Last year in September, I went to the RCMNS (Regional Committee of Mediterranean and Neogene Stratigraphy) conference in Istanbul. Even though my research is not about the Neogene, nor the Mediterranean, I still got to see some Oligocene sediments of the Paratethys, during a one day mid-conference field trip. The Maikop sediments that I am studying also form an important source rock for oil and gas in the Black Sea, and are exposed along the Turkish shore.

During the conference, I met Gizem Say, who had done her thesis on these sediments (called Ceylan formation) and knew many more outcrops in the Thrace basin. From the bus, we saw (what looked like) a beautiful road section, and I started to make plans to come back to see more of the Ceylan sediments.
So last month, I went back for a week of field work, to see if there were…