Tuesday 14 August 2001 Meeting

An informal session where members had on display a variety of fossils and minerals that they had collected throughout the year. August has always been a difficult month as the meeting occurs at the peak of the holiday season. However, there was a surprisingly good turnout, and quite a few members brought along their finds.

The various specimens comprised mainly of fossils, except for one display of igneous rocks collected by out treasurer, Neville Read, whilst on a recent trip to New Zealand. They were mainly volcanic in origin, ranging from obsidian glass to pumice. There was one interesting pseudomorph crystal shape. It was suggested to be probably Leucite, replaced by a somewhat granular mix of quartz and another black mineral (and without my loupe I wouldn't feel safe saying anymore. To me the crystal shape looked like part of a large garnet, but I don't get out much these days!). There was also a wonderful picture gallery of the very scenic NZ accompanying this display.

Fish from the Naze!

Our membership secretary, John Lacy, was displaying a recent find of a Fish Skull from the Naze, Walton. He found it laying on the foreshore, up against the clay cliff section of the Naze. At first, and at a distance, he thought it was a large shark tooth and was disappointed to find it was only another fish skull. I asked what period it was from, and everyone barked back LONDON CLAY as if I was an idiot. This may well be the case, but I have never seen a fish skull from the Naze. The odd vertebrae I have found have suffered the same mineralization as other London Clay fauna found at Sheppey. All the crabs, lobsters, shark teeth (roots), various vertebrae and (wait for it) Fish Skulls have all been dark grey or black (pyritized?). This skull from the Naze was not! The mineralization was very similar to that of the fossil whale bone found at the Naze. Any answers please
E-mail me (rc@erms.org).

Fish Skulls from Sheppey!

My sincere apology, I dropped off here. One of our members (and I don't know his name either) brought along a wonderful collection of fossil fish from Sheppey. I got talking too much and forgot to photograph the specimens. I'm truly sorry. They would have demonstrated the point I was making in the last paragraph.

He told me that they where collected in a period of just over a year. I have spent 4 or 5 years looking at Sheppey, which equates to 2 trips a year, and have never found one! However, this man collects every fortnight and spends a long weekend in a caravan on sight. No wonder he has a fine collection. (I'll try and get in touch with him again and get some pictures).

Fish from Thrislington

David Turner, our field trips secretary, had on display the fish he found last year. Members please note there is another field trip this year. The dates cover the weekend of the 1 & 2 of September. Contact David for more information (contact details are on your field trip programme sent earlier in the year). If you have the opportunity to go, do so this year. Access is becoming more and more difficult.

Fossil fish at this location are found by splitting the Marl slate and trusting you get lucky! David was, why not you?

Lobsters from Maylandsea and Steeple

Bob Blackburn brought in his finds from the trip last weekend (August 12). Not a bad haul for the day! In the collection, besides the lobsters, was one small crab and a couple of crinoid stems, Isselicrinus. I looked at one stem and rolled it around to observe and feel the five fold symmetry. Surprisingly, (to me) the end view showed six small green dots, one central and five arranged in a pentangle around the edge. The colour was probably an optical illusion. As I said previous, without my loupe I couldn't tell!

See Last Field Trip Report for a full account of the day.

A collection from Shropshire.

Displayed on one table was a collection of fossils from around Shropshire. Most notable was a very large gastropod, (I think? Fossils are not my strong point and it's torture writing up meetings like this). Unfortunately, I don't know the member who had these on display. They were probably off having a cup of tea when I got to this lot.

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One member (Jim Greenwood) brought along a few specimens of celestine from Yates. You could have had a sample for free. It might not have looked much but it is now a rare British specimen!

Don't forget to pick up a free copy of "Down to Earth" when you come to the meeting!

To sum up, this was an unusual meeting. You could say it was a FOSSIL SEAFOOD BONANZA , or in one word, BRILLIANT, in another ENJOYABLE. (RC 17/08/01)

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