Essex Rock: Geology Beneath the Landscape

by Ian Mercer, Ros Mercer

All landscapes are built on from hard stone for building with, to the softest clay or sand. Each piece of rock is a storehouse of prehistorical information; even a simple pebble from the garden has its own complex tale to tell. Geology is the great detective science that can unlock these secrets. In this entertaining and eye-opening book, the authors take a deep dive – quite literally – into their home county of Essex. We are all living in an ice age, an ongoing event that has hugely affected Essex over the last 3 million years. Yet this county was born more than 500 million years ago. Our story begins when the land we know as Essex was part of a large continent close to the South Pole, tracing the geological processes that continue to shape the countryside around us. The form of the land, boulders on village greens, road cuttings, cliffs, stones in church walls – they can all bring geology to light in unexpected and fascinating ways. Aimed at a general readership with no scientific background, chapters progress from fundamentals to intricate details of geological investigations and cutting-edge research. Richly illustrated with photographs and colour diagrams, here the geology of a county is visualised and brought to life as never before, along with pertinent environmental insights in the light of climate change that is happening now.

300 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2022

Reviews

[hawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't completely finished this book, but am on a long pause with it for now, and tidying my 'currently reading' shelf.

I've read and enjoyed enough to say this book is fantastic! 😃😁😍

the title and cover image were enjoyable in themselves 😉😃😍

and the contents more than live up to their promise 🙂 there's ALOT of information, yet SO WELL laid out to be incredibly accessible.

days when I wasn't fit for reading alot of words, I found I learned ALOT from just looking at the images and diagrams and reading their descriptions. this was impressive in itself! 😃

the book is well structured, and the text accessible, interesting and informative. there's a nice balance of science, history, and social context.

very much recommend if you find yourself in Essex, and want to know more about the history of the landscape you're moving thru and/or stopping on.
equally if you're interested in geology, and/or simply curious - even if you just pick this book up briefly you're sure to learn something 🙂


🌿🐾🐚🦎🐊🦣🐚🐾🌿

a rock-ing 5 🌟 read 😉

🌿🐾🐚🦎🐊🦣🐚🐾🌿


accessed as a paper book.
it's quite a weighty tome, but nowhere near as heavy as a mammoth/a chunk of Essex Clay 😉

[Lisa Friel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to dip into maybe rather than read from cover to cover but, as someone born and raised in Essex and always jealous of the real cliffs and mountains and rocks in other parts of the country, this is a fascinating insight into what is literally beneath our feet, hidden and not-so-hidden. Written for the layman and full of pictures of places I know, and others I now want to visit, it opens your eyes to the landscape, the buildings and nature that we don't usually notice on a day to day basis. I have always been fascinated by flints in the fields I walk and will now be searching out puddingstones whenever I have the opportunity!