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Alaskan Fossils


kirkjeremiah23

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I haven't been on here in awhile, but I recently moved from Kansas to Alaska and wondering if you guys have a ideas on fossil hunting up here. Let me know on some things I can find after the thaw.

Thanks

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Welcome!!! I found a couple of small Gastropod near Fairbanks about 20 south on the shores while I was in the service...

You'll find some on the shores.... Good luck

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You can start your research here.

Good luck.

Regards,

EDIT: a Google Search revealed many great links. However, be very careful of BLM lands and Native American lands.

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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In the absence of specific location, all I can suggest is to hunt gravel bars in the rivers.

"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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The Fairbanks area is primarily Pleistocene... so yeah, check the rivers and sand bars if there are any. Or dig a hole in the ground. There is a guy in FB who dredges for I don't know what and finds a lot of Pleistocene bones.

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40 years ago, I knew a fellow who combed the gravel bars for chunks of fossil Mammoth ivory (the colors were fantastic), and scrimshawed them. He made a good living at this!

"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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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there,

I have a forest geologist friend in SE Alaska that helped excavate a thalattosaur (sp?) from the shoreline near Kake in between tides. He gave the OK to send his contact info on.. Good luck with the hunting!

Jim Baichtal, Sc.D. (Hon.)

Forest Geologist

Forest Service

Tongass National Forest

(phone numbers and email have been redacted to protect Jim Baichtal's privacy)

P.O. Box 19001

Thorne Bay, AK 99919

www.fs.fed.us

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On 1/12/2016 at 8:31 PM, Kentrcarlson said:

Hi there,

I have a forest geologist friend in SE Alaska that helped excavate a thalattosaur (sp?) from the shoreline near Kake in between tides. He gave the OK to send his contact info on.. Good luck with the hunting!

Jim Baichtal, Sc.D. (Hon.)

Forest Geologist

Forest Service

Tongass National Forest

(phone numbers and email have been redacted to protect Jim Baichtal's privacy)

P.O. Box 19001

Thorne Bay, AK 99919

www.fs.fed.us

I had the honor and pleasure of prepping that thallatosaur in FB. And had the honnor of working with Jim. Good guy, but I don't think he knows much about fossils around FB. But if Jim proves me wrong, I am OK with that. If you get a chance go see the fossils of Alaska in the Museum of the North at UAF. Jim did the prep work on the big palm leaf there. NOt sure if the thallatosaur is on display or not.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/12/2016 at 8:31 PM, Kentrcarlson said:

Hi there,

I have a forest geologist friend in SE Alaska that helped excavate a thalattosaur (sp?) from the shoreline near Kake in between tides. He gave the OK to send his contact info on.. Good luck with the hunting!

Jim Baichtal, Sc.D. (Hon.)

Forest Geologist

Forest Service

Tongass National Forest

(phone numbers and email have been redacted to protect Jim Baichtal's privacy)

P.O. Box 19001

Thorne Bay, AK 99919

www.fs.fed.us

Awesome. I will be sure to get in touch with him. Thanks again and will keep you guys updated on anything I find out here.

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  • 1 year later...

Hello, 

When I was a kid we'd go camp at Coyote lake in Sutton, AK.

It has tons of petrified wood, horsetails, and other plants around the area.  
We hauled home a ~18" x ~30" very heavy chunk of gorgeous red petrified wood one trip. 
http://www.findingrocks.com/cgi-bin/viewlocation.cgi?location_id=398
http://peninsulaclarion.com/stories/081502/out_081502out0010001.shtml

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The cliff faces along rivers and streams are the best places to find Pleistocene fossils, especially mammoth tusks right after the spring runoff. The more remote you can get the better as there is a fair bit of competition. 

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I sent the contact information to kirkjeremiah23 by PM, and I have redacted the phone number and email from the above posts.  Personal contact information (phone numbers, email) should always be sent by PM.  Putting such information on a publicly accessible site like this exposes people to having the data exploited by scammers and identity thieves.  Come on people, you know this!

 

Don

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There are numerous areas where one may collect Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonites and other fossils in Alaska, though they may require significant effort (plus an ATV) to reach from Fairbanks.  Here is a link to a web site created by an Alaskan collector that shows a very impressive fossil collection.  If I ever win a big lottery I plan on spending a few summers in Alaska!

 

Don

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Also, here is a link to an article about the thalattosaur that was mentioned.  Interesting quote from JP: "I should say I’ve done some fishes but fishes – bah – a fish is a fish. This is a reptile, much more exciting”.  

 

Don

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On January 2, 2016 at 10:31 PM, kirkjeremiah23 said:

I haven't been on here in awhile, but I recently moved from Kansas to Alaska and wondering if you guys have a ideas on fossil hunting up here. Let me know on some things I can find after the thaw.

Thanks

 

Some longtime ammonite collectors here might recall that there were a couple of nice finds of Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonites in Alaska back in the 70's or 80's.  I don't recall the areas but they were so remote and mountainous that you could only get there by helicopter.  I believe the collectors were fishermen who were also fossil collectors and they stumbled upon the sites while fishing.  I do remember that one of the ammonites was Beaudanticeras (Early Cretaceous) and that at least a couple of specimens had some opalescence.  The Jurassic ones were a matte black color.

 

I saw a few specimens for sale in the 90's - haven't seen any since.  There is some literature on the Mesozoic of the state.   You would really have to be a serious collector/experienced outdoorsman because you might get stuck out there if there's bad weather and helicopter trips are not cheap.  And of course, you'd need to ascertain the current ownership/government status of the sites once you found them.

 

 

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  • 6 months later...

I appreciate all the info. Unfortunately my time in Alaska is complete and now moving to portland OR on recruiting detail. Wasn't able to find much in regards to fossils but was able to pick up a partial tusk and Mammoth jaw with a tooth while in Alaska. Pictures to come soon. 

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On 1/4/2016 at 10:23 AM, jpc said:

The Fairbanks area is primarily Pleistocene... so yeah, check the rivers and sand bars if there are any. Or dig a hole in the ground. There is a guy in FB who dredges for I don't know what and finds a lot of Pleistocene bones.

Link?

Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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I just looked back through this thread and it seems my earlier use of 'FB' meant Fairbanks, not Facebook... so no link.  

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11 minutes ago, jpc said:

I just looked back through this thread and it seems my earlier use of 'FB' meant Fairbanks, not Facebook... so no link.  

Oh, ok.

Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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