Rediscovering New York: Lorraine group, Whetstone Gulf Formation adventures

[Al Tahan]

Hey everyone,

 

Just an update on my recent adventures exploring the Whetstone gulf formation. My last post I went to 2 gorges in the Tug Hill Plateau area known to expose the formation. I didn’t find any significant fossils but it was a good learning experience. 

 

On one of my recent weekend adventures I spent all of a Saturday and Sunday hiking another gorge that exposes the Whetstone. I won’t always be posting exact locations in these posts. Sometimes discretion is needed so I’m not blasting localities on this particular one. It happened to be the cold and rainy weekend in the northeast US so they were very cold and wet hikes. 

 

It seems the “upper whetstone”......a rather loose term......is more productive as far as frequency of faunal zones from what I’ve read and have been told by reputable sources. This means....you need to get to the upper parts of the formation. These massive gulfs/gorges don’t offer really any access so if you want to get inside the gorges you need to start downstream and hike DEEEEEEEP into the gorges working upstream to get to bedrock that “might” have something. The whetstone gulf formation is dominated by shales with thin sandstone beds inter layered in different concentrations. The upper whetstone has the sandstone layers in more abundance and it is reflected by the debris in the streams. The shale however doesn’t last long....at all! Based on what I saw these 2 field days......the really “good” fossiliferous stuff is in the softer dark grey shales. The sandstones do have nice fossils but extraction is nearly impossible. The fossils in the shales never make it downstream into easily accessible hiking areas either. It’s part of why I think the Whetstone generally isn’t sought out. Just doesn’t seem to attract much attention. 

 

 

On my first hike on Saturday (May 9th 2020) I was determined to hike as far into the undisclosed gorge as possible. I just wanted to see if I could find any sign of these hot zones with fossils. I hiked VERY FAR up into the gorge. No real trails and I had to get a little creative to keep my feet dry and still push upstream. It was Really cold so I tried to stay dry at all costs. I was super far into the wilderness, deep into a massive gorge, and super alone....weird feeling venturing so deep into a gorge and you are sure nobody’s been there for a long time. 

 

A few shots of the field terrain. It was cold but sunny during parts of the day...and snow/rained to get me nice and wet. 

 

 

It wasn’t until I got very far and very deep into the gorge that I saw the first sign of a fossil. I didn’t look hard for fossils as much early on cause all the pieces of shale downstream were barren and I didn’t even see shale fragments with fossils so I took that as my queue to keep walking. 
 

First sign of a trilobite I’ve found in the Whetstone!! I took this picture cause I was positive it wasn’t going to stay together 

 

I grabbed it and it began to disintegrate as expected but......

I found this in the process. A cryptolithis bellus cephalon!!! So cool. I felt like I was seeing a ghost. After all that reading, planning, and walking.....and walking lol.....I finally found evidence of the iconic Cryptolithis trilobite!! I’ve only ever see photos so it was very rewarding getting up close to the real thing. Turns out this is one of my best specimens so far. 

 

I found a few other fragments in the same small piece of shale. 

The articulated crinoid columns are a common feature in the fossiliferous shale. Not sure if the calyx’s show up I didn’t see anything in the literature but who knows. This tiny slab has 3 Triarthrus cephalons too. 
 

 

Continued.....

 

 

[Emthegem]

Wow that is a super nice Trilobite collar and lobe, and that Crinoid stem is also very pretty! Very nice 

[Al Tahan]

I also found this nice association in that little slab that fell apart. Triarthrus and Cryptolithis together. 
 

this large crinoid segment was interesting.....I saw a piece of it sticking out so I split it. I then split this apart more and found 4-5 more cephalons of cryptolithis. When it’s hot it HOT!

This was a cephalon I found on my long hike back. At this point I kinda knew what I should be looking for so I looked down a little more hiking back. Honestly didn’t see anything....except this very very small shale chunk that had a hint of a crinoid on it. 

I split it apart with my fingers and my jaw just dropped.....how darn lucky was that!? Tiny piece of shale...hardly any surface area searched and there is this quality cephalon lol. This will be the most downstream fossil I have found so far...still it was very far up the gorge. This shale doesn’t last. 

 

 

On Sunday, the next day I was determined to make it further upstream that the previous day. If the day before was any indication I was on the right track. My wife straggled along with me so it was very interesting haha. She is a trooper and followed me into the deep wilderness in pretty iffy weather lol.

We got snowed and rained on....we were well worn by the time we got home lol. 

 

Same story this trip....saw nothing mostly...but I did find 2 small pieces of fossiliferous shale. I split one up in the field and took the other small piece home...my wife wanted to get moving hah.

This was the nicest field find of the day. Still one of my top specimens right now. Came out really clean. 
 

Love the diversity on this tiny plate...

 

This is the nicest Cryptolithis I found at home the next day....with 6 other cephalons! The piece I didnt completely split in the field had a cephalon from 1 single split. I figure I could get it apart apart when I got home with a razor blade. It split up quite a bit...this shale just kept splitting and falling apart really easy and I kept finding more hah. 
 

.......up next I’m just gonna share a few of my favorite finds from the weekend. Everything is small....in general I didn’t collect a lot of tonnage...

[fossilcrazy]

Hi Al Tahan,  I'm going to venture a guess you are looking for the layer revealing the Pyritized Triarthrus. You sound like you have done some good recon ground pounding. You have stumbled on the right players, but wrong layers. Can you pin down where the Frankfort Shale is? I have seen the Deer Lake and Frankfort Shale and it is hard to tell apart. One is gold, the other not worth hunting. When you hit the "Gold Bugs", pause, sigh in relief, then carefully mark your location. Take the suspected quarry home and carefully abrade to see if you notice any appendages. Good Luck and Happy Hunting.

 

[Sjfriend]

Great report and finds. Sure hoping I make another trip to NY some day. Need more bugs

[Al Tahan]

sorry for the delay...

a few more notable finds from the piece of shale I took apart at home and any other finds worth sharing.....
 

 

Big fan of this little crinoid patch...scale is cm here...dense diversity 

 

I think this is a Homotelus stegops pygidium. Not the best specimen. Nice little crinoid fragments. Sales in inches 

 

A very nice example of graptolites and a cephalopod. 
 

A nice cephalon... 

 

A free cheek of a flexicalymene. Unsure of species maybe granulosa. 
 

a flexicalymene pygidium. Sorry no scale. This is tiny. Pygidium is less than a cm in length. 

a better picture of the first cephalon I found on the first hike. Also decent size..sorry for lack of scale on this picture. 

 

That’s it for this report on the whetstone. I’m very interested in more exploring and I’m loving what I found! Such cool creatures these Cryptolithis trilobites......the other fauna is just as interesting too!!

 

Thanks for reading  

more adventures await! 

Al

[Al Tahan]

4 hours ago, fossilcrazy said:

Hi Al Tahan,  I'm going to venture a guess you are looking for the layer revealing the Pyritized Triarthrus. You sound like you have done some good recon ground pounding. You have stumbled on the right players, but wrong layers. Can you pin down where the Frankfort Shale is? I have seen the Deer Lake and Frankfort Shale and it is hard to tell apart. One is gold, the other not worth hunting. When you hit the "Gold Bugs", pause, sigh in relief, then carefully mark your location. Take the suspected quarry home and carefully abrade to see if you notice any appendages. Good Luck and Happy Hunting.

 

I’m not necessarily looking for the pyritized stuff but it does occur in intervals throughout the whetstone. Finding the actual beechers bed or martins quarry equivalencies would be a heck of a find. Never know! I plan to spend a lot of time in this formation and group. I haven’t forgotten the Frankfort shale! Lol

[Ludwigia]

@Al Tahan I love doing things like that too. Venturing into the unknown with a goal or two in mind. It's a great feeling when you achieve that. Maybe you should rent a helicopter for your next outing, particularly if wifey wants to come along

[Jeffrey P]

Congratulations Al. The finds from there just keep getting better and better. Those cryp cephs are my favorites but the pieces with all of that biodiversity- crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, and nautiloids are way cool! More and more this looks like it's been worth the effort. 

[Fossildude19]

Great report Al!

Wonderful finds. Hard work has paid off for you,... Congratulations.  

[Monica]

Those Cryptolithus cephalons are gorgeous!!!  Congrats on the amazing finds!!! 

[Al Tahan]

6 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

@Al Tahan I love doing things like that too. Venturing into the unknown with a goal or two in mind. It's a great feeling when you achieve that. Maybe you should rent a helicopter for your next outing, particularly if wifey wants to come along

Haha she did pretty good. Although she got cold quicker ha

 

2 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

Congratulations Al. The finds from there just keep getting better and better. Those cryp cephs are my favorites but the pieces with all of that biodiversity- crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, and nautiloids are way cool! More and more this looks like it's been worth the effort. 

Thanks Jeff! Once I get this formation figured out more you should come join me on some crypto trips ha
 

1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said:

Great report Al!

Wonderful finds. Hard work has paid off for you,... Congratulations.  

Thanks Tim. It’s fun getting into some new stuff! Super motivating 
 

23 minutes ago, Monica said:

Those Cryptolithus cephalons are gorgeous!!!  Congrats on the amazing finds!!! 

I’m obsessed lol...so cool looking. Awesome up close 
 

14 hours ago, Sjfriend said:

Great report and finds. Sure hoping I make another trip to NY some day. Need more bugs

They are here waiting for you! 
 

16 hours ago, Emthegem said:

Wow that is a super nice Trilobite collar and lobe, and that Crinoid stem is also very pretty! Very nice 

Thanks  

[Al Tahan]

In case anyone was wondering where all the other cephalons were that I talked about...I did claim to have found several but I realized I only showed a few. I just showed a few of the best ones. I do have a hand full of “ok” quality specimens. 
 

For example...this small slab has 3 Cryptolithis cephalons. Most of my specimens are mid level similar to what you see in this picture. The shale was in poor condition so that contributed.

 

 
Just a little add in.....they don’t come out great every time it seems.

 

[FossilNerd]

It’s a great feeling when hard work pays off! Congrats on the awesome finds Al and thanks for sharing!  

[Nautiloid]

Congratulations on the awesome finds!! Great diversity of organisms in some of those pieces. 

[deutscheben]

Wow, outstanding report. I really love those finds, Cryptolithus is so alien in appearance and those are some nice examples. 

[Wrangellian]

7 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

 

What everyone else said!

 

What is the circular feature near the bottom of this pic?

[sixgill pete]

Congratulations Al.

[Nautiloid]

On 5/24/2020 at 7:04 PM, Al Tahan said:

The articulated crinoid columns are a common feature in the fossiliferous shale. Not sure if the calyx’s show up I didn’t see anything in the literature but who knows.

Calyxes can occasionally be found in the Whetstone Gulf formation but they’re pretty uncommon. I’ve only ever found one.    

[Al Tahan]

On 5/25/2020 at 7:51 PM, Wrangellian said:

 

What everyone else said!

 

What is the circular feature near the bottom of this pic?

I’m not 100% sure to be honest. I’ve seen a handful of them....perhaps a sedimentary structure or poorly preserved fossil of some kind