A Geological History of Britain – part 4

Old Lost Sea – the Iapetus Ocean and the Cambrian-Ordovician geology of Britain

The lecture notes to the class can be found here – 2012_GHB_Lect4

Palaeogeographical maps of Europe through time can be found in Ron Blakey’s library (Click here)

Palaeogeographical maps can also be found at Chris Scotese’s Paleomap website (Click here).

J. Tuzo Wilson’s seminal paper, ‘Did The Atlantic Ocean Close And Then Re-Open?’ can be found here – Tuzo_Wilson1966_Did_Atlantic_Reopen

An excellent run-through of the stages of the Wilson Cycle is available at the James Madison University website (Click here). Useful information can also be found from the University of Leicester (Click here).

The US Geological Survey has also published an excellent online guide to plate tectonics, This Dynamic Earth, which can be found here.

Regional geology

For an introduction to the geology of Pembrokeshire, click here.

For the story of Paradoxides davidis, the Cambrian trilobite that revealed an ocean, click here. A really excellent online guide to trilobites can be found here.

For a guide to the volcanic geology of Strumble Head, near Fishguard, click here.

For an explanation of ophiolites, focussing on an Iapetus example from Newfoundland, click here.

For a brief overview of Newfoundland’s role in the story of the Iapetus Ocean, click here.

Other links

A brief biography of Adam Sedgwick, father of the Cambrian, can be found here.

Simon Winchester’s book Atlantic is a good read.

Earth scientist in York, fossilist across Yorkshire. Co-director of the Yorkshire Fossil Festival and palaeontologist for hire. Can be found twittering, facebooking, and instagramming as @fossiliam.

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