Notidanodon Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Hi guys, had a long and fruitful summer that I can’t wait to share with you (still cooking up last years post too ) anyway we started a few weeks ago where I met up with a friend to do a chalk hunt in East Sussex. It was a lovely sunny day but access to this site was very weird as is most of the quarries in England. This place exposes the grey chalk, famous for its abundant shark teeth so that’s what I was hoping for. However to no avail but I did find a lot of fish bits! And a few nice ammonites, as I prep them/get them prepped I will post them. here is a typical scree we were looking at. and some of the sponges found 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 6 Author Share Posted July 6 Got 5 more trips to write up and lots of fund stuff to come! Hetermorphs crustaceans and shark teeth galore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 6 Author Share Posted July 6 After I was done with that chalk hunt I got on the ferry (and just a warning it’s sooo expensive) I believe the most expensive in Europe as someone told me, cost more for me and my car than my 5 friends and their car to go to France! Ah well at least there was a good view, you can see the UK’s aircraft carrier! after I got there I had a quick pop to yaverland where I searched through a lot of this Shelly vectis formation material for shark teeth and found a bunch (in the prep room now) and then had dinner in the old town which was lovely the next day I returned to yaverland with a vengeance! I spent 12 hours on the beach and made 3 trips to the car fully laden with rocks. It’s about 2k to where I was hunting so not close! I was knackered by the end of the day, but here are some in situ photos. an articulated fish a derived Jurassic ammonite some of the harder vectis material where I found shark spines and cephalic hooks 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 6 Author Share Posted July 6 And a few more photos … gutter cast full of fish 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 Next day was on to whitecliff bay, one of the geological jewels of the uk, hard to find fossils unless you know where to look but a great diversity from campanian to Oligocene! I mainly focused on the chalk and the bracklesham beds. great view to start the day large trek down but it’s much worse on the way up as I would soon find! I got there for low tide so the Barton, bracklesham and London clay beds were all exposed on the foreshore. and I started making some finds big bit of turtle which I had to grab as the tide was rushing in, thus fragmenting it into a million pieces as by the end I was literally grabbing pieces blind as water had covered it. some more finds and The bed they were. Coming from 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 Sadly that last shark tooth ended up being just the root, would have been my biggest ever! onto the chalk next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Hmm not too many replies to this, maybe I need to start posting the actual finds don’t fret, that will come soon, im just sorting them all out,it’s quite an ordeal I have an entire car full! I collected quite a lot of matrix too from loose boulders on the foreshore so just processing that before it fully dries out. Anyway onto the next part. Here’s a quick Look at the geology, my red squiggles indicate where I find most of my teeth I had spent the best part of low tide searching the foreshore beds as it had been quite productive so getting around to the chalk was the next priority as it gets cut off at high tide (watch out if you don’t fancy a swim) En route I checked out the London clay exposures (usually pretty barren, and was surprised to see some large oysters, I saved one for later research but was in a rush so continued on after nearly falling over on some very green chalk I made it, here are some of the views from the headland its worth being very careful here as the cliffs are tall and overhanging, I don’t go if there’s any fresh falls but I haven’t seen any as I only go in summer when they’re more stable. The tide was still low enough to clamber around to culver cliff which is in the distance of the last photo, I’d never checked out that way before so decided to go for it while keeping an eye on the tide. en route I found a few cool bits including this massive echinorys the route was a bit sketchy but I figured what’s a wet foot to me anyway. heres the view didn’t find much in the 10 mins I looked just 2 belemnites which were actually in that sketchy sea pass above but I soon left as it didn’t feel that safe and I was wary of the tides. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 I swiftly returned to the area I found that large Echinorys and found some more stuff, a modern sea anemone, Plenty of sponges which were too difficult to collect, some inoceramids and more to be shown after prep. I normally look for vertebrate remains and the white chalk isn’t rich in them by any measure so I was happy to find a good bit of fish, I’ll show it later when it’s prepped. But the star find on the way back was another huge Echinorys as big as my fist. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Then heading back I closely inspected the cliff to find more teeth! I did manage to find quite a lot of London clay molluscs which is unusual but I’m busy consolidating them at the moment. here they are in situ i then moved onto the wittering formation, found some nice trionyx shell here last year but only big blocks of shells this time, collected 2 as I think they could make cool display pieces and they were just lying on the beach anyway. funally I looked at the earnley formation which produced some nice molluscs and a good shark tooth Finally I drove up the cliff to check out the ww2 gun emplacement and the monument to a 19th century naval officer 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 Nice landscapes. Sorta reminds me of the coast west of Calais where I was recently. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 1 hour ago, Ludwigia said: Nice landscapes. Sorta reminds me of the coast west of Calais where I was recently. Yes for sure it was very beautiful, I assume Calais has the bunkers as well, being part of the ‘Atlantic wall’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikrogeophagus Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 4 hours ago, Notidanodon said: Hmm not too many replies to this, maybe I need to start posting the actual finds I was gonna reply earlier, but I was thinking you might've wanted an uninterrupted chain of posts . These are some neat trips and finds. I like that you included some pics of the towns and views. Feels like I'm on a UK vacation! The geology photos are certainly interesting too. So vertical whereas most of the stuff here is flat. 3 hours ago, Notidanodon said: I bet seeing the sheen of that tooth felt good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 Great stuff. Nice photos at such a spectacular location. Does the London Clay here still produce shark teeth like it does on the mainland? "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 9 hours ago, Notidanodon said: Yes for sure it was very beautiful, I assume Calais has the bunkers as well, being part of the ‘Atlantic wall’ Yes. Tons of them. Particularly this one. The Todt Battery, which has still retained its 380mm. cannon, the Leopold K5 which had wreaked havoc on the opposite English coast during WWII. It was captured by Canadian troops in September 1944 after being bombed out by the RAF and has since been turned into a popular museum. Also I was reminded of the monument to the Dover Patrol at Cap Blanc Nez by the one you photographed. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 @Notidanodon Looks like you had some fantastic collecting trips MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 16 hours ago, Yoda said: @Notidanodon Looks like you had some fantastic collecting trips Thanks! Not done yet either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 On 7/16/2024 at 8:56 PM, Mikrogeophagus said: I was gonna reply earlier, but I was thinking you might've wanted an uninterrupted chain of posts . These are some neat trips and finds. I like that you included some pics of the towns and views. Feels like I'm on a UK vacation! The geology photos are certainly interesting too. So vertical whereas most of the stuff here is flat. I bet seeing the sheen of that tooth felt good! Thats a good idea actually! Thanks yeah the places where fossils are found are either the most beautiful or most ugly I’ve found haha. yes the Isle of Wight is very geologically messed up because of plates crushing into one another, it all runs vertically which explains why there are so many types of fossils there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 On 7/17/2024 at 5:06 AM, Ludwigia said: Yes. Tons of them. Particularly this one. The Todt Battery, which has still retained its 380mm. cannon, the Leopold K5 which had wreaked havoc on the opposite English coast during WWII. It was captured by Canadian troops in September 1944 after being bombed out by the RAF and has since been turned into a popular museum. Also I was reminded of the monument to the Dover Patrol at Cap Blanc Nez by the one you photographed. That looks like a cool place to visit maybe I’ll come over some day, I often find it striking how similar France and England are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 1 hour ago, Notidanodon said: That looks like a cool place to visit maybe I’ll come over some day, I often find it striking how similar France and England are. I would highly recommend that. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 The next day I set off on a long drive (for the Isle of Wight so about 45 mins) to Yarmouth where I hiked along the section of coastline to bouldnor in the search for Oligocene fossils. People had been there recently so it wasn’t as productive as in previous years but not bad at all! bad weather to start the day. Some of the beds were exposed but I could only find shells no vertebrate remains, anyone got any idea in the formations? did eventually start finding bits, including this croc vert. and a few more bits the photo above barely shows how muddy I got it was incredibly silty, part of the reason as to why I couldn’t find much! I got 8 croc teeth last year and one half of one this year. Here are some more in situ pics, if anyone knows the formation that would be great. I thought it was bouldnor in the area but it looks more like headon hill: I eventually searched everywhere and the coast was blocked by trees so I trekked along the base of the cliff onto the next section which took about 45 mins and I only found one fish vert on the way back I sank about 3 foot into here. but back on the main stretch j found a nice croc scute and some nice views. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 Now onto one of my favourite location, last year I had great success at whale chine, still need to write that report lol. But this year the conditions weren’t as great but still found some crackers (literally the nodules here are called crackers). view and very sketchy climb down this doesn’t show how steep it is. had a look around right by the entrance for some crioceras bed material. I hadn’t brought my big chisel (and hadn’t worked out) so I couldn’t have a go at the bigger nodules but this one had a few bits in it, not sure on species though. walking along the cliff (I did 12k on this hunt) I found this great nodule which I expect is a hetermorph, the right shape for an australiceras, but once again no chisel or muscle power sadly, and I didn’t want to carry it up a cliff some views the lobster beds were very poorly exposed this year I found about 10-20 last year but only one this year. so those would be atherfield clay formation, the lower beds. More in the next post. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Thank you for the tour. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 More from whale chine walking towards atherfield, crackers nodules have an incredibly hard outer shell, chisels can’t get through them really. However, when they are cracked out of the cliff from falling they are a treat as the cores are really soft and packed full of incredibly preserved fossils! here’s one in the cliff heres the opened one I found it was mostly already searched but I scraped out the edges and am processing it, I’ll probably sell a bit of it to pay for my ferry over so keep an eye out! I did find this great crab as well, need to do some research for the ID. walking back I stumbled across what I believe is the upper layers of the atherfield clays which contained some ammonites. (only partials but unusual species) and then split apart a soft greensand block to get dozens of nice brachiopods and bivalves which will be prepped soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 This was sadly the last day so after whale chine I managed to get about 2hrs of hunting in at st catherines point which has some glauconitic chalk rich in ammonites. Not many pictures as I was in a rush but here’s the view on the walk down. some of the rocks a typical rock with ammonites in it. A lathe ammonite which I managed to find exposed, the missing part was buried deep in a crevice nearby so was thrilled to find that! And im unsure on what this was but it was unusual so I took it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 The last hunt was Eastbourne where I met up with a friend, the weather wasn’t great so not many pics from the beach but it was productive! May have even got a bit of marine reptile we shall see. some stuff from glauconite’s chalk a negative of a huge ammonite a lot of crushed ammonites more views a tough hike with a bag full of rocks for sure! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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