Does anyone know which layer in the Lyme Regis Church cliffs the Ichthyosaurs come from?

I know people find Ichthyosaur bones on the foreshore all the time, but I'm still wandering which layer they come from.

I'm stuck on my phone atm so I'll try to keep this short : I think there are multiple layers there that yield bone. If you Google something along the lines of 'Lyme Regis stratigraphic log' or 'Lyme Regis stratigraphy', preferably in google scholar, you will get a log of the cliff section which will show the various beds of rock and which yields what. Sorry I can't explain more atm..

macrocephale wrote:I'm stuck on my phone atm so I'll try to keep this short : I think there are multiple layers there that yield bone. If you Google something along the lines of 'Lyme Regis stratigraphic log' or 'Lyme Regis stratigraphy', preferably in google scholar, you will get a log of the cliff section which will show the various beds of rock and which yields what. Sorry I can't explain more atm..

Thanks anyway!

I went to the Natural History Museum the other day and saw most of the Ichthyosauars (from Lyme Regis) are about 203-186 MYA.
Does anyone know what layer that is?

I'm pretty sure it's part of the Lias, but there's more than one section they come from. You can't take fossils from the cliffs there anyway, only those which have worn out and fallen to the ground

macrocephale wrote:I'm pretty sure it's part of the Lias, but there's more than one section they come from. You can't take fossils from the cliffs there anyway, only those which have worn out and fallen to the ground

Hello!
Thanks but the whole cliff is in the Blue Lias. I only asked because I wanted to know what color the rock was, not because I wanted to go and attack the cliff.

Thanks anyway.

Like I said before, you'd need a stratographic log, which shows the different horizons of rock as well as any fossils are found where, they shouldn't be too hard to find. Also, there are a number of text books on the area you should be able to find in a library that would have them. Something along the lines of 'Field guide to the British Jurassic', or 'Jurassic or the Dorset Coast' (I don't think they are the titles dead on..)

The cliffs at Lyme Regis are pretty complex, geologically and a stratigraphical map is attached (I hope) for reference purposes.

Most ichthyosaur and plesiosaurs in the Blue Lias of Lyme come from the Sinemurian bucklandi zone, within the upper part of the Blue Lias. The Saurian Shales are probably the famous bed for ichthyosaur and plesiosaur remains but they are not entirely confined to this section. However, the Saurian Shales occur in a dangerous topmost section of Lyme Regis’s almost vertical, crumbling cliffs. The Shales themselves and adjacent strata belong to the Zone of Arnioceras and are also of interest because of their yield of fish and invertebrate fossil remains.

It's also worth noting that most notable horizons for ichthyosaur/ plesiosaur remains are regularly searched by professional collectors, who know the rocks like the backs of their hands and so, inevitably, vertebrate yields are very poor to the amateur collector, although not entirely unknown.

A fairly accessible section of the Sinemurian bucklandi zone of the Blue Lias can be found at the eastern end of East Cliffs. The Saurian Shales at Church Cliffs is virtually inaccessible and very dangerous. The best place to look is along the beach or along the cliffs after a rockfall (safety helmet strongly advised!) or heavy storms. It is said that for every one specimen found in place in its bed, twenty are picked up loose on the cliff-slopes and on the beach!

Summer holiday time at Lyme Regis and Charmouth is not a good time, as thousands of tourists weekly comb the beaches, looking for that elusive ichthyosaurus!
Good luck if you're going there.