Fossil hunting in challenging weather at Charmouth – day 4

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Fossil hunting in challenging weather at Charmouth – day 4

Fossil hunting is one of life’s simple pleasures. Like holding a medieval coin or a piece of roman pottery, finding a 200-million-year-old fossil in our palm elicits the same feelings of awe, wonder, curiosity and joy.  Well it does for us, but then one of us is a biologist/geographer and the other a geographer/geologist who is also passionate about history.

And the great thing about Charmouth beach is that we can wander the beach on a falling tide and literally find fossils lying in-between the wet sand, gravel and shingle, washed out over a number of tidal cycles from the enormous cliffs to the north. Let’s face it, what can be more fun?

We have often visited Charmouth over the years with our own children and normally we have headed west towards Lyme Regis. But today, we turn eastwards, making our way over the narrow footbridge that crosses the little river, a decision strongly influenced by the stiff westerly breeze and torrential lashing rain that piles slate grey waves onto the beach under wind against tide conditions. Heading westwards would be no fun under these conditions. We exercise some common sense and self-preservation instinct.

At 09.00, it is surprising to find so many families already along the beach. Clearly, common sense is the order of the morning! Wrapped up warm, little bodies shuffle forwards at a snail’s pace, the chink of geological hammer on rock occasionally being carried up on the breeze. It is heart-warming to see so many families out and about enjoying themselves even if the weather is a little inclement!

Heads down, hoods up and in full waterproofs, we join this ‘fossil migration’ eastwards, eyes down, scanning left to right across narrow strips of sand and gravel. I go closest to the water’s edge, keeping one eye on the ground below and one eye to seaward, trying to gauge which waves might have the energy to run further up the beach. I only get caught out twice due to nimble, deft footwork. Even so, my walking boots are inundated. Thank heavens for Sealskinz waterproof socks eh?

Maggie is the more eagle eyed of the two of us and has far more common sense. She tracks across the bit of the beach just above the surf line area. Her feet stay dry!  She’s searching for ammonites and belemnites washed out of the Jurassic cliffs to the side of her. “Bullet shaped belemnites, the remains of extinct cephalopods, are normally easy to spot but today they are proving elusive. Their nearest modern relative today would probably be cuttlefish even though belemnites superficially resembled squid and their name, belemnite derives from the ancient Greek words for dart or javelin”. I’m showing off my knowledge, but then I already know that she probably knows these facts already and doesn’t suffer the need to occasionally show off that she knows!

Meanwhile, whilst not unhappy to search for the distinctively coiled ammonites, I’m more interested in finding some Coprolite. (In ancient Greek – it would mean ‘Dung stone’ but I call it fossil poo for simplicity’s sake!)  I’m not sure whether the cliffs around here date to 195 million years ago (the lower Jurassic period), but it’s worth a look. I’m seeking small mottled brown/grey coloured stones with irregular surfaces, the fossilised poo of fish, sharks, rays and even ichthyosaurs but I will be equally happy with ammonites or belemnites as well.

Perhaps we have arrived too late and the fifty or so people ahead have already had the overnight’s washed out pickings, but over two or three hours, we have no joy when it comes to picking up fossils of any kind. Very frustrating!

These 95 miles of World Heritage coastline running from Exmouth to Studland near Swanage are the story of approximately 190 million years’ worth of Earth’s history, crossing the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. We are always fascinated by the story that can be told by rocks. I studied geology at ‘A’ level and as a subsidiary subject at degree level during my teacher training, Palaeontology being my favourite part of the course. It still remains a passion some forty years later (as does anything to do with plate tectonics and vulcanology). The challenge of unfolding the story within layers and individual rocks is, for me, a compelling one. Every stone and rock have their own story to tell. Was each one melted and metamorphosed? Heated and intruded? Eroded and dissolved? Deposited under the sea or under riverine conditions? I can lose myself for hours exploring coastlines such as those at Charmouth, trying to work out the hidden stories within their cliffs. Sadly though, I have forgotten much of what I used to know, a frustration of growing older!

Across the morning, we trudge forwards and backwards searching for elusive fossils, our attention occasionally breaking off to marvel at the high cliffs of mud, clay and limestone and the little torrent waterfalls that come over their upper edges and across their extensive mass movements – slides, slumps and even now the occasional rockfall to keep us on our toes.

After four hours, we leave with one solitary ammonite, found by Maggie, lying in a stream running down the beach from the cliff base. A great find, in an obvious location, it is small but perfectly preserved and it will grace our ‘travel wall’ at home. (Our stair well is big and wide and the stairs turn back on themselves as they go to the upper floor. The stairwell walls are adorned with shelves containing artefacts bought back from our world travels, and of course, with countless picture frames as well. Our ‘travel wall’ is a time-line record of our family adventures and explorations).

This website has further details about fossil hunting https://jurassiccoast.org/visit/fossil-collecting/  and if you want to guarantee yourselves some measure of success, it is well worth hiring a guide from the Charmouth fossil museum down at the car park area. Exercise some sensible precautions – stay away from the cliff bases, hunt on a falling tide, keep a careful eye on the waves, avoid going onto any slumps, slides or rockfalls, for they will be highly unstable.

For us a stroll along Charmouth’s beaches is always time well spent, even if it is lashing with rain in gale force winds! Today we enjoyed searching and sifting through the myriad of coloured rounded shingle, gravel and sandy banks. We returned with one ammonite, several interesting pieces of chert and flint and some lovely rounded quartz. A good morning out!

Stay safe, take care out there and have fun motorhoming.

Steve and Maggie

If you would like to know more about who we are then visit these blog posts at 

https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/10/welcome-to-our-blog.html

https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/who-are-main-characters-in-our-blog.html