Manticocerasman Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 It has been a while that I made a decent field trip. Past Sunday I left with 2 friends to a quarry in the Ardennes from Belgium. Last year we made a few visits to that place with great success and a fair number of late Devonian cephalopods were found. So hoping to add a few goniatites to our collections we left early in the morning. The weather conditions for the trip were terrible: it was raining and the wind was blowing very hard. Before we got to the quarry the rain stopped, but there was still a lot of wind. The rain had turned most of the flat parts of the quarry into a muddy swamp. But the heavy wind blew the last dark clouds away and we started our prospection in the slag heaps on top of the quarry. The first corals where collected, mostly hexagoniaria and a worn goniatite . I made my find of the day in the first 30 minutes in the quarry: In one of those slag heaps I found a large boulder with a large orthocone on it. The specimen was deformed during fossilization, but after clearing the specimen out it proved to be a complete orthoceras of 25cm in length. This was a monster compared to the most specimens I found there before. The next stop was a level lower in the ancient part of the quarry, here they were dumping the rocks that where not suited for production, but luckily for us, lots of fossils could be found in them. This was the most productive part of the day. Although they were hard to find, each of us found at least a couple of decent goniatites. The rest of the day we spent in the back of the quarry where lots of corals can be found and sometimes a nicely preserved goniatite. Multiple mineral veins are also present with large barite and calcite crystals. Sadly with the expansion of the quarry the part with the corals was cleared with bulldozers and fossil finds where rare at that location. Still I managed to find an exquisite goniatite specimen, a little damaged, but with very clear suture markings. My two friends searched through the mineral veins and found multiple good quality barite and calcite crystals. Meanwhile I prospected other parts and collected a little bag full of small corals and crinoid stems. (Back to the car with heavy Calcite and Barite cristals...) Usually we end our day at a local tavern for a drink, but this time I was too tired and I still had an hour drive to home. I’m already looking forward to my next field trip on 21/02 Then we will be prospecting early carboniferous deposits. Kevin growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaforth Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Cool stuff Kev, Hope to meet you for another hunt this year! Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Pocock Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Hi Kevin, Looks like you had a good day thanks for the report. Regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Kevin, Thanks for the report and pics. Lovely Goniatite you found! Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM - APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuslover340 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Nice report, as always! "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."-Romans 14:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Nice finds, Kevin! Are you going to show us more once the prepping is done? Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 Nice finds, Kevin! Are you going to show us more once the prepping is done? Sure now you can only see the rough shape of the fossils. I'll prep some of them this week and then post the pictures. growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Here are the first pictures after a quick prep: Geisonoceras sp. Late Devonian ( Frasnian ) Lompret ( Belgium ) growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 The goniatites: Manticoceras sp. Late Devonian ( Frasnian ) Lompret ( Belgium ) growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 some corals: Hexagonaria sp. Late Devonian ( Frasnian ) Lompret ( Belgium ) growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Nice finds Kevin.... Love the coral plate.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Love the orthocone! "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Awesome trip Kevin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuslover340 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Love the orthocone and last goniatite! "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."-Romans 14:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Thanks for sharing. It's interesting that you find the colonial corals at the same locale as the cephalopos. I rarely have. Corals, crinoids and brachs together but not cephalopods Nice job on the goniatite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted February 11, 2016 Author Share Posted February 11, 2016 Thanks for sharing. It's interesting that you find the colonial corals at the same locale as the cephalopos. I rarely have. Corals, crinoids and brachs together but not cephalopods Nice job on the goniatite. In the quarry the lagunary deposits are actually next to the reef. So it is not unusual to find larger corals that broke off from the reef due to a storm and dropped further into the lagoon, you can find on regular occasions such corals upside down in the sediments. There are hints in those sediments of mass events like major storms or such where you can see the bottom of the lagoon covered by a layer of reef inhabitants. On this 1st picture you can clearly see the lagunary deposits in nice layers on the left. The white/grey massive rocks on the right is the actual reef. This is a good piece where you can clearly see all the broken leftovers from reef inhabitants dropped further in the lagoon: growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 The "mash" is generally the most interesting in my opinion! So much info in them. "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPlainPetrified Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Great trip by the looks of it. Thanks for the report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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