Cretaceous ammonoids (and more) from southern France

[Italo40]

Dear members, 

here I want to present my latest hunting trip, in the south east of France. This region has been known for decades to geologists for the vas amount of outcrops of Cretaceous age. In fact, there's even a GSSP and a stratotype section. Since most of these areas are protected, I  checked where I could collect fossils freely. A famous spot for collectors is Carniol, located 125 km (77 mi) north of Marseille. Here, Aptian (Early Cretaceous) clays crop out and fossils can be easily collected by hand or with a small tool.

A view of the outcrop:

 

 

Fossils are extremely abundant. You don't need to excavate, you can easily pick those exposed on the surface. Because of these, many are too fragmented or fragile, but there's no shortage of well preserved specimen! 

 

 

Ammonoids are the most common specimens. I have not been able to ID them yet, because of the lack of specific papers on Carniol.

Here's two of the largest and best preserved specimen that I found:

 

 

 

Belemnites are extremely common as well, but complete specimens much more rare.

 

 

Here's a complete specimen:

 

 

And here a large one!

 

 

And now, all my finds together: you can see ammonoids, belemnites, gastropods and bivalves.

 

 

 

The best-preserved fossils after a cleaning process:

 

 

 

 

Finally, I'm not sure about these:

 

 

Here's all! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed my post. I'd love to hear your comments and hopefully IDs. Besides, if you have any reading suggestion, they are more than welcome. 

Thanks, 

Fabio

 

 

 

 

[ClearLake]

That looks like a great spot and that first ammonite is a real beauty. Sorry I can’t help with ID’s but I’m sure someone will be along soon that can.   Is pyrite common in some of those fossils?  Some seem to have the appearance of some our Texas Cretaceous material that has pyrite in it, just curious. Thanks

[Italo40]

7 minutes ago, ClearLake said:

That looks like a great spot and that first ammonite is a real beauty. Sorry I can’t help with ID’s but I’m sure someone will be along soon that can.   Is pyrite common in some of those fossils?  Some seem to have the appearance of some our Texas Cretaceous material that has pyrite in it, just curious. Thanks

Yes, the majority of ammonites, gastropods and bivalves were indeed pyritized. Broadly speaking I noticed that these specimens were less well preserved than the not pyritized ones, but also less fragile. Belemnites, instead, were never pyritized.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice finds.

It looks to me that your mystery items are pieces of heteromorph ammonites. 

[jpc]

1 hour ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nice finds.

It looks to me that your mystery items are pieces of heteromorph ammonites. 

yes, I don't know the French Aptian species but similar to the later Cretaceous Glyptoxyceras we find here.  

[taj]

I would say Dufrenoya and Aconoceras for the best preserved ones ..

[FossilDAWG]

I think maybe Hamites or something similar for the straight-shelled ammonites (the ones you are "not sure about").

 

Don

[Ludwigia]

I've been there before. Great place to collect and there's even some shade there. A good reference for identifying your finds is Gero Moosleitner's "Fossilien Sammeln im Südfrankreich". I agree with Taj's appraisal with Dufrenoya and Aconeceras.

[Coco]

@caterpillar

 

Coco

[Italo40]

2 hours ago, taj said:

I would say Dufrenoya and Aconoceras for the best preserved ones ..

Thank you!

7 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nice finds.

It looks to me that your mystery items are pieces of heteromorph ammonites. 

You are right, I didn't think of that

24 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

I've been there before. Great place to collect and there's even some shade there. A good reference for identifying your finds is Gero Moosleitner's "Fossilien Sammeln im Südfrankreich". I agree with Taj's appraisal with Dufrenoya and Aconeceras.

I was so overwhelmed by the amount of fossils that I had to stop after just a couple of hours. If only I didn't live at 6 hours by car I'd go there every weekend, it was definetely one of the best collecting trips of my life. 

I really appreciate the book suggestion!

[RuMert]

Some of them are very nice,cool site

[herve]

[herve]

A litle part  of my aptian collecting whith different place

[herve]

[herve]

Sharks teef and vertebras ,corals

[herve]

[herve]

[herve]

Hello Italo40 nice discovery,I live at 1hour of Carniol when its rain I go to this site but the another site are not rich.

[caterpillar]

I will not add anything to what has been said. I just think the heteromorphs are Epanisoceras

[taj]

Now the question is : how do these little pyritic beauties stand the test of time ?

[Italo40]

5 hours ago, taj said:

Now the question is : how do these little pyritic beauties stand the test of time ?

That's a legitimate question and something I had not thougt about. I've found a few websites that suggest ways to preserve them, however I've no experience in the field. So, if anyone has any idea on the subject, they are most welcome

[taj]

There are many, many different recipes proposed for that . You will find on this website a full list of possible solutions ... the best for you  will be the one you choose !

[Everhardus]

I clean my pyrite ammonites first. I used to do this with a steel brush on a Dremel, lately i abrade them. Avoid using water to clean them. Next i expose them to the fumes of ammonia. Just something i picked up. Not sure if it works but cant hurt either. I seal them off with Paraloid B72. 
At some sites pyrite seems more stable than others, all in all i have to dispose of around 3 ammo’s every year which is not much considering the amount which you can collect at these Southern France sites......

I keep these finds separate from each other in small plastic boxes.

It’s a bit of a hassle but these pyrite ammo’s do look great !

[Monica]

Wonderful molluscs, Fabio!  Thanks for showing us!