Fossil Hunting Expedition (Ariyalur Cretaceous coast edition)

Around 70 to 100 million years ago, the coastline of South India ran through what is now Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. A warm, shallow sea covered the land, full of coiled ammonites, sea snails, oysters, sea urchins and sharks.

When these animals died, they sank into the mud and lime on the seabed and were slowly buried. Over millions of years, those layers hardened into rock. The sea retreated, and the old seabed became dry land.

Today that land is cut into gullies and ravines, and the fossils sit in the open, weathering out of the ground after every monsoon. Ariyalur is one of the richest fossil areas in India.

Researchers have also found dinosaur bones and eggs in the region.

This is Above Zenith’s first fossil hunting expedition. Over one weekend, you will hunt for fossils at two sites with geologists and paleontologists, learn how to identify and record what you find, and take your finds home.

You can either join Above Zenith near the site or, for an additional fee, avail the comfortable AC drive from and to Bangalore.