Raymond Casey was a geologist and an international authority in Mesozoic stratigraphy and palaeontology. By studying layers of rock that date back to the Mesozoic Era, a period of geological time around 252 to 66 million years ago, and the fossils that they contain, Raymond was able to determine ancient organisms’ paths of evolution and interactions with their environment.
His field observations and discoveries clarified the order in which rock layers were deposited, as well as the structural relationship of rocks, during the Lower Cretaceous period in England — a geological period that spanned 145 million–100.5 million years ago. He specifically focused on the Lower Greensand Formation, a major aquifer in the Thames river basin.
Raymond’s work on the marine fossils ammonites overturned previous thinking about rock formations from the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary in Northern Europe. He also studied the hinge structure of shells to analyse the varying climates of past geological periods. From 1936–1965, he authored 47 scientific papers.
Dr Raymond Casey FRS died on 26 April 2016.
Biographical Memoir
