Rhynie Chert - History of Research

History of Research

The chert was discovered by William Mackie while mapping the western margin of the Rhynie basin in 1910–1913. Trenches were cut into the chert at the end of this period, and Kidston & Lang worked furiously to describe the plant fossils between 1917 and 1921. The arthropods were examined soon afterwards by different workers. Interest in the chert then waned until the field was reinvigorated by Lyon in the late 1950s, and new material was collected by further trenching from 1963-71. Since 1980, the chert has been examined by the Münster school, and from 1987 Aberdeen University, who confirmed that the chert was indeed produced by a hot spring setting. Cores, allowing an insight into the evolution of the chert over time, were drilled in 1988 and 1997, accompanied by further trenching efforts, which unearthed the Windyfield chert.

Until recently, the Rhynie chert was the only such deposit known from the geological record, although recent work has turned up other localities from different time periods and continents.