Texas Permian Hunt

[TyrannosaurusRex]

In my continued studies of my local Permian areas, I came across information on a site that I hadn’t been previously aware of. I’m working on a paper describing the outcrops in the areas near to Taylor, Baylor and Archer counties, as well as some close outliers when I come across them. 
 

Information on this site

Clear Fork (Permian) 298.9-251.902 mya

Lots of siltstone at this specific site, which is why there are tracks present. All the fossils came from an area about 10 x 15 ft in an outcrop that has weathered away, there’s lots of siltstone surrounding but the fossils were very specific to one small area of this outcrop. Not entirely sure why this is the case yet, but I’m reading up on it. 
 

Lovely view of a pond from atop the hill several feet above the exposure. 

 

Looking back down the hill at the localized exposure. A small amount of limestone in the adjacent area.

Some of the seed ferns on the ground prior to being picked up. Great spot for splitting the siltstone, the ferns were beautifully preserved in the layers.  


 

The haul after being gently cleaned, the siltstone doesn’t stand up well to water at all. 

 

Delrnotea Abbotii Seed Ferns
I collected  lots of examples, but these are some of my favorite. 

 

Plant Material

 

There were some examples of layered plant material, perhaps just stems from the seed ferns lying on the ground and decomposing. 

This one has me stumped, it might be water droplets, but I’m not sure yet. Any information or identification is very welcome!

Tetrapod tracks, potentially Laoporus?

 

Other Ichnofossils, they appear to be tracks, and some of them might be arthropod. One looks to be amphibian. Getting lighting to show the tracks is pretty tricky since they wash out under bright light. 

 

Some sort of drag marks, very strange.  


Indeterminate, two toes are clearly visible at the bottom right. Probably not enough to identify. 

 

Again, I don’t think enough for ID on some of these. 
top right

This one may not be a track, it lacks the impression that the others have, but it stood out a lot so I picked it up in case. 

 

Potential Amphibian tracks, one is smaller and is going the opposite direction of the larger. I’m new to tracks and ichnofossils in general so I could be completely wrong.

 

Not fossils, but these pieces of siltstone were pretty interesting. The white coloration goes completely through the stone. No idea what could cause this. 

 

Thanks all!

[FranzBernhard]

6 hours ago, TyrannosaurusRex said:

No idea what could cause this

These seem to be reduction spots.

Try googling for reduction spot geology.

 

Here is the link to all those pics:

Reduction spots

 

Franz Bernhard

[TyrannosaurusRex]

7 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

These seem to be reduction spots.

Try googling for reduction spot geology.

 

Here is the link to all those pics:

Reduction spots

 

Franz Bernhard

Thank you so much, Franz! That is hugely helpful. After reading up on that, I found this,

”These appear to be reduction spheroids in redbeds (the redbeds are iron-rich sedimentary rock). The center of the spheroid contains certain metals, and when they oxidize, they take the oxygen away from the surrounding red rock, which produces a reduced color.” 

 

There’s a great paper I found that explains the anomaly. Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction!reduction-spots-in-the-mesoproterozoic.pdf

 

[Mark Kmiecik]

9 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

These seem to be reduction spots.

 

Learned something new today. I've come across those in the past. Didn't know what they were until now.

[Wrangellian]

Interesting site... I can't give any positive IDs but, to me, those possible water drops look too regular in distribution to be raindrops. Is there some biological explanation for those, maybe a type of tree bark?

I would suggest direct sunlight for photos, with the light at an angle to highlight the 'terrain'. Indoor light is usually too diffuse and too dim and it's hard to avoid focus/motion-blur problems. If you're getting washed-out pics, there is something wrong with your setup. You might try different light or dark backgrounds to train the camera to take the right exposure (like your white backdrop here).

[TyrannosaurusRex]

20 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

Interesting site... I can't give any positive IDs but, to me, those possible water drops look too regular in distribution to be raindrops. Is there some biological explanation for those, maybe a type of tree bark?

I would suggest direct sunlight for photos, with the light at an angle to highlight the 'terrain'. Indoor light is usually too diffuse and too dim and it's hard to avoid focus/motion-blur problems. If you're getting washed-out pics, there is something wrong with your setup. You might try different light or dark backgrounds to train the camera to take the right exposure (like your white backdrop here).

I see! I wondered that as well. Perhaps it’s some sort of pollen from the seed ferns. There’s just very very little information on the site, the only info I was able to glean was the name of the seed ferns. I’ll see about borrowing a camera with a better lens than what I’ve got. My setup is something I’m experimenting with a lot, I’ve got a light box that I’m attempting to determine what works best. The light on it is incredibly bright so I’ll need to find a way to lower exposure to preserve details. I intend on continuing to visit the site since I believe it’s full of valuable information. I’m just so new to being serious with the hobby I’ve got lots to learn. 

[masonboro37]

Enjoyed the collecting trip you have shared!

[TyrannosaurusRex]

20 hours ago, masonboro37 said:

Enjoyed the collecting trip you have shared!

Thank you! I enjoyed it tremendously. I’ve got a lot more work to do at the site, it will be a great learning experience and help improve my knowledge of the Permian.