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Finally got into the Callovian again.


Ludwigia

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The weather has been so accomodating lately, that I figured that the snow should be gone by now from the slopes of the Wutach area in southwest Germany. I'd been thinking about a particular spot in the Middle Jurassic Callovian and decided to spend some time there. Sure enough, the snow was long gone, so I could scramble down the slope to the site. There are a few other local collectors who visit this site fairly regularly, but it was obvious that no one else had been there yet so early in the season. So I first made a quick inspection tour and found a few blocks which had weathered out over the last months.

 

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Here are the ammonites that came out of them.

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Then I got down to some serious work on the exposure. After a while, I noticed this.

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I was hoping for a large Macrocephalites, but unfortunately it turned out to be just the outer whorls. The inner ones were completely weathered away.

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However, as luck would have it, a few smaller ones nearby popped out.

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Another large one showed up a little later. It's not easy to see. Just to the left of the point of the hammer.

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Once again, it was just a partial, but there was a good Macrocephalites right next to it. It broke in two, but I was able to salvage the pieces and shall repair it once I get down to the prep work.

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I spent about 5 hours working the exposure and then decided to call it a day. Here's a photo of the harvest.

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Now it's time to get under the shower.

 

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Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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great finds Roger:D i think i can speak for all when i say i am looking forward to seeing them prepped, you always do such a great job

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:popcorn:

    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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Great fossil hunting pics Roger.  Im wondering what your garage and house look like with all the rocks you bring home? 

 

RB

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11 hours ago, RuMert said:

Well done as usual:Smiling:

 

Thanks :)

 

9 hours ago, RJB said:

Great fossil hunting pics Roger.  Im wondering what your garage and house look like with all the rocks you bring home? 

 

RB

I'm starting to wonder the same thing :headscratch:

 

9 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

I’ll be interested to see the final product!! You always have great Ammonites:) 

 

Ok. Here you go.

 

I got at least some of them done today. I thought I could at least show a play-by-play on one of them. This Macrocephalites sp. was obviously the best one of the finds, so I naturally got started on it first. Here it is after I glued the pieces back together.

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The matrix was very soft, so I decided to start with the abrader, since the area around the innerwhorls at the mouth aperture seemed somewhat fragile to me and besides, abrading is the most gentle method to use whenever possible.

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Now that the location of the shell was more or less clear, I could clean up the edges with the stylus, also on the reverse side.

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There was a bit of shell missing on the back, but that's ok, since that isn't the display side.

Then I abraded both sides again.

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I'm sure that you can see the cracks where the pieces were glued back together, so I had to fill them in with Apoxie Sculpt. Here's the end result. ø is 13cm. What appears to be shell substance at the upper left is actually parts of the outer septal walls which are still attached to the shell.

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I also got these 2 Choffatia sp. finished today.

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And just to show you that it's not all a bed of roses, this distorted Macro ended up in the disposal bin.

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More to come tomorrow hopefully.

 

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Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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10 hours ago, RJB said:

Great fossil hunting pics Roger.  Im wondering what your garage and house look like with all the rocks you bring home? 

 

RB

I've seen Roger's home and collection and I'm happy to say his displays are a sight to behold and his work area is neat and well organized.

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Very nice Roger. Wish the rivers would go down here so I can get out.

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

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Another fine outing Roger. Looks like all of your work and prep paid off with excellent specimens, especially the big Macro. Great site pictures too. Thanks for sharing all of this. 

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9 hours ago, sixgill pete said:

Very nice Roger. Wish the rivers would go down here so I can get out.

:fingerscrossed: for you.

 

9 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

Another fine outing Roger. Looks like all of your work and prep paid off with excellent specimens, especially the big Macro. Great site pictures too. Thanks for sharing all of this. 

You're welcome.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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8 hours ago, RJB said:

Excellent!

 

RB

:)

Here's the rest. I ended up disposing of a good number of them. They came mostly from the clayey layers, where most of them are pretty fragile and a lot are missing the inner whorls, but I figured I'd take them along anyway and check them out. Such is the luck of the draw sometimes. At least these ones turned out ok. The Bulli and the Macro are out of the red sandstone.

 

Bullatimorphites sp. A relatively rare occurrence, so I'm happy with it.

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A partial Choffatia sp. and a Macrocephalites sp.

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Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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