Some Kentucky finds.

[TheGreenMan]

I went to a locale in Kentucky I'd heard about and did some hunting for blastoids, which I had never looked for before.

After about an hour I came away with a bunch of crinoid pieces, some brachiopods, some random bryozoan pieces, a few horn corals, what may be a gastropod, and a bunch of blastoids of at least two different species.

 

On to the pictures. I also included some random odds-n-ends at the bottom.

 

A pile of fossils.

 

Some of the more interesting crinoids. The three on top have some pyrite encrustation. The four on the bottom are interesting because they broke pre-fossilization but are still associated, have bryozoan encrustation, or have hold-fast nubs on them.

 

Close up of pyrite encrusted pieces.

 

Horn corals.

 

Brachiopods.

 

Possible gastropod.

  

 

Blastoids. Largest is just over 1cm.

 

More blastoids. Largest is just over 2cm.

 

 

 

And finally some odds-n-ends found while drilling along the Tennessee River. Everything is from about 80'-100' bgs.

 

Two pieces of oolitic limestone.

 

Weird ball of something. No clue what it is. Really should acid test it at least. (Shown next to one of the pieces of oolitic limestone.)

 

A carapace. I'm not sure if this is old material or if it is recent remains of something living in the subsurface gravel layers.

 

And lastly a chunk of fluoride from NW Ohio.

 

 

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I adore these blastoids. 

Lovely, thanks for sharing. 

[Fossildude19]

The carapace is modern.

[JamieLynn]

I LOVE the blastoids!! They are amazing. 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

You were very smart to post your site with such vagueness.  Great finds and much respect.

[TheGreenMan]

Thanks for the likes! Always fun to share. 

 

 

On 4/11/2022 at 8:24 AM, Fossildude19 said:

The carapace is modern.

It is modern. But what it is in is not that old either, Pliocene or Pleistocene. So I would not expect it to be fossilized yet even if it was deposited when the gravel was.

 

Anyone know of someone who might be able to identify this piece?

 

On 4/11/2022 at 3:32 PM, Uncle Siphuncle said:

You were very smart to post your site with such vagueness.  Great finds and much respect.

I try not to lead the masses to my favorite locations but none of them are terribly secret either. I find complete secrecy counter productive to the hobby and try to strike a balance. 

 

It is getting harder to find any good spots. They're either paved over, closed, or picked over. So many quarries I'd love to go in are closed to the public (I'm a geologist and still can't get in most). I am fairly lucky though because the rock in the area around me has so much material that it takes a long time to get depleted.