Some rocks are burnt deep into the British psyche. The creamy chalk of the White Cliffs of Dover. Or the black basalt of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, tumbling steeply from green pastures into the stormy chop of the North Atlantic Ocean.
And yet, beyond their mere beauty, symbolism and mysticism, the rocks of the British Isles have shaped us. They have defined where we live, how we live and who we are. They power our everyday lives and provide shelter from the infamous British weather.
The rocks that comprise these islands contain a rich story of the evolution of Earth itself; of the birth and death of oceans and mountains over 4.5 billion years. When I, a geologist, hold a pebble in my hand, gaze at the shape of our coastlines, or study the bricks of our homes, I’m trying to read this ‘rock record’. We geologists are trained to use our deep-time perspective
