So, be you on a commute or on your way up to the Highlands, this station is more than just trains. Take time to look at the cladding and step back into the past.
We are here to look at the limestone panelling of the building, and to discover a type of fossil.
Limestone is a sedimentary rock.
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of that material at the earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle in place. The particles that form a sedimentary rock by accumulating are called sediment. Before being deposited, the sediment was formed by weathering and erosion from the source area, and then transported to the place of deposition by water, or wind. Sedimentation may also occur as minerals precipitate from water solution or shells of aquatic creatures settle out of suspension.
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate. Many,but not all limestones are composed of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, crinoids and molluscs.
A fossil is trace or remains of a plant, animal or other organisms. However, there is more to fossilization than just bones, or remains of a T Rex.
There are many EarthCaches which can teach you about the whole process of fossilization, what we are concerned with is this certain type of fossil.
We are here to look for fossil ammonites.
Ammonites are a group of extinct marine animals, that are related to modern day squid, cuttlefish and octupus. The living animal lived in a body chamber in a circular shell which had different chambers known as phragmocone. The circular shell consisted of a progressively larger chambers, known as camerae, with each camerae seperated from another, by thin wall called septa. Only the last and the largest of the chambers was occupied by the living animal. A thin tube passed through all the chambers, which allowed the animal to empty / fill each chamber with water, thus creating buoyancy, and allowing the ammonite to rise up and down in the water. The coiled appearance of an ammonite shell is known as planispiral.
This being an EarthCache, in order to log it, I ask that you answer the above 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. Please locate an ammonite fossil.
(a) Please describe its width.
(b) Please describe the fossil ammonite, in terms of how many whirls, and is there anything specific that stands out about it?