Research interests

The following are currently cooking (or on the back burner...)

The quest for the Scottish diamond
The rediscovery and investigation of Matthew Forster Heddle's "diamond" specimen. After a hundred years, this specimen has come to light. See the newspaper story here and here

Otavite from Bishopton
First Scottish occurrence of this exceedingly rare cadmium carbonate mineral. A story of wierd minerals, air, and water (some of it bottled).

A Scottish kimberlitic dyke
There's diamonds in them thar hills. Well, there might be, if you knew where to look....

A metamict oxide mineral from the Ballater Granite
A mysterious metamict oxide mineral is fairly common in evolved beryl-bearing granite at the Pass of Ballater. This mineral may also be an important host for uranium in other similar granites (eg Cairngorm).

Lower crustal and mantle xenoliths in a dyke from the Ross of Mull
Want to know what's under the Sound of Iona? This dyke can help you!

Publications

  1. Faithfull, J.W. 1985. The Lower Eastern Layered Series of Rhum Geol. Mag. Vol 122, p 459-468.
  2. Butcher, A.R., Young, I., and Faithfull, J.W. 1985. Finger Structures in the Rhum Layered Complex Geol Mag. Vol 122, p 491-502.
  3. Faithfull, J.W. 1986 The Lower Easter Layered Series of Rhum. Unpublished PhD Thesis (University of Durham).
  4. Faithfull, J.W. 1988. Strontianite from near Yate (Avon). Journal of the Russell Society, Vol 2, 1-3.
  5. Faithfull, J.W. & Hubbard, N. 1988. Coffinite in the Gipsy Lane Brickpit, Leicester. Journal of the Russell Society, Vol 2, 25-28.
  6. Faithfull, J.W. A short history of mineral names. 1989. Geology Today. Vol. 5, p 80-81.
  7. Faithfull, J.W. and Ince, F. 1992. An unusual occurrence of mottramite from Peldar Tor, Leicestershire. Journal of the Russell Society. Vol 4. p 59-62.
  8. Davenport, J., Balazs, G.H.. Faithfull, J.W. & Williamson, D.A. (1993). A struvite faecolith in the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea Vandelli. A means of packaging garbage? Herpetological Journal, 3: 81-83.
  9. Faithfull, J.W. And Durant, G.P. 2001 Antarctica Rediscovered: Borchgrevink Rock Specimens Rediscovered in the Hunterian Museum. The Scottish Naturalist. Vol 113 p 127-139.
  10. Faithfull, J.W. and Hubbard, N.J. 2001 Otavite from Bishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Journal of the Russell Society, Vol 7, p 94-95.
  11. Faithfull, J.W. 2002 The Ben Hope “diamond” re-examined. 18th General Meeting of the International Mineralogical Association: Programme with Abstracts, P123.
  12. Jackson, B. and Faithfull, J.W. 2003. Mineral Collecting and Museums. In Mineral Collecting and Conservation – hammering out a future? English Nature Research Report No. 505, p45-49.
  13. Richmond, L, Faithfull, J.W. and Tschan, R. 2004. Featured Archive: Found - Lost Antarctic Explorer. Dunaskin News , Edition 4, 2003-2004. The Newsletter of Glasgow University Archive Services.
  14. Faithfull, J.W. and Upton, B.G.J. 2006 Xenolithic Insights into the Deep Geology below the Ross of Mull. Scottish Journal of Geology Vol. 42, No.1, pp37-41.
  15. Faithfull, J.W. 2007. A Scottish “diamond” specimen rediscovered: the first Scottish occurrence of piemontite. Scottish Journal of Geology Vol. 43, No. 1, pp 33-40.