Tankerton, Kent, UK, March 3 2024

[citronkitten]

Location: Tankerton, Kent, UK

Epoch and Age: Eocene; Ypresian

Geology: London Clay formation

Date visited: 3 March 2024

 

This is written with an intent to help other people visiting Tankerton, rather than to brag about all the great finds I had (of which there were none).

 

We decided to try out this location as prior in the week there had been substantial rain storms with high winds, so I thought perhaps scouring conditions may occur to reveal the clay. I was wrong. At roughly an hour before low tide there was a great deal of shingle/pebbles on the beach, but also a fair amount of silt. I trekked out as far as I could go while my daughter and husband went to play in the sandy part of the upper foreshore, but met with no luck. We were about 200m west of Long Rock, as the UK Fossils website <https://ukfossils.co.uk/2012/01/24/tankerton/> had said that was the best area. Perhaps the low tide also wasn’t low enough? I also don’t have any experience looking for nodule beds, whereas someone else may have been able to locate them amongst the pebbles. Everything looked more or less the same to me, apart from a couple of ‘rivers’ running from the foreshore into the sea, which I did investigate to no avail.

 

Upon further reading, it seems that scouring conditions are difficult to predict and really require substantial winds at the time of the visit, creating that ‘wavy’ pattern on the sediment of the beach. I looked at some picture of ‘scouring conditions’, and it definitely was not like that when we went. Unfortunately, this meant that the finds were thin and far between. I only found one nodule of the correct type – that light brown ‘milky tea’ colour, and unfortunately it was empty. My daughter really likes ‘sea treasure’, and I did find a few pieces of old pottery, so she was delighted with those bits. One is in her bed to keep it safe and didn’t make it into the photo as I dare not remove it.

 

 

 

As far as other finds go, the only thing I’m pleased with is a tiny fragment of pyritised crinoid stem. I thought it was a stick when I went to pick it up, but couldn’t break it with my fingernail, and upon closer inspection the rings around the outside are visible. It doesn’t have a star pattern, though, just round. I've attached my reference image, too. 

 

 

 

 

I found a couple of things that might be lobster burrows (B and C); I noticed the presence of an outer ring around a central core, so that’s where I got my identification. I would be grateful if someone could confirm/correct this guess.

 

 

 

D and E have interesting shapes. D appears to have some small pores at the top of what looks like branch stems, so perhaps some sort of coral structure? E is a very smooth long oval shape, and has a tiny section of pattern. Not sure, but thought the shape might be suggestive (of what, I couldn’t say).

 

 

 

F has a nice colour and perhaps an imprint on the inside?

That could certainly be a geologic formation, but didn’t want to rule it out.

 

 

G (on main photo) I think is half of the outside of a worm burrow. It could be man-made, but the material does seem to be rock rather than concrete.

 

H  (on main photo) appears to have a number of tiny worm burrows digging into the material. I found a few pieces like this, so just took one as an example. My other that was that it was more recent sea creatures digging into it as there was a fair amount of seaweed growing on it stuck fast – is there a way to tell?

 

I is another interesting one, and not sure if it’s geologic in nature. The round circles in the middle are of a different quality from the rest of the matrix, and I’m hoping that someone can indicate whether it’s fossil material or just a different mineral inside. Regardless, it looks cool and is the only one of its type I found.

 

 

A few neat stones, some larger worn shell pieces, and a few shells my daughter picked up round out the collection.

 

My improvement points would be to definitely make sure the conditions are correct in order to not be met with disappointment and frustration. Perhaps if someone is really experienced in spotting the cream-coloured nodules they would do fine in just a low tide, but it proved beyond my capacities. We still had a great time as the wind was very mild, particularly in the first hour, and it wasn’t raining (about all you could ask for in early March). It’s a lot of fun to check out new locations, and at the very least you learn something for the next trip!

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Jaybot]

Thanks for sharing.  We all have ‘letdown’ hunts from time to time, and (in my mind) it improves the odds for that incredible hunt we’re all waiting for.

[citronkitten]

Thanks for reading! Agreed - I think you have to 'pay your dues' as it were, to balance the scales between success and failure. Even though the hunt wasn't successful, we still enjoyed the beach. 

[Notidanodon]

nice report, i find the london clay sites often let you down on the first few trips until you get your eye in

[Yoda]

@citronkitten

 

Interesting trip report 

 

[citronkitten]

1 hour ago, Notidanodon said:

nice report, i find the london clay sites often let you down on the first few trips until you get your eye in

Thanks, and glad to hear it wasn't just me who couldn't find anything in the clay! 

[citronkitten]

1 hour ago, Yoda said:

@citronkitten

 

Interesting trip report 

 

Thanks for reading!