Description

Published by the Open University in 2004

Essential reading for first and second-year Geology undergraduates, A-Level Geology teachers and students and enthusiastic amateur geologists. The book includes a comprehensive glossary, maps and excellent full-colour illustrations, and is based on part of a second-level Open University short course of the same name.

The landscape and surface environment of the continental crust that now forms the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and the adjacent lesser isles has undergone dramatic changes during the geological history of the Earth.

This book takes the reader on a geological tour of the British Isles, showing how changes in climate, sea-level and relief can be recognized and understood in the geological record. The reader is asked to use a variety of data and geological principles to interpret how and why different rocks formed, and to identify past environments and tectonic settings.

By unravelling the geological history of the British Isles, a remarkable insight is gained into the geological evolution of the whole Earth.