pj
New Member
Posts: 6
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HELLO
Oct 1, 2009 4:26:05 GMT -5
Post by pj on Oct 1, 2009 4:26:05 GMT -5
Hello to everyone,
My name is Phil and I live near the Gower Coast in Swansea, South Wales. I rekindled my interest in fossils about 12 months ago, so may be described as a novice. I have, over the last year, amassed a small collection of fossils from the South Wales area made up of Bryzoans, Corals, Crinoids and more.
I don't profess to know a great deal about Palaeontology, but I have studied this fascanating subject with relish, and so I'm learning every day.
I am VERY keen to converse with, and possibly meet up with other fossil enthusiasts from the South Wales area for site visits and to share knowledge / experiences. I have some basic but limited info regarding the Gower Coast and the Carboniferous fossils it yields, and would love to be able to share this!!!
I would also love to visit other sites in and around South and Mid Wales and would appreciate any advice as to where I may try. I find this subject almost addictive, and finding a beautifully preserved Favosite or Dibunophyllum is so rewarding ( I have several in my collection).
If anyone here would like to share advice and their experience with me, I would be delighted to offer all I know in return.
Thank you all
Phil.
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HELLO
Oct 2, 2009 16:35:32 GMT -5
Post by reighan on Oct 2, 2009 16:35:32 GMT -5
Hi, Phil
I'm in North Wales. The local beach is strewn with (mostly) Carboniferous marine inverts, but it's glacial erratics. (I'd probably find lots of other things if I were able to recognise them.) When I'm able to be more active in the forum, I'd love to compare notes. For now, Welcome!
STB, Reighan
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HELLO
Oct 3, 2009 15:48:42 GMT -5
Post by Joe Botting on Oct 3, 2009 15:48:42 GMT -5
Welcome from me too! You're in a good place for it, down there, and wherever you go there are new things to be found. Please do share any thought, ideas, observations, pictures... whatever you feel like!
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HELLO
Oct 4, 2009 3:52:54 GMT -5
Post by hallucygenia on Oct 4, 2009 3:52:54 GMT -5
Another welcome from me, Phil. Good to have another person on the boards! I'd love to see some photos of your collection, if you want to post any.
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pj
New Member
Posts: 6
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HELLO
Oct 7, 2009 2:50:00 GMT -5
Post by pj on Oct 7, 2009 2:50:00 GMT -5
Thank you all for your warm welcome,
Over the last few days I've taken a short break from the usual Paleozoic fossils I favour, and have tried my luck along the Vale of Glamorgan's Jurassic Coast. Deciding to bypass the usual Llantwit Major and Dunraven areas, I headed for Penarth where I came across a rather beautiful ammonite, and several Plagistoma (?).
When travelling away from my usual haunts, I must admit I do prefer West Wales and especially Pembrokeshire. Here the best site I've found is, without doubt, Marloes Sands as it has rich and diverse fossil beds. It's here I've found my favourite fossils including Streptelasma, Favosites, numerous coral and even a small Trilobite (at least the discarded outer shell there of). The Sheinwoodian formation seems to yield the best fossils here, and another visit is now overdue. Another West Wales favourite is Manobier. Here, there are plenty of fossil corals lying about the beach, and I've collected several specimins for ID.
I'll try and get some photo's of my collection posted, as I'd like to share my finds and see if any positive ID's may be forthcoming. The thrill of holding a 430 million year old fossil in my hand, being able to give it a name, and research how it lived, is absolutely fantastic.
If anyone is thinking of paying the Gower Peninsula a visit, I'll happily give you all my "local knowledge" to help maximise your chances of finding something, and will just as happily "play host" for a filed trip to one or two of the best beaches.
Finally, thank you again for your welcome, and I look forward to conversing with you all again.
Phil.
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HELLO
Oct 9, 2009 13:49:41 GMT -5
Post by Joe Botting on Oct 9, 2009 13:49:41 GMT -5
Jurassic? NOOOoooooo.... resist the lure of the big toothy things!!! Oh, phew, you're already converted. We've often wondered whether our tendency to find new things everywhere in the Ordovician is because of how we work, or because it's the Ordovician. Maybe the Jurassic is far better known; or maybe there were fewer rare species then, and there's simply less to find (that would be an interesting conclusion!). Don't know. But it would be really interesting to do some sort of systematic comparison of the faunas in similar environments... if we can work out practically how it could be done! I must confess I've never been to Marloes Sands, but it does look very interesting. I've seen people saying on the web that it's actually hard to find fossils there, so it sounds like you're doing well if you've found some productive bits. We might well take you up on the offer to show us some of your sights/sites at some point! Please do post some piccies - let us know if you need any help with that, but once you've got them up on the web somewhere it's easy enough. We've not got the detailed ID refs for the Carb Limestone, but will see what we can do... Cheesrs, Joe
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pj
New Member
Posts: 6
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HELLO
Oct 12, 2009 3:30:47 GMT -5
Post by pj on Oct 12, 2009 3:30:47 GMT -5
Thank you for your response Joe,
Marloes Sands can be rather capricious when searching for fossils. I happened to chance upon one small spot of scree slope where, for a time, fossils were literally falling out of the scree bank into my lap. Probably the most fascenating fossils to emerge from this site are small corals that other collectors have told me are favosites. I'm not so sure. This coral consists of approx a couple of hundred tiny hexagonal blocks (each about a third the size of a match head) tightly packed in a perfect hexagonal formation. This formation is proud of the the matrix, and forms a flat oval shape. This is important, as this same oval shape appears the norm on all three of the examlpes I've collected, regardless of the matrix shape. Streptolasma is another coral in abundance at Marloes, and I have three or four examples that also stand proud of the matrix (one by as much as half an inch). There is one other coral that no one can seem to identify,but is most ubiquitous in Marloes. This takes the form of a wagon wheel shape but with literally dozens of "spokes" arranged in a quite intricate and beautiful shape. Under a magnifying glass this coral comes into its own, and is a truly lovely fossil. Not one of my reference books shows anything like these.
You are quite right in as much as Marloes can be quite reluctant to yeild anything over vast stretches of its length, whilst there are one or two small areas where fossils are most abundant. I would be delighted to share with you the small area of Marloes beach where I found these fossils, as I'd absolutely relish the opportunity to go fossiling with someone of your expertise. If you don't find several of those "wagon wheel" type corals I'd eat my boots!!!!
I'll get some photos of the varous fossils I have sorted out straight away, and will then attempt to down load them to this site. I'm no expert, but I'll have a go.
Many thanks
Phil
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HELLO
Oct 21, 2009 15:32:00 GMT -5
Post by hallucygenia on Oct 21, 2009 15:32:00 GMT -5
Thanks for that Phil. The corals sound interesting - I can recognise a couple of the more common ones, but I'm no expert. I'd like to see a few photos, when you get the chance to post them.
I'd love to go collecting down your way - haven't been there apart from one undergraduate field trip. My abiding memory of that is having to scramble up the cliffs to escape the incoming tide, and seeing several other students, who were unable to climb, wading off through the surf. They did turn up safely later!
I'm unlikely to get in much more fieldwork this year, although there is the possibility of a partial day in Llandrindod in November. Winter is the time for attempting to write up some of what we've been collecting over the past ten years, and planning for next summer. There's a vague possibility of going to Morocco again in the late winter/spring. Will have to see what happens with that.
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