Beeston Regis, Norfolk - flint backbones

These Flint columns are found on Beeston Regis beach during low tides. The strange cylindrical shafts are also known as Bathichnus Paramoudrae. They look like backbones or spinal cords and are in segments like vertebrae.

They are found on the same beach below Beeston Hill (Beeston Bump as it is known locally) as the mysterious flint circles and Paramoudras (Pot Stones).

Part of the Crew, part of the Ship

Flint Backbones are not always found alone. On Beeston Bump Beach you can find them attached to the side of Flint Circles. The Paramoudra Backbones are likely to have been formed at the same time as these large Circular Flint features. The Circles of Flint have chalk inside them, similar to the hollow centers of the Pot Stones. Specific locations of Flint itself has special chalk inside it, Norfolk is one of these places. This chalk is called "Flint Meal". Why only a few areas have this mysterious Flint Meal is still unexplained, as is the formation of the Flint Meal.

A natural backbone?

Most flint paramoudras burrows (flint backbones) have a thin central core running through them, usually a Glauconite tube. Paramoudras found in vertical columns especially look like a Vertebral column. Why do they have a "spinal cord" going through them and how can such a tiny tube create these giant flint concretions both vertically through many layers and horizontally?

These images show variations of Paramoudra columns. Left image looks like a spine with vertebrae and is in the middle of flint column. Middle photo shows glauconite/pyrite tubes very close together but some not being affected by "earth movement". The images on the right show a tube that looks like a fulgurite. Also a concretion found along a tube with black around it. It also has a concretion found along a tube. The image above shows glauconite and pyrite tubes. Notice how different sections, very close together, are affected very differently. There is also a dark stained area around them. Is the tube and the auriole more like a fulgurite?

The Glauconite mineral is iron rich and is the likely cause of the green nodules in the Flint Circles also seen on Beeston Reegis Beach, below Beeston Hill. Bizarrely iron and sand go together, a bit like flint and chalk/sand, you find a lot of minerals or geology that are iron and sand related. Ironstone is a classic example of iron found in sandstone. On the Islands of Malta, with no mineral deposits, iron and ironstone is found everywhere, in the Limestone and sandstone.

Fulgarites are caused when lightning strikes sand or, in rarer situations, rock. The formation of Paramoudra columns is still a mystery.

More photos and images

Photographs and old sketchings about these flint vertical columns (backbone paramoudra) can be found in the ElectricYouniverse photo collection. These include geological site information from around Europe and England.