This book is concerned almost wholly with a diverse suite of carbonate rocks that were formed near the margins of shallow tropical seas during the last 5-7 million years of the Permian period (300-251 Ma). These unique rocks, collectively known as the Magnesian Limestone, have been studied for more than 160 years and the names of some of the early workers - Geinitz, Murchison, Phillips, Sedgwick, Sorby - would grace any geological hall of fame. Despite this formidable assault, and the efforts of a host of later workers, the Magnesian Limestone still retains many of its secrets. Permian marine rocks crop out on both sides of the Pennines, but those of the Zechstein Sea to the east are by far the thicker and more varied, and in these lie all but one of the sites selected for special protection. Detailed accounts of the rocks in 26 such sites form about half of this book and the normal and special features of these sites are compared, contrasted and placed in their mutual context in the remainder of the book. The sites were selected according to a range of criteria, including uniqueness, representativeness, historical importance and suitability for teaching purposes and research; most are inland quarries but a few are in the unrivalled coastal cliffs of classical County Durham where the main difficulty lies in deciding what not to select.

This second edition of 'The Geology of England and Wales' is considerably expanded from its predecessor, reflecting the increase in our knowledge of the region, and particularly of the offshore areas. Forty specialists have contributed to 18 chapters, which cover a time range from 700 million years ago to 200 million years into the future. A new format places all the chapters in approximately temporal order. Both offshore and economic geology now form an integral part of appropriate chapters.

This book is the first to describe the history of geoconservation. It draws on experience from the UK, Europe and further afield, to explore topics including: what is geoconservation; where, when and how did it start; who was responsible; and how has it differed across the world? Geological and geomorphological features, processes, sites and specimens, provide a resource of immense scientific and educational importance. They also form the foundation for the varied and spectacular landscapes that help define national and local identity as well as many of the great tourism destinations. Mankind's activities, including contributing to enhanced climate change, pose many threats to this resource: the importance of safeguarding and managing it for future generations is now widely accepted as part of sustainable development. Geoconservation is an established and growing activity across the world, with more participants and a greater profile than ever before. This volume highlights a history of challenges, set-backs, successes and visionary individuals and provides a sound basis for taking geoconservation into the future.

A cross-border approach to exploration, appraisal and development is important in mature basins such as the North Sea, where the ‘low hanging fruit’ have long gone. This approach emphasizes the need to see the basin as one geological entity, in order to maximize economic recovery and prepare the area for the energy transition. This volume offers an up-to-date, ‘geology-without-borders’ view of the stratigraphy, sedimentology, tectonics and oil-and-gas exploration trends of the entire North Sea basin, along with the challenges associated with differences in data continuity and nomenclature across median lines. This volume includes overviews of cross-border play statistics, lithostratigraphic naming conventions and exploration performance through to new facies models for cross-border areas. As such, this volume will be a valuable reference for every geoscientist working in the North Sea for years to come.

Documents the broad range of desert environments of the Early Permian and Early to Mid Triassic in Britain, as well as the brackish lakes of the Mid and Late Triassic, and the fully marine Rhaetian deposits of Triassic age that cap the sequence.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

This volume brings together state-of-the-art reviews of the non-biostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data that are used to define and correlate Permian time intervals. It includes analyses of Permian radio-isotopic ages, magnetostratigraphy, isotope-based stratigraphy and timescale-relevant biostratigraphy. It is the first book devoted to this subject and represents the cutting edge of Permian time-scale research.