The Yorkshire Coast, Easter, 9th 12th April 2004
Leader: Derek Glover
We met on the car park at Sandsend on Friday morning and the leader outlined the geology we would be looking at over the coming four days. This being the Lower Jurassic of the Cleveland Basin looking particularly at the Upper Pleinsbachian and Toarcian. In the Cleveland Basin these being represented by the Cleveland Ironstone Formation and the Whitby Mudstone Formation, and at Ravenscar just getting into the Blea Wyke Sandstone Formation covering the time scale of approximately 193Ma to 182Ma. The group was made up of members, guests and visitors. The make up varying from day to day. The weekend turned out to be very low key with on some days there being a choice of sites to visit.
The pictures that follow were taken on the field trip, sorry no details, photographs were supplied without comment! (RC)
Photograph
courtesy of David Turner
The sites visited were:
Sandsend to Deepgrove Wyke, Saltwick Bay towards Hawsker, Hawsker Bottom,
Ravenscar, and Port Mulgrave to Runswick.
Of particular interest we looked at the Cannon Ball Doggers, some of which contain the spectacular ammonite Eleganticeras. The Ovatum band made up of two rows of red weathering pyritic nodules containing the ammonite Ovaticeras ovatum peculiar to this band and rare elsewhere in England. The spectacular Peak Fault at Ravenscar and traces of Jet mining in the Jet Rock sequences.
Photograph
courtesy of David Turner.
Ammonites were found in reasonable quantities and some of the more significant were the Eleganticeras from the Cannon Ball Doggers of Sandsend. Other more usual species included a fairly complete Phylloceras, Pernoceras, Pleuroceras, Grammoceras, Haguie, Dumortieria, Hudlestonia, Catacoeloceras and Pseudolioceras.
Other significant finds included part of a plesiosaur paddle, Ichthyosaur bone, a Jurassic Shrimp, bone of a Jurassic Sturgeon Gyrosteus mirabilis and some unidentified vertebra possibly Steneosaurus.
Another little gem was that one of our visitors, Trevor Sands from Hull G. S. had managed to arrange a half hour visit to the workshop of Yorkshire Fossils proprietor Mike Marshall.
The evenings were equally enjoyable with our members being swelled by the family and friends when the days experiences and finds were discussed at some length over a few beers and a variety of Whitby's finest cuisine in the form of Fish and chips (this year at the request of the editor!), Indian Curry and Cantonese Banquets.
Special thanks to Trevor for the visit to Mike Marshalls and providing the CD of photographs of the weekend.
Derek Glover. 2004.
Photograph
courtesy of David Turner.
Probably they took their hard hats off to pose for this one? First think SAFETY, then look for your fossils/minerals if YOU think the risk worthwhile?
Photograph
courtesy of David Turner.
Part of a Plesiosaur paddle (femur?).
Picture
courtesy of Trevor Sands, Hull G.S.
Picture
courtesy of Trevor Sands, Hull G.S.
What Tide Tables? Just make sure YOU don't get cut-off by the tide!