I found the first fossils on the west coast of Norway

[Levion]

Only two weeks ago, when i was out rock hunting on the south western coast of Norway, I found two rocks with fossils inside them.

 

In Norway, fossils are only found in Oslo, Trondheim and on the northern part of Norway. The only fossils found in the west are in Ritlandskratere, an ancient meteor crater, four hours away from where i found mine.

 

The fossils are some brachiopods and clams, a trilobite tail, a belemnite fragment and a belemnite phragmocone. There could maybe be some new species or sub species.

 

I am waiting for the response of the Natural History Museum in Oslo. I will update on the response I get.

[PaleoOrdo]

30 minutes ago, Levion said:

In Norway, fossils are only found in Oslo, Trondheim and on the northern part of Norway.

In fact, the regions you mention are the locations where the most fossiles in Norway are found, but they are not the only places. For example, we have the "devonian mountains" in the west, north of Bergen. In addition, a lot of fossiles both from Paleozoicum and Mesozoikum are found on the island of Svalbard. Moreover, some rocks with fossiles have been moved out of their original positions by the glaciers. Your finds are interesting though, can you be more precise about where is the location of your finds?

Edited January 31, 2022 by PaleoOrdo

[Levion]

I found them in klepp, Rogaland, on one of the rocky beaches there.

It could be bought in by glaciers, but it could also come from an under water deposit in the north sea. Hopping the museun can answer it.

[Wrangellian]

Good finds, interesting.

Being Paleozoic, those would not be belemnites. I would call them orthocones.

[PaleoOrdo]

6 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Being Paleozoic, those would not be belemnites. I would call them orthocones.

I agree. Another possibility: In some places, near harbours in Norway, you may find rocks from Denmark, because in the past ships transported ice from Norway, and for the return voyage they loaded the boat with rocks, in order to be a stable, then at arrival throwing the rocks at or near the harbour. And if such rocks are from Denmark, they could have been younger than paleozoic, as they have in Copenhagen beeches. On the other hand, trilobites became extinct by the Permian-Triassic boundary, and you found a trilobite. There is one place with paleozoic rocks at or close to a harbour in Denmark: in Assens. That is a Maastrichtian site. But I not know if there are shales there, only I know it is limestones. There are a few other places. Assens is a small city, but it was an important trading city and port from the MIddle Ages for a bigger area in Denmark, also a railway was built here in the 1880s.

Edited February 1, 2022 by PaleoOrdo

[PaleoOrdo]

I think your trilobite maybe is possible to ID. I found out that there are indeed palaezoic shales in Denmark several places along the coast, one of them is at Falster from early carboniferous with many fossiles, on the east coast of Falster, Gedser Odde, and Hesnæs beech. The "Geologiske Museum" in Coopenhagen, have a collection of them, some also at "Det Sorte Museum" in Gedser. A website shows this photo of a trilobite from Falster, found at Hesnæs Strand (Hesnæs beech)" that looks similar to yours, but do not write its ID at the website:

[Plax]

Belemnites and trilobites are a strange mix.

[Levion]

6 minutes ago, Plax said:

Belemnites and trilobites are a strange mix.

I know, but they were in the same rock.

[Kane]

7 minutes ago, Levion said:

I know, but they were in the same rock.

And they are not belemnites.

[Levion]

I have been in contact with the natural history museum, and they say that there could be a pocket in the phyllite that isn't that compressed and converted than the rest. This is known on the Hardanger plateau and there is a lot of phyllite in Rogaland, so many this is the case.

[Per Christian]

Here's a plant fossil (psilophytes) from kvamshestbassenget, behind Kvamshesten in Sunnfjord kommune. There's fossils on Stord as well, and in the mountains in northern Rogaland there's Cambrian deposits i think. By Ålfjordsbreen there's even Devonian fish remains, but getting there's is quite the expedition

[SusieReale]

Hello!  I run a ladies fossil hunting fb group here in Florida, USA but am traveling briefly to norway October 15-19.  Are there any excursions I can pay to go on to find fossils?  My only opportunities will really be Oslo on the 14th, Bergen on the 16th, Tromso on the 18th.  Thank you.

[Per Christian]

4 hours ago, SusieReale said:

Hello!  I run a ladies fossil hunting fb group here in Florida, USA but am traveling briefly to norway October 15-19.  Are there any excursions I can pay to go on to find fossils?  My only opportunities will really be Oslo on the 14th, Bergen on the 16th, Tromso on the 18th.  Thank you.

I don't think there's any tours you can go on to collect fossils. But I'd contact the museum of natural history in Oslo and get advice on where to collect fossils. There's quite a few sites in and around Oslo, mainly Ordovician. The sites in western Norway are generally inaccessible. I hiked for 3 hours each way to find my plant fossil