Fossil Bay
|
Fossil Bay, Maria Island
  We left the cemetery and followed the
very dry track to the cliff edge. A young lady
greeted us, not too far away was her
beau.
 We didn’t expect to see a lonesome thistle.
 Down just a few steps we
were surrounded by fossil cliffs.
The cliff exposure in the Fossil Bay area is recognised
as the best example of lower Permian strata in Tasmania, if not the world. The
dark grey rock containing the fossils consists of alternating beds of
fossil-rich limestone and siltstone that is estimated to be about sixteen metres
thick. At Fossil Cliffs there is a prolific occurrence of
fossils of the thick-shelled clam Eurydesma.
The soft parts of the creatures have rotted away, leaving only the hard shells,
which have lasted almost three hundred million years. In some areas, almost all
of the rock is made up by the broken shells of Eurydesma.
On the lower rock shelf there is a
variety of fossils including sea fans, coral-like creatures, scallop shells and
sea lilies.
We enjoyed a snack and a perch with the view. Bird Rock, Ile du Nord and a crayfisherman collecting his pots.
It is thought that such an extensive accumulation of fossils may be related to the cold conditions associated with the polar sea of the time. Amongst the fossils are some large rocks, called dropstones. These have been transported by floating ice. As the ice begins to melt, the stones fall to the sea floor and settle amongst the finer sediments. The stones consist of different rock types, including granite and quartzite, and may have come from nearby, or from great distances away.
Everywhere we looked or stepped we saw fossils.
The variety of fossils found here.
A chaps cute story, left as is for the grandchildren:- My life as a fossil – a true story. I wasn’t always a fossil. Once upon a time, about 290 million years ago, I was a clam, feeding on the bottom of the cold sea floor. But, as with all animals, I eventually died. My soft body bits rotted away and my hard shell became part of the sea floor, amongst all of the other shell litter. Soon, the huge weight of all the sediment settling on top of me turned me into a fossil, and the sediment around me into rock. Things quietened down for a while, as I spent 190 million years buried deeper and deeper. And then...... an amazing thing happened. I began to feel an incredible force from below, pushing me up. And after a few million years..... I started to sense a daylight again. I was no longer underwater. I’d risen and what a view. It was pretty peaceful [and warmer] for a few more million years – until recently when some humans arrived and started digging into my limestone cliff home to make cement out of me! But now I’m protected and part of a fossil site which is of world significance. I like being here; the view’s good and people take an interest in me. Maybe in another few million years, I’ll be somewhere else.
A little indulgent wave watching.
We watched the crayfisherman as he zoomed out to get a straight line in to the shallow water to collect a pot.
The area between the two heights was flattened during the time of quarrying.
We poked our heads around the far end. Up above to our far left is the Bishop and Clerk.
– they say a two to four hour return walk – I’d need a helicopter for that......
One more look back and time to move on.
ALL IN ALL SIMPLY THOUSANDS AN OVERWHELMING NUMBER OF FOSSILS |
