Step Back Millions Of Years In Time To A Land Of Giants
Introducing the Fossil Forest..
Step Back Millions Of Years
150 million years ago, when Portland Stone was being formed, there was a worldwide drop in sea levels. This meant that areas that had once been underwater were able to colonise with plants and trees. To the east of Lulworth Cove, (on the Army Ranges), a forest grew which later flooded when the climate became wetter again. The trees died and their stumps, trunks and roots became preserved by layers of calcareous sediment from the deposits of freshwater algae.
Today you can see bowl shapes left when the trunks rotted away leaving hard, calcareous tufa. You can also see the ripple marks of an ancient sea floor, fossilized algal mats and the amazing ‘broken beds’.
Please note – the Fossil Forest is only accessible when the MOD ranges are open to the public. More information can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lulworth-firing-notice.