School Holidays Fossil Hunting pt 2

[Dan 1000]

Hello Everyone

 

On the second day of my school holidays my dad and I headed down to Fossil Beach in Mornington, around an hour drive from Melbourne. The cliffs at this site are part of the Fyansford formation and are aged 10-15 million years old. This spot is one of my favorites due to its abundance of whole, large and intact fossil shells. We always leave with something amazing. We arrived at the site in the early afternoon and had the whole beach to ourselves. During the first hour we found a number of whole gastropod and bivalve shells, as well as some horn corals. But the gem of the day was a 7-8cm cowrie shell that I found in the clay at the base of the cliff among the rocks. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw it. Unfortunately because It was in the clay at the base of the cliff It was exposed to the rising tides which had made it very fragile. Overall the trip was a success.

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by DanKurek
Adding photo

[Dan 1000]

[Monica]

WOW!  That's an amazing shell!!!  Congrats! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

What a monster cowrie! Wow! 

The Crassatella, Athleta and some of the others are great too, and I'm very fond of scaphopods. 

[MeargleSchmeargl]

Lots of great shells! Keep it up! 

[Pagurus]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Those cliffs look like an enjoyable place to collect. Great finds too! 

[gwestbrook]

Awesome! That site is very similar to the Whisky Bridge (Highway 21) site in east Texas.  

 

[Phevo]

Amazing snails, thanks for sharing your trip

 

[Ludwigia]

Looks like a site one can really appreciate as long as the storm winds aren't blowing. Nice finds!

[Darktooth]

Really love these gastropods! Great haul!

[Coco]

Age ?

 

Coco

[caldigger]

3 minutes ago, Coco said:

Age ?

 

Coco

He states 10-15 million. That puts it in middle Miocene.

[Coco]

OK, nice !

 

Coco

[Max-fossils]

Fantastic shells! 

I see some gorgeous Arca sp shells.