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St Clair \ Deer Lake Fossel Trip


Just Bob

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Went with the DVPS fossil club to St Clair yesterday and had a great time . First we met up with Fred from the DVPS who was running the trip, at the beginning of the St Clair site. Then after a long walk we finally got to the shale beds. I teamed up with John Whitley (fossilsofnj) to dig out a nice spot. About an hour or so of finding poor quality specimens we decided to move to another location. After about 15 minutes at the 2 location, Sue (haddy) called us to her spot where she found the motherload! It appeared as though someone used a saw and cut a considerable chunk out of the side of the hill. We searched through what looked like that person's refuse pile and found some very nice specimens. I can only imagine what he must have walked away with. Of course my wife found the best stuff (she always does). Two hours of searching through that and other spoil piles we decided to take our finds back to our vehicle. This is the point where I was so glad that my wife talked me into bringing a wagon. I was against it in the beginning but it ended up saving my life. It was a very long and rocky road back to the car and I had to make the trip twice because we could not fit all of our tools and fossil finds on the wagon in one trip. wacko.gif

On our way to St. Clair we passed by Deer Lake, another great fossil site that I read about online. At the last minute we decided to stop there on the way home. Luckily we were able to find the right spot out of memory from what I read about it. As we walked up to the side of the hill, my wife picked up a rock off the ground and asked what we were looking for. And as luck would have it, there was a partial trilobite on the rock. At this point I thought that the trilobites were just going to be jumping out of the rocks. I was so wrong. We only managed to find one more partial trilobite - it was a nice one! This site had a lot of nice marine fossils from the Mahatango Formation (Devonian Age). We walked away with a lot of cool finds, some of which I could ID through the Internet, others were not so easy. The few things that I did manage to ID were… 1 gastropod, brachiopods, pelecypods, trilobites (Greenops), coral and crinoids. We found a lot of other fossils which I couldn't ID you will be able to see them on the ID section if you want.

It was an awesome day with awesome finds and awesome people. Can't wait to go back.biggrin.gif

post-2410-12693069527545_thumb.jpg Me and John Whitley walking to the first location.

post-2410-1269306977096_thumb.jpg Searching for ferns.

post-2410-12693070044417_thumb.jpg Sue, Fred and me.

post-2410-12693070217599_thumb.jpg My wife Deedee overlooking St Clair .

post-2410-1269307191852_thumb.jpg A pos, neg of one of our finds.

post-2410-12693072366078_thumb.jpg See the details in the leafs

post-2410-12693072993529_thumb.jpg

post-2410-12693073290784_thumb.jpg This particular leaf I could not find a ID on.

post-2410-12693073545208_thumb.jpg Some sea life found at Deer Lake.

post-2410-12693073839505_thumb.jpg

post-2410-1269307410704_thumb.jpg I think a partial trilobite, if I am wrong feel free to correct me.

post-2410-12693075069455_thumb.jpg coral

post-2410-1269307545146_thumb.jpg One of those things I am not sure about.

post-2410-12693075811778_thumb.jpg My partial trilobite, a greenops.

It took me a while to join the DVPS but it was well worth it. Thank you Fred for leading this trip! BTW, there was a huge Cabela's store not that far from Deer Lake. I wanted to check it out on the way home but I was so exhausted I didn't stop, maybe next time.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Upton Sinclair

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My wife also found this neat quartz crystal at St Clair.

post-2410-12693100227551_thumb.jpg

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Upton Sinclair

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Yeah, taking something in to carry things out is the way to go! At that place you pretty much need to ;)

Looks like it was a great day! :D

The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always.

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those are great bob! im glad you got me a couple. those deer lake fossils are cool too. ive found a few p.a.greenops back in the day. none of them ever had any heads. how long did it take to get up there?

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Hey Bob whats the DVPS club? I was just at the deer lake site on Sat. I found a couple of nice brachs and some other shells but I have to clean them up.

With rocks in my head, and fossils in my heart....

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Nice pix! Looks like you got some good specimens, too. I enjoyed meeting your wife and John. It was a pleasant day hanging out, and unlike tooth hunting, quite relaxing and there was more than enough to go around. I posted my photos here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?showtopic=11236&st=120

I'll attach a close-up of my current favorite (didn't have time to dig through the milk crates tonight).

Here's another guide: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/TreeFerns2.html

I wondered about Deer Lake on the way home, but didn't know where to go. Glad that you were able to find some stuff. Traffic through Philly was nasty but maybe you were late enough that you missed it.

Also, what are you going to do with your St. Clair specimens re: treatment?

post-1782-12693113687794_thumb.jpg

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those are great bob! im glad you got me a couple. those deer lake fossils are cool too. ive found a few p.a.greenops back in the day. none of them ever had any heads. how long did it take to get up there?
It took about two hours, but I was hauling too. I loved Deer Lake just as much as St Clair and they were only about 30 miles away from each other.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Upton Sinclair

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It was great meeting everyone Sunday, fantastic day all around.

I haven’t gotten the chance to look thru everything yet. This one slab with some pyrite replacement going on looks much more promising cleaned up than it did in the field all full of mud. Fairly thick, so I should get 2 slabs out of it.

I’m going to try cleaning up some of the smaller pieces with a wet saw before preserving.

Some nice finds from Deer Lake, I would have joined you but I had this rock in my shoe….. :)

Many thanks to Fred.

I use a PVA and alcohol solution for preserving. I first spray a coat on, let it dry, then brush on a second coat. If you don’t have any way to spray on the first coat you can brush it on. Just make sure your first coat is well diluted. The use of alcohol instead of acetone with PVA is my personal choice.

post-2419-12693382454431_thumb.jpg

It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling. - Mark Twain

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NIce findings!

The things you can`t ID are brachiopods (No clue of their name!)

I`ve got a question:

On the 12 pic, there's something I can`t Id.

I have something exactly the same in size an aspect from Spanish Devonian.

I clearly discarted corals and bryozoa, due to their aspect.

Can someone ID it for us?

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NIce findings!

The things you can`t ID are brachiopods (No clue of their name!)

I`ve got a question:

On the 12 pic, there's something I can`t Id.

I have something exactly the same in size an aspect from Spanish Devonian.

I clearly discarted corals and bryozoa, due to their aspect.

Can someone ID it for us?

I did find a ID somewhere on the net. I cant remember the exact name but it was some kind of coral. I found a couple of them. To me it did not look coral like, but what do I know.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Upton Sinclair

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It was great meeting everyone Sunday, fantastic day all around.

I'm going to try cleaning up some of the smaller pieces with a wet saw before preserving.

Some nice finds from Deer Lake, I would have joined you but I had this rock in my shoe….. smile.gif

Many thanks to Fred.

I use a PVA and alcohol solution for preserving. I first spray a coat on, let it dry, then brush on a second coat. If you don't have any way to spray on the first coat you can brush it on. Just make sure your first coat is well diluted. The use of alcohol instead of acetone with PVA is my personal choice.

I didnt even know I was going to go there John and I wasn't even sure if I could find the spot where the fossils were. We were only there for like a hour and we found a ton of stuff, I can't wait to go back.

Let me know how the wet saw worked for you, I have one myself and may clean up a few pieces if it works for you.biggrin.gif I also heard that an ice pick works good to break off some of the thinner layers.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Upton Sinclair

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Hey awesome finds congrats! Those ferns are gorgeous. Any idea what the "sea life" in photo 9 is? I have some very similar fossils and heard they are from crinoids but I'm not too sure. Just wondering what you've got there.

"Rice is really good when your hungry and want a thousand of something."

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Hey awesome finds congrats! Those ferns are gorgeous. Any idea what the "sea life" in photo 9 is? I have some very similar fossils and heard they are from crinoids but I'm not too sure. Just wondering what you've got there.

I thought that they were Crinoids also. We found a lot of them, my wife found a Crinoid tube that you can see the hollow tube like impression it made at both ends of the rock and also in the middle.

The picture that I have only shows the holes at the one end and the middle, but it continues to go to all the way though to the other end of the rock.

post-2410-12693656446388_thumb.jpg

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Upton Sinclair

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Bob..... The Poss/neg is awsome..... well done......

Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... :)

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