Fossils of Calvert Cliffs

by Wallace L. Ashby, Mary A. Parrish (Illustrator)

Paperback

First published September 1, 1986

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised to see this already listed and rated on Goodreads, as it's really little more than a 20-page museum brochure. That said, however, it appears to be the definitive work on the fossil-rich cliffs along Maryland's Chesapeake Bay shoreline, America's VERY poor cousin to England's Lyme Regis cliffs, where Mary Anning made her remarkable discoveries. Nice if dry introductory text to the geology of the region and the types of fossils to be found, with helpful B&W illustrations.

We took a day trip out to Solomons, MD and the charming Calvert Marine Museum last week, and "beachcombed" (?) a few of the other cliff areas along the Potomac side of Southern Maryland, but didn't specifically get to the Calverts, (at least not THIS time, as we'll definitely return). Didn't find any shark's teeth (the most common fossil), but stretches of the cliff along Purse State Park looked like this:



…which yes, is hard to see here — but EVERY ONE of those white dots in the cliff wall is a fossilized bivalve.

Probably 3 stars for the actual content and low-end production values, but adding another due to personal interest.