Chalk cliffs on the North Coast of Kent. These are formed of tiny sea shells that were laid down when England was much further South under a warm sea like Bermuda is today. It's quite soft and gets eroded by the sea. You can see an old hole that's been filled in to stop people being naughty in it.
Beautiful shot . When ever I see your pics of the White cliffs of Dover. Always reminds me of this movie.
Ta Pac We don't get down to Dover so much these days but this is part of the cliff round the corner from there And here's an old map of the place
Thank you Ziggy for the follow up picture of the white cliffs of Dover . Interesting history showing ancient sections of the chalky ocean floor.
You're welcome Pac I'm having a debate with a member of the cactus society (who, like me, is also into Geology) about the layer above the chalk which timewise is when the asteroid struck that killed the dinosaurs. He reckons there's no evidence of the boundary in England and I reckon I've found evidence in the form of shattered and blacked flints. (Flints are a secondary deposit within the chalk, hard lumps formed from the altered shells of sea creatures) I'll see if I can find some pics (think they're on a memory stick)
Found them There is an uncomformity between the chalk and the tertiary beds above them. This means the chalk was lifted up and eroded before the next lot was laid on top. So there is possibly up to 20 odd meters of chalk missing. Now the flints within the chalk would have been weathered out but probably wouldn't have travelled very far, basically most of them probably sat on top of it as they do today where we live (its called clay with flints and it's what's left of the rock when the rain has dissolved the chalk) Now if you go back 65 million years and the chalk was higher when the asteroid hit then the flints that were sitting on the top would have been shattered and blackened like this... These came from this layer... My friend is saying it's not the actual boundary as that would have been eroded but I'm thinking it's the remains of the boundary that hasn't been totally removed. I need to take some more samples of the mud in that top layer and have a look under the microscope. If I'm right then there should be microspherules.
I have a rock collection from years of exploring near different types of mines and rock formations in the US. Also have found flints found near quartz or thunder eggs a fancy term for rounded rocks when split open contain intricate colorful unique fillings of chalcedony, agate, jasper, or opal on the inside. It is common to find dark grey or black quartz or flints along side remnants of chalk or limestone left behind in the soil as softer rock erodes away over million of years . I have some unique thunder eggs , crystals , small gold and even fine powder rocks similar to the pics of yours in the top , and heavily veined turquoise rocks which are a few favs of mine tucked away in the barn somewhere. That is a project for summer…
Ahh, another cactus fan that also likes geology This seems to be a very common thing. Except Tetters, she loves rocks but hates cacti
I love rocks too but there are none down here in S. Georgia, unless you count the ones that the Railroad has dumped along the tracks .
Annie Just because there are no rocks in your area … a good option would be that you could always adopt a pet rock.
I have some internet exchanges where it feels like I'm talking to a rock, but I wouldn't call them " pet rocks". Present company excluded !!
You might have a good source of Carboniferous limestone there Annie We're mostly on Chalk rock here but since I've come to Kent i've found Granite from road planings, welsh slate from garden centres and Lavakrite from Norway used in the coastal defences Ta Sjoerd
I did find hunks of red chert that the natives used for arrows and stuff but it was brought here by them from North Georgia.
You're halfway to a rock collection already then Next place to look is churches and kerb stones. Usually something good there I used to work on the gravestones back in the 1990's, they came from all over the place This is a wall in one of our local churches built from Clunch. It's a re calcified layer that's quarried from within the chalk beds. It's the only bit that's anywhere near hard enough to use for building stone.
