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It has been a while that I made a decent field trip. Past Sunday I left with 2 friends to a quarry in the Ardennes from Belgium. Last year we made a few visits to that place with great success and a fair number of late Devonian cephalopods were found. So hoping to add a few goniatites to our collections we left early in the morning. The weather conditions for the trip were terrible: it was raining and the wind was blowing very hard. Before we got to the quarry the rain stopped, but there was still a lot of wind. The rain had turned most of the flat parts of the quarry into a muddy swamp. But the heavy wind blew the last dark clouds away and we started our prospection in the slag heaps on top of the quarry. The first corals where collected, mostly hexagoniaria and a worn goniatite . I made my find of the day in the first 30 minutes in the quarry: In one of those slag heaps I found a large boulder with a large orthocone on it. The specimen was deformed during fossilization, but after clearing the specimen out it proved to be a complete orthoceras of 25cm in length. This was a monster compared to the most specimens I found there before. The next stop was a level lower in the ancient part of the quarry, here they were dumping the rocks that where not suited for production, but luckily for us, lots of fossils could be found in them. This was the most productive part of the day. Although they were hard to find, each of us found at least a couple of decent goniatites. The rest of the day we spent in the back of the quarry where lots of corals can be found and sometimes a nicely preserved goniatite. Multiple mineral veins are also present with large barite and calcite crystals. Sadly with the expansion of the quarry the part with the corals was cleared with bulldozers and fossil finds where rare at that location. Still I managed to find an exquisite goniatite specimen, a little damaged, but with very clear suture markings. My two friends searched through the mineral veins and found multiple good quality barite and calcite crystals. Meanwhile I prospected other parts and collected a little bag full of small corals and crinoid stems. (Back to the car with heavy Calcite and Barite cristals...) Usually we end our day at a local tavern for a drink, but this time I was too tired and I still had an hour drive to home. I’m already looking forward to my next field trip on 21/02 Then we will be prospecting early carboniferous deposits. Kevin

Fieldtrip in the Belgian Devonian deposits Part 2 Saturday 07/11/2015,I had a new fieldtrip to the quarry that I visited last time. This time, we had a whole group of 25 people from the “BVP” (Belgian group of Paleontology) to guide around the quarry. But we also went to take some specific field notes, a friend of us is studying the stratigraphy of a new part of the quarry. He had marked the specific new layers with paint. The deposits are late Devonian (Frasnian) limestone and schists containing fossils from the ancient reefs nearby. So the most common fossils where corals, crinoid stems, bryozoan, gasteropods and brachiopods. But since the deposits are a little away from the reefs sometimes fossils of swimming predators can be found in the form of shells from Goniatites, Orthocereas or Bactrites. My goal for today was hopefully to find a nice looking cephalopod, I found a few last time so maybe I could find better specimens today. I got there early, so waiting for the group I prospected the debris next to the quarry, This proved to be an excellent start, I found 2 large goniatites and a part of an orthoceras. Although the specimens where very badly preserved and incomplete this was looking very promising. A friend of mine arrived there shortly after. I showed him the fossils and we went back to those piles hoping for more. The next fossils that where found where multiple corals “Hexagonaria” a few crinoid particles and brachiopods. Before we got ready to go down in the quarry to wait for the group , we each found an impressive fossil. I got a complete orthocone from an Orthoceras, I had found fragments of Orthoceras before, mostly not more than a few chambers, but I had never seen one like this. My friend got a complete and good preserved 3.5” goniatite with showed nicely the septa’s of the shell. This was an incredible way to start the trip. my orthocone: Kevin's goniatite: After this we went down to the meeting point where we waited for the group. This was in a trackway for the bulldozers next to a barite vein and before the deposits we were going to prospect. It was at this location that I was sitting next to my bag when I saw the group enter the quarry. At that moment my friend was already trying to dislodge some Barite crystals with a crow bar… I heard him scream, something had gone wrong… He had lost grip of his crowbar resulting in his finger smashed. I went down the track to see what was wrong and while watching my steps I saw some suture lines peering through the mud. I picked it up and realized I found perfectly preserved Goniatite. I then got to my friend with this awkward moment when I had to ask if he was all right while showing him the terrible fossil I just picked up. Only adding to his agony. (sorry Kev. ) the awesome Goniatite: After a litle cleanup at home: After this incident we met with the group and Anthonie the one who organized the field trip. Seeing a few familiar faces and a few new enthusiastic kids new to fossil hunting. Anthonie explained the stratigraphy and age of the deposits. We then passed around some of the fossils we picked up to show everyone what to look for. I then took time to take some of the starting collectors to spots that where easy to prospect and shared info about the specimens they found. I distributed the fossils I found at those spots among the Kids until we gathered for lunch. One of the members found an incredible fossil between the corals and crinoid parts. A perfectly preserved Crinoid calyx with his arms folded into itself. Apparently this kind of position is due to asphyxiation of the animal. But other spectacular specimens where found: During lunch another participant showed us a 2nd crinoid calyx, but this time with his arms unfolded. After lunch I went to another part of the quarry with Kevin and Anthonie that we hadn’t prospected before, this was the old part that they are starting to fill with debris from the new pit. Fossils where much rarer in this part but I managed to pull out 2 extra goniatites out the debris. Anthonie made another impressive find by cracking open a small nodule.: this rock revealed the head of a phacopid trilobite. He contacted an expert this weekend about this and apparently this is the first specimen found in this quarry. Yay, I found another Goniatite: After that the day got to an end, we went back to the group and started to gather all the participants, to head back to the cars and discuss al the great discoveries made that day. Everybody was pleased with their finds and a few of us went for a drink and dinner at a local tavern where we spent the rest of the evening. I hope you all enjoyed reading this report. Kevin Houben ( thanks to Anthonie for the pictures)

Fieldtrip in the Belgian Devonian deposits Sunday 26/07: The objective of this day was to return with some friends to the quarry we visited last month. we found there previously some interesting spots that contained, apart from the traditional corals and brachiopods, some Cephalopod fossils. I left home at 8.30AM with my pall Joris who isn’t really interested in fossils, but he is a photographer and wanted to make some photo album of a fossil field trip. We left in the direction of Couvin where another friend awaited us with his son for their first fossil hunt ever, from there we left to the designated quarry. At the quarry we had a meetup with a few other friends , three of them geologist, and one of them was a frequent visitor of this quarry. With a few of his instructions about the stratigraphy of the deposits we started our search for fossils. The first ones to pop out where of course the corals, followed with crinoid stems and brachiopods. Some of the specific layers did indeed reveal multiple cephalopods, mostly fragments, but a few nice complete Goniatites where found. We also collected a lot of limestone nodules that could contain cephalopods. (I am currently trying the freeze-thaw method on couple of nodules) I managed to find an exceptional block containing an association of multiple Goniatites with an Orthoceras. And a very nice single Goniatite specimen (Manticoceras sp.) from around 6 cm in diameter. My friend’s son got tired and they both went home, but he was really happy with all the fossils he found on his first field trip. After Lunch we had to left the quarry and make way for a group that went clay pigeon shooting at this location. We then drove to a nearby road cut construction site for some more fossil prospection. The upper part delivered the usual Coral fauna. In the lower part of the construction site we found large solitary corals and a few trilobite parts. I found a decent cephalon of phacopid trilobite and a large pice of crinoid stems. Anthonie found a rather unusual fossil that none of us could determine, he posted the specimen at the forum for determination: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57990-id-requested-on-devonian-problematica/ After this we went to a rather isolated outcrop near a railroad track. At this location the outcrop was overgrown for a part, but the sediments where stuffed with crinoids. And an occasional Goniatite was found. It was then already 5PM and I got really tired, this resulted in a distracted move where I whacked my thumb with my hammer. At this part I Decided that it was best to call it a day. I left whit Joris back home, after a long but productive day. The others stayed a while longer and ended with a visit to a local tavern for dinner and a drink. Thanks to “Paleo Tony” (Anthonie) for the pictures: Up to the next location... Someone is looking back at us... the part that I missed The best specimens I found that day:

Hello everyone, I am attempting to identify and generally date two fossils, one which I believe is a medium sized ammonite based on the fern-like outer shell patterning, and the other a large grouping of orthoceras. The 'ammonite' measures 12" x 10" x 6", and the grouping of 'orthoceras' measures 15" x 5" x 3-1/2". Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Christy H.

Hello, Is this a goniatite? Woolooma Formation NSW Australia Carboniferous