Oxford Clay- day of weirdly preserved ammonites

[Ossicle]

Warm day, not muddy now, the Clay was cracked into convenient units for searching. 

 

There usually are some pyratised Ammonites, but the preservation of these is beautiful and odd. It might be to do with the amount of rain we've had acting with pyrite - I don't know. I really like the colours and the attached white Serpula worm.

[Ludwigia]

Those are all typical broken bits of pyritized/calcitized phragmocones. Pretty bits, but not necessarily unusual.

[Ossicle]

Yes, they're only odd in comparison to others I've collected from this site, and I doubt those would be a representative sample. We've had quite a mix of heat, cold, rain and hail, then heat again in a short space of time which I thought might have influenced them. Or I may have just been lucky to find these ones and it's diagenesis. 

 

The worm tubes of all sorts are normally grey, but I've found quite a few like this, with a white exterior and black inside. I like the juxtaposition of the pyrite and the calcite. 

[Ludwigia]

It's the diagenesis.