Paleoworld-101 Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 26/11/12 Had a nice time searching the coastal cliffs of Austinmer today, which yeilded about 10 nice leaves for me to take home. Some are small baby leaves while others are longer than 10cm. The clarity is not the best, as they are almost always found in the dark grey rock at the base of Austinmer's coastal cliff (just below the Permian-Triassic boundary). Even so, leaf veins are visible on most specimens. The rock they are in is very crumbly and as a result i think i destroyed just as many leaves as i succesfully extracted nevertheless had a great time (although i did step in dog poo, one of the only hazards to be had fossicking on the beach besides rock falls lol). An unexpected turn-out was the arrival, purely by coincidence, of fellow fossil forum member "Rick_Jo". We chatted for about half an hour about the local fossils and it was nice to know that someone close by shares my passion. Again, what are the chances we'd go hunting for the same fossils at the same time on the same day and at the same locality? I will put up pics of the Glossopteris leaves i found soon! "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_Jo Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 There was great detail in the glossopteris leaves you found. I did not have much luck as far as finding anything of interest but it was certainly great running into you and finally meeting someone who actually knew something of the local fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_Jo Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hey Paleoworld, I took a walk today around the headland at Astinmer and noticed that there are quite a few examples of Glossoptris that can be seen on the rock plateau. You can find the best examples 3/4 of that way along the plateau from the car park end and most are red. Check out the attached images.. These are better examples then the ones I have been able to find in the rock falls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hey these are nice!!!!! Im sorry i completely forgot to upload my own pics, im lazy lol. Were these ones found further along the cliff exposure where we were looking when we bumped into each other? I like the red colouration, certainly stands out more than the dull grey and barely visible Glossopteris leaves i was finding at the start secton of the cliff face that i showed you. Will have to go out and have another look! "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_Jo Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 The leaves you found were great! Post some pics so we can check the out. Yes these were found near the end.. I was just surprised to find these on the plateau as I had spent a good half hour looking along the cliff falls with no luck.. Also along the same bedding plane I found a few drop stones.. How would you suppose they ended up there?? any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down under fossil hunter Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Cool finds! Nathan you will have to show me this place next time I am down in Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 (edited) @Rick_Jo- Ok i promise to upload pics of the leaves i found this time, expect them to be up by tommorow evening. The drop stones to me reinforce the fact that during this time the Sydney Basin was subject to multiple periods of glaciation, and the drop stones were deposited in their current positions by glaciers that rafted across the ancient coastline, carrying debris and sediment with it from other loactions. Once the ice that originally carried them melted away, the debris was dropped and deposited with the present Permian bedrock. It's likely that the drop stones would be older than the surrounding Permian rock that they are now part of. Just my two cents. @Elliot- Sure thing, theres a number of good localities round here that i'm sure you would be interested in actually. Although many of them are on public beaches etc so expect the odd person or two looking on and seeing what you are doing or asking what you are trying to find lol has happened to me many times. Edited February 19, 2013 by Paleoworld-101 "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Permian-Triassic boundary very cool1!!!!!!!!!! My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Okay here are the leaves i originally found that i was supposed to post at the start of this topic. The detail doesn't show up as much in the photos as it does in real life but you get the idea. These were found at the same locality as the ones Rick_Jo posted above, only in a different section of the cliff face. Will probably end up at Austinmer fossicking again soon, depending on school/tides etc These date from the uppermost Permian, situated in sediments only a few metres below the Permian-Triassic boundary. This gives them a tentative age of just over 252 million years i would suspect. "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 They are very nice, good detail from from what I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Glossopteris would figure prominently in my "Famous Fossils with a Story" collection, if I ever would get 'round to it. It was the distribution of these fossils that suggested the existence of a southern supercontinent, long before proof of tectonic drift could be marshaled. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_Jo Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Nice finds Paleoworld.. You can see the detail in the leaves.. It is amazing to think that Glossoptris was dropping it's leaves for such a long time in this one area. From the bottom of the plateau (probably alot deeper) to top of the coal seam.. What I find even more amazing is that it was wiped out after being so predominant and other plants like ferns, conifers, cycads managed to survive in this area after the extinction event. The drop stones to me reinforce the fact that during this time the Sydney Basin was subject to multiple periods of glaciation, and the drop stones were deposited in their current positions by glaciers that rafted across the ancient coastline, carrying debris and sediment with it from other locations. Once the ice that originally carried them melted away, the debris was dropped and deposited with the present Permian bedrock. It's likely that the drop stones would be older than the surrounding Permian rock that they are now part of. Just my two cents.Yes you are most probably right about how the drop stones formed... I thought that being swampy / peatlands, and the circumstances needed for Glossoptris to grow to drop leaves would indicate that being covered in glaciers would most certainly have wiped them out on a constant basis... There must be greater time periods at play then I had interpreted in the rocks and maybe in extended periods of a cold climate did glaciers get the chance to intrude over the glossoptris peat.. Going back to my earlier comment, if glossoptris could survive this then why did they do so poorly at the extinction event?? Too much CO2 and warmth perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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