The Himalaya: mountains made from mountains

Good building stones get reused. Sometimes the only traces of very old buildings are their stones, built into more modern ones. It’s the same with rocks and mountain belts. Stone that now forms parts of the Himalaya was once part of a now-vanished mountain range. The Himalaya were formed by the collision between the Indian… Continue reading The Himalaya: mountains made from mountains

How old is plate tectonics?

Plate tectonics is the process that underpins much of our understanding of the Earth. It explains manymany aspects of the Earth, from magnetic patterns in oceanic rocks to the distribution of plants and animals. How unusual is it? Well, it doesn’t seen to be happening on other rocky planets in our solar system. Many geologists… Continue reading How old is plate tectonics?

Cycling in the Pennines – 300 million years ago

The north of England is dominated by rocks of Carboniferous age, which give it a distinctive scenery and history, where local coal fuelled the world’s first industrial landscape. The geology is extremely well known, because of the importance of the coal deposits, but also because of the continuing excellence of the British Geological Survey. A recent… Continue reading Cycling in the Pennines – 300 million years ago