elcoincoin Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I recently the opportunity to pay 2 visits to Senneville in Normandy hunting for urchins Here's a link to the geology of the site done by some locals. Senneville geology You walk along high chalk cliffs from Turonian / Coniacian (cretaceous), searching on crumbled blocks that lies on the beach. You can also find flint urchins rolled amongst the peebles. Ill start with the second one, 3 weeks ago. I walked down the 100 + stairs to reach sea level. I decided to spend some time looking for a productive rock, closer to the spot i hit previous times. After 30 minutes i had my choice made : 3 urchins most likely complete were poping out the chalk so I started to work the block. After 6 hours spent on the same block, i had a pretty good crop. Nearly only heart urchins (micraster decipiens and maybe one "non decipiens" one) and 1 echinocorys here's a group pictures of the first set i cleaned To be continued .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoWilliam Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Nice finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandomas Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 very nice echinoids, thanks for posting here Erosion... will be my epitaph! http://www.paleonature.org/ https://fossilnews.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcoincoin Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 part 2 - details of the first group photos Micraster decipiens 1 and Micraster decipiens 2 Micraster decipiens 3 with the apex a bit deflated Micraster decipiens 4 with a small piece of flint attached still Apex close up and finally the only echinochorys i managed to extracted (only saw 3 : one didnt completly fossilize and one was to close to a flint chunk and exploded before i could do a thing) Echinochorys gravesi : On this photo, u can see the details of the dermal plates and how delicate is the urchin. oral view of the same sample : To be continued.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amour 25 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Those are nice finds. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterpillar Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Only urchins in this level? http://www.paleotheque.fr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcoincoin Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 Found a tiny tiny shark tooth in august and some terebratulidae ( ill post some pictures next week end), also remains of bivalves but nothing i could save from falling apart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Beautiful urchins. Looking for the next update. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Gorgeous urchins! Why do they explode if they get near a flint chunk? (I'm sure you didn't mean that literally). Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcoincoin Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 The vibrations from hammer / chisels go through the flint and shattered the urchin if too close. Hope it's more clear now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Yes, I can see how that would happen. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcoincoin Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Today i actually got time to take pictures of the rest, so here s the best of it. More micrasters to start with : A very very nice double : another shot : a last one : A terebratula : one of the few thing that dont crumble into pieces beside urchins : and to finish with this trip : group view : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter99 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Wow! Beautiful urchins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 very nice. thanks for sharing these with us. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcoincoin Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 (edited) last update from this 2 trips report. I actually managed some time to process the last pictures. So this is a few shot from the first trip in august. Ill make it short since you guys have maybe seen enough micraster for the years to come. So for this travel, my plan was simple. Instead of lurking for fossils at the surface of the rocks, i decided to find a promising rock and reduce it to dust. A rock had like 10 urchins crosssections, both side of it. So thats the one i chose. And heres what it gave. You can find more pictures either in my TFF gallery here or on my flickr galery here first he one you know well now : micraster decipiens and the other not so frequent but still.... Echinocorys Gravesi Amongst the peebles i also spotted a worn out flint echinocorys while resting my arms! Also had luck to extract 2 double micraster. so here is they are One of the urchins on second block is a bit crushed... Also i discovered a few terebratulas and a tiny shark tooth while spliting the rock. One of the terebratula : and the shark tooth..... Same trip in august i also paid a visit to Veulette sur mer cliffs a bit further north. Didnt find much beside that flint conus : Ill finish with the group view for august trip: And as last picture, one of the reason i dont have that much time for fossils during automn : End of my normandy report... Thanks for reading To come :my 3 days trip in the albian of Troyes (promise, no echinoids!) Edited November 8, 2015 by elcoincoin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPlainPetrified Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Nice finds and great shots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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