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Inverness

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Coleraine

Belfast

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Birmingham

Leicester

Liverpool

Manchester

Sheffield

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LeedsKingstonUpon Hull

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Cambridge

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London

Reading

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Cardiff

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Aberystwyth

Dover

Exeter

Southampton

Bristol

Penzance

Plymouth

Omagh

Limerick

Cork

Galway

Athlone

Waterford

ESTA

Cambrian (E)

Mesoproterozoic (Y)

Palaeoproterozoic (Z)

Archaean (A)

Ordovician (O)

Silurian (S)

Devonian (D)

Carboniferous (C)

Permian (P)

Triassic (T)

Jurassic (J)

Cretaceous (K)

Palaeogene (G)

Quaternary (Q)

542 million

488 million

444 million

416 million

359 million

299 million

251 million

200 million

145 million

65 million

2.6 millionNeogene (N)

23 million

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4600 million years ago Earth forms

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time gap

time gap

time gap

The northern half of Britain and Ireland occupy a position south of the equator and are separated

from the southern half by an ocean.

Britain and Ireland have collided and are located on the flank of a mountain chain on the edge of

an arid continent.

Positioned just north of the equator, Britain and Ireland experience desert conditions, while to the

south, Antarctica is covered by a vast ice-cap.

Britain and Ireland occupy a tropical position and are below sea level.

Britain and Ireland sit just south of their present position on the edge of the

opening North Atlantic ocean.

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Temperature and sea level

through timePosition of Britain and Ireland through time

Geological periods and environments

Fossil evidence

ISBN 978-0-7518-3589-2

Our rockkss reveal the story of cchangeEarth's climate is predicted to change rapidly in ways that could have serious consequences for humanity. However, the climate has varied throughout the billions of years of Earth's geological history. Rocks record evidence for past climates including the extreme conditions that have been linked to mass extinctions. ’The present is the key to the past’ is a vital principle of geology. As geological understanding improves, so we are better able to forecast the impact future change may have on us — the past is the key to the future.

Many environments, and therefore the rocks formed in them, are directly influenced by climate. On this poster each environment is represented by a particular colour. Orange areas on the map, for instance, show where rocks that formed in ancient deserts may now be found. On the timeline, orange represents those geological periods when the climate was hot and arid in Britain and Ireland. The same colour is used to highlight photographs of a present-day desert and examples of ancient desert sandstones.

In other cases, however, rocks are formed by geological processes regardless of climate. For example, igneous intrusions, shown in red are formed during episodes of tectonic activity, independent of surface conditions.

The formation of some rocks may influence climate. For instance, thick sequences of coal 'locked up' atmospheric carbon dioxide as they formed. This greenhouse gas is now being released as we burn fossil fuels such as coal and oil. As another example, ash-filled skies from large volcanic eruptions block the Sun’s rays and cause global cooling.

On the map, letters in each coloured region refer to the age of the rocks, as shown in the timeline. For instance, rocks in areas marked 'J' are of Jurassic age, while 'PT' represents rocks of Permian to Triassic age.

P

Britain and Ireland sit just south of theirpresent position on the edge of the

North America

South

America

North

Europe

Africa

Gre

enland

Siberia

India

Australia

Antarctica

China

Equator

30° N

30° S

Mountains

Land

Britain and Ireland occupy a tropical position and are below sea level.

North

America

South

America

Europe

Africa

Greenla

nd Siberia

India

China

Equator

30° N

30° S

Australia

Antarctica

SE Asia

Central

Asia

Mountains

Land

Positioned just north of the equator, Britain andrIreland experience desert conditions while to the

Mountains

Land

Extent of Carboniferous -

Permian glaciations

North

America

South

America

Africa

Siberia

India

Spain

Equator

30° N

30° S

Australia

Antarctica

SE Asia

Britain and Ireland have collided and are located on the flank of a mountain chain on the edge of

North

America

South

America

Northern

Europe

Africa

Siberia

NW

China Equator

30° N

30° SAustralia

SE Asia

Southern

Europe

Mountains

Land

OO

The northern half of Britain and Ireland occupy a position south of the equator and are separated

North

America

Equator

30° N

30° S

Siberia

Northern

Europe

Africa

Britain and Ireland

Land

Phases of:

Colour banding on the timeline indicates the predominant environment or process.

Volcanic eruptions

Igneous intrusions

Mountain building

Typical examples of life-forms preserved as fossils in the rocks of Britain and Ireland.

The timeline before 542 million years is not drawn to scale but condensed to fit the poster. Time gaps indicate where the rock sequence is incomplete.

MASS EXTINCTION

MASS EXTINCTION

MASS EXTINCTION

MASS EXTINCTION

MASS EXTINCTION

Woolly Mammoth

Diplocynodon — alligator

Hyracotherium — early horse

Iguanodon — dinosaur

Scaphites — ammonite

Plesiosaur — marine reptile

Kuehneosuchus — flying lizard

Hyperodapedon — reptile

Elginia — early reptile

Tree-fern

Coral

Dragonfly

Cartilaginous fish

Dactylioceras — ammonite

Tetrapod — amphibian ancestor

Eurypterid — sea scorpion

Orthoceras — nautiloid

Didymograptus — graptolite

Paradoxides — trilobite

Jawless fish

Cooksonia — early land plant

Charnia — earliest complex animals

Temperature and sea level Position of Britain and Geological periods Fossil O kk l thh t f h

Sea levelThe blue curve* shows the average sea level compared to its present level for the whole Earth through geological time. This global sea-level may be affected by, for example, changes in the volume of water in the oceans or the changing shape of the ocean basins. However, relative sea-level changes affecting Britain and Ireland may have differed markedly from this 'global' curve. For example, there are localised vertical changes of the land caused by the movement and interaction of the plates that make the Earth’s crust, and by the formation and melting of ice-sheets. We cannot measure sea level in the ancient past directly, and a variety of techniques are used to estimate it, including the evidence of erosion by the sea, and fossil reefs approximating to sea level.

* The sea-level curve is simplified from one compiled by Joel Collins (1996 to 1998) for the article 'The carbonate analogs through time (CATT) hypothesis and the global atlas of carbonate fields. A systematic and predictive look at Phanerozoic carbonate systems' found in the SEPM (Society for Sedimentary geology) Special publication, No 89. 2008. 'Controls on carbonate platform and reef development' edited by Jeff Lukasik and J A T Simo.

TemperatureThe red curve† shows the average global temperature back to the Cambrian period. We cannot directly measure past temperatures, instead we use evidence preserved in the rocks that records temperature in a predictable way. One such method uses the proportion of the oxygen-18 isotope found in carbonate fossil shells; a high oxygen-18 content is associated with cold sea temperatures and times of glaciation.

The white 'bars' next to the curves shows ice ages — when ice caps covered the polar regions. Note that although the Earth experienced an ice age during the Permian, Britain and Ireland were enjoying tropical conditions.

† The temperature curve is derived from the article 'Celestial driver of Phanerozoic climate?' by Nir J Saviv and Jan Veizer published in July 2003 in the journal GSA Today.

GlobesThe reconstructed globes show how the continents have moved across the surface of the Earth through geological time as a result of plate tectonic activity, variously splitting apart and reassembling elsewhere in changing patterns.

Copyright This poster is the product of a collaboration between the British Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. Unless otherwise stated, BGS © NERC 2009, © Geological Survey of Ireland 2009, and GSNI © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved.

UK Mainland topography © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2005.

Direction of ice flow

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Quaternary ice age deposits are found across most of Britain and Ireland. These relatively thin surface deposits are not shown on the map as they would obscure the underlying rocks. In the diagram above, the white area shows the maximum extent of ice during the most recent glacial advance, which ended 10 000 years ago. There have been many such advances during the past 2.6 million years. Each advance is followed by a warmer interglacial period, when the ice melts and retreats. We are now in an interglacial period — a temperate phase within a continuing ice age.

© Getty Images

Evidence: schist and gneiss are formed by the metamorphism of existing

rocks and are often deformed and folded with new minerals, such as

garnet, growing. Examples include the 'Lewisian' rocks of the North-West

Highlands of Scotland (Archaean).

Process: ancient rocks of varied origin, deformed and baked under high

temperatures and pressures during collision of Earth's tectonic plates, forming the

roots of mountain ranges.

© Getty Images

© Alex Donald

Photo by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tropical swamps, rivers and seas

Ice ages Warm seas

Cold and temperate seas

Ocean depths

Deserts

Ancient mountains

Volcanic eruptionsEvidence: basalt and rhyolite

lava and ash. Fine-grained crys-tals indicate rapid cooling at the

Earth's surface. Examples include the Antrim Plateau as seen at the Giant's Causeway (Palaeogene); English Lake District (Ordovician).

Process: fluid molten rock pours out at the surface as basalt lavas. Sticky rhyolite

erupts in violent explosions.

Proceess: fluid molten rock pours out at the:

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Igneous intrusionsEvidence: coarse-grained granite and

gabbro are evidence that magma crystallised slowly beneath the

Earth's surface. For example Cairngorm Mountains, Donegal, south Connemara (Silurian to Devonian) and Dartmoor (Carboniferous to Permian).

Process: intrusion of molten rock into the Earth's crust from below, crystallising

slowly at depth. May produce geothermal area of geysers and hot

springs at the surface.

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Evidence: sandstone, mudstone and coal. Beds rich in marine fossils

alternate with beds containing land and freshwater species. Examples include South Wales, the Midland Valley (Carboniferous)

and the Weald (Cretaceous).

Evidence: sandstone, mudstone and limestone (including chalk),

containing abundant fossils of warm-water species. For example Central Plain of Ireland, Peak District and Pennines (Carboniferous); North and South Downs (Cretaceous).

Environment: tropical swamps, rivers and shallow seas. Sand and mud

accumulate in layers, sometimes rich in plant remains.

Environment: warm, shallow to deep seas. Sand, mud and calcareous 'oozes'

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Evidence: desert dunes are pre-served as 'cross-bedded' sand-

stones with a rusty red colour. Desiccation cracks, salt and gyp-sum deposits indicate an arid climate. Examples are seen in Cork and Kerry (Devonian) and Cheshire (Permian to

Triassic).

Environment: hot, arid to semi-arid, with some rivers and temporary lakes. Wind

shapes sand into dunes; rivers deposit sand and gravel along channels;

evaporation forms salt pans.

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Evidence: thick sequences of fine-grained sedimentary rocks, mainly

mudstone, containing fossils such as graptolites and trilobites. Examples are found in North Wales (Cambrian); Wicklow–Wexford

(Ordovician).

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Evidence: rock surfaces polished and grooved by ice; U-shaped valleys and

corries eroded by glaciers; drumlins moulded out of glacial debris; eskers formed by meltwaters; tills, sands and gravels cover most of Britain and Ireland (Quaternary). Older tillites are only rarely

preserved in bedrock.

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