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Tag: upper cretaceous

October 17 field trip –

When: Sunday, October 17, 2021

Where: Please see email to registered members for location details.

We are revisiting the second site from the September field trip to investigate further. It consists of a few pits, appeared to be created by blasting. In September the hard matrix revealed brachiopods and what appear to be trigonids.

Site suitable for families.

Travel: Meet at Helmcken Park & Ride at 9 am to arrange carpooling.

Equipment: The rock is TOUGH, with fossils in bedrock, not concretions. Bring your big hammers, chisel, safety glasses and gloves. Big boulders can be slippery; hiking boots recommended. Bring drinking water and bag lunch. Dress for rain, wind or sunshine (windbreaker, hat, sunscreen).

Exposure: Upper Cretaceous (90MY before present), Nanaimo Group, Upper Comox to Lower Haslam Formations. This small exposure of Nanaimo Group sediment is gritty sandstone/mudstone similar to Stephenson Point and thought to be Upper Comox to Lower Haslam in age, although no definitive reference could be sourced.

September 19 field trip

When: 9:00AM, Sunday, September 19, 2021

Where: A benefit of membership is the email describing this trip. The sites to be visited are easily accessible and suitable for families.

Exposure: Upper Cretaceous (90MY before present), Nanaimo Group, Upper Comox to Lower Haslam Formations.

Directions: Victoria area members, meet at Helmcken Park & Ride at 9:00 am to arrange carpooling. Members from up-island may join the trip in Duncan when we stop at Java World for a coffee between 9:45 and 10 am.

Equipment: The rock is TOUGH, with fossils in bedrock, not concretions. Bring your big hammers, chisel, safety glasses and gloves. Big boulders can be slippery; hiking boots recommended. Bring drinking water and bag lunch. Dress for rain, wind or sunshine
(windbreaker, hat, sunscreen).

Contact: RSVP Jerri Wilkins, Field Trip Lead, via the VicPS Facebook page or via email.

Sep. 27 Field Trip

When: Sunday, Sept 27, 2020

Where: Chemainus River

Directions: Meet at Helmcken Park & Ride at 9am. Carpooling optional/personal decision; masks must be worn if/while carpooling, social distancing mandatory throughout the field trip.

Exposure: Cliffs along the deep canyon of the Chemainus River expose the black mudstones of the Haslam Formation, an ancient marine environment deposited in the Upper Cretaceous (85MY before present). Fossils can be found high above on the cliff face and loose in the steep piles of scree stretching to river level. Fossil are common in large and small concretions and in situ on this stretch of the river.

Many of the fossils of the Haslam Formation are representatives of extinct animal groups which have no modern counterparts. The ancient Haslam environment was a shallow sea populated by molluscs, fishes, and giant marine reptiles. Some of the fossils, such as clams and snails, are similar to their modern relatives, but others, such as the extinct ammonites, provide an excellent opportunity to explore changing life and environment over geological time.

Contact: RSVP Jerri Wilkins via the VicPS Facebook page or via email.