St. Clair Plants And Patterns - Pennsylvanian

[hitekmastr]

Here are the first fossil ID mysteries from our recent half day trip to St. Clair. We will post what we did in the trip report section when we have time. In the meantime, these are some things that popped out at us that we'd like to ID...

First Sample: St. Clair Fern Sample - Closeup - Pennsylvanian. This is part of a large piece almost 2 feet long that we excavated from an obscure location. I managed to carry out (that was grueling but well worth it) - the jumble of bright orange fern leaves makes an amazing impression. We believe this is neuropteris.

Plant Samples 1a to 4c: Sphenophyllum - small leaves are reminiscent of clover - not "fern-like" - very distinctive. Sample 5b is just to show that we did find one that was golden yellow in color.

Unidentified Sample 1a and 1b: These look like the tops of grass but too soon geologically for that. Any ideas?

Unidentified Sample 2a: Is this the trunk of Sigillaria?

Unidentified Sample 3a: What are these lines? Any ideas?

We also collected different types of ferns in our samples - white, yellow, orange - very cool which is what St. Clair is known for. Will post some of these in our trip report.

We looked in some bark samples for insects - thinking maybe something bored into the bark. No luck there. Surprised that more insects don't come out of the Pennsylvanian sites. Should be some insects mixed with all these ferns or in the trees, don't you think? Also, we were wondering what caused so many plants to survive as fossils so well preserved and intact, all flat, not much decomposition or rotting, etc. Maybe a massive collapse of a cliff or mudslide?

[hitekmastr]

First sample is Alethopteris (probably decurrens). This is the dominate fossil fern of the deformed harder shales.

Neuropteris looks more like

Yes, 1a to 4c are Sphenopyhllum (probably emarginatum). As is the last 5b. Sphenophyllum was a vine like plant.

vine like bush sprig of the plant

Yes, 2a is a trunk of Sigillaria (probably the 1st inner Cortex layer). I can't pin down to species from your sample.

inner Cortex outer bark with scars

Sample 1a & 1b are leaflet fragments (one side from a leaflet stem of Alethopteris lonchitica)

Sample 3a mystery lines are fragments of Calamites sp. (Horsetails)

stem fragment modern counterpart

If you can get your hands on a copy of "FOSSIL PLANTS FROM THE ANTHRACITE COAL FIELDS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA"

by John Oleksyshyn Pennsylvania General Geology Report 72

It is an excellent reference for plants at St. Clair, PA. Quite comprehensive and pictures to help ID your finds.

This is a terrific primer and ID help for these and other samples - we're just starting the ID process and these were some of the confusing samples. Right now, we're experimenting with the best way to PRESERVE the orange and gold colored specimens we collected including two large items. Today we sprayed some fragment samples with clear polyurethane which seemed to work well and is semi-permanent and says it won't yellow. Any guidance on preservation would be much appreciated since we want to keep the orange ferns from oxidizing into dust...thanks!

We will check the reference you mentioned and work to identify the various types of ferns collected - with your excellent summary as a starting point. MUCH appreciated!

[Missourian]

The first one is beautiful. It looks like an autumn scene.

[hitekmastr]

Your fern fossils definitively won't oxidize to dust. Chemically they are already fully oxidized. Wet/Dry cycles will start them to break up to smaller pieces.

Actually your fossil specimens that are white, yellow and orange on hard black shale, should be very stable; as opposed to the white on soft black shales.

I'm not a big fan of heavy glossy coatings on fossils. If you feel you must coat, I'd use Dextrine or PVA or something easily removed if desired. Permanent

fixatives coats could be Krylon fixative or any charcoal art protector or as some people swear by any cheap hairspray.

I experimented with Krylon Clear matte finish which creates a very slight sheen - will probably go with that. Our largest piece (24 by 15 inches) seems robust but has a lot of layering and segmentation, plus thin edges and I want to apply something to help bind everything and protect it without actually "gluing." There is no need to remove the coating later so want something permanent. It's a very heavy piece and we're debating whether to display it on a stand, in a wall mounted case, or mounted in some way as a 3 dimensional wall hanging like a sculpture. The edges are very jagged and layered (we could probably chisel it into thinner sections but don't want to risk it). We have a smaller (one foot long) piece which is similar and that will go on a metal stand we got from Michael's arts & crafts. We recently decided as our collection grows that we should find ways to display the best finds rather than stick them in a library-style archive. My wife is an excellent artist so this ties in with her interests also.

[Shamalama]

Fossilcrazy is spot on in the ID's. You found some nice pieces there. The orange coloring is the result of iron staining and will not go away easily. Be careful washing any of the specimens as sometimes the white (a mineral called Pyrophyllite) will come off and all your left with is an outline or a bit of coal.

[hitekmastr]

Fossilcrazy is spot on in the ID's. You found some nice pieces there. The orange coloring is the result of iron staining and will not go away easily. Be careful washing any of the specimens as sometimes the white (a mineral called Pyrophyllite) will come off and all your left with is an outline or a bit of coal.

Thanks for the advice - we aren't washing any of our St. Clair specimens. I've read in other posts that pyrite and some other coloring can flake off if jostled or not preservered properly, although the orange/yellow color seems pretty stable, I think there is more worry for samples that are metallic pyrite.

[mzkleen]

Wow!! You got yourselves some very amazing fossils!! Congrats!! How far did you hike to where you found these? I ended up in the area where Nancy found the first fern. I dug up some very nice ferns there.

[Vordigern]

nice finds! thanks for posting

[mommabetts]

Your finds are very nice, I love the patterns that they have on them. I think they would make a great display, thank you for sharing them.

[hitekmastr]

Wow!! You got yourselves some very amazing fossils!! Congrats!! How far did you hike to where you found these? I ended up in the area where Nancy found the first fern. I dug up some very nice ferns there.

Glad you got some nice specimens. We were wondering how you did. Actually, most of the white ferns were in the area where you were looking - the white ferns seem to be higher up and closer to where the trail comes in. We decided to focus on orange and yellow fossils so we did a lot of exploring farther down in the main pit - our goal was to get a large piece we could display on a wall or on a pedestal like a sculpture, and some smaller pieces to frame. We carved out a large piece almost 2 feet long - it weighed a ton - lugging it out took a separate trip back to the car, quite a grueling hike! We also try to find unusual specimens and Nancy has a really great eye for unusual patterns and designs which helped us find the Sphenophyllum. May see you again some time - this site is only a 90 minute drive.

[mzkleen]

I think next time I may hike over to where you were and get some of the orange and yellow fossils. I bet that big piece was heavy! I kept reminding myself that I couldn't take a lot of fossils with me on this trip, it's too long of a hike to carry any weight. I was wishing I had an ATV, that would be nice to have on a hot day. :-) There were quite a few people up there riding them through the mine area.

I just bought a really great GPS app for my Android phone so I can use it next time I'm there at St. Clair. I have 2 friends that collect fossils that want to come with me the next time I go. They're afraid they might get lost if they try to find it for themselves. I can't wait to go up there again. It's only an hour drive for me. Next time I'll go up earlier in the day and stay longer. I'll get a cart to take along too.