The Guogang Shell Fossils ( zh, t=過港貝化石層 , p=Guògǎng Bèihuàshí Céng) refer to a

bed A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many b ...

that contains many

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s, mostly

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

, that are located in

Houlong Houlong Township is an urban township in western Miaoli County, Taiwan. It is bordered by the Taiwan Strait on the west and Zaoqiao Township on the east. It lies at the mouth of the Houlong River. Miaoli HSR station is located in Houlong. Name ...

Miaoli County Miaoli County (Mandarin Pinyin: ''miáo lì xiàn''; Hakka PFS: ''Mèu-li̍t-yen''; Hokkien POJ: ''Biâu-le̍k-koān'' or ''Miâu-le̍k-koān'') is a county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is adjacent with Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the nort ...

, Taiwan.

Geology

The bed is part of the larger Toukeshan Formation (頭嵙山層), a

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

-era

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

. The fossils date from between 1,030,000 to 460,000 years ago and are embedded in

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

. The shells were likely located around to underwater before being covered. Fossils from 135 different species have been identified: most shells from the '' Pecten'' genus, but shells from ''

Chlamys The chlamys (Ancient Greek: χλαμύς : chlamýs, genitive: χλαμύδος : chlamydos) was a type of an ancient Greek cloak.

'', ''

Anadara ''Anadara'' is a genus of saltwater bivalves, ark clams, in the family Arcidae. It is also called ''Scapharca''. This genus is known in the fossil record from the Cretaceous period to the Quaternary period (age range: 140.2 to 0.0 million year ...

'', '' Arca'', '' Eucrassatella'', ''

Nassarius ''Nassarius'', common name nassa mud snails (USA) or dog whelks (UK), is a genus of minute to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Nassariidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Nassarius Duméril, 1806. In: Bouchet, P.; ...

'', '' Niotha'', ''

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

'', ''

Turritella ''Turritella'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails with an operculum, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.Vos, C.; Gofas, S. (2013). Turritella Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www. ...

'', and ''

Murex ''Murex'' is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, commonly called "murexes" or "rock snails".Houart, R.; Gofas, S. (2010). Murex Linnaeus, 1758 ...

'' have also been identified. Some suggested that the high density of fossils is due to repeated storms pushing the shellfish into this area.

History

The bed was discovered in 1921 by Japanese railway construction workers building the Coastal line. In 1935

Government-General of Taiwan The Government-General of Taiwan (Japanese: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ''Taiwan Sōtoku-fu''; ; Tâi-lô: Tâi-uân Tsóng-tok-hú; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ=Thòi-vân Chúng-tuk-fú) was the government that governed Taiwan under Japanese rule between 189 ...

protected the area as a natural monument. After the handover to the ROC government, the

Miaoli County Government The Miaoli County Government () is the local government of the Republic of China that governs Miaoli County. History The county government used to be housed in a building next to the current building which is now used as the Miaoli County Ur ...

installed a plaque in 1955, prohibiting people from disturbing the fossils. In 1995-1999, the

Forestry Bureau The Forestry Bureau () is an agency of the Council of Agriculture of Taiwan (ROC). History The Forestry Bureau was originally established in 1945 as the Office of Forestry Administration. In June 1947, the office was disbanded and the Forestry A ...

surveyed the site and designated it as a provincial-level protected site. Due to the outcrop's proximity to a road, many of the fossils have been removed or vandalized by tourists. The ''

Liberty Times The ''Liberty Times'' is a national newspaper published in Taiwan. Founded by Lin Rong-San, it is published by the Liberty Times Group, which also publishes ''Taipei Times'', an English language newspaper . The newspaper was first published on 1 ...

'' reported that most fossils "within arms reach" have been taken.

References

{{reflist Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Asia Protected areas of Taiwan Tourist attractions in Miaoli County