Collecting fossils


	Read the Safety Code of Conduct
The WRONG way !
	Don't try collecting fossils from the cliff faces; they are usually crushed, poorly preserved and the cliffs are prone to collapse if hammered. As you can see from the above picture, some people have no common sense.
The RIGHT way !
	The right way means sensible clothing, stout boots and hard hats. Just out of shot, several members of the group are keeping an eye on the cliff faces and on the tide level. The students are from Oxford University, studying a Geology course.
What do the fossils look like ?
	The best and easiest way of collecting the ammonite fossils is just by looking down on the beach while you walk along it. You should also be looking in the gaps between the many larger rocks and boulders. The ammonites that are found in the area are usually preserved in two different forms, calcite and iron pyrite. The most commonly found ammonites found are those of Iron Pyrite (Fools Gold). The photo above shows a collection of small pyritised ammonites that were collected from the beach under Stonebarrow Hill during a low tide, in under 15 minutes. The smallest ammonite measured just under 10mm. The top left ammonite is not formed of pyrite but is of Aragonite, hence its shiny surface and very fragile nature. It is therefore very unusual to find this type of fossil on the beach, as they break easily under the action of the waves. As you can see, even the iron pyrite fossils can be broken up under the action of tides and waves. Belemnites are usually preserved in calcite. This means that loose belemnites are very rarely found on the beach in an unbroken state. Broken pieces of Belemnite can be found ranging from 3mm to 15mm in diameter, with lengths from 5mm to 40mm.
Where should I look ?
	The photo above shows where you should go to collect the iron pyrite ammonites. You need to time your arrival for about 1 hour after a high tide. This will give you 3-4 hours of search time without worrying about the tide coming in. The photo below shows the range of fossils that was found by walking along the beach from the River Char, under Stonebarrow Hill, to the waterfall at Westhay Water. Taking a leisurely three hours, all the fossils were found lying on the sand and shingle between the low tide and high tide lines. The collection includes several types of ammonites, both free and attached to a matrix of pyrite/limestone. The fossil in the top left hand corner is a piece of Pentacrinite Bed.
Can I find other fossils ?
	The harder to find fossils is by looking for grey coloured limestone nodules on the beach, that appear to have light coloured patches on them. These patches are usually the remains of water worn fossils formed in calcite, but they indicate that more fossils may lie within the stone. The photo below shows the outline of a water worn Ammonite in a limestone nodule. Break them open very carefully, remembering to wear eye protection! The photo below shows a fairly large ammonite preserved in a pale yellow calcite. The darker calcite is due to impurities present in the mineral. Closer inspection reveals another three much smaller ammonites also embedded in the nodule. A lot of the limestone pebbles and boulders appear to have light coloured straight lines of crystals running through them; these are usually veins of calcite crystals. Sometimes you can find pieces of fossilised wood attached to these limestone nodules. There are plenty of pebbles on the beach, especially under Stonebarrow Hill, that appear to have a transparent surface when wet. These are made of Chert and come from the Upper Greensand Cretaceous cap. Other fossils may be found from this Cretaceous zone including Sea Urchins (Holaster), shown in the photo below, white Oyster shells (Exogyra) and coiled worm tubes (Rotularia).
Can I find out more about collecting fossils ?
	For an interesting story on the collecting of Jurassic fossils at both Charmouth and Whitby, I recommend a visit to Geoff Notkin's website entitled 'Hunting for fossils in the rain'.