{"id":1209,"date":"2018-06-03T13:09:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T17:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1209"},"modified":"2018-10-28T13:58:27","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T17:58:27","slug":"fossils-on-a-shingle-beach-and-a-million-lost-golf-balls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1209","title":{"rendered":"FOSSILS ON A SHINGLE BEACH “AND A MILLION LOST GOLF BALLS”"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOSSILS ON A SHINGLE BEACH \u201cAND \u00a0A \u00a0MILLION LOST GOLF BALLS\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
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Strange how fragments of poetry get locked and hidden in the human \u00a0brain\u2026and \u00a0then suddenly emerge when triggered by a \u00a0fringe event. \u00a0So \u00a0it is with this tiny quote from T. S. \u00a0Eliot.<\/div>\n
\n

<\/p>\n

\"T.S.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
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\u201cAnd the wind shall say: ‘Here were decent Godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls.\u201d<\/h1>\n


\u2015\u00a0T.S. Eliot<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
individualism<\/a>,\u00a0modernity<\/a>,\u00a0progress<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Shingle beaches are harder and \u00a0harder to find these days as landscapers, encouraged \u00a0by City officials, deposit huge\u00a0blocks \u00a0of limestone or, \u00a0worse,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
lumps \u00a0of concrete, on spots where water meets land. \u00a0They fear erosion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
As do \u00a0we all. \u00a0 But something\u2019s lost for something gained \u00a0as has been \u00a0said.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
So what is a shingle \u00a0beach, you ask? \u00a0Some writers describe a shingle beach<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
as a \u00a0landform\u00a0\u2018armoured\u2019 with flat cobbles made smooth by tumbling<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
wave \u00a0actions. \u00a0In short they are not sandy \u00a0and \u00a0therefore \u00a0not generally<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
desirable by\u00a0barefoot strollers. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
They are\u00a0rare, however, and should be treasured \u00a0for among these wave worn cobbles are \u00a0signatures of past life. \u00a0The \u00a0most recent signature for Marjorie \u00a0and me is this orange \u00a0golf ball (hence \u00a0T. \u00a0S. \u00a0Eliot fragment) found alongside<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
something far more meaningful (hence \u00a0T. S. Eliot\u2019s metaphor).<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
This piece \u00a0of \u00a0Port Credit shale was once a\u00a0muddy slurry at the\u00a0bottom of an ancient ocean that once covered much \u00a0of North America. \u00a0That ocean abounded with life in \u00a0Paleozoic times. \u00a0Proof is\u00a0not hard to find \u00a0on shingle \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
beaches for\u00a0many \u00a0of the cobble chunks are \u00a0richly fossilized with\u00a0<\/span><\/span>nautiloids and \u00a0crinoids\u00a0and trilobites. \u00a0Weird creatures \u00a0that lived \u00a0here so deep in the past as to be unimaginable.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
So what animal\u2019s remains have I \u00a0found on this shingle beach. \u00a0I think the \u00a0fossil beside \u00a0the golf ball was once a \u00a0<\/span><\/span>nautiloid\u2026that long\u00a0cylindrical creature<\/span><\/div>\n
that looks like \u00a0an \u00a0ice \u00a0cream cone. \u00a0 Then again it could well be a fossilized<\/span><\/div>\n
crooned \u00a0stem. \u00a0But there are dozens \u00a0of other fossils<\/span><\/div>\n
on this\u00a0shingle beach. \u00a0 And \u00a0most of them can be identified as creatures of<\/span><\/div>\n
the \u00a0Paleozoic Era spanning \u00a0almost 200 million years from 542 million years ago to 251 million years \u00a0ago. \u00a0Seems that the trilobite (image at bottom of picture) was the most common with 17,000 variations.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I have never\u00a0found \u00a0a trilobite on a shingle beach even though I \u00a0have been<\/span><\/div>\n
looking off and \u00a0on for most of my life. \u00a0 But I have found \u00a0lots of nautiloid<\/span><\/div>\n
and crinoid<\/span><\/div>\n
fossils.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
What happened to these creatures? \u00a0Wow! \u00a0You will be \u00a0sorry you have asked.<\/span><\/div>\n
some \u00a0251 million years ago the greatest mass extinction in world \u00a0history<\/span><\/div>\n
happened dooming the rich \u00a0sea life of \u00a0the Paleozoic \u00a0Era. \u00a0 What happened?<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
The most agreed upon\u00a0explanation is that an asteroid \u00a0hit the earth near<\/span><\/div>\n
Australia. \u00a0Sudden. \u00a0Killing 97% of life \u00a0forms in the oceans and over 70% of<\/span><\/div>\n
life\u00a0forms on land. \u00a0 Following \u00a0the impact was millions of years of climate<\/span><\/div>\n
change.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
But no one really knows what actually happened. \u00a0Except for the fact that<\/span><\/div>\n
this \u00a0biggest extinction event in the history of life of \u00a0earth did \u00a0happen.<\/span><\/div>\n
Other extinction events \u00a0happened later such as the event 65 million years<\/span><\/div>\n
ago that \u00a0killed the dinosaurs. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
There are no\u00a0dinosaur fossilized bones \u00a0on our shingle beaches. \u00a0 But\u00a0plenty\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
of other fossils. \u00a0There were not dinosaurs on earth when \u00a0these \u00a0creatures<\/span><\/div>\n
thrived. \u00a0 A sharp\u00a0observer can divide them \u00a0up into separate<\/span><\/div>\n
periods.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  • Cambrian:<\/span>\u00a0542 to 488.3 million years ago<\/li>\n
  • Ordovician:<\/span>\u00a0488.3 to 443.7 million years ago<\/li>\n
  • Silurian:<\/span>\u00a0443.7 to 416 million years ago<\/li>\n
  • Devonian:<\/span>\u00a0416 to 359.2 million years ago<\/li>\n
  • Carboniferous:<\/span>\u00a0359.2 to 299 million years ago<\/li>\n
  • Permian:<\/span>\u00a0299 to 251 million years ago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
    Alan Skeoch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    June 3, 2018<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Take a look at the diversity of objects on this \u00a0shingle beach\u2026some new, some old, \u00a0some ancient, some mysterious, some \u00a0sobering. \u00a0All soaring really as is T. S. \u00a0Eliot\u2019s \u00a0comment about a \u00a0million lost golf balls.<\/div>\n
    \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
    \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
    \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    FOSSILS ON A SHINGLE BEACH \u201cAND \u00a0A \u00a0MILLION LOST GOLF BALLS\u201d Strange how fragments of poetry get locked and hidden in the human \u00a0brain\u2026and \u00a0then suddenly emerge when triggered by a \u00a0fringe event. \u00a0So \u00a0it is with this tiny quote from T. S. \u00a0Eliot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-1209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-6"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1209"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1648,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions\/1648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}