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JimB88

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The heat drove me off after 40mins so I decided to go to a spot where the Hemitage crops out hoping it would have shade.

It didnt :D but at least it had more fossils to pick up. Most of the non Platystrophia brachs and all the bryos in my haul pic come from this spot. Rhynchotrema are so abundant here one could fill a garbage bag with them and still not make a dent in their numbers! The other good thing is the matrix breaks down readily and fossils free of the matrix are common.

Amongst the brachiopods I found this small pygidium

post-2953-0-80837000-1433607397_thumb.jpg

not sure on the genus yet though.

Heres an interesting bryozoan...

post-2953-0-59384100-1433607465_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-00423900-1433607496_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-00015300-1433607525_thumb.jpg

Ive yet to identify it.

Strophomenid brachiopods are uncommon at this site (unlike the Leipers in which they compose an entire layer.) I thought this looked like a nice pairing.

post-2953-0-50829600-1433607654_thumb.jpg

Rafinesquina trentonensis

more as I prep...

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A most excellent report, Jim. Informative with great photos...my kind of read. :)

"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

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A most excellent report, Jim. Informative with great photos...my kind of read. :)

Ditto that!

Good fossils, good information; two thumbs up!

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Nice finds, Jim. I think your yellow crystals may be calcite, but that's just a guess.

thats a possibility, I cant scratch them with my fingernail, but I can with an iron nail.

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Awesome report, Jim!

Great photos and a diverse abundance of finds.

Thanks for sharing it with us!

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Copious finds Jim. I'm going to have to bookmark this topic to keep up with all the good stuff you come across.

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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Here is that big Bellerophontid gastropod from before with most of the matrix removed.

post-2953-0-59527000-1434233572_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-00837600-1434233593_thumb.jpg

Sphenosphaera capax

There are several layers to it which is very confusing, I thought the crystals were cool, so I left them.

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yeah, Ive never seen a layer of crystals form between the external and internal molds before..its kinda pretty.

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Went out again this Friday to hit a couple of Ordovician spots west of me.

The first stop was the Leipers Formation, which I didn't stay at long as there was no shade and the sun was beating down on me. The Leipers is Upper Ordovician.

My second stop was the Hermitage Formation (Middle Ordovician) at a rather productive site, especially if you like brachiopods and bryozoans.

Ill start with a pic of part of my haul...

attachicon.gifhaul.jpg

a. the button bryo Prasopora b. Zygospira c. Onniella d. Dalmanella e. crinoid stem section f. unknown sponge g. Heterotrypa bryozoan h. Cyrtoceras cephalopod i. Rhynchotrema j. Platystrophia

The button bryo's were identified by Steve Holland of the University of Georgia. He did acetate peels of other examples I sent him.

attachicon.giftn2.jpgattachicon.giftn.jpg

Heres a close up of the button bryos (and a strophomenid brachiopod.)

attachicon.gifPrasopora.jpg

Prasopora patera

cont next post...

Hey Jim, neat bryozoan finds...I especially like the larger brach with both valves still in matrix (doesnt have a letter by it). sweet!

Regards, Chris

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thanks, I normally only pick up the ones free from the matrix, but that one was very well preserved.

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That is a pretty cool Gastropod and the calcite crystals make it even cooler.

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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Im not sure about anyone else, but in my backyard I have a pile of rocks from my various trips that I left to weather because they were simply too hard to anything with. On Fri I decided to look through them for any of the matrix from the Leipers Formation that contains all the external / internal molds that I had discovered about a month back. Sure enough I found some that looked weathered enough to start breaking. And though I didnt have a lot I still managed to find some neat stuff.

The first thing I found was a rare representative of the group Tergomya (a.k.a. Monoplacophora.) Usually when I find one of these they tend to be heavily encrusted with bryozoans; so this was a refreshing find!

post-2953-0-29697200-1434320598_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-00635700-1434320619_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-69013300-1434320636_thumb.jpg

Cyrtolites ornatus

Heres a nice bivalve,,

post-2953-0-41411600-1434321056_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-30602200-1434321070_thumb.jpg

Ambonychia radiata

Another glabella from this Phacopid trilobite...

post-2953-0-51056300-1434321155_thumb.jpg

Ceraurus milleranus

I find many of these high spired gastropods in this matrix but they can be tricky to remove without breaking them..

post-2953-0-09443000-1434321467_thumb.jpg

Lophospira sp.

cont.

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And not from that matrix, but found on another piece from the same location is this brachiopod encrusted with a stromatoporoid sponge...

post-2953-0-79972400-1434321774_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-00234500-1434321795_thumb.jpg

Hebertella occidentalis with Stromatocerium huronensis encrusting it.

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Beautiful! the Leipers seems like a treasure trove. :)

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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Sweet Finds, Jim!

The monoplacophoran is super cool.

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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  • 3 weeks later...

I kinda notice this late but those Ordovician fossils you found are so sweet! I always enjoy seeing other Ordovician fossils from some other distant places.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, time for another update! I continued my exploration west on the Nashville dome, and did fairly well. I made three stops, all of which ended up being part of the Nashville group (either the Hermitage, which I also cant escape from, or the Bigby's-Cannon Limestone.)

I'll start with my first stop, which Im certain was the Hermitage formation.

This site was interesting as it was a crumbly matrix that allowed me to pick fossils right off the rock face (no bending over :thumbsu: )

Like other exposures of the Hermitage the small brachiopod Rhynchotrema increbescens was everywhere...

post-2953-0-34117400-1436999172_thumb.jpg

there is also a few Zygospira modesta as well.

Bryozoans were also everywhere....

post-2953-0-44782900-1436999267_thumb.jpg

a nice example..but difficult to id

post-2953-0-34989300-1436999309_thumb.jpg

a. the demosponge Hindia sphaeroidalis b. unidentified bryozoan with memellons c. same as the above pic, unsure of the genus d. Prasopora patera e. a large example of an encrusting bryo (bryo can be a pain) f. two unidentified fossilized objects.

some more random stuff...

post-2953-0-23415000-1436999339_thumb.jpg

a. these three are all unidentified bryozoans b. the monoplacophoran (tergomya) Cyrtolites retrorsus c. another u.f.o.

I also picked up several internal molds of bivalves but my pics of them didnt turn out.

My second stop was several miles further down the same road, this site was harder, blocky limestone. The most conspicuous fossils were ostracods of the leperditia family

post-2953-0-34053900-1437000058_thumb.jpg

the very large variety - Teichochilina which occurs on a layer that Im exposing on this example.

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Great finds again, and thanks for identifying many of them. I really like those large ostracods.

Mike

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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For the third stop I traveled several miles through a town and kind of abruptly turned when a saw a promising road cut and flat area (yeah, the folks behind me didnt care for that :P ) The matrix was a thinly laminated shaley limestone that overlies a thick bed of dolomite. The limestone consisted almost entirely of the small orthid brachiopod Onniella. There were piles of them where the matrix had been weathering, mostly single valves, but some articulated as well and many encrusted. Fossils in the dolomite seemed to be sparse, and consisted of branching bryozoans for the most part.

a small sampling of the brachiopods...

post-2953-0-03126500-1437001677_thumb.jpg

most are Onniella, the top four are Rhynchotrema increbescens and the one on the right is a Platystrophia extensa (the blob in the middle is a heavily encrusted Onniella.

there were also many bryozoans on the limestone surfaces to be picked up...

post-2953-0-03108000-1437001714_thumb.jpg

a. Prasopora sp. b. unidentified bryozoan c. Constellaria stipata d. Hallopora e. possibly Homotrypa(?)

a close up of a strange piece of Constellaria ...

post-2953-0-14100100-1437001862_thumb.jpg

the monticules seem to be shooting out!

heres a very large Prasopora that I picked up off the dolostone...

post-2953-0-75412600-1437001904_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-55729500-1437001921_thumb.jpg

And my fav find of the day 3/4 of a partialy enrolled trilobite...

post-2953-0-55177100-1437001841_thumb.jpgpost-2953-0-65646700-1437001887_thumb.jpg

its only 3/8" long and is missing its cephalon but Im going to guess either Bumastus or Bumastoides

I didnt even know I found a bug until I started cleaning my finds at home! :D

I'm definitely going back to that spot!

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Great finds again, and thanks for identifying many of them. I really like those large ostracods.

Mike

Thanks, I dont know why they got so big at that time!

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