Bay Area Pitstop

[sharko69]

In the Bay Area working this week. Was in the city this morning then headed to San Jose in the afternoon. Once I wrapped up work, I decided to take the long route back to my B&B in Half Moon Bay and took 17 through Santa Cruz. Read about a spot on the forum and decided to check it out. As was mentioned in the forum it is posted but I decided to keep my feet on the road and see what the sand had sent down to road level. The area is packed with broken Echinoid peices and I was fortunate enough to find two complete along with several fragments. You could see further up the cliff tons waiting to be picked out but being business casual and of course not wanting to intrude on private property, I took my road finds and headed out. Looking forward to getting back to Dallas and seeing if they will clean up.

Edited July 28, 2016 by sharko69

[sharko69]

I did find some shells in Half Moon Bay as well.

[DPS Ammonite]

Do you have any idea what species of sand dollars they are? Were the Mytilus edulis tasty?

Also, I hope that you brought some nice cool California weather back to your family and friends in Allen, Texas.

Edited July 28, 2016 by DPS Ammonite

[sharko69]

Astrodapsis spatiosis I believe. Santa Margarita formation.

And...

Yes, the mussels at Pasta Moon in HMB are outstanding.

[Ludwigia]

It's always nice to be able to combine work with pleasure. By the looks of the graffiti a lot of people don't seem to take that sign very seriously.

[MarcoSr]

Unfortunately the graffiti is probably why the sign is there and not fossil collecting. It is a shame that people have to be so ignorant and disrespectful of the property of others.

Marco Sr.

[RJB]

Been there done that. It wasn't posted when I was there, but that was quite a few years ago. I would assume that all the shark teeth sites are also posted then.

RB

[sharko69]

Been there done that. It wasn't posted when I was there, but that was quite a few years ago. I would assume that all the shark teeth sites are also posted then.RB

Sharkteeth sites? PM me and I will be sure to check them out for you on my visit next month;)

[RJB]

Understand this was almost 20 years ago. One place was built on and is long gone, anther place I knew the owner and Im sure he is long gone and the place across from the fire station was off limits also a very long time ago.

Ron

[sharko69]

Understand this was almost 20 years ago. One place was built on and is long gone, anther place I knew the owner and Im sure he is long gone and the place across from the fire station was off limits also a very long time ago.

Ron

Thank you. Edited July 29, 2016 by sharko69

[sharko69]

Sand is on there like glue. Cleaned one up with vinegar and water to test. Think it works pretty well. I will post more once they are cleaned up.

[siteseer]

Yes, that is the ID I have always gone by. They are found in the upper part of the Santa Margarita. Most of what you find are Astrodapsis but you can find a gastropod (Nucella?) and the occasional barnacle. There are several sites for those, but as RJB said, many are no longer accessible. I used to prospect different spots.

Astrodapsis spatiosis I believe. Santa Margarita formation.

And...

Yes, the mussels at Pasta Moon in HMB are outstanding.

[siteseer]

Ron,

Yeah, it was a real shame when the old Lockhart Gulch road site was built on. The locals tried to fight it but I guess it was super-important to put in a storage space place there instead. People from all over used to go there. Locals would bring their kids and spend a couple of hours. The teeth were generally quite water-worn but you could find a few nice ones if you were patient and visited over time. You had a chance at a nice tooth by scanning the cliff face after a rain. It wasn't the kind of site to find a lot of anything (you'd find some worn bits of mammal bone that some people used for jewelry). You'd be lucky to find a couple of decent teeth in a couple of hours of sifting but it was on my way to the beach and you always had a chance at finding something good.

Some people found some great stuff like a horse tooth (Merychippus relative), a Palaeoparadoxia tooth (close relative of Desmostylus), or really well-preserved "makos" (C. planus or C, hastalis). The colors could be really nice too (white to yellow to gray to purplish with dark spots or streaks) - distinct preservation from what you find from the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed. I'll have to get some pictures taken of what I have. I found mostly just the common grade of teeth but managed to buy/trade for some nice stuff years ago.

I think I know what you mean about the site near the fire station. There are horse trails up there too so you might have access to the cliffs that way. Hard to say. I tagged along with some UC Berkeley students on a trip in the early 90's. Thinking about it, maybe 15-20 years have passed since I've been wandering around there.

Jess

Understand this was almost 20 years ago. One place was built on and is long gone, anther place I knew the owner and Im sure he is long gone and the place across from the fire station was off limits also a very long time ago.

Ron

[sharko69]

I would love to see pictures of some of those teeth. I really will be back next month and am going to see if there are any other areas.

[sharko69]

Here are a few more cleaned up.

[siteseer]

I would do a search for "Scotts Valley" or "Felton" or "Santa Margarita" because these fossils and various sites have been talked about before in different threads.

I would love to see pictures of some of those teeth. I really will be back next month and am going to see if there are any other areas.

[siteseer]

Nice. We found a spot that had good matrix pieces - more solid than you usually saw. A friend found a 3-inch specimen and he gave it to me. That is giant for that species at least. I heard that there was another spot where the larger ones like that were more common.

Here are a few more cleaned up.