First trip to the Kalkberg

[Misha]

Hello everyone!

This trip report is a bit late but I have been trying to identify and get better photos of some fossils before posting this,

First some pictures at the actual site:

[Misha]

Here are the fossil-filled cliffs of the roadcut.

I believe these are Becraft Formation?

[Misha]

Now for the actual fossils, first is this part of a glabella from Oinochoe pustulosus:

[Misha]

Part of a Dalmanites pleuroptyx pygidium:

[Misha]

The only Paciphacops logani piece I found:

[Misha]

This gastropod, I am not sure if it is a Platyceratid or Diaphorostoma 

[Misha]

Another gastropod:

[Misha]

Some corals:

[Misha]

Forgot about this Platyceratid gastropod:

[Misha]

Hindia sphaeroidalis and a bryozoan, I was told these are quite common from the Kalkberg but this is the only Hindia I found

[Misha]

One of the best finds of the day was this Uncinulus sp. with both valves although they were slightly disarticulated.

[Misha]

Another Uncinulus with neat nacre-like covering on the shell

[Misha]

A couple of spiriferids from the location, the second is covered in fine beekite rings

[Misha]

One of my favorite brachiopods from the location, Schizophoria I believe

[Misha]

Shells that I believe are Meristella sp. were very common at the location here are some of the nicest ones:

[Misha]

[Misha]

This fossil is a bit beat up but I really like how it shows the inner structure of the orthid, Discomyorthis

[Misha]

Leptaena is a brachiopod I was really hoping to get a nice example from this site as I think that the patterns to their shells are absolutely beautiful, sadly this is really the only piece I ended up getting. It is not bad but it does not show much of the shell and I accidentally struck it with my hammer before noticing it was there.

[Misha]

I might add some more photos tomorrow. Sorry about posting everything as separate comments, many of the pictures were justtoo large in size to post many at the same time.

[RuMert]

Interesting Paleozoic fauna

[Misha]

Here are some other neat Rhynchonellids, the first one is quite squished. These were not nearly as common as Uncinulus which was the most abundant rhynchonellid from this location.

One thing I noticed with these is that I found a few of them but they were all brachial valves, there were no pedicle valves from these brachiopods. Maybe those broke apart more easily? I am not sure maybe this was only the case for me

[Misha]

These pieces are some bryozoans from the location, these were fairly common fossils. The second piece actually has some brachiopods on it, one of which is Leptaena but it is obscured by the shale limestone and other organisms above it. I would try to prepare it but I have already broken a few carbide needles on other pieces from the location so I don't think I will be doing that.

[Misha]

Here are some photos a friend took while we were at the location:

[Jeffrey P]

Nice finds! Congratulations. Your Schizophoria looks more like Anastrophia verneuili to me. Normally Rickard Hill is well picked over by the numerous clubs and geology classes that stop there to collect. As one can see it is an easily accessible site.

[Misha]

32 minutes ago, Jeffrey P said:

Nice finds! Congratulations. Your Schizophoria looks more like Anastrophia verneuili to me. Normally Rickard Hill is well picked over by the numerous clubs and geology classes that stop there to collect. As one can see it is an easily accessible site.

Thank you,

As for the ID, mine was just a guess. However, I am not sure it is Anastrophia as the ribs are much finer on this piece than the brachiopods I get when searching up that species.