Trip to Hermit Shales of Sedona AZ

[patelinho7]

Age: Permian

formation: hermit shale of the mogollon rim

location: Sedona, AZ

 

Hey all, 

 

Was bouncing back and forth from fossil hunting trips and fossil ID but since I’m quite inexperienced with this area and age group I decided to post here. Took a trip out to Phoenix with my family and drove to Sedona for the day. I did some reading on the geology of the mogollon rim and targeted the red shale beds of the hermit formation exposed all over Sedona and nearby Oak Creek (big thanks to @Arizona Chris for his wonderfully informative site on the geologic history of the mogollon rim and also to @DPS Ammonite for his destination suggestions for my trip).

 

I searched a couple locations, both on the main road into Sedona and found some interesting things. In the first site: 

 

 

 

 

Possible footprint? Not at all sure. Really unfamiliar with the fauna of this age but it looks like it could’ve been a weathered footprint due to the coloration and the position on the smooth flat surface of the shale. Apologies for the lack of scaling and perspective, I did not bring many tools with me on this trip. Also saw lots of these pretty pockets of crystals in the shales.

 

Further down the road, I spent more time searching and came up with this:

 

 

 

 

 

Looks to me like a lot of woody debris drag marks and a really nice preservation of mud cracks. Looking forward to hearing others’ insight on this and if I missed anything on these rocks. Not the most prolific/incredible finds, but for an off-the-cuff fossil hunt put together in my hotel room, I’m pleased with the results. I’ve never found mud cracks before. Plus, the Sedona scenery is a real treat in itself. 
 

Didn’t take any of these pieces home since I’ll be flying back soon but I have some alternate photos if needed, apologies again for the lack of scaling.  
 

Thanks y’all!

[Fossildude19]

There could be some ichnofossils in some of the items, but most look like sedimentary structures, like mud cracks and flute casts, to me.