My Time In Newfoundland: A Short Story

[Dawson Sensenig]

Hi all, 

 

I haven’t been here in a while, but I still wanted to share some fantastic finds from this summer. As soon as I returned from Newfoundland, I hit the ground running, and now I finally have a chance to relax with a hectic semester coming to a close. 

For some background, my undergraduate thesis looks at the structures and stratigraphy of a small peninsula off the western coast of Newfoundland called Cow Head. On our long trek up there, we stopped at Green Point, a global geologic benchmark for the boundary between the Cambrian and Ordovician. The geologic features here were unmatched.

 

 

After our time in Green Point, we drove to Cow Head and quickly began conducting our research. Part of the fieldwork on the stratigraphy side included fossil hunting. Cow Head was full of different fossils, including graptolites, brachiopods, gastropods, and even trilobites. Unfortunately, like the trilobites in Pennsylvania, these too have eluded me. I did, however, find a copious amount of graptolites and even two gastropods! 

The graptolites included species such as Monograptus, Didymograptus, Phyllograptus, and the Dictyonema. There was none more important than the Tetragraptus Approximatus. This little guy is Floian in age, found within the Ordovician Period, and you can only see this fossil in Ordovician rocks. This made finding it crucial because the Cambrian/Ordovician boundary has been questionable on the peninsula for quite some time. If we saw Tetragraptus, we knew precisely what age of rock we were working in and could even possibly pinpoint the contact with further interpretation of other data collected. (Tetragraptus is the guy that looks like " >< " it is a little small, so you'll have to bare with me)
 

 

Other fossils found were not nearly as important but just as exciting to discover. A common fossil that we saw often was the Monograptus; fun fact, Monograptus was one of the last stages of graptoloid evolution before their inevitable extinction. Monograptus is known for its single, uniserial stipes with intricate thecae. 

 

 

Another graptolite we saw was the Dictyonema, which can be seen in the image below on the lower portion of the rock. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find an outstanding samples of the Dictyonema. Maybe that will be a mini goal when I return this summer.

 

 

Moving on from the graptolites to the gastropods, there is something exciting about these fossils. At the time of deposition, Cow Head was on the shelf edge of the Iapetus Ocean, which is why we see the laminated shale and limestone beds. Since it was on the shelf edge, there were a lot of clastic flows that produced the conglomerates that we see today. The complicated thing about these gastropods is that they were found within a conglomerate, just like where the trilobites have been seen. That implies that the gastropods and trilobites are not in their original locality of deposition and that they began to fossilize before being deposited in a clastic flow. The left gastropod is a little harder to see than the right one, but they are still impeccable finds on the peninsula nonetheless. We will collect them this upcoming summer and bring them back for further analysis. (Yes, they are still up there. It was a hefty rock in the thick of the peninsula.)

 

 

I managed to find a nice sample with a bunch of Phyllograptus. The only issue was it was a large sample, and it couldn’t fit in our bags (it was an hour into fieldwork, so we didn’t want to carry it all day), so we broke it up and will be gluing it back together soon. This is what happens when you’re doing a geologic project with three other geologist, and you’re the only one who cares about fossils!

 

 

The last possible fossil I would like to mention is this (image below, referring to a dark object in the middle of the rock). I am stumped to identify it, I have done reading and haven’t been able to figure it out, and I don’t even know what we did with it! I will have to check my lab as soon as possible because I forgot this guy existed. I would love to get the dimensions to anyone who may have an idea… if it is even a fossil. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

 

 

The figure below is a diagram showcasing all the graptolites that can be seen in the area. It is difficult to capture a good enough image, so diagrams are very helpful for untrained eyes. 

 

 

Those were all the fossils I managed to find during my time on Cow Head. There is still a long way to go with my thesis work, so if anyone is interested in how it’s going, please reach out! I would love to discuss it with anyone interested! I will be returning to Cow Head and exploring more of Newfoundland this upcoming summer, there are some remarkable fossils to be seen, and I am super excited to share them with you! Thank you for taking the time to read this hefty post, I hope you enjoyed it! I have one more planned for my time out in North Dakota and that’ll be the end of my novels as posts. 

 

Happy Fossil Hunting,

Dawson

 

[Jared C]

LETS GOOOO I have been waiting an entire semester for this report . So cool, best of luck on your research my man

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for your report. Could your unknown perhaps be a brachiopod?

[Tidgy's Dad]

Great report and a very interesting read.

I also think your mystery item may be a brachiopod. 

Looks like an inarticulate to me, but may be a bit larger than usual. 

I can't quite determine the size. 

 

 

 

 

[Dawson Sensenig]

2 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Thanks for your report. Could your unknown perhaps be a brachiopod?

 

That might be possible, I just didn't see any characteristics that scream brachiopod to me. I will have to check the lab and see if I cant find it and have a closer look!

[Dawson Sensenig]

9 minutes ago, Tidgy&#x27;s Dad said:

Great report and a very interesting read.

I also think your mystery item may be a brachiopod. 

Looks like an inarticulate to me, but may be a bit larger than usual. 

I can't quite determine the size. 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you! It might as well be, it was just hard to determine. I will have to try and find it to take a closer look and report back!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Probably a linguliform, but hard to tell which one. 

I would suggest looking around the disciniids might be a good place to start.  

[jpc]

fun stuff... are those beds in the first photo actually overturned?  It lo0kslike the Ordovician is laying under the Cambrian.  Or is that a trick of the light/camera angle? 

 

[Dawson Sensenig]

43 minutes ago, jpc said:

fun stuff... are those beds in the first photo actually overturned?  It lo0kslike the Ordovician is laying under the Cambrian.  Or is that a trick of the light/camera angle? 

 

 

If I'm not mistaken, that area has seen significant tectonic alterations and what you mentioned is actually correct. Part of my project is actually using our data and maps to have a better understanding for the tectonic development of the area! So I should have some more insight in the near future!

[crabfossilsteve]

Do I see a trilobite in the lower right corner just above a graphtolite in your second pic?  Sure looks like an almost compete one.

[crabfossilsteve]

Does anyone else see a trilobite here.

[hemipristis]

What a wonderfully photogenic outcrop!

[Dawson Sensenig]

On 1/21/2023 at 5:18 PM, crabfossilsteve said:

Does anyone else see a trilobite here.

Are you referring to the circular thing above the tetragrputs? Because that little guy is a phyllograptus

[crabfossilsteve]

Its more oval with hair-like projections off the sides and a central axis, but with that said, now a remember a graptolite like that...ha ha.  Thanks for the reply.