Hi all!
On the North Sea coast, many fossil shells are found on the beaches that
stem from deposits as old as Eocene, when these are washed away by
marine currents. Van Regteren-Altena wrote his thesis about this in the
30s. It is perfectly possible for a shell to be buried for years,
centuries or even millions of years before being washed ashore. Of
cource, most of them look rather worn or even modified by fossilisation
processes.
On the other hand, the invasion by the Western Atlantic Ensis directus
(Conrad, 1843) was reflected by a dramatic increase in fresh, complete
(double) shells on the Belgian beaches since the 80s!
Greetings from Germany
Michael
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Michael Hölling
Chemnitzer Str. 89
44139 Dortmund
Germany

Tel. +49-231-134173
mobile +49-173-3295335
Fax +49-231-134086
email [log in to unmask]

"In omnibus est Limax" (C. Linnaeus)
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