Geological Strata on the Tatsukushi Coast (2)
Trace fossils
A trace fossil is a fossilized record of something a living creature once did. Ancient footprints, burrows, and droppings are all examples of such fossils, which are useful for scientists researching the behavior of long-dead organisms and the environments they lived in. There are many trace fossils on the Tatsukushi coast.
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Trace fossils of mud shrimp burrows.
Look closely: the ground is covered with small bumps!
The bumps, or pellets, were built by mud shrimps to reinforce the walls of their nests.
Concretions (nodules)
These strange round boulders are found throughout the Tatsukushi coast. They are formed in only a few months, by a process in which the remains of dead organisms and the calcium contained in seawater react with each other.
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Concretions are not unique to Earth; similar forms have been found on Mars, and researchers are hoping these could provide clues to the red planet’s ancient past and whether life once existed there.
A wide variety of concretions can be found at Tatsukushi.
A Martian concretion.