The Gondwana Coast is abundant with shallow water marine invertebrate fossils, of which the Ulladulla area is a part. At low tide, an ancient world is exposed on the Ulladulla rock platforms.
During the summer months, guided walks are provided by volunteers. At other times, adventurous fossickers may locate fossils in the rock platforms.
These shell fossils are easily identified.
This is my favourite, it could be a lamp shell. As I am in no way an expert on fossils, my identification of these photos are only suggestions. A pamphlet is available from the Visitor’s Centre in Ulladulla.
This could be a sea fan.
This is interesting. Maybe it is a sea lily, or it could be a ‘trace fossil’ from the track of a worm.
There are also interesting rock formations like this one which seem to be of a great significance to the formation of the area.
These images are from a small part of the area. Next trip we will explore further. Not everyone is interested in fossils. I find it fascinating and wish I had listened more carefully in Geology!
Oh wow! Small Man is a huge fossil fan, thanks for this post, Christine! Maybe we’ll have to make a trek there one day…
Definitely worth a trip.
Hi Christine,
I just found your blog through Celia’s. I did some palaeontology subjects at uni as part of my degree and might be able to help you out with some IDs. The first two fossil photos are of Brachiopods which are a type of bivalve – like and oyster or scallop. The third photo is a bryozoan I think. I’m pretty sure the fourth is the stem of a crinoid which is also known as a sea lily. The last photo is of a dropstone. The dropstone is the big quartz rock in the finer background mudstone. These formed when bits of rock (the quartz) were picked up in glaciers and transported offshore in icebergs. As the icebergs melted the larger rocks were dropped to the seafloor and ended up being cemented into the mud that was on the seafloor. Hope that’s of some interest to you (and maybe Celia too)!
Cheers,
Hannah
Thanks so much for the information Hannah. The dropstone is interesting, thanks for explaining it so well.
What neat fossils. They always amaze me. Love the on that looks like it could be the sea fan, although they are all amazing and beautiful. What fun!