BENTON, M.J., COOK, E. & TURNER, P. 2002. Permian and Triassic Red Beds and the Penarth Group of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series no. 24. xvi+337 pp. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Price £62.00 (hard covers). ISBN 1 86107 493 X.

Abstract

This book is not a description of the Permian and Triassic red beds and the Penarth Group of Great Britain but rather is a series of descriptions of red-bed localities in or around the different basins of red-bed deposition; there are, or will be, considered for notification as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Descriptions of these sites are augmented by other Regionally Important Geological/Geomorphological Sites (RIGS) that have educational, historical (e.g. first described in early 19th Century publications), research or aesthetic value. Although all the sites in this volume have been proposed for notification as SSSIs, the final decision to notify or re-notify sites lies with the governing councils of the country conservation agency concerned. The sites can be tabulated as follows: | | Permian | Triassic | Penarth | |:-------------------:| ------- | -------- | ------- | | Scotland | 5 | 6 | – | | NE England | 1 | – | – | | W. North Sea Basin | – | 4 | – | | Cumbria | 7 | 1 | – | | E. Irish Sea Basin | – | 4 | – | | Cheshire Basin | – | 5 | – | | English Midlands | 3 | 6 | – | | S. Wales | – | 4 | 2 | | Somerset/Gloucester | – | – | 9 | | Devon | 7 | 2 | 2 | | Total | 23 | 32 | 13 | The opening chapter is a global introduction to the Permo-Triassic and Britain’s place within it (26 pp.). In the three succeeding chapters, British Permian red beds (72 pp.), the Triassic red beds (109 pp.) and the Penarth Group (56 pp.), the sites are introduced at varying length. For the uninitiated, there is a useful 13-page glossary explaining technical terms, which is preceded by 26 pages of references. Each site entry follows a similar pattern under the headings: introduction, …