Fossiliferous - Longbridge EarthCache
Hidden : 3/19/2016
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:


The Longbridge area of south Birmingham has great industrial history, with a large factory complex here once producing cars, as well as military related work during the war. This factory was hugely important to the history of Birmingham and the local history of this area. Following the collapse of the industry, the land was turned over to residential, community and retail use, and the new high street area has brought a new lease of life to this location.

The listed coords are the centre of a large car park where you can park free for up to 3 hours.

The shop fronts are faced with slabs of beautiful beige limestone, these slabs are fossiliferous (full of fossils), which is the subject of this earth cache.
A ruler or tape measure may be required for question 2!


The fossil slabs at Longbridge are very accessible - they surround the shop fronts along the high street and lots of the fossils are within human height.
The main types of fossils that stand out are belemnite guards (long black bullets) and ammonites (round curly shapes). There are also some very nice fossil sponges, and all of the slabs contain detritus (fragmented and broken up pieces of shells). All of these fossils indicate that this is a marine rock - it formed under the ocean.


It is a limestone from the Jurassic period of geological time and was formed around 160 million years ago. The fossils show that this was a different environment to today, and the area in Germany where these slabs were quarried was once a shallow sea (ammonites are generally thought of as the shallow water relation to nautiloids which prefer deeper water). Ammonites and belemnites are both part of the Cephalopod family. Only the hard parts of these animals are preserved - the soft body parts were either eaten (scavenged) or rotted away during the fossilisation process. The ammonite hard parts are the shell, which in this limestone are found in a range of orientations and show different aspects & views of the shells, and in a lot of cases you can clearly see the different chambers of the shell.


The belemnites are represented by the guards - long black bullet shapes which are thought to have acted as a counterweight for the rest of the animal. At the front end of the guard there is a feature called a phragmocone, which is divided into cells and is thought to have helped with buoyancy. This feature can be seen in some of the Longbridge fossils, but is generally rarely preserved - sometimes it just falls out, but most of the time it disintegrates as it is made of an unstable mineral (aragonite). The guard is made of calcite which is more stable and more likely to be preserved. Some of the fossils also have areas of calcite infill, which looks like white crystals.


Many thanks to Laura Hamilton, BSc Hons Geology graduate from Birmingham University for all the above information.

The Cache

Please send me an email with the answers to the following questions:
(Please feel free to log as a find and send answers when able to)

1. At waypoint 1 (N 52° 23.645 W 001° 59.207)
Outside the "Smyths" shop, on their left hand pillar, front face, second slab up, about 33 inches from the ground is a lovely Belemnite.
Imagine the Belemnite is the minute hand of a clock.
The centre of the clock is on the top edge of the slab.
How many minutes past the hour would it say?

2. At waypoint 2 (N 52° 23.627 W 001° 59.147)
Outside the "Card Factory" shop, right hand side of shop and on the right hand face, there is a Belemnite and an Ammonite close together, what is the length of the Belemnite that can be seen approximately 6 ft up (4th slab up)?

3. At waypoint 3 (N 52° 23.718 W 001° 59.065)
Outside the "Specsavers" shop, their middle pillar, second slab up, approximately 16 inches from the ground there is a very good example of an Ammonite.
The chambers of the shell are clearly visible, how many chambers can you see and what material is the white crystal looking chamber?

4. (Optional) Post a photo of yourself and/or gps at any of the shop front surrounds.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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