Fossil Hunting in the Pas-de-Calais

[Max-fossils]

Good thing we packed up on time though, because the beach was starting to become as packed as sardines in a can (typical French expression)!

[Max-fossils]

           C) La Pointe-aux-Oies

This beach was highly recommended in some of the sites I read, so we thought we would have to go there too. 

[Max-fossils]

[Max-fossils]

Big worn ammonite (which we didn't collect. Might've been a mistake to not have taken it...)

 

[Max-fossils]

Is this some kind of track? Looks like one to me, but I might be wrong. 

 

[Max-fossils]

Lots of cubic salt crystals

 

[Max-fossils]

Ammonite imprint

 

[Max-fossils]

We went to the left side of the beach, because we saw numerous sunbathers going to the right and wanted to hunt in peace. That might've been a mistake, because I have the feeling that the fossil density was much smaller. 

Here is the haul. 

On the left some quartz crystals.

On the right a big weird (modern) thing. Some exotic fruit?

Then a worn ammonite piece and what I think is a very small worn ammonite.

In the middle, a big scallop.

[Max-fossils]

And also this very small (pycnodont?) fish tooth!

 

[Max-fossils]

Very worn ammonite? (I'll draw how I think it's meant to be later)

 

The scallop. Good size and excellent condition. I started prepping it and it's becoming gorgeous!!! So the stop at the Pointe-aux-Oies was worth it. 

[Max-fossils]

       D) Audreselles

Our final stop was just after the village of Audreselles. We didn't have much time on this beautiful beach. At first we didn't find anything, but about 10 min before we had to leave I managed to find the exact same layer as the one in the landslide of Wimereux, with all the great bivalves! Shame that we didn't have much time, but I still managed to take out a few things before leaving.

[Max-fossils]

[Max-fossils]

Here's the haul

Not too bad eh? For a 10 minute hunt?

 

[Max-fossils]

This oyster looked weird yet beautiful to me. Never seen two such lines on a fossil bivalves before.

 

And this little oyster is just a beauty  

 

[Max-fossils]

Conclusion

Well, that concludes our trip! The morning after we just went straight home and didn't do any fossil hunting.

The fact that we found so many bivalves is what really made me ecstatic. As you all know, I can't get enough of them, so the fact that I found so many is awesome!

Here is the complete haul of the whole trip! (My parents weren't as ecstatic as I was seeing this... I wonder why? )

 

The thing that was most surprising was that the richest places were actually the lesser known ones. My family and I were expecting to find most of the stuff at Cap-Blanc-Nez and Pointe-aux-Oies, as these two were said to be the best, yet these are exactly the two places where we found the least!

 

Anyways, we came home with lots of awesome fossils and tons of incredible memories. Definitely a fantastic trip! 

 

That's it! Hopefully you enjoyed reading this (very long - 3 pages!) trip report!

 

If you want more pictures of anything, let me know and I will get them right up. 

 

Also, I will be sharing more things (after-prep photos, maps, annotated pictures, etc) in the upcoming days.

 

BTW, if you see anything to which you can bring an ID, please give it! And if you have any extra info please share it too. 

Lots of the things will be up in the ID section soon too with more photos.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Happy hunting!

 

Best regards,

 

Max

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, jpc said:

Fun trip.  Your cow hoof from your first stop looks like a horse hoof.  Edible?... well, this is France.  (I say that because I like horse meat).  

Sure was!

You're probably right saying it is horse. Cow was just my guess. Maybe the findings are what's left of some kind of very old farm?

[Max-fossils]

46 minutes ago, Nimravis said:

Max- outstanding trip report. Love all of your pics and finds- you did the Forum proud on your post. Thanks 

Thank you for the great comment! 

Glad you enjoyed the report. 

Make sure you don't miss out the last parts though!

[gigantoraptor]

Hey Max, 

 

Great trip with beautifel finds.

The hoof is indeed horse, like Jpc said, cows have splitted hoofs. I am not sure if this is scientifficaly proven, but all hoofs with this kind of preservation I saw so far were labeled pleistocene. If this is the case then this isn't a common find for the North Sea.  

 

Second: The sponge, you are right. This is exactly the kind I ment. You should be able to prep this one with just vinegar, water and a lot of patience. Do a drop of vinegar on the matrix, and normally you will see small bubbels. To stop the chemical reaction, Just drop some water on it. Watch out, the vinegar can damage the fossil also. 

 

With the bivalve I can't help,  you are waaaaay beter at that stuff.

Just curious, how are you planning to prep these? Do You use an airscribe? I do,  but it's sometimes difficult to keep the shell intact.

 

Great trip and I hope you enjoyed. 

 

Greetings

[Peace river rat]

36 minutes ago, Max-fossils said:

We went to the left side of the beach, because we saw numerous sunbathers going to the right and wanted to hunt in peace. That might've been a mistake, because I have the feeling that the fossil density was much smaller. 

Here is the haul. 

On the left some quartz crystals.

On the right a big weird (modern) thing. Some exotic fruit?

Then a worn ammonite piece and what I think is a very small worn ammonite.

In the middle, a big scallop.

Thing on the right, is maybe a coconut?

[belemniten]

Hi Max !

 

Such a great trip report and awesome fossils. 

Thanks for sharing so many beautiful pictures and information 

 

8 minutes ago, gigantoraptor said:

 

Just curious, how are you planning to prep these? Do You use an airscribe? I do,  but it's sometimes difficult to keep the shell intact.

I wanted to ask the same question but @gigantoraptor was faster.  Looks like a though job ! Good luck !

[Tidgy's Dad]

5 hours ago, Max-fossils said:

The first brachiopod (this one looks nice prepped, so that's good )

 

And the other one

 

The two brachiopods were found by splitting open the grey rocks on the beach (not the typical chalky white rocks), which seemed more like clay to me. So I'm wondering if maybe the brachs aren't Jurassic?

Nice brachiopods! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

A great report! 

Really enjoyed it and the photos of the locations and fossils. 

All in all, you collected some very nice specimens! 

Thanks for this. 

[Miocene_Mason]

Awesome finds, and pretty views! Thanks for sharing!

[caterpillar]

Thanks for this sunny report

[Monica]

Nice finds, Max!

 

I especially like the trigonid bivalve + bivalve piece, as well as the red bivalve/brachiopod - beautiful!!!