This EarthCache takes you to near the junction of Bamford Rd and Byre Rd, in Shuttleworth. So what are we here to see, well first there is a large millstone on the wall, and nearby fossil evidence of from when the stone was originally deposited.
The geology around here is mostly from the Carboniferous period. The Carboniferous Period lasted from about 359.2 to 299 million years ago, and the rocks that lie underneath the valleys and hills of Rossendale were formed millions of years ago at a time when the whole of what is now the North of England was covered by huge river deltas and lagoons. Sediments, mainly sands, silts and muds, were eroded from hills in an area that now includes Scandinavia and Greenland and were swept into vast river deltas and lagoons in a central basin in a position now occupied by the Pennines. The sediment settled to the bottom as the water slowed down in the deltas and lagoons. The nearest equivalent sediments of today are forming in huge river deltas such as the Mississippi delta.
During this period, many plants and trees were washed downstream, and evidence of them can be found in the fossil form. If you look along the wall, there is a plan fossil from this period.
What we can see is a fossil from a tree known as a Lepidodendron tree, also known as the scale tree, an extinct primitive, vascular, arborescent (tree -like) plant related to the club mosses. They were part of the coal forest flora. They sometimes reached heights of over 30 metres (100 ft), and the trunks were often over 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter. They thrived during the Carboniferous Period before going extinct. They had tall, thick trunks that rarely branched and were topped with a crown of bifurcating branches bearing clusters of leaves . These leaves were long and narrow, similar to large blades of grass, and were spirally-arranged. The closely packed diamond-shaped leaf scars left on the trunk and stems as the plant grew provide some of the most interesting and common fossils in Carboniferous deposits. These fossils look much like tire tracks or alligator skin,and likely lived in the wettest parts of the coal swamps that existed during the Carboniferous period.
The fossil remains of the roots can also be seen at times, these are known as Stigmaria, these have a pattern of circular structures, which are the evidence of rootlets coming out of the root.
This being an EarthCache, in order to log it, I ask that you answer some questions. Please send them to me, and do not include them in your log. You can send them to me by using the message facility or email, both of which can be found by looking at my profile.
1. Using above information, what part of a Lepidodendron tree can you see here?
2. What is the rationale for your answer? Please describe its feel, and appearance as part of your answer.
3. How long is this fossil?