Abstract

Papers devoted to chalk-related topics have varied in frequency since the foundation of a geological society in Yorkshire. There have been contributions from vicars, corn merchants, a wallpaper manufacturer, a corset maker and a car salesman, as well as academics and professional geologists. Many early ideas have become established. Indeed, the concept of a Chalk Group Northern Province was suggested by the Reverend J.F. Blake as early as 1878. The keen observation and painstaking recording of other early workers such as Lamplugh on Flamborough Head were continued in the late twentieth century by, for example, Whitham and Mitchell, and the advent of modern technology enabled new dimensions of study. Following a ‘dark age’ of very few contributions, a 1978 publication, though short, finally proposed an accepted lithostratigraphy for the northern chalk that is distinct from that of the south, and in so doing became what might be considered a milestone paper. This ‘renaissance’ bloomed into a ‘golden age’; North Sea activities, advanced technology and a rekindling of interest in chalk stratigraphy and palaeontology all contributed to the publication of a spate of papers. Exactly 50% of all papers and over 50% of all authors involved were published between 1987 and the present day.