A sunny walk along the beach at Runswick Bay; plenty of jet on the beach. Jet is basically fossilised wood and was formed during the Jurassic period(180mya), when due to flash flooding, large amounts of the Araucaria tree were swept into the sea. Today the closest 'relative' of the Araucaria is the Monkey Puzzle tree. The trees became waterlogged and sank into the muddy seabed, where they were preserved in the anaerobic conditions, compressed and fossilised. Jet is washed up along the coast near Whitby and is found on the strand line- often together with bits of coal and peat. The jet though looks different - it has a sheen to it and striations which stand out in the light. It also makes a brown (orange, if it is jewellery grade jet) mark when scratched on carborundum paper.
It was nice to see some ammonites and oystershells as well as plenty of septarian nodules.
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| Runswick Bay ... |
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| Happy dog! |
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| Designs and colours .... |
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| Septarian nodules. |
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| Colourful cliffs .... |
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| Ammonites. |
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| Oysters. |
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| Jet... |
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| Big bits! |
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| I still haven't found out what these 'holes' in the wave cut platform are .... |
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| Good surf.... |
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