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Memorial Day Trip To Kremmling


Shamalama

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Hi folks,

I was out visiting my grandmother in Boulder, Colorado over the Memorial day weekend and had an opportunity to collect from the Pierre Shale. It was a two hour journey into the mountains, which still have snow at the higher elevations, and over the continental divide up to Kremmling, Co.

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There is a large area north of the town that is BLM land and can freely be collected. It's high meadow country that can get dry in the summer. Exposed on the surface of the are hills are some sandstone ridges that have well preserved fossils. My goal was to find ammonites but mostly I was finding some small whole Inoceramus shells and impressions.

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Some of these pelecypods could get quite large! Though the rock was split you can see the shell on both sides of the crack.

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I was trying to break out a larger Inoceramus from a block of fallen sandstone when I spotted a curved shape that I knew wasn't a pelecypod, it was an Ammonite!

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After a hour of chiseling I managed to expose the whole thing:

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The problem was that it was easy to get the surface rock off, but the rest that underlay the shell was another story. I tried to be careful but the fossil broke apart into many smaller pieces. I wish I'd had a rock saw with me. :( Here is what it looked like once I got what I could out.

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I brought all the pieces home and managed to reassemble them. It's not as good as the original but it's the first Ammonite I've ever found!

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Here is the mold of the exterior of the shell. It shows some small bumps around the spiral, maybe it will help ID the species. I think it's a Sphenodiscus but I can't see any suture pattern on the shell.

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-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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I also found some Baculites

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and this small Scaphites Ammonite.

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So I found two whole Ammonites, I was very excited! Here are the two Ammonites side by side for comparison purposes:

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-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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Very cool, especially for running unguided.

Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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Congratulations on your first ammonites :)

How are we gonna' keep you down on the farm now?

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Sounds like an excellent day. I think your bigger ammonite is a Placenticeras, not Sphenodiscus. And don't forget that Baculites is an ammonite too, so you got three different genera of ammonites on that day.

Don

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Great report!

Nice ammo's... you did good on the repair job!

Thanks for sharing!

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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Nice finds Dave! You did a good job putting it back together.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Upton Sinclair

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Great finds! I was out there in '07 (beautiful region), but didn't do nearly as well as you. Got some really nice pet wood, though.

Gonna have to spend more time in that area next go-round!

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Thanks, everyone, for the comments. I do seem to like puzzles and reassembling my fossils. :)

Sounds like an excellent day. I think your bigger ammonite is a Placenticeras, not Sphenodiscus. And don't forget that Baculites is an ammonite too, so you got three different genera of ammonites on that day.

Don

Don, I didn't think about Baculites being an Ammonite since most of it is a straight shell. Cool! I think your also right that the larger Ammonite is a Placenticeras and not a Sphenodiscus. Thanks for the help. :)

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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I'll chime in here too.... yes, the big amm's at Kremmling are Placenticeras. If I was feeling smarter, I would tell you the species, but Placenticeras it is.

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Dave...... Well done.....the scenery is outstanding..... and great finds....

Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... :)

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Looks like you found a super place to collect. The views must have been spectacular.

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