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Life's a beach: lessons from the Earth's rarest sedimentary rocks
Author(s) -
Sheppard T. Huw
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geology today
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.188
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1365-2451
pISSN - 0266-6979
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2451.2007.00606.x
Subject(s) - geology , sedimentary rock , geologic record , shore , paleontology , earth (classical element) , archaeology , earth science , oceanography , geography , physics , mathematical physics
Ancient rockshore deposits are the rarest sedimentary rocks on Earth. Less than 200 examples span the planet's entire history, but they preserve important records of past environments, including sea‐level changes and unusual fossil communities. The most celebrated example, dating from the earliest Jurassic, is found at Ogmore‐by‐Sea in South Wales. This article describes the history of environmental change at Ogmore, and why these rocks can help us to interpret the deposits of ancient rocky shores world‐wide.