We discovered our shells are from the pleistocene period, which covers the last million years. In fossil years they are quite young, even though we estimate them to be 60,000 to 100,000 years old!
This week I've been spending time preparing fossilised shells for identification and classification in the Sedimentology Lab. These chunks of siltstone, mixed with the shells came from a beach at Castlecliff near Whanganui. First we wash the chunks in a small round metal sieve. Then we identify them by comparing them with samples kept in the University collection, using reference books or using an online catalogue.
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