Misty Mysteries

WARNING: This post may contain poo!

 As the second day of the weekend also turned out sunny (but not as balmy as yesterday), I had no choice but to go outside again.  But this time down to the beach where some misty mysteries lay in wait:

While most of the beach was basking in sunshine, the wet bits and the cliffs weren't

The blazing sun was evaporating water from the moist sand and cliffs at a phenomenal rate

The mist cast an eerie pall as it rolled up the cliffs

I thought it looked like an incoming dust storm in this photo

It didn't look quite as dramatic back west

 

The End-of-the-Line stuck out far enough to be seen

Ack!  People!  I wish they'd been swallowed up by the mist

However, within about fifteen minutes, the mist had pretty much dissipated

At this point, the tide was out about as far as it goes, leaving the chalk beds exposed

Amongst the chalk are numerous fossils - like this belemnite

(that's my index finger, for scale)

There are also plenty of fossilised impressions of skin/scales, sea sponges or sea weed

For scale (because I couldn't be bothered to keep pointing), the belemnite is 4.5cm long

(that's about an inch & three quarters for those of you still living in an imperial world)

This is not the poo.  It's iron pyrite - otherwise known as fool's gold

Here's a close up

A load of belemnites

A fossilised something or other  (vertebrae, maybe?)

Or it could just be a bit of chalk with thousands of little holes in it...

Could this be coprolite?  AKA fossilised poo!

With the mist totally gone by the time I'd finished poking around, this is how Overstrand beach looked

The sea was VERY calm

It could almost be a summer's day - except for the temperature (or lack thereof)

 Previous fossilisation (and less poo) - and a seal! - can be found here.  I hope you all had - and are still having in many cases - a splendid weekend!