An Afternoon Hunt In The Pennsylvanian Lansing Group

[Missourian]

On Saturday, Bullsnake and I hunted a collection of large road cuts at an interchange in Kansas City, Kansas. The strata examined included most of the units from the Farley Limestone (Kansas City Group) to the South Bend Limestone (top of the Lansing).

 

We started on one ramp featuring the three members of the Plattsburg Formation:

 

 

They are, from bottom to top, Merriam Limestone, Hickory Creek Shale, and Spring Hill Limestone.

 

The Spring Hill (bottom half here) is nicely weathered along joint planes:

 

 

Phylloid algae is plentiful:

 

 

The limestone is extremely fossiliferous, but the fossils were either encrusted with crud or were locked in the dense rock. Unable to find anything collectable, we moved onto the next ramp.

[CH4ShotCaller]

Cool! I really enjoy seeing the finds from the members, but it's shots of the collecting area landscapes that add icing to the cake! Thanks for taking those shots and sharing them with us!

It looks cold too!

Edited December 2, 2012 by CH4ShotCaller

[AgrilusHunter]

Cool! I really enjoy seeing the finds from the members, but it's shots of the collecting area landscapes that add icing to the cake! Thanks for taking those shots and sharing them with us!

Well said, and I completely agree.

[Missourian]

The outcrop at the next ramp is really long and high. I walked the 1/3 mile to the end and back, while Bullsnake took his time in the upper Spring Hill:

 

 

The rock has a silty appearance, with large brachiopods scattered throughout:

 

 

Also present are shark teeth. Bullsnake had this one scored and ready to go:

 

 

Above the Spring Hill is the thick Vilas Shale, and the Stanton Formation:

 

 

The lower limestone of the Stanton, the Captain Creek, has nice Enteletes brachs in spots, but not here. The black, platy Eudora Shale above it has fossils on occasion, but I saved it for another day. The orangish, weathered stuff on top is the Stoner Limestone.

[Missourian]

Across the interstate, we reached the third ramp:

 

 

This slope was a confusing, jumbled mess. It looks like a straightforward exposure of Bonner Springs Shale capped with Plattsburg. It is mostly Bonner Springs, but there were several thin beds of limestone and conglomerate mixed in that seemed out of place. To make matters worse, the highway department had scattered a bunch of rocks over the entire slope, so it was hard to follow some individual beds very far.

 

We didn't find very much here, but I did spot this 'sunburst':

 

 

Rather than a trace fossil, this is an erosional feature.

 

Further up the ramp is an exposure of Plattsburg:

 

Because the upper Spring Hill is weathered here, several large Composita brachs can be found:

 

 

(I tried several times, but the camera insisted on focusing on my chapped skin rather than the brachs. )

[Roz]

Looks like you and Bullsnake had a great trip..

Great tooth! What kind is it?

[Missourian]

When moving from one ramp to the next, we had to drive one mile down the highway to turn around. While at the next cloverleaf, I spotted a small exposure of some limestone. I first thought it was the Stoner, but it turned out to the the South Bend Formation (or more specifically, the Little Kaw Limestone).

 

There was a decent variety of fossils. The first I spotted was a group of Linoproductus brachs in a sandy limestone matrix:

 

 

In other places, some nice hash could be found:

 

 

Most interesting to me (because I didn't find any teeth) were these burrows:

 

 

When I looked a little closer, I could make out some strange texture within:

 

 

Some were segmented, and most seemed to have a cellular structure. I borrowed Bullsnake's loupe to confirm what I thought I was seeing. I thought these may be sponges, but yet some were filled with dark mud, as would be expected with burrows but not with sponges.

[Missourian]

I managed to break some burrows off the block. After a little research online, it turns out that these are Ophiomorpha. They were formed by crustaceans that made little mud balls and used them to line their burrows. The cellular texture within the burrows here are the molds left after the mud weathered away:

 

 

Here are some of the 'segments' up close:

 

 

These are probably where the critter backfilled the burrow.

 

Also present are another type of trace fossil known as Zoophycos:

 

 

 

These are the first I've ever found. They apparently indicate a deep water environment. They are probably a feeding trace.

[Missourian]

Looks like you and Bullsnake had a great trip..

Great tooth! What kind is it?

We think it's Sandalodus.

[Missourian]

On 12/2/2012 at 4:10 PM, CH4ShotCaller said:

Cool! I really enjoy seeing the finds from the members, but it's shots of the collecting area landscapes that add icing to the cake! Thanks for taking those shots and sharing them with us!

It looks cold too!

 

It was actually pretty warm.

 

I too like seeing collecting area photos too. I wish more people did it.

[Auspex]

Mr. Missourian, your wonderfully crafted posts put the "gee" in geology!

I want to thank you for all the effort you put into sharing your journeys of discovery here; it's some of the best content we have.

Well done, Sir!

[Bev]

Great pics and narration of a fossil hunting trip. THANK YOU!

Bev

[Taffie]

Enjoyed your trip report, thanks for sharing.

[Missourian]

Everyone, thanks for the compliments. The journey and narration is all the fun when I'm not finding too many fossils.

[Bullsnake]

Mr. Missourian, your wonderfully crafted posts put the "gee" in geology!

I want to thank you for all the effort you put into sharing your journeys of discovery here; it's some of the best content we have.

Well done, Sir!

I have to add that it is a pleasure hunting with him.

I'm very, very fortunate to be able to learn hands-on from someone so knowledgable, as well as patient and humble!

And, I can't forget that TFF has made it possible, along with the other fine members I've had the pleasure of meeting, and discussing things with online.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Bullsnake

[hrguy54]

Sounds like a great day.....a wide range of finds. My kind of fossil hunt.

[Bullsnake]

Now my side of the story .

I've hunted this spot several times. I forgot my camera this time, but have a number pictures of my previous trips. However posting them would only be redundancy of what Missourian already posted.

So I'll post pics of finds from this, and previous trips.

First up are brachiopods. They not only seem to be the dominant fauna, but there is also a variety of size and species.

Composita- These are the largest ones I've ever found:

A couple weathered, revealing some internal structure:

Antiquatonia- Good complete ones elude me, but these are pretty good:

Echinaria- These are usually very large, and pretty common:

Derbyia (brachial valves)- These are from the Vilas:

Chonetid- These are from the South Bend stop, but also common in other strata.

The biggest one here is just over a half inch:

Crurithyris- These little guys are ~7mm:

Edited December 8, 2012 by Bullsnake

[Bullsnake]

Other varieties of fauna.

Crinoid cup- This is the biggest one I've found:

Edited December 3, 2012 by Bullsnake

[Bullsnake]

A little baby pygidium:

Horn coral- Notice one with the bryozoan attached:

Lacey Bryozoan- These are really common, but I thought this was a cool 'layer cake':

[Bullsnake]

And finally, in case anyone on TFF likes teeth .

Sandalodus(?) and Campodus(?):

Unknown- In-situ and closeup:

Deltodus:

And a group shot showing relative size.

Deltodus teeth are approximately 1 inch:

[fossiladdict]

Love those teeth. Very cool.

[Missourian]

Nice haul. I should have looked down a little more....

[JimB88]

Wow! Nice haul Steve! You were there Missourian right?

[Missourian]

On 12/2/2012 at 9:36 PM, JimB88 said:

Wow! Nice haul Steve! You were there Missourian right?

 

I couldn't see the trees for the forest.

[Indy]

Hi Mitch

Noticed your reference to Ophiomorpha and the 2nd picture

in post #8 LINK

Reminded me of this specimen which Dr. Roger Pabian suggested

(before he passed away) was a trackway by an unknown arthropod.

This specimen was collected in the ditch at the Holiday Drive Pennsylvanian locality

in Kansas City.

Thanks for sharing information regarding Ophiomorpha.

Barry