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Showing results for tags 'austin chalk'.
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From the album: Grayson Co. Texas finds
Echinoid in situ. Found in the north northeast corner of Grayson county Texas in Choctaw creek. Washita group possibly Weno? -
April 9 was my birthday, and what a coincidence... it also happened to be a day when Dallas Paleo Society had a field trip scheduled into the Martin Marietta quarry down in Midlothian, TX... and I got on the list. The first "find" of the day was when Polly, our trip leader, presented me with a birthday cupcake. After signing our release forms, the DPS crew was led into the quarry. We were taken to an area where they had just dug up some fresh rock. Everyone scattered about the area, and soon the "clink.. clink..." of rock hammers on shale was heard everywhere. (Just for the record, the site is in the basal Atco formation of the Austin Chalk.) I wasn't doing so well. Nothing seemed to be turning up in the older section that I had decided to check out, so I wandered back over into the new area with everyone else. Nothing much happened in the first few minutes of surface collecting, then I saw THIS... My first ever fossil fish tail! Probably no chance of ever getting a genus or species ID on this. Still, it's Cretaceous Fish, and that's good enough for me. I was lucky that the slab had split right there, so both the tail & counterslab were right next to each other. I sat down and started going through the other rock in that area, and found this, too: Might be part of the same fish, but I think I'll have to do a bit of prep work on it to be able to tell if it's head, body chunk, or what. I have the fish material stored in a temporary jacket til I get time to lay some Butvar-76 on it. (Continued... )
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- Arcadia formation
- Austin Chalk
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I brought home a bucket of gravel from Post oak creek in Sherman Tx. to sift through, and came across this beauty. The size is approx. 1.5 to 2 mm.
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Hi Y'all, I'm new to fossil hunting but have been having great fun tracking down fossil areas in a creek bed from a 1924 paper I found online. I don't know what excites me more, finding fossils or finding the exact locations the author discussed, right down to the sketched lemonite stains on joint faults and rusted nodule of marcasite! In any case, at one of these spots — Upper Cretaceous/upper Austin Chalk layers, Near Selma, TX — I found some well-weathered Exogyra laeviuscula as expected and also this fossil fragment in the chalk rubble at the base of the outcrop. It kinda looks like a ammonite fragment or clam fragment, but it's hard to tell. Not much was showing when I found it and I've been using it as a bit of practice for cleaning techniques, so a bit more is visible now. I've soaked it in vinegar, then sodium bicarbonate, then water, used picks on it, then repeat repeat repeat. It's not a showpiece but I need the practice... Anyway, wondering if anyone knows what kind of fragment it is? I should also note that after I was able to scrape most of the chalk off, which was fairly easy, there is a much harder caramel color stone or mineral beneath in between the fossil stripes that really resists removal.
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Martin Marietta quarry, Midlothian, Texas - 11-14-15. (formerly TXI quarry)
DinoMike posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
My finds so far from the Dallas Paleo Society field trip to the Martin Marietta quarry. ( I still have a lot of matrix to break down.) IDs are based on my comparing the teeth to the best of my ability with Welton & Farish's book on fossil sharks & rays of Cretaceous Texas. A shark tooth peeking out of the matrix. I managed to fumble-finger while trying to extract it in the field, and lost the side cusp. An overview of the teeth. Top row, L to R: Unknown, Cretodus, Scapanorynchus, unknown, Cretolamna. Bottow row, L to R: Carcharias? symphyseal tooth, broken Scapanorynchus crown, rest unknown. (Continued in next post)
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Phosphate object from Martin Marietta (formerly TXI) Quarry, Texas
DinoMike posted a topic in Fossil ID
I found this object partially visible in a chunk of matrix from the Martin Marietta quarry near Midlothian, Texas. (Formerly the TXI quarry.) The site is listed as being basal Atco contact between the Eagle Ford shale & the Austin Chalk. The rock I found this in was Eagle Ford shale. At first I thought it might be a tooth, but on-site tentative ID was possibly brachiopod, but as the ends were buried in matrix, no one could be sure. I do note a "ridge" down one side that LOOKS almost like the worn serrated edge of a tooth, but the broken end of the piece doesn't look like tooth structure.
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Found this odd claw-like bit today while sorting through gravel from Post Oak Creek. Any ideas as to what this might be? Scale is in mm. Dark photo just to show scale. Both sides of the object. The best shot I could get of the "proximal" end of the thing.
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What is this fish from the Cretaceous Atco Member of the Austin Chalk found near Plano Texas?
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Austin Chalk/Eagle Ford Basal Atco fish conglomerate zone of North Texas On a recent outing with my 7 year old grandaughter we were at a construction site where the the basal Atco was once exposed at ground level. They had bulldozed it all and this interesting slab of flagstone was laying there. The fish conglomerate was laying about here and there where you could pick it up by the hand full and sift it for tiny teeth. She with her short close to the ground stance and fresh eyes could really spot those itty bitty teeth too. Construction exposes it then buries it. This site had produced a number of smaller sharks teeth and some nice ptychodus. I found one of my coniasur verts there. Now I guess it's pretty much done...but we will see!!
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I haven't yet ID'd the ammonites from this newly found site, but the bowling ball nautiloids are Eutrephoceras. Right after finding the site and scoring a few nice ammonites, I informed my wife of my intentions of taking my friend there....and she threw some wife clout to get her own trip in first! Now I have another buddy in mind who may enjoy a little cephalopod beating bliss...
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i have found several of these in the austin chalk in travis county, and have tried for weeks to id them...any ideas? the big one is shown with suture marks, the others have been found singly. thanks
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Here is something I saw while looking through some piles of Austin chalk by a construction area in North Texas near the basal Atco. Because it was broken in at least 2 places and part of it was missing I did not collect it. I keep having second thoughts about it. It is about 12 inches long or so. There is a center core and then an outline but no bone material that I can make out. It almost looks like it had a tail on it. I figure it was some kind of plant life or possibly just a spot where roots grew into the chalk and left a stain and remains. What do you guys think?
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We found these a while ago in an Austin Chalk area in Dallas. There were these large boulders and they were on the edge of a boulder. There was a crack and when I pulled on the piece it came off clean. I found the larger one first and then noticed the smaller one next to it. You can 'feel' there's a rater solid piece inside the chalk (not sure if that makes sense but one would expect the chalk to weigh less) What are these? The larger one almost looks like some sort of squid. The 'dome' shape is impressive and very prominent - hope it can be seen in the pictures. The chalk is very hard to remove - I have been brushing it with a toothbrush and did some scraping with a tiny screwdriver. I have had some success with that but I do not want to brush too hard and mess up what's underneath. Any tips on removing more of the chalk to reveal what's underneath? I've read about using hydrogen peroxide but don't want to damage the fossil. Cheers, Sergej
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This chunk was found in an Austin Chalk area of Dallas, Texas. Are these leaves or trace fossils, or something else? The first 5 pictures are of one side of the rock, the next ones are of the other side which has a similar, smaller fossil. Cheers, Sergej
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I took a road trip today and hit everything from the Austin Chalk in Ellis County, TX: to the Goodland limestone of western Tarrant County, TX: While in the Austin Chalk of Ellis County, I found this unusual concretion: The piece is approximately 50mm x 25mm. I thought the "vertical" structure seemed unusual.
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Austin Chalk Adventures With Vertman - An Invitation I Couldn't Refuse
sward posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
As Richard (Vertman) kindly mentioned in his latest update regarding his "100 Hours Collecting in the Austin Chalk of North Texas", he invited me to join him in his adventures on Sunday, 21 April. Having met Richard before, I jumped at the chance to be able to spend the afternoon hunting with him, regardless of the possibility of not finding much of anything. His knowledge and experience, along with his willingness to share that knowledge with a newbie like myself and train me how to spot and identify various formations, made the decision to join him a no-brainer. The last time I met up with Richard, he took me to some locations he had hunted in the past. At one of the locations, he found a couple of Ptychodus teeth. I was not lucky enough to find any on that trip, so Richard made sure I was going to find some this time. We went to a location with some Kamp Ranch formation exposed that he had success in before. Needless to say, Richard was going to make sure I found Ptychodus teeth this time. My haul after a short time at this exposure: "...WOW!!!..." was all I could say. Also included were various other teeth: This forum is full of tremendous members that are more than happy to help people to learn. I'm proud to be part of such a great group of people. THANK ALL OF YOU!!!
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Here is a vert that is not like any of the others I've found. It's 2 3/4 inches tall and rather spool like, but oval instead of round. It's not well preserved but does exhibit the grainy look I see in mosasaur verts. My 1st thought was plesiosaur but it does not really look like what I see in any of the pictures. Now I'm thinking croc? Your guesses are welcome.
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Two New Creeks In Austin Chalk. *mainly Field Shots & Outcroppings"
surfergirlatx posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Good evening TFF! I have been exploring several sites in the Cretaceous aged Austin Chalk of Central Texas. Yesterday I was able to visit two new creeks. Decided to give the old back a rest so I went out and took several field shots of the new locations. I invite you to join me on my fossil exploration of the Austin Chalk. CREEK ONE These next 4 photos are of this interesting rippled stone. Pic #1 is me standing next to this rippled stone that went the entire way up the little hill. #1. #2. #3. #4. (close up view) Maybe someone on TFF has seen this type of rock formation before? *CONTINUED*
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Howdy from Texas TFF! Here is a report of my finds from my hunt this weekend at the Austin Chalk, Central Texas. I am going to attempt to ID my finds so please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I am going to say the matrix where the fossils are found is Marl, I only feel this because the matrix when wet turns to mud and even when its dry its still so very soft. Not hard at ALL! Sciponoceras gracile ?? #1. Looks like a rock, until I split it open... #2. Inside of the rock #3. Close up ***There will be several posts on this thread showing my recent Austin Chalk finds*** Please be sure to go all the way thru this post, as it may appear its all clams, but here are several other finds included. Many, many thanks for your time! Hope you enjoy this little journey as much as I did! Kim
