Cretaceous of Boeotia, Central Greece

[Dimitris]

Hello and happy New Year!

I have visited this region a couple of times, earliest being around 2000 and last time just a few days before the NY Eve.

 

My first visit was limited in Chaeronea, in order to visit the Marble Lion that was erected in honour of the fallen soldiers of Theba, who fought against Philip, father of Alexander the Great. The battle took place in 338BC, technically was a civil war between the city state of Athens and Macedonia.

 

(The Lion)

 

Following the road South of the lion, I found my first rudist on a dirt road. All I can say is that the site is Santonian.

 

Years later, December of 2019 or 2nd of January 2020, I visited the mountain of Ptoo at the locality Marmeika. This is an abandoned nickel mine, more precisely, a pit.

Middle Turonian possibly up to Coniacian

This is an amazing outcrop for rudist lovers, because you can observe huge colonies in life form. I really regret it I did not take pictures last time..

Moreover, it is the place with the most diversified fauna.

 

I will start with the finds of the first time.

 

Nerinea sp vertical cut and steinker. Very typical find, usually away from the rudist zone.

 

 

Radiolites sauvagesi, I think. Abundant in the lower greyish limestones. 

 

Finds of my last visit.

 

A quite large sponge (Demospongiae?) which is completely silicified. I am not able to narrow down its species.

Close-up showing its stracture

 

An amazing Actaeonella sp, which has all of its shell, yet one end missing. My top find I think.

 

The same Actaeonella next to a cross section of another Actaeonella.

 

A nice gastropod that looks like Ampullina sp but did not find a reference.

 

 

More Nerinea sp

 

One more Nerinea sp as found

 

And after 1h of cleaning. The limestone is very soft and easy to remove.

 

 

Two interesting rudists. The left one must be Radiolites mamillaris. The one on the right side, no idea!

 

Rudists collected in the area during my last trip to Greece, December 2021. Still in boxes in my car.

 

 

Aghia Varvara section:

 

The scientific research leads you at a small hill, near a chapel. Although it is described as rich in gastropods, the area has mostly badly preserved specimens and some fractured rudists.

The most interesting find from this section, is a matrix free cross section of a rudist, replaced by calcite. It is just a slice.

 

1.5-2Kms SSW of the section mentioned above, we found another layer of the same formation which gave some nice fossils.

Neoptyxis incavata or Neoptyxis symeonidisi, as per the references. Can't tell which one. The gastropod on right side, no idea.

 

One Neoptyxis sp in situ. The layer that was found was tertiary so it must have been redeposited.

 

Rudists are very underrated fossils. However, if exhibited with other species of the Cretaceous sea, will create a very artistic illustration of a reef.

Maybe there is someone who might be able to help a little with identification

@FranzBernhard

 

Hope you enjoyed!

 

 

References:

 

Cretaceous Rudists of Boeotia by Thomas Steuber [1999]

 

[oyo]

20 hours ago, Dimitris said:

 

A quite large sponge (Demospongiae?) which is completely silicified. I am not able to narrow down its species.

Close-up showing its stracture

 

Mmmmmmm sometimes I see corals and when I see that thing I think I see a coral called Ahrdorffia.

Specific biblio from this zone https://eurekamag.com/research/038/763/038763239.php

Edited January 7, 2022 by oyo

[Tidgy's Dad]

Excellent fossils! 

What a result, I particularly love the big sponge. 

[RuMert]

Very nice Alexander could have admired Santonian fossils

[FranzBernhard]

9 hours ago, Dimitris said:

Hope you enjoyed!

Indeed! Thanks for sharing! Looks like northern Styria, with all that typical "Gosau" fossils!

Sorry, can not help any further with ID. Just the very first transverse section could be Vaccinites cornuvaccinum. What has Steuber to say about that one? Anyways, you are already using the perfect reference!

Thanks again!
Franz Bernhard

[FranzBernhard]

10 hours ago, Dimitris said:

will create a very artistic illustration of a reef

You may like to consider the figures on page 253 of this paper:

Rudist Formations by Sanders & Pons (1999) (pdf at an external site).

Don´t know if its still the current state of research, though.

Franz Bernhard

[Mark Kmiecik]

Nice finds. Thank you for the tour.

[Dimitris]

22 hours ago, oyo said:

Mmmmmmm sometimes I see corals and when I see that thing I think I see a coral called Ahrdorffia.

Specific biblio from this zone https://eurekamag.com/research/038/763/038763239.php

 

Thanks for the reference! I have just sent a request through researchgate, hope the author approves my request for reading!

If not, I will ask a couple of friends who are geologists.

 

20 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Excellent fossils! 

What a result, I particularly love the big sponge. 

 

Hey Adam! That's quite heavy, but can mail you a smaller but solid one!

 

18 hours ago, RuMert said:

Very nice Alexander could have admired Santonian fossils

 

I believe he was mostly into ammonites 

 

13 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Indeed! Thanks for sharing! Looks like northern Styria, with all that typical "Gosau" fossils!

Sorry, can not help any further with ID. Just the very first transverse section could be Vaccinites cornuvaccinum. What has Steuber to say about that one? Anyways, you are already using the perfect reference!

Thanks again!
Franz Bernhard

 

Thank you Franz! I was checking on V. cornuvaccinum. Could have been a candidate, however V. cornuvaccinum seems to be thinner at the base and grows thicker on top.

I think I could be able to narrow it down by polishing the cross section

 

13 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

You may like to consider the figures on page 253 of this paper:

Rudist Formations by Sanders & Pons (1999) (pdf at an external site).

Don´t know if its still the current state of research, though.

Franz Bernhard

 

I expected this illustration since I did not find Nerinea near the rudist reefs/large colonies.

However, Nerinea co-existed near solitary rudists. 

Btw, I collected more than I wanted. If you want some Greek rudists, let me know!

[FranzBernhard]

10 hours ago, Dimitris said:

V. cornuvaccinum.

You may also try V. ultimus or V. alpinus. (Personally, I gave up on rudist taxonomy, its a nightmare for me, like all taxonomy .)

 

10 hours ago, Dimitris said:

If you want some Greek rudists, let me know!

Thank you very much for your kind offer, but you may know, I only self collect.

Franz Bernhard

[Dimitris]

12 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

You may also try V. ultimus or V. alpinus. (Personally, I gave up on rudist taxonomy, its a nightmare for me, like all taxonomy .)

 

Thank you very much for your kind offer, but you may know, I only self collect.

Franz Bernhard

Yes, taxonomy is the hardest part!

Nevertheless, thank you for all info!

[Dimitris]

On 1/6/2022 at 11:05 PM, Dimitris said:

Following the road South of the lion, I found my first rudist on a dirt road. All I can say is that the site is Santonian.

 

 

Due to a recent trip at the same place, I am doing a small rudist re-arrangement/search.

 

Started with my first one, trimming and polishing the cross sections and I believe it is Vaccinites gaudryi.

[Dimitris]

My next project will be this nice and small multiblock of Nerinea. After splitting it on the field, I found out a cross section of Nerinea sp just in the middle, at least three more with the shell preserved and one partially eroded.

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 1/7/2022 at 8:47 PM, Dimitris said:

 

Hey Adam! That's quite heavy, but can mail you a smaller but solid one!

Yes, please, that would be wonderful! 

[Dimitris]

18 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Yes, please, that would be wonderful! 

Will arrange it after NY 

[Dimitris]

We will make soon a local exposition at a regional museum, so I had to finish some material.

Bulgaria is very poor in well-preserved rudists, therefore I had to contribute with some Greek Turonian material.

 

Trochactaeon sp., gastropod, polished cross-sections.

 

Vaccinites sp., I am between inferus or praegiganteus for the one at 13:00 o'clock.