page_title: William Joscelyn Arkell
section_title: Geological research
hierarchical_section_title: William Joscelyn Arkell / Geological research
caption_attribution_description: English: Cererithyris arkelli Almeras, 1970; dorsal view; Middle Jurassic (Bathonian); Ranville, Calvados, France. From the collection of Clive Champion.
context_page_description: William Joscelyn Arkell FGS, FRS was a British geologist and palaeontologist, regarded as the leading authority on the Jurassic Period during the middle part of the 20th century.
context_section_description: Arkell was awarded a lectureship in geology at New College, Oxford in 1927, and was made a senior research fellow of that College in 1929. With little teaching or administrative duties to speak of, Arkell was able to devote almost all his time to research. This culminated with the publication in 1933 of The Jurassic System of Great Britain. This 681-page work critically examined and consolidated all previous work on the Jurassic, including the formations described by the pioneer on British geology, William Smith, in the 19th century. It established Arkell as an authority on the Jurassic, which was remarkable given he was only 29.
  He also published extensive work on the Upper Jurassic reef deposits (the Coral Rag) of England. He was an expert on the use of Jurassic limestones as building materials, publishing a book on the many different types of limestone used in the buildings of Oxford. The often obscure terminology used by miners and quarrymen was clarified by his dictionary of rock terms. Arkell was interested in the tectonic history of Southern England, particularly with reference to the highly folded beds of the Isle of Purbeck. He contributed to reports published by the British Geological Survey, especially around the area of Weymouth and Portland.
  The Second World War interrupted his research in 1941 and Arkell worked for the Ministry of Transport in London when bombing of that city was at its most intense. In this period he became seriously ill, spending five months in hospital after a pneumothorax operation.
caption: The Middle Jurassic brachiopod Cererithyris arkelli Almeras, 1970,  named after Arkell.
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