Stratigraphy and palaeontology : essays in honour of Dorothy Hill

Abstract

Geology is Earth history. The twenty essays in this book are concerned primarily with illustrating this history by reference to four aspects of stratigraphy and palaeontology: the biological interpretation of fossils, biostratigraphy and biogeography, descriptive palaeontology, and marine sedimentation and geomorphology. The dictum that 'palaeontology is the handmaid of stratigraphy' - without stratigraphy palaeontology would lack a time reference - is a truism. Each, of course, elucidates the other. Not nearly so widely recognised, however, is the relationship of stratigraphy and palaeontology to other aspects of Earth history. Some of the essays in the book will interest biologists as well as geologists in the contribution that fossils make to understanding the problems of evolution, classification, functional morphology and ecology. The correlation of Australian Carboniferous, Permian, and Cretaceous rocks, generally valuable to stratigraphers and palaeontologists, is of particular importance for the economic exploitation of the rocks of the country. The biogeographic analysis of new palaeontological and stratigraphic data is pertinent for geophysicists, geologists, and geographers interested in the problem of continental drift; while by virtue of its geography and its geological record Australia must hold many of the keys for understanding southern hemisphere geology, and all Gondwana reconstructions will have to be checked against the detailed information now made available. Geologists, sedimentologists, and geomorphologists will find stimulating the discussions on the geomorphological development of south-east Queensland and on the Great Barrier Reef. The broad scope of this book, offering as it does essays on many new discoveries and revaluations of past work, will be of considerable value to a wide range of scholars in many disciplines. As such, it is a fitting tribute to the woman it is designed to honour, Professor Dorothy Hill, F.R.S.