Fossil images at Sandringham beach and Beaumaris Bay

Compiled by Dr Vicki Karalis 2015

Professor John Buckeridge is Professor of Natural Resources Engineering at RMIT University,

Melbourne. He is Past President of the International Union of Biological Sciences, President
Emeritus of the International Society of Zoological Sciences, Honorary professor of
Engineering Ethics at Wismar University of Business, Technology and Design (Germany) and
an Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Publications exceed 300 in
professional ethics, environmental impact assessment, geotechnology, and the
palaeobiology, evolution and distribution of marine invertebrates.

Fossils at Sandringham beach

We discovered a fossilised tree and many fossils of the ichnofossil, a series of
burrows at Sandringham beaches. These fossils can also be found in the
Beaumaris sandstone situated at Mentone, Beaumaris, Black Rock and
Brighton beaches.

Ophiomorpha beaumarisensis - note burrows imprinted within iron rich local Beaumaris
sandstone formerly known as Black Rock sandstone.
Ophiomorpha beaumarisensis (Karalis, Sandringham cliffs)

Note burrows in stone: (Karalis Sandringham cliffs)

Petrified tree trunk embedded in stone

(Karalis Sandringham cliffs)

(Karalis Sandringham cliffs)

Fossils at Beaumaris Bay - the most significant fossil site in the

Bayside and Kingston City region
Professor Buckeridge says there needs to be recognition of the geological
importance of the site - both for Australia and internationally. It is the place
where important vertebrates (e.g. marsupials, birds, seals) are first recorded.
Much of the remains are found on the seabed. These fossils are derived from
both cliff erosion and seafloor erosion. There are also invertebrates there that
are known from nowhere else in the world (e.g. barnacles) and other
invertebrates that have their most diverse preservation at this site (e.g. heart
urchins and "mud crab" burrows). There are also whales, fish and molluscs
within the Beaumaris Sandstone.

Lovenia woodsii (Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Ophiomorpha beaumarinsensis (Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Tree cast

(Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Shark teeth found at Beaumaris Bay

(Karalis Beaumaris Bay)

Can you spot the fossil?

Hardground horizon in Beaumaris sandstone

(Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Professor John Buckeridge points to a layer of fossils embedded deep and at

the base of the 15 metre high Beaumaris cliffs
(Karalis Beaumaris Bay)

A closer look at the shells

(Karalis Beaumaris Bay)

Fyansford fossils below Beaumaris sandstone

(Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Bivalve in Fyansford fossil

(Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Flabellum fossil

(Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Austromegabalanus victoriensis

(Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

Bergaueria Beaumaris sandstone

(Buckeridge Beaumaris Bay)

These are interpreted as a series of fossil sea anemones. As they have no
skeletal material, their preservation is very special.
To our knowledge these are the only known examples from the Cainozoic of
Australia. They are known (although they are very rare), from the Ediacara
Formation in South Australia which is about 600 Million years old.

These photos (thanks to Vicki and Professor Buckeridge) are useful examples of what you
can find when you learn to identify and start to recognise what youre looking for make
your next beach-walk a fossil-hunt! Ed.......
Although we would love you to donate your unique fossils for research and education! vk