Shamalama Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Hi All, It's been a while since I have posted, let alone gone collecting but I just had a really good trip down to the Matoaka Beach Cabins in St. Leonard, MD. Here you can pay $5 ($10 on weekends) to access their beach which gives you about 1/3 of a mile to explore. I went down on Tuesday the 14th since I had some time off from work. It coincided with an extremely slack tide which directly led to many of my best finds. No shark teeth unfortunately, except for two pieces that were just roots with the toothy part broken off. I did however clean up on Ecphora sp. and Cetacean bones as well as a couple of mollusks that are hard to collect. A view of the beach with a fall from last year. It's about 1/2 the size it was last year and will likely be even further reduced by this time next year. Such is the life cycle of the cliffs. A view of the cliffs straight on. I'm not positive but I believe the shell bed exposed is the Shattuck zone 18, Drumcliff member of the Choptank Fm. Above that is zone 17 which is the St. Leonard Member. Both are Miocene in age. I'm still digging into the ID of what I found so please correct me as needed. A specimen of Dosinia sp. with some of the original shell coloring preserved. I'm not yet sure who this is, but they are hard to collect intact as the matrix is very crumbly and so are the shells. I suspect this is from the St. Leonard Member of the Choptank F,. This is a small razor clam and is another tough one to collect because the shell is very thin so it doesn't erode out intact. Typically it just falls apart. Ecphora sp. in the water that you could see thanks to the slack tide. I found a bunch of these in different sizes and surprisingly intact. I found 3 Cetacean vertebrae in the shallows of the low tide with the largest one about 4" across (6" of you include the "wings") Oh yeah, then there was this odd limb bone, but I posted more pics of that over in Fossil ID. I also managed to get over to the Potomac and walk along the banks at Purse Creek Park. Nothing spectacular, but it was still fun. Maybe if the weather cooperates I can get another trip in before it gets too cold. Thanks for viewing! Dave 1 11 -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Nice finds, and great to see you back! 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Great report, Dave! Thanks for posting it. Glad you were able to get out there. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 It's hard to beat a fine day on the Chesapeake! You made some nice finds. The unknown clam (photo between the Dosinia and the razor clam) might be a tree oyster, Isognomon. The "beak" and hinge are pretty robust and often found, but the rest of the shell is fragile and usually broken away, so your specimen (if it is an Isognomon) is quite nice. Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historianmichael Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Great report Dave! Your Dosinia is in fact Dosinia acetabulum blackwelderi. The second shell might be Atrina harrisii. I have been to Matoaka a couple of times and have never once found a cetacean vertebra. Your haul of 3 is really impressive! 1 Follow me on Instagram (@fossil_mike) to check out my personal collection of fossils collected and acquired over more than 15 years of fossil hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Nice to hear from you again, Dave, and to have another glimpse at your red clay brick wall 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Looks like you had a fun outing, Dave. I love your mollusk finds- nice score on the Ecophora. Those will clean up nice. Consider coating your shells in matrix with Elmer's and water to stabilize them. They look super fragile. Also nice score on the cetacean verts. Thanks for sharing. Did you find any moon snails? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemipristis Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 (edited) Not a bad haul. Re the two pelecypods after your Dosinia sp, perhaps Mytilus sp. (Atrina is another possibility, as already noted)(and Ensis sp,? Edited September 17, 2021 by hemipristis 1 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 Thanks everyone for the responses. @Jeffrey P I did find some of those, a couple that were quite large too. Not as cool as Ecphora though. @historianmichael@hemipristis Thank you for the ID assists! 1 -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveltip1 Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Nice haul....great bunch of Ecphora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombk Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 Very nice finds. I love Ecphora. I found one a long time ago (20 years or so) at Calvert Cliffs on the Chesapeake. So long ago, I’ve since lost it. Hope to find another someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 20, 2021 Share Posted September 20, 2021 Great finds and pictures, thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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