Greek Triassic Part 2, a dream comes true!

[Dimitris]

Hello everyone!

Been almost 2 years since I last visited that site and left in situ a nice multiblock. I was thinking again and again @taj reply and

tried to correct that mistake. However, every year the site seems to be less accessible and there are rumors that it's forbidden to search there for fossils due to the proximity of the archeological site of the theater, regardless the fact the outcrop is located within private land.

 

Nevertheless, last Saturday 13/11 we visited the place with a friend. Visited 3 possible outcrops without much results.

1. Carnian exposure with partially pyritized ammonites - overexploited, zero finds.

2. Ammonitico Rosso quarry, no finds but for some slices on marble blocks.

3. Around the theater, near that private place.

 

One nice slice of the Rosso early Jurassic quarry.

 

100kgs of boulders collected in order to be cleaned. This outcrop has very high density of fossils, due to the absent of sediments, leading in amazing multiblocks full of ammonites, nautiloids and orthoconics. The obvious characteristic of this formation is th presence of Mn oxide, which gives this lovely dark brown/rusty color.

Smaller blocks were also collected. Presence of fossils indicate high possibility to find more after abrasion.

 

Before leaving, we visited the museum and bought some prepared ones. You can see how packed are.

 

I tried to find another exposure of Hallstatt facies so I had to find a map, which does not exist online. Found a governmental library and bought it! Next Saturday 20/11 we visited again Epidaurus area.

 

Using a ruler, I put all possible outcrops on my phone, so we were prepared. Unfortunately, all these outcrops were not accessible or altered due to agriculture, buildings and so on. Out of 13 visited locations, none gave fossils. We found another Ammonitico Rosso, but the quality was poor due to tectonic dynamics and extreme deformation.

 

Sunday 21/10, a third visit to the place with another friend.

We started locating an outcrop with Miocene gastropods. Near that place, we found another site with some Cretaceous imprints of Pectenoids

 

Then we joined with another guy and headed to search again in that overexploited locality.

My friend found a partial Carnian ammonite replaced by jasper and gave it to me. I don't keep partials anymore, but this is really beautiful and rare.

 

The same guy found a nice 4-5cm Johannites sp laying on the ground. It was steinkern but still lovely!

 

Moved further to explore the place a little more and we found something like stromatolites, composed of Mn oxide, limestone of the same fossiliferous site around the theater and possibly, ammonites with complete replacement with Mn oxide.

[Dimitris]

And the highlight of the day!

A complete Carnian ammonite, enclosed within a rock with jaspis veins and part of its shell. This is a personal find.

Possibly, more ammos are enclosed.

Second ammo? vertically aligned against the first.

 

I believe this will make an amazing multiblock once prepared.

 

Hope you enjoyed! We are organizing another excursion, in a month or so, to check a possible Carnian outcrop nearby, crossing fingers it will be less exploited.

[RuMert]

Nice finds! And exemplary perseverance too

[Tidgy's Dad]

Very nice report and interesting fossils. 

Thanks for sharing, Dimitris. 

[Sjfriend]

Looking forward to your pieces after prep!

[taj]

Well that last one seems to be very very promising ! Glad to have contributed to your motivation ! Unfortunately what you describe is happening in many many countries where location access is restricted year after year .

[Dimitris]

On 11/24/2021 at 7:48 AM, Sjfriend said:

Looking forward to your pieces after prep!

Me too! Meanwhile, a friend has almost finished some of his picks, using only chisels!!

This side was missing some bits.

 

 

On 11/23/2021 at 2:02 PM, RuMert said:

Nice finds! And exemplary perseverance too

Thanks!! Well it's Triassic, my favorite epoch and this locality is the reason I am collecting fossils!

16 hours ago, taj said:

Well that last one seems to be very very promising ! Glad to have contributed to your motivation ! Unfortunately what you describe is happening in many many countries where location access is restricted year after year .

When I left that big block, I didn't know there were affordable tools to clean it. Finding out, I was regretting my choice whenever I thought of that place.. 

That's really sad, especially with rare formations.

[taj]

Is that a pleuronautilus in these pics ?

[Dimitris]

On 11/28/2021 at 5:47 PM, taj said:

Is that a pleuronautilus in these pics ?

Yeap, this is it!

Pleuronautilus Mosis Mojs.

Quite typical for the Anisian phase in Epidaurus. I found mostly negative imprints of this species.

On 11/25/2021 at 10:48 AM, Dimitris said:

 

I am working now on this one, little by little everyday. Looks like there is at least one more ammonite on this block.

I cannot find source to research its species as this one was collected from the Carnian outcrop and I do not possess publication for this site.

[Dimitris]

An update on the finds.

Just finished prepping a "micro block". 4X3X2cm in total.

The larger one has 2cm diameter and the tiny 8mm and misses a section of its outer.

There were remnants of other partials, but I removed them for the shake of the bigger.

Initially, gave me the impression it was an ammonoid or a nautiloid, so I approached it in a wrong direction and damaged the inner whorl.

Surprising, the centre came perfect.

 

[Dimitris]

Did some more cleaning on my Triassic finds.

The first 4 photos must be Ptychites oppeli, 6cm diameter, left it on matrix after some cleaning.

 

On the third picture you will notice that a small section of its shell is missing and the mineral replacement includes quartz, making it a partial pyritized ammonite.

The ammonites of this locality are usually referred as "pyritized phase", though most of them are partially or even made only of carbonic rocks. 

 

 

 

This picture is from the dissertation of Tselepides "Paleontological and stromatographic research of the Ammonitoids in Epidaurus".

 

5-7th picture is a (?) steinker of a Johannites sp. I think. Not sure if I am able to clean it.

 

 

Last two pictures show a small section of an orthoconic nautiloid, whose shell is replaced by Jasper. A friend extracted it in 3 pieces. I have already put together the largest part.

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Dimitris