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  • MikeR

    The End Of My Pliocene Project

    By MikeR

    When I began this blog late in 2010, my intention was to report on recent field trips however, with the exception of one excursion each into the Upper Miocene, Lower Pliocene and the Calabrian Pleistocene, all of my posts have concentrated on the Upper Pliocene of the US Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. I already had an extensive collection of Florida Upper Pliocene invertebrates that I had collected while a resident of the state in the late 80s and early 90s. The fossils from these beds are
    • 9 comments
    • 9,341 views
  • JohnJ

    Ancient Hunters

    By JohnJ

    June 5, 2010 Barry held his camera barely two feet away from the back of an Agkistrodon piscivorus. Although a small snake, it was still very dangerous and he positioned his camera based on years of experience with these reptiles. Known more commonly as a Cottonmouth or Water Moccasin, the twelve inch juvenile snake had coloration similar to the closely related Copperhead. However, its patterns were muted by late afternoon shadows in a remote location that was not favorable to an easy medic
    • 26 comments
    • 9,152 views
  • andreas

    The Columbianus Zone/alaunium 2/ Norium/upper Triassic, In The So Called “Hallstatt Limestone” Of The Northern Calcareous Alps In Austria

    By andreas

    The columbianus Zone/Alaunium 2/ Norium/Upper Triassic in the so called "Hallstatt Limestone" of the Northern Calcareous Alps in Austria Dear Fossil Forum members! This pictured report about the ammonite bearing Triassic Hallstatt limestone will be the first one of a continuous series of reports. Since the beginning of the geological research in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Austria in the 19th century, about 500 species of Triassic ammonites have been described from the Hallstatt limestone
    • 14 comments
    • 12,850 views
  • MikeR

    The Problem with Siphocypraea

    By MikeR

    For millennia, humankind has been fascinated by the hard-external shell of the organisms classified within the Phylum Mollusca.   Consumed first as food, their empty shells have served multiple functions in the past; as tools in many ancient cultures, in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, and money by Pacific Islanders. During the Age of Discovery, sailors could supplement their meager incomes by selling exotic seashells to wealthy gentlemen for their Cabinets of Curiosity.  Today many people f
    • 3 comments
    • 3,966 views

Some Arenaceous Foraminifera From The Lower Pennsylvanian Of Oklahoma

About a month or so ago I received a sample of "microfossil dirt" from the Gene Autry Shale Member of the Golf Course Formation, which crops out in Johnston County, Oklahoma, in the Ardmore Basin. The Golf Course Formation is of Lower Pennsylvanian (Morrowan) age. The sample contains abundant foraminifera, although it is not rich in numbers of species. There are also some good ostracodes. Preservation is quite variable: a few specimens are essentially perfect, but most show varying degrees o

Rumi

Rumi

First Day Back On The Hunt

I went out hunting yesterday I found a great site in Rivergate, TN at a construction site. The contractor came over to see what I was looking for. When I said fossils he said that was a first. He said last week a guy was looking for arrowheads. So I showed him a brachiopod I had just found and he thought it was cool and said he had no idea Tn was once an ocean. he said he thought it was just limestone and granite I said to him when yor not looking for the fossils you wont see them but when yo

Ameenah

Ameenah

Another Interesting Ostracode From The Coralline Crag Formation

In picking out my sample of microfossils from the Middle Pliocene Coralline Crag Formation, Suffolk, England, I noted a few fragments of what appeared to be a species of the ostracode genus Pterygocythereis, a particularly spiny-looking genus of the family Trachyleberididae. I assumed it to be Pterygocythereis jonesi (Baird, 1850), the common species of the North Sea. As luck would have it, while finishing the picking of the last bit of the sample, up popped a complete valve, in almost perfect

Rumi

Rumi

Crinoids And Science Fair

As many say, good things come to those who wait. Well, fruition at last! While working for an elderly couple last Saturday, cleaning up various parts of the lawn for cash, I learned that this couple once traveled the world, collecting fossils and stones along the way. The next day at church, I was greeted with a very pleasant surprise, a slab of rock literally overflowing with crinoid stems! While many may say that it isn't that big of a deal, as an amatuer fossil hunter, and one with no luck

SharkTeethCollecter

SharkTeethCollecter

An Interesting Ostracode From The Pliocene Of England

I have always enjoyed looking at ostracodes of the family Trachyleberididae, for their varied and complex structures, and interesting ornamentation. The family seemingly first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, became abundant during the Cretaceous, and remains abundant in the seas of today. About a month ago, in an exchange of microfossil material with an Italian friend, I received a sample of material from the Coralline Crag of southeastern England, a well-known and extensively studied Middle

Rumi

Rumi

Finally, I Can Stop Whining!

In a number of recent posts to the Forum I have complained incessantly about my inability to locate microfossils here in my home state of Arizona. Well, no more! A sample that I processed over the weekend produced a few nice ostracodes, and I am optimistic about finding more. The locality is the well-known Kohl Ranch site, just northeast of Payson, Arizona, reputed to be the best spot for collecting invertebrate fossils in the state. The material comes from the "beta" member of the Naco Form

Rumi

Rumi

The Canadian Museum Of Natural History

well i just got back from the museum and got lotsa stuff all invertabrates except some shark teeth. it was a great time, though i didnt have time to see all the galleries..well here are some pictures, first the museum now the fossils bryozoans and corals belemnites crinoid stem peice ammonites gastropod and then some shark teeth-i think its 3 tigers and 1 bull

Ordovician_Odyssey

Ordovician_Odyssey

My Weekend

welll, this is my first entry and though i'd talk my weekend. well my weekend started out with snow, that scared me for a second.. but there not calling for snow in the near future. today im celebrating my cousins birthday. then tommorow is the museum, im gonna be going to the canadian museum of natural history, there is a great little gift shop with lots of small fossils....and they have a great fossil gallery. though it's 99% vertabrates(i collect inverts)it's still a great gallery. well that

Ordovician_Odyssey

Ordovician_Odyssey

I Found This 25 30 Years Ago...never Found Any One To Tell But Family...so Here Goes...

I was at work in Newport RI this morning..surfing ..not working.....found this site..since I grew up in Newindsor NY, Mysef and close friends hunted and explored on foot a 50 mile radius from ages 10 to 17. I was always the amature geologist & fossile hunter. I made one discovery 25 30 years ago, I never knew who to tell...maby you. While hunting off RT218 in Cornwall walking all day..which I hunted since 10....most of my hunting turned in exploring the mountain sides and tops between Cor

Fossilefinder

Fossilefinder

Dominican Amber Deposits

After picking up a rather interesting amber-in-matrix specimen, I decided to look into the geological history surrounding the deposition of Dominican Amber. Mentally I had always pictured Dominican amber forming as sap oozed out of trees and deposited on the forest floor; resulting in burial in forest detritus. The more interesting reality is that the ooze from the Hymenaea tree would get washed out to coastal sedimentary basins; such as coastal lagoons. Here the sap would settle and get fos

HeritageFossils

HeritageFossils

Drunk Men And Exams And Photos, Oh My!

Greetings everyone! So, as I have promised, I have photos for you this week. My mommy came to visit this weekend and dropped off my camera. Now, for the important stuff (let's hope she doesn't read this). I will discuss my week at PRI and then go into more of a generalized description of the fossils (and other goodies) I have gotten. I've been very very patient in keeping a few secrets until I got my camera. So here it goes! This Tuesday was a pretty stressful one. It's a good thi

emmytee

emmytee

Busy Day (9/21)

So on Tuesday I woke up at 11 to find that I had turned off my alarm while still in a sleep-like state. That being said, I had missed my first class. and quiz. oops. This "rude awakening" had me rushing to catch a bus to PRI. I'm probably exaggerating because I consider late anything under 15 minutes early. So I had a pleasant 20 minutes at the bus stop to eat the lunch I had bought on the way I got to PRI in the middle of lunch break so we chatted for half an hour. These people have awesome pe

emmytee

emmytee

Prep Class #2

So basically, today we went through all the lab procedures so our teacher can trust us not to blow up the place. We went through all the tools from the wimpiest to the jackhammer-esque. We started with the dental picks. I think I had a relapse to the many hours I spent squinting at my Green River fish and scratching away at it by the milligram. After that, we went over the various magnification tools including a large magnifying lens, magnifying goggles (I should walk down the street wearing t

emmytee

emmytee

Introduction

Hi all! If you don't know me, I'm Emily. I'm from CT, but I'm currently at Cornell University as an Environmental Undecided major. Through a series of fortunate events, I landed an internship at the Paleontological Research Institution here in Ithaca. I've only had one day of work, but I'm loving the work and the people already. Same goes with my Fossil Preparation class. One day, but I'm loving it, and it only has 3 students! To read about my transition into college life and for more details

emmytee

emmytee

3 Acid Baths

Today I started dissolving samples of Rochester Fm (Silurian) from upstate NY, Jacksonburg Limestone (Ordovician) from a quarry near Bethlehem, PA and finally the Whitewater Limestone (Ordovician) from Indiana.

Acryzona

Acryzona

Buyer Beware! :)

My plan was to allow the limestone to dissolve in the vinegar solution for a couple of days in order to create the buffer solution. Well other things came up (i.e. work) and I didn't look at the solution for a couple of weeks! When I tested the solution, the pH and density indicated that it wasn't diluted to 7%. Something weaker. So I borrowed the family chem set and did a titration to find out what I bought! There wasn't a label on the vinegar I bought but I was told 3 parts water to 1

Acryzona

Acryzona

Ancient Hunters

June 5, 2010 Barry held his camera barely two feet away from the back of an Agkistrodon piscivorus. Although a small snake, it was still very dangerous and he positioned his camera based on years of experience with these reptiles. Known more commonly as a Cottonmouth or Water Moccasin, the twelve inch juvenile snake had coloration similar to the closely related Copperhead. However, its patterns were muted by late afternoon shadows in a remote location that was not favorable to an easy medic

JohnJ

JohnJ

Fossil Shells Bring Hope And Success!

Everyone can remember finding their first fossils, whether they be insignifigant teeth to dinosaur finds. While I found nothing dramatic or spectacular, I did find my first fossils in the form of Oligocene shells. Thanks to hours research and MapQuest, I found a small and relatively unknown site called Natural Bridge near Gaskin, Florida. It's a natural bridge of limestone and clay seperating two spring-fed ponds. At first glance, it was seriously polluted and trashed. Beer bottles, fishing l

SharkTeethCollecter

SharkTeethCollecter

Making The Buffer Solution

Before dissolving the limestone slab, a buffer solution needs to be made. The buffer solution moderates the dissolution and keeps the solution pH from starting too low which can damage the microfossils from the slab. After mixing a 7% solution, I added a spare piece of limestone start making the buffer solution. The pH started at 2.5 and had risen to 3.7 about eight hours later. I'm going to keep dissolving the limestone for another day or two and then save this buffer. In the Jeppsson pape

Acryzona

Acryzona

Prologue

Last year at a club auction I bought a slab of Ordovician limestone from the Whitewater Formation in Indiana. It is covered in bryzoans and brachiopods. It seems a shame to dissolve it but I've read that the Whitewater contains many species of scolecodonts and the only way to recover them is to dissolve the limestone. This summer's paleo project is to dissolve the limestone with dilute acetic acid. Reading some papers I learned that using HCl can destroy conodonts and even using too strong

Acryzona

Acryzona

Reviewing "second Chance"

Since I just got a blog and need to put "Second Chance" in better description, why not blog it? Well, we left Taylor at about 11:30, and headed to the used to be hated South San Gabriel site. Now that we know how to get down there easily, it was a great trip. My first cool find was a candosa texana. Then we found some oysters and some other stuff. After that we traveled to another part of the South San Gabriel.We didn't find any fossils, but we did find dinosaur footprints (probably pleurocelus/

fossil fury

fossil fury

Sidetracked

April 3, 2010   Adrenalin pumped through me like it usually does on the way to a new location. While on the road, I enjoyed ‘working out’ the geology I traveled over. The sunny spring morning framed the entire outdoors in vivid color, and from the corner of my eye, I noticed some fresh excavation in the distance. Like many other places, I made a mental note of it and continued to my destination. Dozens of miles and minutes later, my friend, Bob, and I had pulled our gear together and loaded th

JohnJ

JohnJ

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