Neptuni Åkrar - Byxelkrok, Öland, Kalmar Län, Sweden
N 57° 20.807 E 017° 01.567
33V E 621924 N 6357804
Fossils can be found on Neptune's Fields (Swedish: Neptuni åkrar) near Byxelkrok on Öland.
Waymark Code: WM1644T
Location: Kalmar, Sweden
Date Posted: 05/01/2022
Views: 4
On the northwest coast at Byxelkrok on the island of Öland is the coastal strip named Neptune's Field (Swedish: Neptuni åkrar) by Linnaeus when he visited in 1741.
Fossils, mainly trilobites and brachiopods, but also ortocera, mostly as imprints in the rock, can also be found in the layered limestone slabs that formed between about 550 million and 490 million years ago.
In the course of the last ice age, boulder fields formed on and behind the limestone slabs as a result of deposits, the deposited stones were then rounded by the waves. At the same time, the boulder fields protected the limestone slabs from erosion by the Baltic Sea.
The approximately 2 km long coastline was classified as a nature reserve by the Swedish government in 1975. Since then entry has been permitted, but taking fossils, minerals and plants with you has been forbidden.
References:
- Neptuni åkrar, Visit Öland.
- Neptuni åkrar, Map of natures reserve on protectedplanet.net
- Neptune's Fields, Wikipedia
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