Today's Burlington Formation fossil hunt

[Jackson g]

Hey there, I hope today was as nice for you as it was for me outside here in Henry County, Missouri. On my day off today, I decided to go on another fossil hunt. Today's location is a little arm off of Truman Lake, and is one of my favorite spots to look for crinoids. The water was relatively low right now at this location today also. I decided to take advantage of that fact and look along the bottom by the water line where scraps and eroding peices fall down, and get covered back by water for most of the year. Often times I'll find complete crinoids and blastoids down here if the water is low enough, and one's luck is high. Today was a decent day for this picky fellow.

 

The morning started off a bit cloudy, which was nice because I have a bit of a walk before I can start scouring for fossils on the ground.

 

Soon after starting my trek, this cute little bug landed on my hand. I think it is a mayfly. Bugs can be annoying, though this little guy wasn't. Today was particularly bad with mosquitoes though. Lazy me forgot to bring bug spray. Be prepared for ticks, mosquitoes, and other creepy crawlies when coming out here.

 

After getting to the fossiliferous limestones, I started off by going towards the bottom of the exposure. I tend to squat down sumo style, or look like I'm doing toe touches with my butt sticking in the air a good portion of the day while looking. One's success is often due to experience here, but alot of things are small, dirty, weathered, or just easy to overlook here. It definitely pays to take your time and go low when you look. There is always at least one fisherman or kayaker usually baffled by what I'm doing, today was no different. The first find was an easy to spot crinoid, which was perfect and required no preparation at all. Sometimes its as easy as just picking it off the floor. Very lucky to say the least. All that was needed was cleaning with warm soapy water. Can you spot the crinoid in situ?

 

The second find was just as easy! A hundred feet away or so, this blastoid was just sitting there. Again, this only needed very simple cleaning up. Here is another photo, showing how I found it next to my trusty old Estwing.

 

There are some cherts in the Burlington Formation, as well as the crinoidal limestones already shown. I didn't find too much in the cherty sections today. It always takes scribe and abrasives to prep this material. Sometimes you can whack the chert and the fossil will pop out, but depending how it's situated in the rock and also just dumb luck depends on weather that extraction method is successful. It usually isn't, and it can be dangerous as the chert can splinter out and shoot at high speeds if you hit the rock wrong. I did find a nice Pentremites sp. blastoid though, as well as a nice Composita sp. brachiopod in cherts.

It is likely complete, but not one I can just whack.

 

Heres another blastoid, though a different type from the crinoidal limestones that needs prep. It will be much easier to finish. 

 

After a good 5 hours out, I decided to return back to my car and head for home. I won't have many opportunities to hunt my beloved Burlington much longer, so I'm trying to make the best of this and go out as often as I can. I tend to be at peace most when I'm out in nature, and finding fossils has taught me more than just about these ancient creatures. It has taught me about my current surrounding environment, the current living creatures here, patience, and more that I probably don't need to ramble off about.

Anywho, here's everything I managed to clean up today. Preparation on the blastoids will have to wait until I have more time.

 

Composita sp. brachiopod

 

Azygocrinus rotundus and Globoblastus norwoodi

 

Other crinoidal bits.

 

Another Globoblastus norwoodi (needs abbraided still)

 

Crinoid (probably Aorocrinus parvus, still needs prep)

 

And that ends today's trip, thanks for reading. Enjoy your summer while you still can!

[Ludwigia]

2 hours ago, Jackson g said:

 

 Can you spot the crinoid in situ?

 

 

Correct? Nice finds!

 

[Jackson g]

1 hour ago, Ludwigia said:

 

Correct? Nice finds!

 

Bingo! It looks like someone almost just placed it there for me to find!

[Neanderthal Shaman]

Great finds! I have some Carboniferous crinoid/coral pieces from Missouri, they were part of my grandma's collection. I would love to dig some myself though. 

[Jackson g]

22 hours ago, Neanderthal Shaman said:

Great finds! I have some Carboniferous crinoid/coral pieces from Missouri, they were part of my grandma's collection. I would love to dig some myself though. 

That's awesome, my grandma only collected these little precious moments figurines. If she had fossils, I would have never wanted to leave their house as a kid! If you are ever in the Truman Lake area of Missouri, shoot me a message on here and I can send you some photos with a few Burlington exposures marked on Google Maps, where you are guaranteed to find some fossils!

[jpc]

nice stuff.  Thanks for sharing.

 

[FossilNerd]

Looks like a great day off Jackson! What a haul! 

 

I also tend to hunt with my nose to the stone and my back side in the air. I'm sure it's a sight to the cars passing by! Lol

 

I think the chisel end of your hammer has seen better days! Too much chert wacking me thinks.   

[Jackson g]

18 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

Looks like a great day off Jackson! What a haul! 

 

I also tend to hunt with my nose to the stone and my back side in the air. I'm sure it's a sight to the cars passing by! Lol

 

I think the chisel end of your hammer has seen better days! Too much chert wacking me thinks.   

Haha I used to sharpen the end from time to time. I honestly think I'm more accurate when splitting chert with the way it is now.   A great day it was too!

[jpc]

56 minutes ago, Jackson g said:

Haha I used to sharpen the end from time to time. I honestly think I'm more accurate when splitting chert with the way it is now.   A great day it was too!

I was going to comment on that... Holy Guacamole, I have never seen such a pointless hammer (pun intended).  Poor thing.  

[grandpa]

Note to self:  Keep my tools out of photos lest I be made pun of. 

[Jeffrey P]

Looks like a wealth of good stuff in the Burlington. Thanks for sharing it and congratulations on your finds. 

[FossilNerd]

3 hours ago, Jackson g said:

Haha I used to sharpen the end from time to time. I honestly think I'm more accurate when splitting chert with the way it is now.   A great day it was too!

Whatever works my friend!  

 

Wear is just a sign of love when it comes to tools, and your hammer has seen a lot of love! 

 

It also shows that you get to hunt more than me, so it makes more than a little jealous!  

 

Thanks again for sharing your trip and finds!  

 

[Monica]

Beautiful blastoids!  I love the Globoblastus norwoodi that you found - thanks for showing us!

[Wrangellian]

Nice finds as always.. I like the Globoblastus too - the one on matrix in particular displays nicely.

What do you mean you won't have many more opportunities to collect the Burlington? That sounds more permanent than just the Winter off-season.

[Jackson g]

2 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Nice finds as always.. I like the Globoblastus too - the one on matrix in particular displays nicely.

What do you mean you won't have many more opportunities to collect the Burlington? That sounds more permanent than just the Winter off-season.

As much as I love my Missouri roots, I'll have to be moving on soon to greener pastures. After a recent family split, the house I'm living in currently will be going up for sale soon, and I'll have to be moving on with life. I'm currently looking at moving to Boulder CO, Kansas City MO, or the Tulsa district of Oklahoma to relocate to. Wish it was better news than that!

[Wrangellian]

Oh, that's sad.  I hated to have to move out of our old house about 12 years ago but at least it was not because of a family split and it wasn't so far from the old place.

Good luck, wherever you end up, and I hope there are fossiliferous areas for you to collect there.