Field Trip: Field Trip to Penarth and Sully, South Wales: Dinosaur footprints and associated Triassic-Jurassic sediments
Leader:
Entry Fee
Members: Free
Visitors: £3.00
Date and Time
Location
Penarth and Sully, South Wales
Field Trip Description
This fieldtrip to South Wales will examine upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic sediments exposed along the coast to the SW of Cardiff. In the morning we will visit the controversial dinosaur footprints reported in the media (see BBC news online August 2020) and featured in the Channel 5 TV programme “Behind the Scenes at The Natural History Museum” broadcast last year. They are exposed in outcrops of Upper Triassic mudrocks on the beach 800 metres south of Penarth Pier. We will also see the red Mercia Mudstone with nodules of alabaster (Penarth ‘marble’) and Rhaetic and Lower Lias limestones and mudrocks, some with many fossils.
In the afternoon we will drive 6 km to Bendrick Rock, near Sully, to see more dinosaur footprints, which were discovered in 1974 and are frequently in the news (last in January 2021 when a fine specimen was found by a 4-year old girl, also on BBC news online). Also here are many interesting sedimentary structures in the Triassic red beds, deposited by flash floods and streams, near the margin of a desert lake or playa where the Mercia Mudstone was deposited. These sediments lie unconformably on Carboniferous limestone.
Meet at Penarth Pier at 10.30 am. Finish by 4.30 pm.
Bring a packed lunch or there are cafés on the promenade and pier at Penarth.</strong>
At Penarth, we will be walking along the beach, which is stony in places. At Bendrick Rock we will be on a cliff path and across the rocks. Low risk and few hazards at both places.
There is a free car park at Cliff Parade, Penarth, Postcode: CF64 5BP.
For Bendrick Rock use postcode CF63 3RF (for Barry Recycling Centre).
To Register for the fieldtrip:
please contact Bob Mustow on: [email protected]
Fieldtrips are free to members but £3 for non-members to cover insurance.</strong>
Important Notice: Bath Geological Society Insurance
Each person attending a field meeting does so on the understanding that he/she attends at his/her own risk. The Bath Geological Society has Public Liability Insurance Cover for field and indoor meetings, but Personal Accident Cover and Personal Liability Cover remain the responsibility and personal choice of the participant.
There may be an element of appropriate cover included in house insurance or in travel insurance: although Bath Geological Society activities are not particularly dangerous members are advised to check whether exclusions apply to activities in which they plan to participate in case they wish to arrange further cover. An annual travel insurance may be the best solution for any member who regularly attends field events: this again is a matter of choice.
Please note however that all members participating in overseas events will be required to have travel insurance for the duration of the event: this is so that participants are covered for Medical, Repatriation and Personal Liability expenses. The Personal Accident element remains the personal choice of the member and again members are advised to check exclusions so that they can make an informed decision about the cover they want.