.

6 01, 2009

Salting the Roads – A trip back over 240 million years

By Mike|2023-02-26T09:39:18+00:00January 6th, 2009|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Rock Salt used to Grit Roads – Dating from before the Dinosaurs

In Britain the weather can be extremely unpredictable. Last August for example, allegedly part of the British summer, was recorded as one of the dullest months since weather records were instigated, it was very cloudy and there were few sunny days. In Cheshire, we had snow last year in April, but February turned out to be one of the sunniest and warmest on record. No wonder we Brits are obsessed with the weather.

Rock Salt

At the moment we are enduring a bit of a cold snap. Admittedly, our night time temperatures of -6 Celsius are nothing to complain about when we compare notes with friends and associates in Canada and other parts of the world. There are far colder places than the North-west of England, but after such a mild winter last year, this has still come as a bit of a shock to us. Gloves are very much the order of the day when we are in the warehouse packing the various dinosaur toys and gifts for customers and we do seem to be drinking more coffee. We have even had to grit the yard to prevent it becoming frozen and slippy. Many of the local roads are being gritted nightly by the council, in fact many hundreds of tonnes are being spread on roads and pavements to prevent accidents.

The grit that is being applied to many of the UK’s roads was probably mined in Cheshire, although Cheshire does not have the monopoly on providing grit or rock salt, there are also extensive mine workings in Cleveland in the North-east of the country as well as in Country Antrim in Northern Ireland. The grit is so called as it comprises of rock salt plus sand and other impurities as the rock salt was deposited in association with sands which formed sandstone.

Before the Dinosaurs

The grit that is spread on our roads that originates from Cheshire mines is approximately 245 million years old. It dates from before the time of the dinosaurs. The salt deposits were laid down during the Late Permian and Early Triassic when rising sea levels led to the encroachment of seawater forming large areas of shallow sea and salt marshes. At this time in the Earth’s history, the land that was to become the UK and Europe made up part of a huge land mass called Laurentia, a spur of the super-continent of Pangea. Britain was much nearer the equator and the shallow seas were surrounded by deserts (hence the sandstone deposits that dominate Cheshire’s geology).

Large Reptiles Roamed Cheshire Before the Dinosaurs Evolved

Chirotherium tracks on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Large tetrapods roamed Cheshire before the dinosaurs.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Slowly much of the area covered with sea was evaporated and huge areas of salt lakes and evaporites (minerals deposited from the evaporation of water) were formed. Some were eroded away as they remained on the surface, but other deposits were buried and these rock salt deposits are the source of the grit we use on our roads. Rock salt mining also occurs in Poland and Germany, so you can get an idea of the extent of the shallow seas that formed during this time.

The salt works as a freezing point suppressant, forming a brine on the road surface that prevents water turning to ice. This helps to prevent roads becoming icy and dangerous. In recent years, additives have been included to improve the adhesion of the rock salt on roads and pavements, but in essence when you drive over a salted road or walk along a salted pavement you are travelling over evidence of Britain’s geological history.

Much of the rock salt in Cheshire is just 50 metres below the ground, it forms a natural barrier for ground water and I am told that on quiet nights in parts of the Cheshire countryside which overlay the salt mines, you can hear the distant rumble of underground explosions as the mine workers blast the rock salt away.

Dinosaurs

Everything Dinosaur stocks a range of prehistoric animal models and figures. The range includes dinosaurs and numerous replicas of animals that lived in the Permian and the Triassic.

To visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.