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A return to a familiar bug-laden formation in North GA


MeargleSchmeargl

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If you have ever looked through my post history on this forum over the years, you'd know that the Cambrian age Conasauga Formation has been one of my favorite formations to hunt, being the best formation to hunt for trilobites in the state of Georgia that I know of. Unfortunately for those of us that came to enjoy the abundance of trilobites the formation provided, the main site in Murray county that had become widely known by the time I had visited it a few times had attracted some...shall we say...less than intelligent guests to the area, resulting in the site becoming fenced off.

 

For quite a while now I'd been trying to find another good exposure of the Conasauga to search. While I was able to find mentions of exposures further west in Floyd county in the literature, my scouting trips to see what was there up to this point have been swings and misses. 

 

Cue me receiving an email from my local paleo association (Paleontology Association of Georgia for any interested in joining) that we were going on a field trip to hunt for trilobites near the Resaca area. I looked it up, and while I ultimately found one other mention of a separate group going there, I have yet to find literature mentioning the site, and it was quite a bit further south than I was expecting a Conasauga exposure to be (if anyone has said literature, I'm all ears). As you could imagine, I'm pretty excited to learn of a new exposure to a favorite formation of mine.

 

This past saturday, we met up in a gas station parking lot for a quick association meeting and then we were off. It wasn't too long of a drive until we came upon a roadcut that exposed that beautiful Conasauga goodness, an exposure that is much more easily accessible than the Murray site was. It wasn't very long before I spied the first find of the trip:

 

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Before too long I had struck a groove with splits in my little corner

 

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Here's a montage of what I found over the course of this little expedition. Not the most I've ever picked up from the Conasauga in one go, but it's definitely great to get back into the swing of things with this formation. As for IDs, my prior experience with this formation has me thinking Aphelaspis brachyphasis such as the many pieces I already have in my collection, though this exposure seems to have greater diversity in terms of species when compared to the Murray exposure, and admittedly distinguishing between Aphelaspis and Elrathia antiqua is not my strong suit right now. (I could also use some tips on how to clean some of them up, as some have a bit of gunk on them and I know that they can be pretty fragile)

 

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Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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Awesome finds! Although I only had the chance to visit the Murray County site once, right before it was closed, it too was a favorite of mine. Where else can you find such an abundance of Cambrian trilobites on the East Coast! I am glad to hear that you were able to get back into the groove of things and collect from another exposure of the Conasauga Formation.

Follow me on Instagram (@fossil_mike) to check out my personal collection of fossils collected and acquired over more than 15 years of fossil hunting!

 

 

 

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Very nice finds. Love the tiny one. Wish I had a trilobite spot with access here.

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