Looking For Something New In Missouri

[hobbitfeet]

I've been fossil collecting in eastern Missouri/western Illinois lately in the Decorah, Plattin, Fern Glen etc... I've collected the usual brachs, bryozoans, crinoids and a few trilobite pygidiums. Now I'm looking for something new like monoplacophora or complete trilobites or stuff from the Cambrian or Mesozoic. Any suggestions?

[ashcraft]

Monoplacophorans can be found in the Potosi formation, mesozoic material only outcrops in the Bootheel of Missouri. If you are looking for something different in the St. Louis area, try Coldwater Creek, which has Pleistocene material.

fkaa

[hobbitfeet]

Any particular spot in Coldwater Creek I need to look?

[ashcraft]

I have only been a couple of times, but it seems to be fairly dispersed. The most common fossils are freshwater gastropods and wood. Spruce cones can be found, and bones from megafauna. If you google around, you will see plenty of examples of what can be found. We hunted from canoes, some wade, some people dive. Riffles are the preferred places to find bone. This is not a pristine stream, lots of garbage from a couple of centuries of heavy use. Saw part of a musket found once, along with a chunk of mastodon leg. I suspect might be a little sewage also. Interesting place.

fkaa

[West4me]

Seems to be some legal issues related to this creek and cancer clusters. May not be the best place to climb in the water.