Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Devonian series at Devon (documented through ad hoc
regional geological surveys, which began in 1832, when
Henry Thomas de la Beche, then Vice-President of the
Geological Society, was employed to undertake a geological
survey of Devon, effectively the
In 1835, the Geological Ordnance Survey (now named
the British Geological Survey) was established. The Geo-
logical Society strongly supported the establishment of such
a survey, with Lyell referring, in his Presidential Address, to
the Society in 1836 as follows
rst recorded geological
survey). The results of the work of de la Beche contributed
to the
to the great advantages
which must accrue from such an undertaking, not only as
calculated to promote geological science, which would
alone be a suf
“…
(Hallam
1989
). The
success of the survey also led to formation of the Geological
Ordinance Survey (Fig.
3
).
The region of Devon contains important fossil sites and
classic coastal geomorphologic features and rock formations
spanning the interval of the middle Palaeozoic Era to the
middle Mesozoic Era (
ca
260 Ma of the Earth
“
Great Devonian Controversy
”
cient object, but also as a work of great
practical utility, bearing on agriculture, mining, road
-
mak-
ing, the formation of canals and rail
-
roads, and other
branches of national industry
(Lyell
1836
).
The British Geological Survey today is the largest com-
ponent body of the Natural Environment Research Council.
It carries out geological surveys of Britain and Northern
Ireland and of the surrounding continental shelf, and is
custodian of extensive data collections of records collated
over the last 160 years. It also maintains working national
collections of fossils, rocks and mineral specimens and major
libraries, which also house collections of geological photo-
graphs (which are accessible to the public), and publishes
memoirs, reports, regional guides and maps, together with a
wide range of popular publications on places of geological
interest throughout the Country.
The next signi
”
s history) that
have contributed to the study of Earth Sciences for over
300 years. The results of the survey brought a deeper
understanding of the geological systems of the region in
terms of stratigraphy, lithology, biostratigraphy and geo-
chronology, and an appreciation that there was a need to
preserve locations, cliffs, and reference sites as standards,
and as research areas. Parallel to the establishment of the
Geological Society of London and the founding of British
Geological Survey (1835; to facilitate scienti
'
c discovery
and information for resource-based exploitation), a move-
ment to promote geoconservation was created. Organisations
such as the Geologists
cant event was the publication of the
Geological Survey Act
on 31 July 1845, providing the
Geological Ordinance Survey with a legal framework
designed to facilitate the completion of a geological survey
of Great Britain and Ireland. To promote the importance of
geology in environmental
'
Association and the National Trust
were founded to promote the importance of geology in
environmental
elds, giving guidance on the protection and
management of geological sites, and funding geological
research and conservation projects, as guardians against
unbridled development and industrialisation (Snodin
1978
).
In addition, it was recognised by organisations such as the
Society for the Protection of Nature Reserves that there was
a need for a more systematic approach to geoconservation.
However, up until and including this phase, conservation
initiatives were not undertaken on a systematic basis, and
there was no legal framework to ensure conservation or
management of sites for which protection was sought. This
history is outlined below in terms of the major events in the
preservation of special sites, and in the generic preservation
of sites of signi
Association
was founded in 1858 to provide guidance on the protection
and management of geological sites, and to fund geological
research and conservation projects. In 1887, the
elds, the Geologists
'
rst prac-
tical steps in the formal (ad hoc) conservation of sites of
geoheritage signi
cance in the world were taken, with the
conservation of geological monuments such as the fossil tree
stumps of Carboniferous age in parks by the local Govern-
ment in Glasgow (Doyle et al.
1994
).
Natural Trusts and Preservation Societies were founded at
different stages and places in the period 1895
1949. For
instance, in 1895, the National Trust (England, Wales, and
Northern Ireland) was founded out of concerns in relation to
the impact of uncontrolled development and industrialisation.
-
cance, and provides a chronology of the
socio-political unfolding of geoconservation at this time in
Britain.
Fig. 3
de la Beche
'
s 1830 cross-section through the Bristol coalelds to the Mendip Hills (from Hallam
1989
)
