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Home » Articles » Geology - the Jurassic PeriodGeology - the Jurassic Period
Rocks and fossils from the Jurassic Period.
Rocks and fossils from the Jurassic Period.
At the beginning of the Jurassic Period, 205 million years ago, a warm, shallow sea spread northwards over Wales, drowning the Triassic desert landscape. Although Jurassic sediments were once probably deposited over most of Wales only the earliest Jurassic rocks, those of the Lower Lias, survive on shore today. These rocks outcrop across the Vale of Glamorgan. On the coast the alternation of soft shales and harder limestones give the cliffs their characteristic indented shape. The Jurassic seas were rich in marine life, especially ammonites, and the rocks along the Vale of Glamorgan coast are some of the most fossil rich in Wales. Much of the Jurassic outcrop is now contained within the area of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, which was established in the early 1970s.
