Oklahoma Permian Pitstop

[sharko69]

Had to work a few days in Oklahoma City this week and decided to make a detour on the way home and check out a site that has been mentioned here on the forum. The directions lead you down a dirt road just west of Waurika. It doesn't appear to be an overly visited site just judging by the amount of grass that has been trampled to get in. You could hardly make out the path in the grass. It was mentioned in previous posts that it is not believed to be private but judging that you have to go over an old barbed wire fence and under a new one, my guess is that it is probably private. Seeing no "posted" signs and hoping that Oklahoma law is like Texas and that if its not posted than the landowner has to ask you to leave, I did my best army crawl under the barbed wire and headed to what google maps was showing was the spot. I would be interested to know what caused the volcanic looking surface around the sight. It looks like places I have been in New Mexico and appears to be a very isolated area of the lava looking rock. My plan was not to stay long but to scope the area out for a half hour or so and take a bucket of matrix home to sort through later. Of course it was the first day that the Mercury hit the century mark and it may have just been the landscape but it truly felt like I was on the surface of a hot red planet. There are bone fragments and tooth fragments everywhere. I did not stop to pick up small peices since I knew my time was limited. My main objective was to get the matrix and get out without heat stroke.

I found a couple of interesting surface finds. I found a small vert that maybe someone can help me identify as well as a couple of large teeth that I am guessing are from the amphibian archeria.

I am glad that on the drive down I stopped at the local big box retailer and picked up a bucket. My usual MO is to use ziplock bags but that would have been tricky. My visions of nice loosely packed gravel filled with sharks teeth was quickly met with the reality of clay that is the equivalent of digging up pavement. I picked spots that had the most items present and could only get my shovel a couple of inches below the surface. I filled my 5 gallons and headed back to my car. The trek out was grueling in the heat and the terrain is extremely rocky. I have five gallons of clay in my garage I am hoping will hold some interesting finds but would also love some tips for breaking it down to reveal the good stuff. I have about a quart of matrix soaking in warm water right now. Any other tips would be appreciated. I will share more pictures as I find items. Below are a couple of my surface finds.

[sharko69]

Archeria or Eryops?

Edited July 22, 2016 by sharko69

[sharko69]

Orthocanthus. Only somewhat complete one I found on the surface. I found some huge roots with partial teeth attached. How large did these get?

[taj]

nice finds !

[doushantuo]

dunno if you already know/have these :

Johnson:

http://www.sdaos.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/2005/215-223.pdf

https://geojournals.pgi.gov.pl/agp/article/view/10334/8846

Edited July 22, 2016 by doushantuo

[sharko69]

Thought I would add a few terrain pics.

[sharko69]

One more...

[ynot]

Nice finds, and trip report!

Thanks for sharing.

Tony

[sharko69]

dunno if you already know/have these :

Johnson:

http://www.sdaos.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/2005/215-223.pdf

https://geojournals.pgi.gov.pl/agp/article/view/10334/8846

Thank you for sharing. great links.

[sharko69]

When I found the tooth in post #2 there was more of the tooth in the matrix behind it. I saved it and cleaned up the peices and put them back on the best I could.

[sharko69]

I have cleaned up a bit of the matrix I brought back and have a few things to show and a couple of items that I need help with id. First I am amazed at the size of some of the xenacanth teeth that I have found. The root alone is over 15mm wide. This must have been quite a predator.

[sharko69]

I have no idea what kind of bone this is but it has small spines that are smooth in one direction and very sharp in the other.

[sharko69]

This looks like cartilage.

[sharko69]

These look like dimetradon.

[caldigger]

One reason the terrain may look that way is there is no organic matter in the soil (clay) to support plant growth so the wind erodes the softer material around the harder matrix, leaving a lava field like appearance.

As for breaking down the matrix...there is a product on the market we use in gold mining called Clay Be Gone. It is a solution that breaks down the adhesion of the clay that keeps the particles from sticking to each other. Makes it more like loose silt. Works great with real sticky clays.

[Jeffrey P]

Great finds! Those teeth are gorgeous. Can't wait to see what else turns up in the matrix. I'm sure there's enough good stuff in there to make that grueling walk worthwhile.

[sixgill pete]

Archeria or Eryops?

I really cannot help you with this, but that is an amazing tooth. Thanks for sharing it.

[BobWill]

Very nice teeth. I think you are right with the cartilage ID.

I have heard that the landowner there prefers that we collect without asking permission because that relieves them from liability issues. There are several sites like that in Texas and Oklahoma.

[sharko69]

One reason the terrain may look that way is there is no organic matter in the soil (clay) to support plant growth so the wind erodes the softer material around the harder matrix, leaving a lava field like appearance.As for breaking down the matrix...there is a product on the market we use in gold mining called Clay Be Gone. It is a solution that breaks down the adhesion of the clay that keeps the particles from sticking to each other. Makes it more like loose silt. Works great with real sticky clays.

Thank you. I found Clay gone on the web and have ordered a bottle. I will say though that the terrain definitely looks to be volcanic. The Rock is coal black and pumice liike. Very light and makes a brickish sound when they bump together. I know the western part of the state has been volcanic in the past.

[sharko69]

Very nice teeth. I think you are right with the cartilage ID.

I have heard that the landowner there prefers that we collect without asking permission because that relieves them from liability issues. There are several sites like that in Texas and Oklahoma.

Makes sense. Thanks.

[Carl]

I've only been there once and can't WAIT to get back! Waurika is simply incredible.

[sharko69]

I've only been there once and can't WAIT to get back! Waurika is simply incredible.

It is. I think it may be a regular stop on my way back from OKC.

[sharko69]

The picture in post #12 looks to be a Eryops palate. The vert a Dimetradon libratus caudal I have been told. Very excited.

[Fossildude19]

Congratulations on all the cool finds!

Thanks for sharing them.

Regards,

[JarrodB]

You found some great items. Congrats!