Isle of Wight Fossils?

[smileyriley21]

Hi,

 

 Firstly, excuse me for my ignorance. Myself and a few friends went walking in the Isle of Wight last weekend and came across some interesting Fossils. 

 

 The problem is that we had a 50/50 split, with one side arguing that they are indeed fossils and the others saying they looked like an exotic patio slab.

 

 Is there any chance you could clear this up for me.

 

Thanks in advance

[FossilDAWG]

Welcome to the Fossil Forum.

 

I do not think any of these are fossils, although they are interesting despite that.  They likely are preserved mud cracks.  Basically, fine mud, perhaps exposed around a water body such as a lake or river, was exposed during a period of low water and as it dried it shrank and so developed desiccation cracks.  Often the mud will crack to produce roughly polygonal pieces, as seems to be the case with your pieces.  Subsequently a flood or similar event deposited a layer of sediment with a different (coarser) texture, which filled in the cracks and covered the old surface quickly enough that the dried mud did not simply re-hydrate and "melt" back into the cracks.  The layers were then buried under more sediment, and eventually lithified into rock.  Once exposed and subjected to erosion, the rock filling the cracks may be more resistant and so end up standing out against the rock that started out as dried mud polygons.  Such traces, therefore, tell a story about ancient environments, even if they are not fossils per se.

 

Don

[Taogan]

Welcome from London. Another vote for mud cracks. It means you were in the right area, you should have checked the gravel and you might have found some actual fossils.

[abyssunder]

I agree with Don. They are ancient mud cracks.

 

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