Geology and Palaeontology

Acorn, J. 2007: Deep Alberta: Fossil Facts and Dinosaur Digs. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada xii + 186 pages.
AEU SCI QE 748 A4 A36 This is a neat book! Each page has a picture and a short write-up about the image and the place, creature, or person featured in it. The images, mostly photos but some artist's recreations, are almost uniformly excellent. There are 80 of these entries arranged alphabetically. The articles were based on CKUA radio broadcasts and have much of the same discursive narrative character. Unsurprisingly, many of the specimens and localities are from the Badlands of central and southern Alberta, especially the Drumheller area and Red Deer River valley, but other areas of Alberta are not neglected. Many items feature dinosaurs but other types of fossils (fish, turtles, and corals) are included. A few entries deal with Quaternary palaeontology (camel, lion, bison), or with fossil hunters (Barnum Brown, William Parks), or with specific localities (Kleskun Hills, Sandy Point). Modern research and researchers are also mentioned, giving the book an up-to-the-minute aspect. The text is simple and straightforward and written with Acorn's characteristic folksy style. This is an informative and easy read. My only quibble is that I would have liked a map showing the localities and places mentioned in the text, some of which are quite obscure. (16/Aug/2009).
Beaty, C. B. 1975: The Landscapes of Southern Alberta: A Regional Geomorphology, pp. 95 pages. University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada Fourth printing 1984.
AEU SCI GB 428.5 B36 A plain language account in six chapters. Somewhat dated (e.g., plate tectonics identified as the 'new geology') but still a useful, and widely cited, read. Written with clarity and a good deal of waspish humour. The text concentrates more on the mountains and foothills rather than the plains, which is perhaps not unexpected because Beaty, who died in 2000, was a long-time faculty member in the Geography Department at the University of Lethbridge. The Cypress Hills are described in pp. 79-81. The book also contains some good black-and-white photos of features and localities discussed and some helpful simple diagrams and maps. (27/Aug/2011).
Dacks, B. 1999: Amazing Discovery: Wind Reveals Prehistoric Life on the Cusp of Irreversible Change. Legacy 4(4, November 1999 - January 2000):10-13.
Describes the implications of finds of Late Pleistocene fauna at St Mary's Reservoir, southwest Alberta. Includes a photograph of a mammoth trackway (series of footprints). Also reports on finds of stone tools at the same site.
Eberth, D. A., I. Campbell, and F. Hammer 1995: Timescapes: The Geology of Dinosaur Provincial Park. Dinosaur Natural History Association, Brooks, Alberta, Canada 11 pages.
Horner, J. R., and J. Gorman 1988: Digging Dinosaurs. Workman Publications, New York, USA 210 pages.
AEU SCI QE 862 D5 H8227 Finding dinosaur eggs and the remains of baby dinosaurs in the Willow Creek Anticline in northwest Montana in the Bearpaw (Oldman equivalent) Formation between 1978-1987. Uncovered the remains of at least 10,000 dinosaurs, thought to have been killed by a volcanic eruption and subsequently buried by a mudflow. (11/Jun/1988).
McPhee, J. 1980: Basin and Range. Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, USA 216 pages.
AEU SCI QE 79 M17 McPhee travels across the basin and range area of western US with a variety of geologists, examining the structure and considering the impact of geology on history, particularly the human history of the area. He has a particular concern with mining, especially silver mining, because this is the focus of one of the geologists. Interesting but hard to follow in places because of a lack of accompanying maps. (30/Dec/1992).
McPhee, J. 1986: Rising from the Plains. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, New York, USA 214 pages.
AEU SCI QE 79 M29 A meditation on the geology of Wyoming, focused around the life of a USGS geologist, David Love, whose parents homesteaded the area in the early years of the 20th century. Interesting and thought-provoking reading. (27/Dec/1992).
Spalding, D. A. E. 1993: Dinosaur Hunters: 150 Years of Extraordinary Discoveries. Key Porter Books, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 310 pages.
AEU SCI QE 707 A2 S63 Concentrates on the people and what they found, though becoming rather overladen with multisyllabic names at times. Begins in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with discoveries in Europe (mainly Germany) and UK. Then to eastern North America, then moves to Canada and the western US where much of the recent story is concentrated. Also describes Andrews' expeditions to central Asia. Interesting stories and characters. (10/Aug/1998).
Stelck, C. R. 1967: The Record of the Rocks. In Alberta: A Natural History, edited by W. G. Hardy, pp. 21-51. M. G. Hurtig, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
AEU SCI QH 106 H27 Surveys the geologic history of Alberta, providing maps showing the geography at each significant interval. Stelck's main concern is with oil and oil- bearing formations, so all the geology is assessed in these terms. Although the discussion focusses on Alberta, much of it deals more broadly with the western interior. The Quaternary is covered in a short survey at the end, and this review is now outdated.
Storer, J. 1989: Geological History of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 90 pages.
A guide that was compiled to accompany the Earth Sciences Gallery in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. The information is arranged chronologically and includes images from the gallery displays. A useful summary and synthesis. (18/May/2004).

Number of citations: 10

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