Advice About Local Quarry : Good Fossil Hunting Location? Beginner Looking For Help.

[BrittanyPurcell]

Hello! My name is Brittany, I have just joined the community so please be kind to me.
I have always been interested in fossils and paleontology in general but have an anxiety disorder so I never pursued my dream of making it into a career. I do still want to make fossil hunting into a hobby though and was hoping you guys could help me get started.

I live out in the country right next to a quarry, I was wondering if this would be a good location to start.I have attached some photos of the quarry to give you an idea of the area and the types of rocks that are here. I live in Ontario by the way!



I apologize in advance for my ignorance, I am simply a 22 year old trying to find a hobby that interests me. I'm hoping being productive outside finding fossils can help me cope with my anxiety disorder. Thankyou

[izak_]

Welcome to TFF! Even if you don't know much about palaeontology…

THAT WILL SOON CHANGE

It is good having inquisitive members

[BrittanyPurcell]

Welcome to TFF! Even if you don't know much about palaeontology…

THAT WILL SOON CHANGE

It is good having inquisitive members

Thank you very much! I am thrilled to be here

[Down under fossil hunter]

Welcome to the forum from "stinking hot" Australia.

Very cool to have you aboard!!!

[Fossildude19]

Hello Brittany, and welcome to the Forum.

I think you will find that you needn't worry about being flamed or heckled here.

To answer your question, yes, quarries are generally good places to hunt for fossils. Basically, anywhere rock is exposed on the surface is a good place to hunt. However, there are some caveats.

Is the quarry still active?

If so, then you need to check with the office to see collecting is allowed, and when it is OK to do it safely.

Do you have permission to be there? If the quarry is not active, you should do some due dilligence work to locate the property owner, and ask him/her for permission to hunt there.

Have you found any fossils in your explorations of the quarry? The best way to determine potential sites is to explore rubble piles and loose rock to determine if there are any fossiliferous layers exposed, by finding evidence of fossils laying around.

There are quite a few people on the Forum from your area, so you should get some good advice from them once they chime in here.

Best of luck to you Brittany, and keep your chin up - anxiety can be overcome.

Welcome again.

Regards

[michele 1937]

Hello! My name is Brittany, I have just joined the community so please be kind to me.

I have always been interested in fossils and paleontology in general but have an anxiety disorder so I never pursued my dream of making it into a career. I do still want to make fossil hunting into a hobby though and was hoping you guys could help me get started.

I live out in the country right next to a quarry, I was wondering if this would be a good location to start.I have attached some photos of the quarry to give you an idea of the area and the types of rocks that are here. I live in Ontario by the way!

quarry 2.jpg quarry 3.jpgquarry 4.jpgquarry.jpg

I apologize in advance for my ignorance, I am simply a 22 year old trying to find a hobby that interests me. I'm hoping being productive outside finding fossils can help me cope with my anxiety disorder. Thankyou

beautiful photos

hi

Michele Italia

[Auspex]

Welcome to the Forum

[Northern Sharks]

Where about in Ontario are you? I'm in the Lake Simcoe area. That quarry looks like a good one if it hasn't been totally picked over. As mentioned earlier, you should find out if it's active and get permission from someone before doing much hunting.

[BrittanyPurcell]

Welcome to the forum from "stinking hot" Australia.

Very cool to have you aboard!!!

Thank you very much!

[BrittanyPurcell]

Hello Brittany, and welcome to the Forum.

I think you will find that you needn't worry about being flamed or heckled here.

To answer your question, yes, quarries are generally good places to hunt for fossils. Basically, anywhere rock is exposed on the surface is a good place to hunt. However, there are some caveats.

Is the quarry still active?

If so, then you need to check with the office to see collecting is allowed, and when it is OK to do it safely.

Do you have permission to be there? If the quarry is not active, you should do some due dilligence work to locate the property owner, and ask him/her for permission to hunt there.

Have you found any fossils in your explorations of the quarry? The best way to determine potential sites is to explore rubble piles and loose rock to determine if there are any fossiliferous layers exposed, by finding evidence of fossils laying around.

There are quite a few people on the Forum from your area, so you should get some good advice from them once they chime in here.

Best of luck to you Brittany, and keep your chin up - anxiety can be overcome.

Welcome again.

Regards

Thank you!

The Quarry is not active! I will be sure to ask the owners permission first before hunting there.

[BrittanyPurcell]

beautiful photos

hi

Michele Italia

Thank you!

[BrittanyPurcell]

Welcome to the Forum

Thank you! Happy to be here

[BrittanyPurcell]

Where about in Ontario are you? I'm in the Lake Simcoe area. That quarry looks like a good one if it hasn't been totally picked over. As mentioned earlier, you should find out if it's active and get permission from someone before doing much hunting.

I live outside of Ottawa in a rural area! The Quarry is not active and I don't think it has been picked over since I live in "the country". I'm hoping I will be one of the first people to be interested in this Quarry and find lots of goodies!

[amour 25]

Welcome

Nice looking site, wish you good luck, look on the web, as to what was found or mined there, might even get some other stuff besides.

Enjoy

Edit might give a look at the ground and see if you see anything.

Jeff

Edited January 17, 2015 by Jeff L Nolan

[fossilized6s]

Welcome! I hope you are successful in you hunts!

[verydeadthings]

Welcome to the forum! Looking at a geologic map of your area will give you an idea of what kind of fossils you might find at the quarry, if any. Here's a link to a general geologic map of Ontario: http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/ontariogeo.gif

You will mainly want to be looking for Cenozoic, Mesozoic, or Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. It looks like there's some Ordovician rocks near Ottawa. There's probably more detailed and local maps on the internet, that's just one I quickly found. If you do find something, post some pictures!

[Cluros]

Welcome to the Forum. You have already got a lot of good advice. You will find members are very friendly and helpful. I would add that I also use geologic maps and old geology reports. Many are available online. I would also add that just because a map says there are no fossils doesn't mean that an area is fossil free. Some of my best finds have come from "fossil free" areas. Good luck in your collecting endeavors.

[Northern Sharks]

The Ottawa area is Ordovician, and the formations are the same as where I regularly hunt. Those same formations are loaded with fossils and you should have no problem finding things.

[Malcolmt]

Looks very promising , if I lived close I would certainly be giving it a try. I am from the Mississauga area. Used to collect in the Cornwall area of Eastern Ontario a very long time ago.

[FossilDAWG]

As a former Ottawa resident (and still occasional visitor) I'd say your site looks promising. However depending on the particular formation exposed there can be a lot of variation in quantity, quality, and type of fossil content.

As mentioned above any sedimentary rock in the area would be Ordovician with the exception of the Nepean Sandstone which is either late Cambrian or early Ordovician, but it is unfossiliferous except for a few trace fossils. Typical exposures can be seen along the 417 in Kanata. Above that is the Oxford Formation, a lower Ordovician formation of thin-bedded dolomite with a sparse (very sparse) fauna of trilobites, gastropods, and cephalopods, all heavily recrystallized. Next in the succession is the Rockland Formation, which is pretty widely exposed, especially around Brittania Bay, the Rockcliff Parkway, and the area of the Rockcliffe airport, as well as on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River upstream from Aylmer. Again this formation is essentially unfossiliferous except for trace fossils (burrows and tracks). Above that you get into a series of formations that belong to the Ottawa Group, and all are more or less fossiliferous. First is the Pamelia formation, which is mainly shale and not very fossiliferous. Above that is the Rockland (also called the Gull River), which is mainly massive limestone with thin shale partings. This is extensively exposed in placed like the old Frazer-Duntile quarry you can see from the Queensway near Carling, and it forms much of the bedrock from around Almont and Packenham up the valley to Braeside near Arnprior, with large outliers near Pembroke, Alumette Island, Eaganville (the caves at the 4th chute of the Bonnechere River are in this formation), and some other places. Corals and cephalopods are common in this formation, as well as brachiopods, bivalves, and odd groups such as recepticulitids. The fossils can be hard to chip out of the limestone, but in places they are replaced with silica and can be etched from the rock with dilute acetic acid. Next in the succession is the Hull (also called Bobcaygeon) formation, which is thick to thin bedded limestone with shale partings. The old quarry in Hull, where the casino is now, is typical Hull Formation. There are lots of fossils, most notably crinoids, cystoids, and starfish, on the surface of some of the limestone layers. Above that is the Verulam (aka Sherman Fall) formation, which is thin bedded limestone with thick layers of calcarious shale. It is full of fossils, especially brachiopods, molds of bivalves and gastropods, tons of bryozoans, and a large diversity of trilobites, mostly bits and pieces but not uncommonly whole specimens. Above that comes the Cobourg (also called Lindsey) formation, which becomes massive limestone again near the top but is thin bedded limestone with a lot of echinoderms at its base where it is hard to tell from the Verulam. There are outcrops along the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa but most are hard to get to unless you have a boat, as large areas are now fenced off due to "security concerns". Above that is the Billings Formation, a black shale with lots of trilobites and cephalopods, some pyritized. There are essentially no natural exposures, but it is sometimes exposed in deep construction sites. Above that is the Carlsbad Shale, which is equivalent to the Gerogian Bay formation and the beds at the Hanson Brick Pit near Montreal. It is also exposed only in construction sites, but it is full of beautiful trilobites and bivalves. Above that is the Queenston Formation, unfossiliferous red shale deposits. That ends the Paleozoic rocks in the area.

I can't tell for sure what layer is exposed in your quarry, but it could be Rockcliffe, Gull River, or Bobcaygeon. It looks to have too much thick limestone to be Verulam. At any rate it may well be fossiliferous; look for small fossils weathered out of the shale, and for larger fossils exposed on the upper or lower surface of limestone slabs. Fossils may also be present inside the slabs, but they are hard to get out intact.

Al;so keep an eye out for shells in the sand at the top of the exposures. The area was flooded by the Champlain Sea at the end of the last ice age, and in places you can find marine sea shells. People have also found whales, seal bones, and (in certain places) fish in nodules, but those are rare. However a few species of bivalves are very widespread and common.

Good luck!

Don