Niles Laurids Viby (Denmark)
I have written a few articles for this magazine on specific formations here in Denmark. However, a lot of local fossil collecting is done simply by walking along the seashore. Some beaches are fronted by cliffs – and some of those are base rock, like the cliffs at Fur or Mors (from the Lower Eocene, see my article, Fossil hunting in Denmark, in Issue 13), while most cliffs are ice age deposits of clay and/or sand.
However, even the beaches without cliffs are often full of rocks that can include interesting fossils – including a number of the fossils declared ‘Danekrae’ (that is, they have been included in the national collection at the Geological Museum in Copenhagen). Of course, the reason for this is that, during every ice age, a myriad of rocks were scraped from Norway, Sweden and the seabed, and later dropped all over Denmark. In fact, if you spend (a lot of) time walking beaches in the southern part of Denmark, you can end up with a very large collection of Mesozoic fossils, especially from the Swedish islands of Gotland and Øland, in the Baltic Sea.
In reality, if you go to virtually any Danish beach (apart from the rather few that are strictly sand, which, in the summer, are more or less full of naked people), you will find fossils, especially irregular sea urchin as internal flint cores. And, being Danish, I have been to so many beaches that I have lost track of the number – and there are still many that I haven’t yet visited.
In this article, most of the fossils that are discussed come from only three beaches. One of them has already been discussed at length in my article on the Danish Danien (see Fossil hunting in Denmark – part 2).
The cliffs at Fornæs.
The beach of Mogenstrup.
As flint is common on most beaches, so too are the fossils of sponges. The above picture shows a big specimen. I do not know what it is, but if someone can identify it for me, I would be most grateful. The flint is yellow, indicating that it is probably from the Palaeocene, as flint from the Danish Maastricien is almost always jet black.
Rocks containing several mussels can be found. This picture shows two examples:
At Mogenstrup, with luck, you can find helmet snails (Semicassis rondelei) washed out of the clay. The above shows a specimen that has just been found. It is a nicely washed (by the sea, that is) specimen and one where the shell has been dissolved leaving a stone core.
This picture shows an example of a Swedish rock found at a beach on the east coast of Jutland, southeast of the small city of Snaptun. It is from the Middle Cambrian and is covered with the small trilobite, Harpagnostus Parvifrons.
Stone cores of irregular sea urchins are common finds. This picture shows, at the bottom, Galerites sp and Salinea sp from Fornæs. Regular sea urchins are only found in flint as impressions. Fig. x (Cidaria sp) was found on the west coast of Jutland, where nearly all beaches are normally covered by sand. However, it is still possible to find a few rocks.
There is a nice variation on the sea urchin theme, in that you can, with luck, find rocks where the inside of the shell has been covered with calcite crystals. The specimen in the above picture, on the right, is from Fornæs. To the left is a rare specimen – a brachiopod that is partly made of the same kind of crystals.
This picture shows samples of fossils from Trelde Næs:
And finally the abve shows the big crab (Coeloma sp) that, with luck, can be found in nodules at Mogenstrup. The photo shows:
I have written a few articles for this magazine on specific formations here in Denmark. However, a lot of local fossil collecting is done simply by walking along the seashore. Some beaches are fronted by cliffs – and some of those are base rock, like the cliffs at Fur or Mors (from the Lower Eocene, see my article, Fossil hunting in Denmark, in Issue 13), while most cliffs are ice age deposits of clay and/or sand.
However, even the beaches without cliffs are often full of rocks that can include interesting fossils – including a number of the fossils declared ‘Danekrae’ (that is, they have been included in the national collection at the Geological Museum in Copenhagen). Of course, the reason for this is that, during every ice age, a myriad of rocks were scraped from Norway, Sweden and the seabed, and later dropped all over Denmark. In fact, if you spend (a lot of) time walking beaches in the southern part of Denmark, you can end up with a very large collection of Mesozoic fossils, especially from the Swedish islands of Gotland and Øland, in the Baltic Sea.
In reality, if you go to virtually any Danish beach (apart from the rather few that are strictly sand, which, in the summer, are more or less full of naked people), you will find fossils, especially irregular sea urchin as internal flint cores. And, being Danish, I have been to so many beaches that I have lost track of the number – and there are still many that I haven’t yet visited.
Some promising beaches
In this article, most of the fossils that are discussed come from only three beaches. One of them has already been discussed at length in my article on the Danish Danien (see Fossil hunting in Denmark – part 2).
| Beach 1: Sangstrup Klint |
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| This is a beach partly underneath a 10m-cliff of hard Danien chalk. Many of the fossils found here are from that period, but some common fossils are from the Maastricien (Upper Cretaceous) and, therefore, ice-transported from the seabed to the east of the beach. Most of the rocks are flint and the most common fossils are sea urchins. However, by splitting hard chalk rocks, you can also find Danien mussels, brachiopods and, if very lucky, impressions of carapaces from small crabs. Directions Go to Grenå and follow a road called ‘Stensmarksvej’, which goes north towards Fornæs. After some 5km, you will pass a small forest where a road called ‘Fornæsvej’ goes to a lighthouse. Do not take that, but go on for another 1.5km, passing a camping site. After about 500m, the road goes 90o left. Just opposite, there is a gravel road to the east. Take that and, after about 200m, you are at the beach. Park on a horizontal patch of grass (and look out for holes!) and then go down onto the beach and start going north looking in the huge number of rocks as you go. After half a kilometre, you will arrive at the foot of the Danien Cliffs, at a place called ‘Sangstrup Klint’. |
The cliffs at Fornæs.
| Mogenstrup |
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| Another small beach is located north of the city Skive. Here, parts of the low cliff are Oligocene, but most of the rocks on the beach are ice age transported and can include very rare Ordovician or Silurian rocks from Norway, containing brachiopods. However, what most people are looking for are circular, smooth, grey rocks that, when split, can contain rather big crabs. Directions Go north towards Fur on Road 551 and, after some time, you will reach a small town called Breum. Just after entering this town, go right onto a road towards Mogenstrup (some 3km down the road and consisting of only five houses). Go on for another 700m and, just before a small wood with two houses, the road turns 900 right, going south. After 100m, there is a gravel road on your left, going uphill and with a sign indicating a beach. Follow that road uphill for 200m and park at a grass area in front of a table with benches. Go down the road to the beach and then go north. |
The beach of Mogenstrup.
| Trelde Næs |
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| There is a good beach on the east side of Trelde Næs. There, you can, in principle, walk the 10km to the end of Trelde Næs, but that would be hard work, as the beach is often blocked by fallen trees. The clay is in parts ‘plastic’, so you might also get hopelessly stuck, so do not go alone. Fortunately, the Danish tide is very different from that in England, with a range of only 50cm, so you will not drown. However, as parts of the beach are part of a military training area, only go at weekends and beware if there are signs warning of violent activities. Parts of the cliffs are Eocene, so the fossils (including very rare fish and bird fossils) are somewhat similar to what to those found on the Isle of Sheppey, in the UK, although involving different species. The usual things that can be found are shark’s vertebras and teeth (that latter have lately become rather rare), and crabs in small brown/yellowish nodules. The beach looks very much like the beach at Mogenstrup – only much longer and with bigger trees to navigate. Directions Go into the city of Fredericia and find the road called ‘Lillebælts Alle’. On the east side of the road, you will see a small road called ‘Strandvejen’ that ends in a parking area, with a pedestrian walkway to the beach. |
Some examples of Danish fossils from beaches
As flint is common on most beaches, so too are the fossils of sponges. The above picture shows a big specimen. I do not know what it is, but if someone can identify it for me, I would be most grateful. The flint is yellow, indicating that it is probably from the Palaeocene, as flint from the Danish Maastricien is almost always jet black.
Rocks containing several mussels can be found. This picture shows two examples:
- To the left, Drepanocheilus speciosa from the Oligocene at Mogenstrup. Loose specimens can be found in the gravel on the beach.
- To the right, a ‘Turritella Sandstone’, which is a chocolate brown sandstone with white snails or mussels. With a lot of luck, these can be found at beaches in southern Denmark.
At Mogenstrup, with luck, you can find helmet snails (Semicassis rondelei) washed out of the clay. The above shows a specimen that has just been found. It is a nicely washed (by the sea, that is) specimen and one where the shell has been dissolved leaving a stone core.
This picture shows an example of a Swedish rock found at a beach on the east coast of Jutland, southeast of the small city of Snaptun. It is from the Middle Cambrian and is covered with the small trilobite, Harpagnostus Parvifrons.
Stone cores of irregular sea urchins are common finds. This picture shows, at the bottom, Galerites sp and Salinea sp from Fornæs. Regular sea urchins are only found in flint as impressions. Fig. x (Cidaria sp) was found on the west coast of Jutland, where nearly all beaches are normally covered by sand. However, it is still possible to find a few rocks.
There is a nice variation on the sea urchin theme, in that you can, with luck, find rocks where the inside of the shell has been covered with calcite crystals. The specimen in the above picture, on the right, is from Fornæs. To the left is a rare specimen – a brachiopod that is partly made of the same kind of crystals.
This picture shows samples of fossils from Trelde Næs:
- Upper left: the carapace of the crab, Basinotopus tricornus.
- Middle left: the carapace of the crab, Glyphithyreus bituberculatus.
- Lower left: the carapace of the crab, Falsiportunites longispinosus.
- In the middle: a shark tooth. To the right: some examples of shark vertebra.
And finally the abve shows the big crab (Coeloma sp) that, with luck, can be found in nodules at Mogenstrup. The photo shows:
- In the middle: the outside of a nodule.
- To the right: the top of a crab. This is all that is found in 95 % of cases.
- To the left: the bottom of the crab – a rarer specimen.
| Other articles in this series by Niels Laurids Viby |
|---|
| Fossils from Denmark (part 1) |
| Fossil from Denmark (part 2) |
| Fossils from Denmark (part 3) – getting exercise walking the beaches of Denmark |
| Fossils from Denmark (part 4) – Danish chalk |