Help with the Cambrian/Permian

[AHoffman]

Hi All,

 

It's been awhile since I've posted here, but I've kept up my interest in fossils! I'm currently working on finishing my Ph.D. up here in Ohio (wildlife conservation) but am shifting my focus to outreach and education endeavors mostly. I currently host a wildlife-oriented YouTube channel but am interested in doing a series on fossils and paleontology in the future (either on our current channel or on a different one). My idea is to do a six-part series on the Paleozoic that starts with the Cambrian and works through the Permian. In each episode, I would visit a well-known (ideally) public fossil site with good representation of fossils from that period and show some fossil collecting with reflections on what life was like during that time period and ending with a showcase of the fossils we found that are then animated to life as the backdrop fades into a depiction of that time period. That last part will be a tall order, but I've got a a graphics/animation guy on board to (hopefully) figure it out.

 

While I have ready access to good Ordovician (planning on mostly filming at Trammel Park, Cincinnati), Silurian (Oakes Quarry near Dayton), Devonian (Penn Dixie), and Carboniferous (Mazon Creek) sites; Cambrian and Permian are a bit tougher. I know the Burgess Shale in Canada would be the premier locale to film Cambrian (though not collect), but I think that long trip is not practical for me for the foreseeable future. Permian sites seem to be more cryptic and also mostly out west/southwest. However, I know PA/WV have some Permian/Cambrian exposures. Can anyone direct me to sites or resources that might help me find a good location to film (i.e. public, legal collecting, and preferably okay with publicizing the site)? If those three criteria cannot easily be met for Permian/Cambrian in this region, maybe at least somewhere I could film fossils but not collect?

 

I apologize if this request/post is inappropriate here and appreciate any help you can offer! I won't provide a direct link to my YouTube channel directly (in case that is frowned on), but our channel name is Life Underfoot if you want to see the kind of content we produce (as stated earlier, all currently living wildlife stuff at the moment). I'd also be interested in featuring experts/researchers in some episodes so links to any prominent folks studying particular time periods would be appreciated as well! I hope to start doing some local filming this winter/spring (Ordovician/Silurian) then make the bigger trips out to Penn Dixie/Mazon this summer once vaccinated and travel is simpler/safer. Hopefully, we can film this series during 2021 and release it during 2022.

 

Thanks again,

-Andrew

[connorp]

I can't help with your request, but I will say that there are probably more interesting choices for Carboniferous closer to home. The only public area to hunt for Mazon Creek fossils is the Mazonia-Braidwood Wildlife Area (a.k.a. Pit 11), and hunting there is tough and time consuming, with no guarantee you'll walk away with anything. There are diverse Carboniferous exposures in OH/KY/PA where you can actually walk away with a lot of good representative fossils. Off the top of my head, Centralia, PA (search for it on the forum) would provide access to plenty of characteristic plant fossils. There are also Mississippian marine exposures close to you near Wooster.

[Jeffrey P]

For Cambrian and Permian fossils you will probably have to travel a long ways, sorry. The only good Cambrian site I've been to in the east was near Chatsworth, Georgia, but it's now closed. There is an excellent example of a Cambrian stromatolite reef (Lester Park) located near Saratoga Springs, N.Y. You can't collect there but the fossils are very photogenic. The only Permian site I've been to so far is Waurika in Oklahoma, micro vertebrates. There are some places where you can look for Cambrian and Permian fossils that are closer to you, but you'll have to search a lot and will probably come up empty handed. Good luck.  

[jdp]

There is a substantial amount of Carboniferous and a little bit of Permian in the southeast quadrant of Ohio...roadcuts, old mine spoils, riverbeds, and even excavations or stripmall parking lots are all decent places to find Carboniferous plants and sometimes animals. Permian is a little harder to find but there are pockets; I'd recommend checking a geological map. I know of a few historical sites in Washington County but I don't actually know how to get to them. There's Permian right across the state border into West Virginia and southwest PA as well.

[jdp]

For classic classic sites, you might want to look into some of the localities down in Texas or Oklahoma. Waurika might be one of the more accessible ones, but there are a lot of sites down in Texas which are being actively worked.

 

For Cambrian sites, I think Utah or Nevada are your best bets. Wheeler Shale in Utah is pretty accessible.

[AHoffman]

Thanks for the advice all!

 

I think I will just begin the series in the Ordovician and hope to get out west some day to feature Cambrian fossils. I will either end it in the Carboniferous or try to locate a Permian exposure in southern Ohio to feature. I think ending the series with the discovery of a pelycosaur fossil would be a really cool nod to what was to come in a (hopefully) future Mesozoic series.

 

-Andrew

[Craig268]

Hi Andrew,  I just found this forum.  I'm a geologist in Cleveland.  Here's a link to old publication by the OGS about plant fossils in Ohio.  It may not be particularly germane to your current interests but I enjoyed going through it as it relates to many areas I studied in graduate school.  I did my masters in coal geology at the University of Akron.

 

https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/3477/V45N04_129.pdf;jsessionid=FDB717B032605F2260370541AADFF43B?sequence=1

[jdp]

On 1/24/2021 at 8:07 AM, AHoffman said:

Thanks for the advice all!

 

I think I will just begin the series in the Ordovician and hope to get out west some day to feature Cambrian fossils. I will either end it in the Carboniferous or try to locate a Permian exposure in southern Ohio to feature. I think ending the series with the discovery of a pelycosaur fossil would be a really cool nod to what was to come in a (hopefully) future Mesozoic series.

 

-Andrew

I'll just say Carboniferous and Permian synapsids ("pelycosaurs") are not easy to find.