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Found 32 results
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I'm piling back in late from a fossil hunt and wanted to get this online. Found in a lower Pennsylvanian formation locally. Typically find cordaites and ferns in this formation. Today, this odd split pair caught my attention. For size reference the small calamite next to the split pair is a little over 5 cm long and 2 cm wide. Although not a great field shot I'm posting it up now in case someone can point me in a solid research direction. Part of me thinks cordaite but the unusual branching features on one side only are quite odd to me. Perhaps some sort of rhizomic structure? I will post a close-up tomorrow when I have access to natural light again. Thanks for any advice or suggestions, Kato
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This isn't the best field shot and I'm not sure how much I can clean up the specimens I brought home as they appear to be glauconite encrusted. My thought when seeing these was Syringopora. They are both somewhat dome shaped. The larger one is about 6" (16cm) in diameter and half of the bottom is exposed and looks like the top. Some of the indents have tiny crinoid segments captured in them.
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New Mexico - Sacramento Mountains; Mississippian Lake Valley Formation
Kato posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Mother Nature graced us locally with another temperate day so I had time to squeeze in a long exploration into some hidden canyons that comprise a large subset of the local Mississippian formation known as 'Lake Valley' To get to the canyons of interest I walked through Silurian-Devonian exposures but I did not stop to explore for anything. Here was my first view toward the hidden Lake Valley Formation canyons. You can see deformation from the mud mounding. More to follow.- 17 replies
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- crinoids
- lake valley
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I decided to get out for what might have been the last warm day in the 70's (Farenheit) for a walkabout to explore high country access and exit points for some long climbs I would like to do this winter. For this trip I rucked primarily in the lower Pennsylvanian formations looking specifically for a new occurrence of mineral rich shale formations similar to one I had found last year that yielded plant fossils. I did manage to find a small but new-to-me location that was very geologically complex having anomalies in the midst of the shale/sandstone formations. First this Cordaite about 5" tall (12.5 mm) Quite near were numerous Liesegang specimens. This one about 2" x 2" (5mm x 5mm) There seemed to be at least two small areas where hot gasses may have vented through the field leaving small seams of quartz-like material. In one location samples present as Bornite. The largest piece below is 3" x 6" (7.5mm x 15.5mm) The other area was just at the contact zone between the shale having plant fossils and sandstone having plant fossils. This specimen seems to have mostly converted the sandstone and permineralized material into quartz. There is a small specimen of permineralized material left in the lower right corner. Also, there is some mineralization which I believe is mostly iron. As this new location is about 4.5 miles from where I parked my vehicle I did not collect many specimens (small pack) but plan to go back and spend more time searching.
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- sacramento mountains
- pennsylvanian
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These are from the Middle Pennsylvanian (Beeman) in southern New Mexico. 60mm seam of limestone embedded with gastropods. So deeply embedded and oriented as to make identification more challenging. Guess: Bellerophon * Surface is not smooth. * Appears to be symmetrical. * Ridge along the midline. Larger hash plate. Each of the larger gastropods is approximately 25mm. This plate is 220mm x 270mm at widest measurements. Smaller hash plate View of side of larger hash plate Ridge Aperture Another ridge It's my intent to prep on these two slabs while I hide from the heat during the hot months here in the desert. At least an approximate identification would be quite helpful so I have some idea of the shapes I will be trying to reveal.
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- gastropod
- middle pennsylvanian
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Hello, this specimen is from an excursion in search of permineralized material in the upper formations of the lower Pennsylvanian Gobbler formation. In this particular formation I have found Psaronius and various Lycopsids, calamites&piths, etc. This is fairly weathered specimen in quartz sandstone, but the diamond pattern does not seem typical of Lepidodendron. Each 'diamond' seems more like a square. There appear to be 2 separate layers of diamond shaped material so these might be smaller branches toward the crown of a Lycopsid. The upper one is more complete in appearance. The lower one seems to have an additional overlay of material. Dimension of the upper one is 25 mm wide and 125mm long approx. Suggestions are most welcome.
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- pennsylvanian gobbler
- lycopsid
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I was out exploring a very narrow area adjacent to an exposed upper Mississipian formation here. About 100 yards uphill and perhaps 100 ft elevation gain above that Mississippian formation I was hoping to find permineralized material. For perhaps close to 2 hours I was only finding things like this calamite impression and this either highly hematite rich remnant or possibly burnt material I then managed to find a small area that wasn't heavily overgrown with vegetation and found some permineralized material + some unknowns. This is a piece of permineralized material with unknown #1 Unknown #1. Update---I 'think' it is the pith of a cordaites wrapped around a quartz sandstone fill, much like a taco. Another side view The quartz sandstone filling An end view pic is just a thin dark wrapping with quartz filling the inside. Any ideas on unknown #1? Cordaites Artisia?
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- pennsylvanian gobbler
- permineralized material
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This is from the middle Pennsylvanian. Appears to be fusilinids in pink-red sandstone with several orange passengers onboard. They all appear to be centralized to a broken open fusilinid. Only one big enough to really get a couple macro shots of. Any ideas on the orange item? I didn't want to put too much pressure on it, but definitely quite hard (scratch resistant to a needle). 33mm x 25mm" as pictured. Orange unknown is 2mm.
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Okay, I left this specimen where I could find it in the future, but the sun and atmosphere was such I could not get a crisp photo or achieve a decent zoom. It almost appears bryozoan in nature, but the regular spacing and rounded conic shapes might be something someone has seen before?
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Hi, noone will hurt my feelings if this turns out to be geological and not an orthocone cast. I was exploring for other fossils when I chanced upon 3 separate specimens of the following. They were all about the same dimensions and appearance so I decided to bring one home. What the heck it only weighed a couple of pounds. 7.5" x 3" at the widest. Elliptical shape on left end a side view
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- sacramento mountains
- lower pennsylvanian
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Hi, I believe this is a pelecypod. It was found in an early Pennsylvanian formation sandstone hash plate. Specimen is 3" overall. Would anyone have some thoughts to which superfamily, genus, etc., so I can dig a little deeper on my own? Thank you, Kato
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Apologies, I was out looking for other kinds of permineralized material today and just as I was leaving the search area I found this sliver of material. For some reason I just can't get a good pic of it to convey the material better. I do hope to get back there to search for more material but my thought is this is fern. Maybe I need to get a bit more daylight and a little further away. 2.5" length, 1" width, 3/4" tall
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Recently completed a lengthy set of walkabouts in the lower Pennsylvanian. I have a lot that I can pseudo-identify and am comfortable leaving them alone for now. OTH, I am hopeful someone with the skills will provide some helpful nudges in assigning more accurate names to the following: I believe this is a coral. This is about 4" tall and 3.5" wide Zoom in I'm calling it a snail but I know that is not correct. Max length is 1.5" And then these mystery spine-like objects on a sort of mash plate. It is hard to tell but the long intermittent one, swooping from lower left to upper right, maybe indeed be a single long strand 3" long
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- pennsylvanian
- sacramento mountains
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I never cease to be amazed by the crazy things I find while stumbling around in the great outdoors like this odd remains of a crinoid. Mother Nature keeps me endlessly entertained. The rock has shells, bryozoa and other TBD's. The rock the specimen is in also just really, really light for its size and very porous in appearance. Lots of voids, some with very tiny shells inside. this seeming spiral gastropod is probably 2mm long and hiding in a void. not the best pic as taken indoors with lighting at night...but I hope you get the idea.
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- crinoid
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Greetings. I chanced upon this in the way out yonder in a Pennsylvanian formation while out on a hike...and wondered to myself 'Self, is this a brachiopod with a quartz crystal lophophore or a brachiopod with some quartz crystals in it'. Time to ask the pros or those in the know...
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- brachiopod
- lophophore
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It’s winter and time to explore as many canyons as possible before it gets hot here. As always; in search of exercise, fossils and other items of interest. A visual summary of the ascent of one side canyon and the descent of the another. The entrance to the two canyon loop Today I had to share the trail Ordovician formations with small cave Ordovician staircase walkway in canyon bottom, Silurian cliffs at top of pic As the main canyon ascends, the hiking eventually meets where Ordovician contacts Silurian At the top of this Silurian dry falls is the Devonian but not much of it. This Devonian area is just before the canyon splits into two canyons
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- permineralized
- brachiopods
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I was traipsing around in a wild geologic zone 'red ellipse'. Lots of faulting, etc. I was in the orange area when I found a block of what could pass for recently dried mud having quite a few tiny brachiopods about 5mm in width. Maybe the brachiopod lovers could help put a generic name to this one so I can do more research? There are some larger brachiopods of a similar appearance (yet different) on the specimen but the largest barely gets to 10mm. I will post additional pics tomorrow when I get better lighting.
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Okay, while on a ramble in the mountains, among other things I chanced upon this pile of petrified wood. Looks like heavy iron mineralization. Black, red, orange, yellow and near white for colors. Banding in the wood. In the white area, it sure looks like insect bore holes like I used to see when cutting firewood. Not that it is, it just looks like it. This piece seemed to look it had bark to me. Or maybe it is where two branches split so the wood grain was heavily intermixed and confused. Again, I come up stumped with finding reference to a fossil type in our local formations. This time no reference to petrified wood just things like ferns, cordaites, etc for plant life. (1) Are folks finding petrified wood elsewhere in the lower Pennsylvanian? (2) Has anyone seen insect bore holes in their wood specimens? (3) Please advise your thoughts on bark versus complex wood graining? I can provide higher resolution and zoom in if need be. Thank you, Kato
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- petrified wood
- lower pennsylvanian
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Okay, I know these two pics will look pretty indeterminate, but would anyone be able to get me past cephalopod and gastropod and into an area where I can research and expand my knowledge. Both these were found in the Mississippian, Lake Valley Formation, Andrecito Member (early Osagean). Clear association to Zoophycos with which these were found.
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- cephalopod
- andrecito formation
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Hopefully this will be quick and easy for those who have the knowledge. I was meandering in the hills and came across some horn corals. I am used to calling the smaller one on the left a horn coral. I am presuming the one on the right also a horn coral. Would someone kindly provide sufficient naming to each so I can do some offline research and reading? Apologies for fuzzy pic. Camera seemed to only want to focus on the backdrop material.
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- sacramento mountains
- mississippian
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Okay, this is way, way out there, but it's a maybe. I am sitting on the fence for going real or mother nature. I was strolling around the mountains today. On an Silurian plateau I spied this piece of cherty material with what may or may not be a small crinoid. It is a bit banged up, kind of rusty looking, but seems like an immature crinoid??? Otherwise, a very interesting want-to-be. Material is missing from some areas which would have been helpful and it wraps around the edge of the rock making it challenging to photograph. On the entire chunk of rock there are no other features of note. Size from 8 on the ruler as it wraps around the other side comes out to about 35mm
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- sacramento mountains
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Okay, I had originally just thought this specimen was a 'mother nature playing games' kind of rock when I was out exploring on a day that turned out to be filled with lots of trace fossils. After some online research for Ordovician trace fossils I came across some Flickr photos for Petroxestes pera, bivalve borings, that were once called 'turkey tracks'. The particular photo panel labeled, Petroxestes pera bivalve borings on limestone hardground (Turkey Track Layer, Waynesville Formation, Upper Ordovician; Flat Fork Arm of Caesar Creek Lake, Warren County, Ohio, USA) , looks quite similar to the strange marks I found in this upper Ordovician formation here in southern NM. Any trace fossil turkey track experts willing to comment? Thank you in advance, Kato
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Sacramento Mountains - escarpment approach for a walkabout
Kato posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Due to lost climbing experience I had made a failed approach into an escarpment canyon climb last year. A few months later with skills rebuilt I decided to tackle one of the canyons on the east side of Alamogordo, NM again. The escarpment rise fairly abruptly from the trailhead. Approximately 1,100 feet in 1.3 miles to the highest point of the walkabout. This summary will include some pics from my earlier failed attempt. My goals...to visit a unique looking mud mound, find fossils and get away from it all. One the way up the canyon bottom I spotted this ghostly apparation in an exposed slab. Halycite? The main geologic feature of interest was this formation called 'Teepee Mound'. Look to left side of formation for teepee The geologists summary of what is going on My approach was to continue far up canyon to a higher altitude then cut back west to approach the teepee shape. About midway up the teepee shape from the east looking back to the basin. These formations were thick with crinoids. The teepee actually seemed to be suspended by columns of material. Likely supporting material leached away over the years by water.- 15 replies
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- geologic formations
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While on a walkabout, I chanced across a lower Mississippian formation called Andrecito having this fossil remnant that I believe is Zoophycos. Would someone who knows please advise if this correct? Thank you, Kato
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- zoophycos
- sacramento mountains
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A daylong venture into the back canyons of the Sacramento Mountains to look for minerals and fossils. From the trailhead & back was just under 9 miles and lots of rock scrambling through Ordovician-Pennsylvanian formations. A dryfall requiring a climb around Overhang with rippled sandstone floor having iron concretions A view back down hill partway to summit Horn corals Maybe coral?
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- sacramento mountains
- fossils
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