East Berlin Fm. Hunting

[KompsFossilsNMinerals]

Hi everybody, today I took a trip to 2 sites in the East Berlin Formation. I didn't find anything too spectacular, but there was lots of really cool geological features. 

 

This first site is a roadcut in the formation, I believe that I found a sea bed imprint? I'm not sure on it though. 

 

Some views of the area I checked out

 

The possible sea bed piece, I'll get a better photo soon.

 

 

The Second Site

 

View of the site from the pull off

 

The black shale spot, there seems to be multiple different shale layers stacked ontop of eachother here. I spent most of my time collecting in this spot. The orange layer is really odd to me, I'm not sure what causes it.

 

The shale splits pretty easily, which is promising for plant fossils (and maybe fish fossils?)

 

In the corner you can see a little salamander (or newt?) tail. 

 

Plant fossil?

 

This looks like a partial plant fossil, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

Another possible plant fossil? Looks fossil-y.

 

A better look at some of today's finds

 

 

All in all I'd say today was a success, I'm planning on checking out the sites again some time soon. If you'd like closer photos of the pieces I found let me know, I'd be glad to.

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by KompsFossilsNMinerals

[Misha]

Cool stuff!

Some of those pieces do look like Plant debris I have found out here while looking for these early Jurassic exposures.

@Fossildude19 is more knowledgeable on this though, he can probably tell you a lot about the formation and fossils.

[Fossildude19]

Slight correction - The fossils here are all going to be from freshwater, as the East Berlin Formation is a lacustrine deposit, as are all the sedimentary Formations in the CT river valley. 

So not "seabed", but lakebed.   

The East Berlin formation will yield plant fossils, and poorly preserved fish fossils. 

The red and tan layers will be more shallow water deposits, whereas the black and gray shales are from anoxic mud layers, in deeper water. 

 

You have some plant stem/rachis type fossils there. 

Not sure further ID is possible.  Very  interesting though. 

 

The salamander is  Plethodon cinereus,  the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander. 

[KompsFossilsNMinerals]

13 minutes ago, Misha said:

Cool stuff!

Some of those pieces do look like Plant debris I have found out here while looking for these early Jurassic exposures.

@Fossildude19 is more knowledgeable on this though, he can probably tell you a lot about the formation and fossils.

Thank you!

[KompsFossilsNMinerals]

2 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Slight correction - The fossils here are all going to be from freshwater, as the East Berlin Formation is a lacustrine deposit, as are all the sedimentary Formations in the CT river valley. 

So not "seabed", but lakebed.   

The East Berlin formation will yield plant fossils, and poorly preserved fish fossils. 

The red stones will be more shallow water deposits, whereas the black and gray shales are from deep water, anoxic mud layers in deeper water. 

 

You have some plant stem/rachis type fossils there. 

Not sure further ID is possible.  Very  interesting though. 

 

The salamander is  Plethodon cinereus,  the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander. 

Thanks for the correction! If I do happen to find a fish fossil, it'd be illegal to take it because of Connecticut law on vertebrate fossil collecting right? Also, do tracks fit under that category? 

[Fossildude19]

1 hour ago, KompsFossilsNMinerals said:

Thanks for the correction! If I do happen to find a fish fossil, it'd be illegal to take it because of Connecticut law on vertebrate fossil collecting right? Also, do tracks fit under that category? 

 

I would think so. As a road cut, the state owns the land.

Looks like the Rte 9 on ramp. Pretty surprised the police didn't kick you out of there.
They are usually pretty strict there, and will tell you to move along if they find you there.

[KompsFossilsNMinerals]

58 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

I would think so. As a road cut, the state owns the land.

Looks like the Rte 9 on ramp. Pretty surprised the police didn't kick you out of there.
They are usually pretty strict there, and will tell you to move along if they find you there.

Ah, that's good to know... I'll have to find a different spot then. Thanks for the heads up!

[DPS Ammonite]

2 hours ago, KompsFossilsNMinerals said:

Also, do tracks fit under that category?

Tracks made by vertebrates are considered vertebrate fossils per BLM and US Forest Service. Likewise invertebrate tracks are invertebrate fossils. I’d imagine that Connecticut laws would be similar.

[KompsFossilsNMinerals]

2 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Tracks made by vertebrates are considered vertebrate fossils per BLM and US Forest Service. Likewise invertebrate tracks are invertebrate fossils. I’d imagine that Connecticut laws would be similar.

That makes sense, thanks