Isle of Wight fossils

[Aurelius]

My parents recently visited the Isle of Wight, an area known for a huge concentration of fossils into a pretty small area, and they were determined to find me some fossils. They came back dejected, saying that all they'd found were some worthless pebbles, but happily there were some fossils there. However, I've never been there and know nothing about the fossils that can be found there, so I'm posting here for some ID assistance.

 

1. This reminds me of calamites, but someone has said it could be part of an Iguanadon limb bone. 

 

 

1b - end view of same. 

 

2. Section of ammonite. I've never found a piece of ammonite quite like this before!

 

 

3. Just rocks, or rolled bone?

 

 

[Miocene_Mason]

1 hour ago, Aurelius said:

This reminds me of calamites

They died out in the Permian I believe.

 

I’m not seeing much (well any) bone structure on any of them.

[TXV24]

@Aurelius Hi, these are all fossils that are pretty typical down at Shanklin Beach, a Lower Greensand locality, so I presume that must have been where your parents visited. The 'bone pieces' are bits of fossil drift wood which are really common down on the shore at Shanklin. During the deposition of the Lower Greensand the north of the Isle Of Wight was a forested island made of Kimmeridge Clay, the trees would float out and sink a couple of kilometres offshore. In some you can see the ring structures, in your 1. and 1b. image you can see woodworm borings preserved in the wood. These pieces come from the Sandrock Fm. in the Lower Greensand and are around 110 million years old. 

 

2. Is definitely a very worn section of a Gault Clay ammonite, they are fairly common and wash round from the Gault Clay exposures and mudflows further west towards Luccombe and Ventnor. At the source exposures of Gault the ammonites are really beautiful and quite diverse with hoplitids, heteromorphs and many others, but the material that makes it round to Shanklin tends to be quite badly worn as a result of the distance it's travelled. 

 

Hope this helps, 

 

Theo 

[Aurelius]

2 hours ago, WhodamanHD said:

They died out in the Permian I believe.

 

True of course, but I have seen similar fossil roots from the Jurassic. That said, these deposits are cretaceous.

[Aurelius]

1 minute ago, TXV24 said:

@Aurelius Hi, these are all fossils that are pretty typical down at Shanklin Beach, a Lower Greensand locality, so I presume that must have been where your parents visited. The 'bone pieces' are bits of fossil drift wood which are really common down on the shore at Shanklin. During the deposition of the Lower Greensand the north of the Isle Of Wight was a forested island made of Kimmeridge Clay, the trees would float out and sink a couple of kilometres offshore. In some you can see the ring structures, in your 1. and 1b. image you can see woodworm borings preserved in the wood. These pieces come from the Sandrock Fm. in the Lower Greensand and are around 110 million years old. 

 

2. Is definitely a very worn section of a Gault Clay ammonite, they are fairly common and wash round from the Gault Clay exposures and mudflows further west towards Luccombe and Ventnor. At the source exposures of Gault the ammonites are really beautiful and quite diverse with hoplitids, heteromorphs and many others, but the material that makes it round to Shanklin tends to be quite badly worn as a result of the distance it's travelled. 

 

Thanks Theo, that's very helpful! The first bit was from Compton, if that makes any difference, but I did think it looked botanical rather than bone-like. But the remainder were found at Shanklin.

Shame they didn't find any dinosaur bits, but they did spot one of the giant foot casts.

[TXV24]

@Aurelius No worries, because the Island has a monoclinal structure the Sandrock is also exposed at Compton Bay so bits of that wood would be found there too. 

 

That tends to be the way it goes at Compton and most major sites (especially Dinosaur bearing ones) at this time of year, the calm weather and influx of tourists and visitors mean that bone can be hard to come by, it's always great seeing the footcasts though!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Say , "Well done!" to your parents. 

They tried their best for you and have come away with something interesting. 

[Aurelius]

Just now, Tidgy's Dad said:

Say , "Well done!" to your parents. 

They tried their best for you and have come away with something interesting. 

 

Oh yes, they did very well. I've sat my mum down before in front of a pile of rocks with ammonites literally lying on top, and she's not been able to spot them. So they did really well to find a bit of wood and an ammonite chamber, especially in the summer.