Belemnites EarthCache

You may or may not be aware but the two Gullies near GZ are areas where many visitors try their luck at finding some Belemnites, we have brought you here today with the hope that you will be able too as well.

Firstly we better explain what a Belemnite is: Belemnites were marine animals; their closest living relatives are squid and cuttlefish. Similarities with today’s relatives include ink sacks and the presence of ten tentacles.

Belemnites were present on earth for a period in excess of 140 million years. They first appeared on earth 208 million years ago, during the Carboniferous period. It is believed they evolved from the same ancestors as the Ammonites. Belemnites became extinct about the same time that the Dinosaurs disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago.

Belemnites have a hard internal skeleton and the fossil remains you are looking for today are the hard part of the shell that was originally located in the tail.

The Belemnites in the Flinders River and tributaries around Hughenden come from the geological units called the Doncaster Member and Ranmoor Member both part of the Wallumbilla Formation. These geological units make up basement rocks for the surrounding hills and valleys around the township. When you find the belemnites they have already weathered out of the rock and travelled downstream before eventually settling on the river beds and streams. Sand and muds then quickly wash over these specimens burying them once more before people come to dig them up.

The age of the belemnites themselves is variable depending on the geological source, those from the Doncaster Member are from the Late Aptian Stage of the Early Cretaceous Period (approximately 115–112 million years ago), whist those from the Ranmoor Member are from the Early Albian Stage of the Early Cretaceous Period (approximately 107–105 million years ago). The belemnites from around Richmond differ, as they’re mainly from the Toolebuc Formation which is from the Late Albian Stage of the Early Cretaceous Period (approximately 102–100 million years ago).

This area is a designated fossicking area and everyone is welcome to try. Please park well off the road and be safe in this area, watch out for snakes and use sun protection.

Digging for Belemnites can vary in difficulty, we found a claw hammer, large screwdriver and a small hand shovel to be sufficiently useful to make our find. We didn’t dig too deep and we tried to dig away from previous excavations, we spent about an hour here and found 3 small Belemnites.

To log this Earth Cache we require you to wander around and look at the area, consider the information given and perhaps if you need to do some research of your own, then message us with the following answers to the best of your ability;

1. Attempt to find a Belemnite, whilst doing so what else do you find, it’s okay if you cant correctly identify the minerals and rocks you find just describe them or have a guess as to what they are, what does the presence of these suggest?

2.If you are lucky enough to find one, describe its texture and size?

3. A photo of your team or GPS near GZ ‘hunting’. (Optional)

You are welcome to log your answers straight away to keep your TB's and Stats in order but please message us with your answers within 24 hours. Cachers who do not fulfil the Earth Cache requirement will have their logs deleted.

Source: Wikipedia,,