A couple of hours at Rock-a-nore, Hastings, UK - Wealden Beds.

[blackdanter]

I managed to grab a couple hours at Rock-a-nore, Hastings this morning.

 

This is my usual hunting ground and the material here is Wealden, early Cretaceous and around 140 million years in age.

 

Not having a lot of time, I didn't work a long stretch of the coast and only made it as far as Ecclesbourne Glen, a couple of miles maybe.

 

I found the usual couple of Tempskya tree fern trunk samples but, having ample specimens already, these were left in situ for others to find.

 

I came away with a couple of specimens, a small fragment of reptile bone and something poking out of a rock which I cleaned back at home to reveal what looks like a partial fish rib or spine. This is actually a good haul for the location as I often leave empty handed. That's not to say that I haven't found anything, just nothing that adds anything to my collection.

 

Here's the view prior to accessing the beach. Looking east towards Dungeness (the nuclear power station is visible in the distance). The terrain can be hard going (especially when you've had ligament replacement knee surgery last December) as it's a mainly pebble beach with cliff debris and many large boulders (a lot of which are slippery at this time of year). The cliffs are dangerous and prone to constant falls and so best avoided as there's a constant clatter of falling material. That said, it's wise to keep an ear on what the nesting sea birds are doing on the cliffs as they become extremely agitated when the cliff is about to move substantially so there is some warning. I have twice in the past had to dodge sections the size of a family car falling from the cliff which is why I prefer to beach comb these days. The site is also an SSSI and as such, removing anything from the cliff or footprints from the beach (unless loose and portable) is a criminal offence.

 

 

The suspected fish rib or spine.

 

 

Reptile bone fragment.

 

 

 

The side that gives the game away - clear vessel structure.

 

 

The sample alongside a very similar sample found about a month ago in the same general area. Bone preservation at this location is extremely variable so anything similar is invariably associated or of the same origin.

 

 

Edited May 26 by blackdanter

[patelinho7]

Fascinating that the birds know when the cliff will give. Nature is always 10 steps ahead of us humans it seems. Nice report, cool to see people hunting early Cretaceous.

[Notidanodon]

Nice finds!

[Wrangellian]

Nice big landscape shot... love it.  None of these narrow, vertical cellphone pix.

But no shots of what you left in situ.. I'm curious about those.

[blackdanter]

5 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Nice big landscape shot... love it.  None of these narrow, vertical cellphone pix.

But no shots of what you left in situ.. I'm curious about those.

 

Thank you. I'm with you on that one, I usually reprocess mobile phone shots to avoid that issue.

 

It didn't occur to me to photograph those items on the the day. I had overlooked the fact that what's fairly ordinary to me at this location would not be to others elsewhere. Here's a short video from a couple of trips ago where I try to get the quartz crystals to twinkle in the sunlight on a piece of found and left in situ Tempskya trunk, which is the same material I found yesterday.  

[Wrangellian]

53 minutes ago, blackdanter said:

 

Thank you. I'm with you on that one, I usually reprocess mobile phone shots to avoid that issue.

 

It didn't occur to me to photograph those items on the the day. I had overlooked the fact that what's fairly ordinary to me at this location would not be to others elsewhere. Here's a short video from a couple of trips ago where I try to get the quartz crystals to twinkle in the sunlight on a piece of found and left in situ Tempskya trunk, which is the same material I found yesterday.  

Thanks. It looks like kind of a carbonized preservation, correct? I'm wondering if a piece of that can be cut and polished or is it too soft/crumbly?

[blackdanter]

1 minute ago, Wrangellian said:

Thanks. It looks like kind of a carbonized preservation, correct? I'm wondering if a piece of that can be cut and polished or is it too soft/crumbly?

 

When it's fresh out of the cliff it has a fusain powder covering. Tempsky is unique in preservation at the location in that it's very hard, silicified and often packed with tiny quartz crystals. Nothing else at the location is preserved in that way. Without a doubt it could be cut and polished.

[Wrangellian]

19 hours ago, blackdanter said:

When it's fresh out of the cliff it has a fusain powder covering. Tempsky is unique in preservation at the location in that it's very hard, silicified and often packed with tiny quartz crystals. Nothing else at the location is preserved in that way. Without a doubt it could be cut and polished.

Have you ever tried that, or do you have no access to lapidary equipment?

(and by 'fusain' you mean French for charcoal?)

[blackdanter]

On 5/28/2024 at 5:53 AM, Wrangellian said:

Have you ever tried that, or do you have no access to lapidary equipment?

(and by 'fusain' you mean French for charcoal?)

I've not tried as I don't have the required equipment (although, I have been told you can do it without). I may have a go at some point.

 

Fusain is a carbonised powder covering. We only see it on pieces fresh out of the cliff.

[Wrangellian]

19 hours ago, blackdanter said:

I've not tried as I don't have the required equipment (although, I have been told you can do it without). I may have a go at some point.

 

Fusain is a carbonised powder covering. We only see it on pieces fresh out of the cliff.

Do you have any pieces that would be worthwhile to send to me? I could do it and send you back one half, perhaps. That's if it can withstand the rock saw oil, or maybe I will soak glue into it first and then acetone it out after.

[blackdanter]

10 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Do you have any pieces that would be worthwhile to send to me? I could do it and send you back one half, perhaps. That's if it can withstand the rock saw oil, or maybe I will soak glue into it first and then acetone it out after.

Thanks for the offer. I'll have a look at what I have and see if anything looks suitable and reasonable to post. Give me a couple of days as I'm into a set of shifts.

[Wrangellian]

11 hours ago, blackdanter said:

Thanks for the offer. I'll have a look at what I have and see if anything looks suitable and reasonable to post. Give me a couple of days as I'm into a set of shifts.

Sure, and no rush.

[blackdanter]

On 5/31/2024 at 12:35 AM, Wrangellian said:

Sure, and no rush.

Would this section be suitable? It has a good quartz content and internal frond structure.

 

 

[Wrangellian]

It probably would. I like the external features on that one too - I might prefer to shave one side for polishing so as to retain as much of that structure as possible, otherwise I would slice it thru the middle (between the two broken faces) and polish both to send one back to you, but it will be a little trickier to either hold a narrower part of the rock in the saw clamp or maybe glue the flatter face to a block of wood with sodium silicate which can be undone by soaking. (I'd probably go with that option anyway as it looks a bit fragile to be clamped directly.) Or else do you have enough pieces that you can send me two like this? Let me know how much it will cost, either way.

[blackdanter]

On 6/3/2024 at 2:19 PM, Wrangellian said:

It probably would. I like the external features on that one too - I might prefer to shave one side for polishing so as to retain as much of that structure as possible, otherwise I would slice it thru the middle (between the two broken faces) and polish both to send one back to you, but it will be a little trickier to either hold a narrower part of the rock in the saw clamp or maybe glue the flatter face to a block of wood with sodium silicate which can be undone by soaking. (I'd probably go with that option anyway as it looks a bit fragile to be clamped directly.) Or else do you have enough pieces that you can send me two like this? Let me know how much it will cost, either way.

 

Ah, I don't have anything else suitable at the minute. Now I have an idea of what would be usable I'll keep an eye out and retrieve it rather than leaving it on the beach. I'm happy to post this piece over to you. Just PM me your address details and I'll get that sent. Don't worry if it doesn't go to plan as this is surplus to my collection. As I say, if this piece is suitable and workable, I'll keep an eye out for other bits with nice detail and that are a bit chunkier.

[Wrangellian]

19 hours ago, blackdanter said:

Ah, I don't have anything else suitable at the minute. Now I have an idea of what would be usable I'll keep an eye out and retrieve it rather than leaving it on the beach. I'm happy to post this piece over to you. Just PM me your address details and I'll get that sent. Don't worry if it doesn't go to plan as this is surplus to my collection. As I say, if this piece is suitable and workable, I'll keep an eye out for other bits with nice detail and that are a bit chunkier.

OK, splendid. Makes sense to try one piece, and if it works, send me another, otherwise I'll let you know not to send the 2nd one. I should be able to consolidate it with glue before cutting/polishing, but if the material is really grainy it may not polish well anyway... we'll see.  I also probably will need to soak it to remove salt beforehand, so I hope that doesn't cause it to fall apart!