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New Jersey Merchantville rediscovered


frankh8147

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Hello everyone!

 

A few weeks ago, my friend Ralph (curator of the MAPS Museum) took me to an old fossil spot for really the sole purpose of showing me the stratigraphy of the area. I returned to the stream a few times and realized there was a lot of 'hard-pan' in the stream that contained fossils. After alerting Ralph, we returned back to the the stream and found something COMPLETELY unexpected..a small, workable area of Merchantville formation.

 

Ecstatic with my luck, we hit the area with all the free time I had. All the best specimens were donated to the MAPS Museum (more to come on that), but here are the ones that went into my collection.

 

The most common ammonite there is Menabites walnutensis, but I also found some nice Scaphites hippocrepis (one in particular is really nice), Glyptoxoceras, and Baculites vaalsensis. The large bivalve is Pholadomya occidentalis, and the more common one is Neithea.

 

If you have any questions or corrections let me know!

Frank H.

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One more of favorite because this is the ammonite that 'started the rush'. Because of that, it will always be one of my favorite fossils.

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47 minutes ago, frankh8147 said:

All the best specimens were donated to the MAPS Museum (more to come on that)

:popcorn:

 

PS. If you're talking about Ralph Johnson, then please say hi to him for me. It was nice hosting him along with Jeff and Asa during their sojourn here in Germany.

 

Roger

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Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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1 hour ago, frankh8147 said:

 

The most common ammonite there is Menabites Walnutensis, but I also found some nice Scaphites hippocrepis (one in particular is really nice), Glyptoxoceras, and Baculites Vaalsensis. The large bivalve is Pholadomya occidentalis, and the more common one is Neither.

 

What a marvelous surprise for you! Absolutely smashing specimens. :)

I look forward to seeing the MAPS material. 

I think 'Neither' should read Neithea. ;)

And specific names are never capitalized so Menabites walnutensis etc. 

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Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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Congratulations, Frank!

Glad to see you rescuing these wonderful fossils!

 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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

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31 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

:popcorn:

 

PS. If you're talking about Ralph Johnson, then please say hi to him for me. It was nice hosting him along with Jeff and Asa during their sojourn here in Germany.

 

Roger

Roger,

 

Yes! I hear you are a great host with an amazing collection!! I'll make sure to tell him you said hi!

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14 minutes ago, Tidgy&#x27;s Dad said:

What a marvelous surprise for you! Absolutely smashing specimens. :)

I look forward to seeing the MAPS material. 

I think 'Neither' should read Neithea. ;)

And specific names are never capitalized so Menabites walnutensis etc. 

Yep! Auto-correct and Paleontology definitely aren't best friends haha! Thank you!

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Congratulations Frank! I know that Ralph did not have high hopes for that site so it is great to hear that you were able to squeeze just a little bit more out of it. Great finds!

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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!

 

 

 

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Wow! I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with Ralph's reject pile. Love to see the things you donated that he did accept. Still, you're building one the very best collections of New Jersey Cretaceous fossils there is. Congrats Frank. Keep up the excellent work and thanks for sharing. 

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P.S.- You made me realize I spelled Neithea wrong in my display case. I have some good Texas examples of that genus. 

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Nice finds!  I've only collected the Merchantville at the C&D Canal, and it was mostly picked over.  I've not seen some of these ammonites from that strata before, though I had heard they could be found

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'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

George Santayana

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20 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

Wow! I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with Ralph's reject pile. Love to see the things you donated that he did accept. Still, you're building one the very best collections of New Jersey Cretaceous fossils there is. Congrats Frank. Keep up the excellent work and thanks for sharing. 

Thanks Jeff! I used this as an excuse to REALLY expand my collection so if we end up doing one of those trips next year where it makes to have you stay over, there will be a lot of new stuff to see! 

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12 hours ago, hemipristis said:

Nice finds!  I've only collected the Merchantville at the C&D Canal, and it was mostly picked over.  I've not seen some of these ammonites from that strata before, though I had heard they could be found

 

I don't talk stratigraphy much but I have some thoughts on this one! I subscribe to the thought that the Merchantville formation encompasses a large period of time. 

 

My reasoning is that I've been lucky enough to check out a few different Merchantville spots and the fauna at every spot has been completely different. 

 

I personally believe the Merchantville represents a long period of time (but I'm always up for correction if presented with information that contradicts mine).

 

 

 

 

 

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Awesome stuff.  
 

I didn’t get back into fossil hunting until I moved away from New Jersey after 47 years of living within spitting distance of the town of Merchantville which, of course, gives the formation its name. I’ve been doing some occasional  research on local exposures (that sadly, I knew nothing about while growing up there pre-internet) for the next time I get back.  One of them is an alleged Merchantville formation exposure (though it seems like it might be a white whale).   It is nice to see what I might find if it is the real deal.  

 

Anyway, if I can’t be in New Jersey, the next best thing is seeing New Jersey fossils so thanks for sharing. 

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13 hours ago, BigKen said:

Awesome stuff.  
 

I didn’t get back into fossil hunting until I moved away from New Jersey after 47 years of living within spitting distance of the town of Merchantville which, of course, gives the formation its name. I’ve been doing some occasional  research on local exposures (that sadly, I knew nothing about while growing up there pre-internet) for the next time I get back.  One of them is an alleged Merchantville formation exposure (though it seems like it might be a white whale).   It is nice to see what I might find if it is the real deal.  

 

Anyway, if I can’t be in New Jersey, the next best thing is seeing New Jersey fossils so thanks for sharing. 

Thank you!!

 

I believe this was the last accessable bit of Merchantville from New Jersey but as this showed, things change! I'm hoping that one day, I'll find another area but for now, I have to accept the fact that this may have been my last Merchantville dig.

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