Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
the name of the ocean current that laps against the Andes in South
America, his geological research is not generally well known.
Humboldt's terminology was later more rigidly applied to a more pre-
cise region and narrower timeframe in 1839 by Leopold von Buch, a
German geologist andmineralogist, who alsowrote a fine travelogue on
Norway and Lapland in 1810.
Chalk is perhaps the lithology or rock type most instantly recog-
nised by most people. We are aware of it from an early age through its
use on squeaky blackboards in dusty, noisy classrooms. Features on
the English landscape that are composed of chalk are all familiar: the
creamy white Cliffs of Dover stand as a step into England from the
Continent or as a metaphorical defence from it; the White Horse, and
the Giant with his club held above his head are cut into the underlying
white rock. The lighthouse at Beachy Head is perched immediately on
top of chalk cliffs, which being composed of this soft pure limestone
unfortunately erode rather too rapidly for those who own property
near by. The chalk was deposited during the Cretaceous, a period
defined in 1822 by the Belgian geologist Jean Baptiste Julien
d'Omalius d'Halloy (1783-1875). Unlike many contemporaries who
carried out geological field work on horseback, d'Halloy preferred to
walk everywhere. He is principally known for his work on the younger
rocks and fossils exposed in the Paris Basin, and for his geological map
of much of western Europe, the culmination of his decade of geological
perambulations. He was also an educator and penned a number of
early geological textbooks including Abre´ge´ de ge´ologie which proved
highly popular and ran to at least seven editions.
The Reverend William Daniel Conybeare (1787-1857) was an
English clergyman, whose early ecclesiastical career saw him minis-
tering to parishioners in Bristol, before he headed across the River
Severn to Sully in south Wales in 1824. His Welsh sojourn lasted
nine years before he was moved to Axminster, now noted for its
carpets. He reached the pinnacle of his clerical career in 1845 with
his elevation as Dean of Llandaff in Cardiff, where he remained until
his death. If youwander around Llandaff Cathedral andmake your way
