Iain Burgess, a major contributor to the understanding of the stratigraphy and structure of the Pennines and NW England, in particular rocks of Mississippian (Carboniferous) age, has died in Leeds on the 25th July, 2021.

Iain was born in the Highland town of Grantown-on-Spey and attended the local grammar school before entering Glasgow University in 1955. After graduation, he remained in Glasgow to study for a Ph.D. Initially the intention was to investigate an area in Ireland but this proved unsuitable due to limited rock exposure. Thus, an alternative study began on the microfossils (principally foraminifera and calcareous algae) of the Lower Limestone Formation (Brigantian) from the Midland Valley of Scotland under the guidance for Professor T.N. George and Dr R.H. Cummings. He also published an investigation into the late Devonian cornstones (calcretes) of South Ayrshire. Unfortunately, towards the end of the Ph.D. project the Department was temporarily closed for redecoration and during this process a crucial card index recording his microfossil identifications of the previous three years was lost. Thus, the thesis was never completed though a short paper on two species of the calcareous algal genus Calcifolium was later published which was to prove an important key to the dating and correlation of sections throughout Southern Scotland and Northern England, and as far away as Russia. More recently, the thin sections, which …