Fossil News - Journal of Avocational Paleontology.

Hydrogeology, Geology, & Environmental Issues

Date posted: 08/13/09

In the current blog, the Pliocene outcrops are discussed as being quite abundant in Belgium. Local Pliocene is usually referred to as the “Scaldisian”, by reference to the Latin name “Scaldis” of the river Schelde (in Dutch, “Escaut” in French) near which Pliocene outcrops are encountered. Located in the north of the country, these sandy layers may be observed at the top of clay quarries in small cities like Steendorp, Sint-Niklaas and Tielrode. But the type location of the “Scaldisian” is to be seen in building sites and on sandy plains in the Antwerp harbour area. Like most big cities in Belgium, Antwerp possesses a Dutch name, “Antwerpen”, and a French name, “Anvers”. It can be rather confusing for people coming from outside the country who try to reach the city.  Antwerp is a nice town and is also world-renowned for its diamond trading, but that is another story. If you are interesting in buying diamonds, Beyond4cs.com would be a great website to start learning about diamonds. During the Miocene period, the Antwerp area was a gigantic gulf where sea currents pushed around the carcasses of dead sea mammals like whales, seals, and dolphins. When these decomposed, isolated bones fell to the bottom of the sea. Such an amazing amount of flesh attracted hungry scavengers like sharks, which lose some of their teeth while feeding. At the beginning of the Pliocene Epoch, erosion eliminated an important part of the Miocene sands. The “hard parts”, i.e. small stones, fossil bones, and teeth, were concentrated in great numbers at the bottom of the Pliocene rocks. Together with green sand, this made up what is called here a “base gravel”. Later the glauconitic sand partially condensed into sandstone pebbles; the best proof is the black stones containing a reworked shark tooth or vertebra. Finally more and more sand layers were deposited, some of them containing rich mollusc assemblages or many cetacean bones. Original working URL: http://www.fossilnews.com/