The day I went fishing for fossils (part II)

[Denis Arcand]

My first post was so popular that I decided to do a second. I went to the same place, and found more many rich and colorful fossils, and got enough material to write to you about it. For those who missed my first post, you will find it HERE 

 

As you will see in this article, I combine my two passions, collecting fossils and color photography. I love color, creating black and white photographs of fossils is good for scientific research, when you are a paleontologist and want to record the small details for science and posterity. But for people who are just starting to explore the world of fossils, we need something more inspiring, because to be fair, fossil photos are generally drab, and generally unappealing to the general public. Not that fossil collectors don't take great photos, I see fantastic photos all the time on TFF, but usually in a different context. I'm just trying to be a little different and take a picture of the fossils as I see them, in their natural environment. Maybe this will inspire the next generation of fossils collectors.

 

This site is part of the Lorraine group (Chambly sub-formation). It contains the most recent sedimentary rock in the region, a series of clay and limestone schists that are redder towards the top.  It's made up of clay schists, a sedimentary rocks of dynamic origin, formed by the splitting of existing rocks and calcareous schists, a sedimentary rocks formed by the accumulation of animal or plant matter in bodies of water. This region also bears the marks of the Quaternary geological era. Immediately after the last ice age, the whole St. Lawrence Valley and its waterways became a vast inland sea (the Champlain Sea) that stretched as far as today's Lake Champlain.

 

The site is not as gorgeous or rich in fossils as the other sites we see in this forum, but it is rich in brachiopods, crinoids, bryozoans, and a few gastropods. Sorry @Kane no trilobites.

 

Here are some photos to give you an idea of the site, it's a small beach where the fossils are underwater, so I'm literarily fishing for fossils. 

 

 

The formation is made up of many colorful stairs and steps leading to the water's edge. Like a time machine, each step takes you back a thousand years, where you can discover at each staircase the remains of a thriving fauna, long extinct.

 

Don't expect to see anything bigger than a few inches, this is the Late Ordovician historically rock formation in the Richelieu River Valley in the St. Lawrence Lowlands rests on sedimentary rocks. which are some 450 million years old and formed during the Cambrian Period of the Paleozoic Era. I was able to photograph this hash plate full of sowerbyella at that special moment, when the water was receding after a previous wave.

 

 

This is not a painting, just a photograph of what typical Ordovician fauna might have looked like 500 million years ago, almost as if we were there.
 

 

I try to keep my hand dry and out of the freezing water, picking up the fossils between two waves, leaving the fossils out of the water.

 

 

It was difficult to photograph the fossils underwater, because of the waves I took the photo at a time when the water was calmer and just before a wave came crashing on it.

 

 

A lonely sowerbyella taking her beauty bath

 

 

I found bi_valve playing hide and seek, with the bubbles

 

 

A lot of times I hear that fossil and water aren't a good mix, but in my case it's a perfect match. The water acts as a sort of magical act, bringing these 450 million year old fossils back to life, infusing them with vibrant colors and hiding the passage of time. These normally terness fossils have a second life in this freezing water, small imperfections are hidden, making the texture smooth and lustrous, with beautiful vibrant colors.

 

 

 

In homage of the Beatles, I call this one the Yellow Submarine

 

 

Some brachiopod pile up over each other, I don't know what cause this rainbow of colors, the diffraction, the translucidities' of the fossils. Whatever the reason, it's a beautiful effect and a total surprise.

 

A colorful brachiopod on a colorful rock

 

 

I really like the contrast of theses two plate

 

 

Don't need to search, no fossil here. Just a color full formation.

 

Crinoid columnals are the most commonly recognized crinoid fossils, they are individual pieces of the column, or stalk, these resemble small washers. Olympic logos gone wild or Crinoid columnals, you choses. I particularly like the circles with a small star inside

 

 

Columnals are joined together in life by elastic ligaments and skin. However, when the animal dies these soft tissues quickly decay and the stem break apart into individual ossicles, they leave behind a great many fossils.  After the crashing waves, they sometimes cover themselves with air bubbles, giving this strange old world a new dimension.

 

 

The hole in the center of the columnal is called the axial canal. It is most commonly round but may also be pentagonal or star-shaped, like this 1 millimeter fossil. Despite their small size some fossils can still be the star of the show. 

 

 

Bryozoans consist of a skeletal structure of calcium carbonate that has numerous tiny holes or openings dotting the surface. These holes once housed individual bryozoan animals called zooids, that derived their nutrients from the seawater.  Atlas Of Ancient Life

 

I found this briozoma all alone on this big boulder, strangely it comes out of the rock and comes back in right away.

 

This is another bryozoan, it was on a smaller rock and I was able to collect it for my collection

 

 

Most colonies were only a few inches in diameter but a colony of an Ordovician form found in the Cincinnati region ( Florence, Kentucky) is more than 26 inches in diameter and is one of the largest known bryozoan colonies.
 

 

 

I really like this formation for it's richness of colors

 

 

Photo taken in direct sunlight of a wet bi-valve

 

 

 

Again, mother nature was playing with ice producing these wonderful sculptures everywhere we look. It was such a nice day, I couldn't resist taking some in picture. See other Ice sculpture Here.

 

 

Crinoid columnals trapped under translucent ice. 
 

 

 

 

 

I found all theses fossils in just haft a day at that very special place.

 

For those of you that did not see my previous post about my first fossil fishing trip, your in luck because it is still available HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Denis Arcand
Not finish editing yet

[RJB]

These fossils really not my cup of tea, but you take some wonderful pictures.  Nice report. 

 

RB

[Denis Arcand]

Thanks @RJB, I have no merit, mother nature did all the work 

[crabfossilsteve]

Yeah, I agree with RB, some of those pics are very cool.  Good for hanging on the wall as art.

[jpc]

great report and great pictures.  

[Troodon]

Excellent report and a beautiful locality.  Thanks

[FranzBernhard]

On 12/13/2021 at 11:01 PM, Denis Arcand said:

I have no merit, mother nature did all the work

You have! You had to capture it and share it with the rest of the world! Great photography of great natural art and fossils .

Thanks for sharing, I liked it very much .

Franz Bernhard

[Denis Arcand]

On 12/13/2021 at 6:28 AM, RJB said:

These fossils really not my cup of tea, but you take some wonderful pictures.  Nice report. 

 

On 12/15/2021 at 10:53 AM, crabfossilsteve said:

Yeah, I agree with RB, some of those pics are very cool.  Good for hanging on the wall as art.

 

On 12/15/2021 at 12:17 PM, jpc said:

great report and great pictures.  

 

On 12/15/2021 at 3:58 PM, Troodon said:

Excellent report and a beautiful locality.  Thanks

 

On 12/16/2021 at 2:00 AM, FranzBernhard said:

You have! You had to capture it and share it with the rest of the world! Great photography of great natural art and fossils .

Thanks for sharing, I liked it very much .

 

Thank you all for your kind comment, very appreciated 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Denis Arcand
to fix a typo