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Petalodus12

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With the semester having ended yesterday, I figured I would go hunting today at one of my favorite Carboniferous plant localities. It is located in Southwestern PA, and is in the Connellsville Sandstone member of the Casselman Formation, which is in turn part of the Conemaugh Group. It is late Stephanian in age. The Connellsville Sandstone itself represents a fluvial deposit made up of sediment from the then young Appalachian mountains. It is a very thick and massive layer; because of this it has been quarried for building stone for hundreds of years. The locality that I collect at is in a valley that was once heavily industrialized with a railroad, coal mines, oil wells, and sandstone quarries. These quarries were located in the Connellsville and their cliffs can still be seen today. The specific deposit I collect at in this valley most likely represents a slow moving area of the river, where deposition was rapid in times of high water. It preserves a classic post-Rainforest Collapse flora, with seed ferns, tree ferns, and Calamites being the most common fossils. Lepidodendron and other lycopods are rare to nonexistent. In the 1960s, W.C. Darrah, a paleobotanist, collected here and found one of the earliest examples of the conifer Walchia. Vertebrate remains can be found here, as shown in my most recent post

I assumed that today would be a mediocre trip, as rain was in the forecast and the ground is covered in leaves. However, the rain let up before I arrived at the site. Due to the lack of foliage, though, I was able to explore some areas that were once quarried for sandstone. I noticed an area made up of finer-grained sandstone, and thought that it might have fossils. Upon further inspection, though, it lacked fossils but was full of massive rip up clasts of soft shale. These showed that the river was eroding through a deposit of unconsolidated clay and then subsequently depositing these chunks down stream. I had never seen rip-up clasts in such large numbers and in such a large size, so it was great to get to see it. I then carried on to the plant locality. The plant locality was not at all covered in leaves, and due to the weather I had it all to myself. I concentrated my efforts on specific lenses of plant material that represented areas of quiet deposition, perfect for well preserved plants. I found some good stuff, as is shown below, but my favorite find was that of Cyclopteris fimbriata. It is a strange form genus of leaves that grew at the base of seed fern fronds. I had found Cyclopteris fossils before; however, this was the first time I had found one of the fimbriata species. The name says it all: their edges are marked by fimbriated projections of leaf tissue. It was certainly interesting to see some new material today. I also found my largest Neuropteris ovata frond thus far, and, although it wasn't perfect, it was a welcome discovery. All in all, it was a great hunt and it was nice to be out in nature!! Hope you guys all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

 

 

View of the old quarry:

IMG_5470.thumb.jpg.28cbf958142e9cfd74e3ad902db641e3.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rip-up clasts:

 

IMG_5473.thumb.jpg.1707e73a089e23a65ea0e6a1463bf3c0.jpgIMG_5478.thumb.jpg.ea06104471af5bee303ffeae5d595969.jpg

 

 

 

 

The plant locality itself, as I said before it is a shaly layer of the Connellsville Sandstone, most probably representing a backwater of a river:

 

 

IMG_5481.thumb.jpg.72789ba28f6908c10639c15763803feb.jpg

 

Pith cast of a Calamites:

IMG_5486.thumb.jpg.62bacb1fd7129350199fc4236869e7f0.jpg

 

 

 

Annularia stellata whorls

IMG_5499.thumb.jpg.6d15e8b7ca7dfed231197e32c700bf85.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cordaites sp.

IMG_5496.thumb.jpg.605958f3c8a352521fd7e223bd499f3d.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new species for me and the strangest looking find, Cyclopteris fimbriata:

IMG_5497.thumb.jpg.538f80aa9d0beffa56113f44459e508d.jpg

 

My largest find, as well as my largest plant fossil to date: Either Neuropteris or Laeveinopteris:

IMG_5500.thumb.jpg.f9797965fd4d718dfacc3c22eecc3b54.jpgIMG_5501.thumb.jpg.51e54e35f57184aee02139e394fc6e73.jpg

 

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Nice combo of plants!! Thanks for showing them. Are they the same species as I have found in Ambridge? I think Ambridge is Mahoning Formation.

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35 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

Nice combo of plants!! Thanks for showing them. Are they the same species as I have found in Ambridge? I think Ambridge is Mahoning Formation.

Thank you! They most likely should be. Seed fern diversity remained pretty constant throughout the Conemaugh Formation. As far as I know the only difference between the flora of the Mahoning is that because it is pre Rainforest Collapse the Lycopsid flora is much more present, and it was more consistently wet while this environment was seasonally dry

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9 minutes ago, fossilizator said:

snarge! I never finds plant. This is very beauty.

Thank you! Plants are quite common in my region

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Thanks for the great and very informative report! Those are some nice and big plant finds too, I especially like the Cyclopteris and Annularia.

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46 minutes ago, deutscheben said:

Thanks for the great and very informative report! Those are some nice and big plant finds too, I especially like the Cyclopteris and Annularia.

Thank you! It was definitely a good hunt!

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Great report and finds! 

Thanks for showing us.  :) 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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20 minutes ago, Plantguy said:

Awesome finds! Thanks for showing us the examples and some of the section/geology/rocks. 

 

Regards, Chris 

Thank you!

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Cyclopteris fimbriata that you found is gorgeous - I love the detail shown on its outer edge!  Congratulations on the wonderful finds!

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On 12/20/2020 at 8:06 AM, Monica said:

The Cyclopteris fimbriata that you found is gorgeous - I love the detail shown on its outer edge!  Congratulations on the wonderful finds!

Thank you! It certainly was my favorite find from this hunt!

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Really excellent finds you have there. Congratulations. I especially appreciate the Annularia and the Cyclopteris. Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing them. 

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