***PLEASE NOTE - You are only looking at the 'older stone. Recent improvements to the front of the building have meant some newer stone to the front of the disabled ramps- disregard this and look at the older, more worn stone.***
The area...
The Steve Biko Building, or more commonly the Students' Union Building is the Union's main building and home of its administrative offices. The building is named after anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko.
There is a band of stone blocks around the base of the building and these are almost certainly Portland Stone blocks. Portland Stone is prominent in many buildings around the UK, and was used by Wren for St Paul’s Cathedral, The British Museum and the Bank of England to name a few. There are examples of buildings in Manchester, such as Manchester Central Library and 100 King Street and in Liverpool the Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building are also clad in this material. It is strong enough to resist moderate weathering, but is able to be cut and carved by masons hence its widespread use for building exteriors.
Fossils
Fossils are formed in a number of different ways but the typical formation follows on from when a plant or animal dies and is buried in mud or silt. This can often be in a watery environment. The animal’s remains become encompassed and the soft tissues decompose. Bones and shells are much harder wearing and may take longer to decay. The surrounding sediment hardens into rock. The ‘hole’ left within the rock that contained the decomposed animal can fill with minerals that permeate inside and fill this void. This makes a stone replica of the original plant or animal – this cast is the fossil.
Logging requirements
You are looking for fossils in the stone blocks. The co-ords for this cache should take you to some fossils but there are others around the building. There are some other examples in the diagonally opposite corner to where you should be stood if you are at the cache co-ords. These may be sharper but I didn't want to be too close to another nearby cache. Please note that that advertised coords will be difficultfor wheelchair users or those with prams but there are places taht these users can get the information wthout difficulty as described above.
In order to claim the cache as found you need to send the answers to the following questions below via my contact link:
1) Find a fossil and attempt to identify the creature that has been fossilised. I don’t require full Latin names or a very specific species – just a type of creature
2) What is the length of the fossil?
3) What is the shape of the fossil?
4) Why do you think some of the fossils are more prominent ie stand out from the surface of the stone (there may be a hint in the information above)?
5) Optional – take a photo of the fossil you are sending the details of.
I’m happy for you to send your answers to me at the same time as you log – you don’t need to wait for a reply. However I will check logs against emails so don’t log if you don’t intend to send a message. I will delete all logs that I think have not physically visited the location, or have not sent answers.