Ogof Draenen trip 24/02/2007
Camera (mostly) and setups by Tarquin, flash and modelling and other camera by Peter Wilton-Jones, edits and gallery effects by Tarquin.
This was intended to be a gallery of Gerbil Heaven in The Gerbil Run in Hexamine Highways, but we were forced to
retreat after the frightningly difficult first squeeze. So the gerbils ran away, and it turned into a trip for
photographing many of the neglected parts of the route.
Big Beauty Junction, Lucky 13, looking along Gone With The Wind
The entrance to the Wyvern Extensions
Elliptic Passage
The upper chamber of Fault Chambers
The lower chamber of Fault Chambers - Rift Chamber - the fog is caused by the inlet waterfalls, which are are fed directly by the
surface rainfall
Perseverance II, at the head of the Balcony Pitch
Looking down the Balcony Pitch into Arms Park, with the arched roof passing from Perseverance II into Erection Series
The first ctenacanthus dorsal spine fossil in Gyracanthus Loop, near Big Bang Pitch - a loose sample
collected from the floor of this passage was sent to the museum in Cardiff and identified as a gyracanthus pectoral
spine - separately, a piece of this ctenacanthus fossil was
removed without authorisation, and its location is not known; its return is requested so that it can also be placed
in the museum
The second ctenacanthus dorsal spine, which is much larger, and in better condition -
ctenacanthus was a shark living around 300 million years ago, gyracanthus was also a shark from the same age (with a
cartilaginous skeleton), but looked more like a regular fish, with pectoral spines
The spines all have small holes through them, to perform functions such as carrying blood vessels
The third large ctenacanthus spine
A smaller fossil in the other oxbow
A fossil in Psammodus Passage
A fossil snail, a pebble, or a frozen bird dropping - you decide
The main fossil in Psammodus Passage, beautifully textured, about 20 cm (8 inches) long - unfortunately I do not yet know what this fossil is, but I will update this gallery when I find out
As well as this most impressive fossil, a loose sample of a separate (and very different) fossil has been collected from the floor of this
passage, and sent to the museum in Cardiff; it was identified as the crushing tooth plate of a psammodus, a shark that
lived around 300 million years ago, and fed on shellfish
Darling Rifts
Big Beauty Junction, Lucky 13, looking along Gone With The Wind
The entrance to the Wyvern Extensions
Elliptic Passage
The upper chamber of Fault Chambers
The lower chamber of Fault Chambers - Rift Chamber - the fog is caused by the inlet waterfalls, which are are fed directly by the
surface rainfall
Perseverance II, at the head of the Balcony Pitch
Looking down the Balcony Pitch into Arms Park, with the arched roof passing from Perseverance II into Erection Series
The first ctenacanthus dorsal spine fossil in Gyracanthus Loop, near Big Bang Pitch - a loose sample
collected from the floor of this passage was sent to the museum in Cardiff and identified as a gyracanthus pectoral
spine - separately, a piece of this ctenacanthus fossil was
removed without authorisation, and its location is not known; its return is requested so that it can also be placed
in the museum
The second ctenacanthus dorsal spine, which is much larger, and in better condition -
ctenacanthus was a shark living around 300 million years ago, gyracanthus was also a shark from the same age (with a
cartilaginous skeleton), but looked more like a regular fish, with pectoral spines
The spines all have small holes through them, to perform functions such as carrying blood vessels
The third large ctenacanthus spine
A smaller fossil in the other oxbow
A fossil in Psammodus Passage
A fossil snail, a pebble, or a frozen bird dropping - you decide
The main fossil in Psammodus Passage, beautifully textured, about 20 cm (8 inches) long - unfortunately I do not yet know what this fossil is, but I will update this gallery when I find out
As well as this most impressive fossil, a loose sample of a separate (and very different) fossil has been collected from the floor of this
passage, and sent to the museum in Cardiff; it was identified as the crushing tooth plate of a psammodus, a shark that
lived around 300 million years ago, and fed on shellfish
Darling Rifts