IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Hasland Lane, CHESTERFIELD, S44 5XA

Looking down the lane to the junction with the A632.

On a minor road from Bolehill to Arkwright Town.

A view of the global stratigraphic section and point for the Duckmantian and Langsettian sub ages. The boundary between the two is 311ma, in the early Carboniferous. The boundary is between the chavery coal seam and the marine band above it, marked by the grain size card.

A look at mica rich sandstone (or gritstones).

Above the coal and marine layers are non marine mudstones with odd layerings of lighter rock containing bi-valves.

A view of the exposure protected (sort of!) by a concrete shelter. The coal can be seen to the bottom left, above it being mud stones.

The damp cutting is filled with water seeping from Duckmanton tunnel.

An in float sample, at first presumed to be leaves but I have been informed they are more likely cone in cone features (see below). The SSSI is often used by geology groups and schools, hence samples like this are left by them for others to enjoy. I have a picture with a scale bar if you wish to see it. The identification of the Duckmanton Railway Cutting, as fossil plants, may be incorrect. To me by looking only at a photo, this looks like "cone-in-cone", a sedimentary feature that commonly occurs in clay type lithologic units, like shale. Cone-in-cones are the result of the clay layer being compressed by the overburden. The horizontal lines that make it look like a plant leaf are somewhat akin to microfaulting as the clay compresses; part of the layer slips away from the point of compression. Cone-in-cones will occur on the top and bottom of shale layers (on top they point up and bottom point downward). As these cone-in-cones weather and fall from the layer, they are conical in shape and sometimes mistaken for dinosaur teeth. Another similar feature is shatter cones found in meteor craters. The points of the shatter cones point toward the meteor's angle at impact, the source of the compression [For example the Sudbury Ni-Cu ore deposit in Ontario, Canada - Ashley]. Many thanks to B.Beasley for this:

The soggy cutting has a tunnel portal at the end that took some getting to. I didn't have wellies either.