Fieldtrip to the Jurassic Coast

Fieldtrip to the Jurassic Coast – The weekend of 18 and 19 April 2026, Professor Stephen Hesselbo will lead an RGSC fieldtrip to the Jurassic Coast, with similar arrangements to the Bath trip, where people are free to make their own accommodation arrangements.  We will be based in Lyme Regis. There are hotel rooms available now, in the Mariners Hotel for example, on a refundable basis.

We will open formal registration in November.

Itinerary: Saturday April 18 th.  Low tide at 13:20 BST. Morning: Monmouth
Beach–Seven Rock Point.  Here we will look at the classic Blue Lias limestone-marl ‘rhythms’ which have yielded many of the most important fossil finds from this area. These interbeds have been shown to reflect orbitally forced climate changes and provide the basis for a precise chronology (analogous to tree-rings but over a much longer timescale).

Lunch at Seven Rock Point (bring a packed lunch!)

Afternoon: Pinhay Bay. After a vigorous walk we will look at the transitions between the Triassic and the Jurassic.  This transition coincided with the break-up of the supercontinent Pangea, one of the ‘big five’ mass extinctions, and the formation of the Central Atlantic large igneous province.  At Pinhay Bay we see an unusual development of mass flow deposits as the basin founded into deeper water.

Late afternoon: Charmouth beach – pyritized fossil hunt (if time allows).

Sunday April 19 th .  Low tide at 14:15 BST.Morning: Eype’s Mouth.  Here we will see three-dimensional exposure of the Eype’s Mouth Fault, a substantial synsedimentary fault that one of a set that were active throughout the Jurassic and defined the Wessex Basin rift system.  We will explore the sedimentological and palaeontological evidence for activity on this fault including in large fallen blocks on the beach.

Lunch in West Bay (there are many small-scale food outlets here, or bring your own
sandwiches).

Afternoon: Burton Bradstock. Here we will see the Bridport Sandstone Formation, which has been an important reservoir in the Wytch Farm oilfield (under Purbeck and Bournemouth Bay), which has been the most productive onshore oil field in Europe, but is now very depleted.  At this location we also see the evidence for another synsedimentary fault – the Bride Fault – and an unusual fossil fauna associated with it.