A fossil beach is an ancient beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 which is preserved in fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 form due to a change in sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

 or a shift in elevation which causes the beach to become an elevated terrace.

Fossil beaches may be discovered where a limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 quarry or strip mining operation is present. For example, Miami

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

 has numerous fossil beaches which have been exposed by limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 mining. A famous example is the Pinecrest

Pinecrest, Florida

Pinecrest is a suburban village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States of America. The population was 19,055 as of the census of 2000. Pinecrest is governed by a five-member Village Council and operates under the Council-Manager form of government....

 beds — a fossil-bearing rock formation found in the south of the city which is a segment of a much larger geological formation — the Tamiami Formation

Tamiami Formation

The Tamiami Formation is a Late Miocene to Pliocene geologic formation in the southwest Florida peninsula.-Age:Period: NeogeneEpoch: Late Miocene to Pliocene...

.

Fossil specimens found at a fossil beach vary according to the age of the bedrock or the sea floor matrix and the type of prehistoric environment that was present at the location. In southwest England, Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 ammonite

Ammonite

Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...

s are found. In South Florida, Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 shells and marine animals are found such as the teeth of the extinct Megalodon shark.