Caesar Creek, Ohio Spillway

[baybay]

I collected 3 hours at the spillway at Caesar Creek. None of the elusive trilobites that I coveted were found, although brachiopods and corals were abundant. I found that the best fossils were found far from the parking lot right by the cliff. My ID is shaky at best,so any help would be great. This is what have cleaned so far, I have some slabs left to do.

Crinoid Stem with a great star shaped lumen(can't see in pictures). Liospira sp? and Loxonema sp?, and Michelinoceras sp segment?

Streptelasma sp?

Monticulipora sp?

Strophomena sp or rafinesquina sp?

Strophomena incurvata?

Lepidocyclus sp?

Platystrophia sp?

Herbertella sp?

[erose]

The trilobites (Flexicalymene) are usually really small and enrolled. Smaller than a pea. I have found them by crawling around out in the middle looking for concentrations of the tiny brachiopod Zygospira. I have also found a few enrolled Isotelus out there crawling along. Always small and enrolled.

You probably have the gastropods and cephalopod pretty close. Cephs are hard to ID exactly without a bunch of specimens or extra good preservation. The large horn corals are now called Grewingkia canadensis (formerly Streptelasma rusticum). There is a second horn coral that is a true Streptelasma but it is much smaller (< 1-inch) and they are always attached to something.

Cinci Bryozoans are very hard to ID. There are literally dozens of genera and hundreds of species throughout the Cincinnatian. Some of the Genera are distinct but there are probably a handful that look just like Monticulipora.

Looks like you have both Rafinesquinas and Strophemenas. The other IDs are probably good.

For great ID help on these check out these two web sites:

http://www.drydredgers.org/index.html

http://www.uga.edu/strata/cincy/index.html

[Fossildude19]

Great finds!

Thanks for showing us, Baybay!!

Regards,

[Auspex]

Nice batch of Paleo Paella

[baybay]

Thanks guys!

Erose: I especially appreciate the ID help, I need it!

When I was there I crawled around for a while but had no luck finding the tiny trilo's. I was cramped on time so I spent most of it searching the cliffs which yielded much better fossils then the ones I found on the ground. Next time I am there I plan on spending more time looking for the small trilobites.

[erose]

Thanks guys!

Erose: I especially appreciate the ID help, I need it!

When I was there I crawled around for a while but had no luck finding the tiny trilo's. I was cramped on time so I spent most of it searching the cliffs which yielded much better fossils then the ones I found on the ground. Next time I am there I plan on spending more time looking for the small trilobites.

The DryDredgers had their May field trip there just a few weeks back. They probably hit it pretty hard for the little bugs. Go back after a heavy rain, and it has dried out. Again, look for the concentrations of the tiny brachiopod Zygospira. And pic up the book by the Cincinnati Museum if they have it at the visitor center.

Edited June 18, 2010 by erose

[MikeD]

Sweet. Makes me want to go there.

[mommabetts]

Nice finds, thanks for sharing.

[insectboy]

Nice finds, hope you get the full ID on them

[TheSpaceGeoGal]

Where is this spillway located? I am camping here tonight before going to Kentucky for the eclipse. 

[FossilDAWG]

Nice assortment!  That site certainly has a nice diversity of fossils.  I agree with most of erose's ID suggestions.  In the first photo, the gastropod at the top is a Clathrospira, probably Clathrospira subconica.  Check out Lophospira for the other gastropods.  The nautiloid is certainly not a Michelinoceras, as it has a distinct curve; you can see that the camerae (chambers) are thicker on one side the other.  It is probably an oncocerid such as Beloitoceras.  All your horn corals appear to be Grewinkia canadensis, judging from their size, as erose said.  Streptelasma divaricans also occurs there but it is very small and (again as erose said) always attached to some firm substrate.  All the North American Platystrophia species are now assigned to Vinlandstrophia; Platystrophia is restricted to the type species and some closely related forms from the Silurian of the Baltic area in Europe.

 

When I collected at the spillway several years ago, any time I got within 10 feet of the talus slope at the base of the cliffs a park ranger with a bullhorn barked at me to get away from the cliff.  I was only allowed to search the flat area of the spillway.  I still found quite a lot including two tiny enrolled Flexicalymene and one tiny enrolled Isotelus, but I left dreaming of the big perfect trilobites and crinoids that I imagined laughing at me from the cliff and talus slope.

 

Don

[erose]

21 hours ago, TheSpaceGeoGal said:

Where is this spillway located? I am camping here tonight before going to Kentucky for the eclipse. 

You may already be headed for KY but if you pass back thru you will need to go to the visitor's center first and obtain a simple permit. It doesn't cost anything and mainly they do it to make sure you know the rules for collecting. As Don pointed out stay away from the vertical cliff faces.

 

Hope you get clear skies for the totality. 

[Max-fossils]

Awesome finds!

Those brachiopods make me fall in love