New Spot in the Ordovician of Indiana

[connorp]

A couple months ago I found a new spot in the Liberty Formation (Late Ordovician) in southeast Indiana. The Liberty is most famous for the butter shale layer producing thousands of Flexicalymene minuens trilobites, well exposed at the large roadcut near St. Leon. This new site is in the Lower Liberty (below the trilobite shale), which is exposed at St. Leon but is mostly covered by talus and thus difficult to hunt there. I was able to visit this site again last week, and I think it will become a regular spot for me whenever I can travel to the Cincinnati area. Figured I'd share some of my favorite finds from these two visits.

 

Glyptorthis insculpta

 

Hebertella occidentalis

 

Petrocrania scabiosa inarticulate brachiopods attached to a Strophomena planumbona

 

Leptaena richmondensis

 

Plaesiomys subquadrata

 

Plaesiomys subquadrata with an attached bryozoan

 

The hypostome of a lichiid trilobite

 

Plicodendrocrinus casei - I think this is the most common crinoid in the Liberty

 

Flexicalymene retrorsa

 

If you ever are able to collect in the Liberty, definitely do. It produces a lot of very nice and interesting specimens.

[Misha]

Wow those are some fantastic finds! As always I am particularly draw to the brachiopods. 

The preservation on the fossils from the Liberty is always so beautiful.

Congratulations on the amazing fossils!

[Ludwigia]

Great finds with excellent preservation! Certainly worth a few more visits.

[Shellseeker]

15 hours ago, connorp said:

This new site is in the Lower Liberty (below the trilobite shale), which is exposed at St. Leon but is mostly covered by talus and thus difficult to hunt there.

Very, very impressive. Beautiful finds.

Could you expand your comment of the difficulties of hunting and also what level of preparation you perform. Thanks for sharing.

[connorp]

1 hour ago, Shellseeker said:

Very, very impressive. Beautiful finds.

Could you expand your comment of the difficulties of hunting and also what level of preparation you perform. Thanks for sharing.

Here is the St. Leon roadcut. The trilobite layer is in the red interval at the level of the second bench. The Lower Liberty is below that down to approximately the first bench. As you can see, this interval is well covered by talus from the upper layers, making it difficult to collect. I've still found some nice stuff in the Lower Liberty here, but the new site is a better exposure.

 

Most of the brachiopods were cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner. The Liberty is very shaley so an ultrasonic cleaner tends to work pretty well on a lot of specimens. The crinoid and trilobite were prepared by @Ptychodus04.

[Shellseeker]

Thank you,

I have difficulty going up or down the sometimes steep banks of the Peace River due to slick grass and mud. When the rock moves beneath your feet,  there are likely additional challenges. It is clear from the results that your preparation selections are 1st rate.

[connorp]

59 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Thank you,

I have difficulty going up or down the sometimes steep banks of the Peace River due to slick grass and mud. When the rock moves beneath your feet,  there are likely additional challenges. It is clear from the results that your preparation selections are 1st rate.

It's definitely a very good workout!

[stats]

Wow!  Nice!   I'm headed down there next week.  It will be good to get away.

 

Cheers,

Rich

 

[connorp]

11 minutes ago, stats said:

Wow!  Nice!   I'm headed down there next week.  It will be good to get away.

 

Cheers,

Rich

 

Good luck! Wish I was able to go.

[Jeffrey P]

That does look like an awesome site. Congratulations on some excellent finds.  Those Glyptorthis are lovely, and that complete prepared Flexi is a beaut!

[Denis Arcand]

Love the hash plate full of brachiopods, i give it five heart 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Some really gorgeous finds! 

Quite beautiful. 

[connorp]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

That does look like an awesome site. Congratulations on some excellent finds.  Those Glyptorthis are lovely, and that complete prepared Flexi is a beaut!

They are one of my favorite brachiopod genera for sure.

[aek]

Nice finds. I need to pick up an ultrasonic cleaner, interesting method and less destructive tactic.

[connorp]

49 minutes ago, aek said:

Nice finds. I need to pick up an ultrasonic cleaner, interesting method and less destructive tactic.

I really love mine. I just have a cheap $40 one and it does well enough. I don't use it on anything super nice, and I don't use it on hash plates or molds since it will leave small holes in the matrix which I find unattractive. But for loose invertebrates like the brachiopods shown, it's great. It usually won't remove every single bit of matrix, but it's a good middle ground between no prep and air abrasives.