deutscheben Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 This past Sunday I finally made my way down to Fowler Park, a county park located just south of Terre Haute, Indiana. I had found about it from some older posts on this site and had been trying to find time to get down there this whole summer. Fowler Park is a Vigo County Park created in the late 1960s from a portion of the Chieftain No.20 strip mine, and offers camping, hiking, fishing and, although not well-advertised, the chance to hunt for fossils exposed on the surface. This locality produces ironstone concretions from the Pennsylvanian Shelburn Formation, known to contain fossils similar to the flora-heavy Braidwood biota of Mazon Creek. Unfortunately, the days of fossil collecting at this site may be numbered. I spoke to a county park official on the phone before the trip and she said that proposals to close the park to collecting had come up at recent board meetings. She mentioned that there were concerns about over-collecting at the park. Another potential reason is that the portion of the park where most of the fossils are found, the 300 acre Wilderness Park, is in the process of being converted to the Griffin Bike Park https://griffinbikepark.com , with all kinds of specialized mountain bike trails. I don't mountain bike, but it looks extremely ambitious and well-designed, and I'm sure it will be very popular. However, speeding bikes and fossil collectors with their nose to the ground seems like it might be a dangerous combination, and clearly the bike park is going to be the primary function going forward. All that being said, now is an excellent time to go if you are interested in collecting! The construction of the trails has exposed lots of sediment by the parking area, and despite the concerns about over-collecting there was no shortage of nodules to be found even with a short walk. The Bike Park is scheduled for a grand opening in mid-October, although cyclists are already using it. Here is the informative sign at the entrance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 Since I had other obligations in the afternoon, I had to make this trip an early start. I left home at 5 and watched the sun rise on my way there. It was an easy drive and I always enjoy exploring new parts of the country. One hour and 45 minutes later I pulled into the park. One other vehicle was in the lot, with a cyclist just getting ready to hit the trail. Otherwise everything was quiet as I explored the clearing where the construction of enormous ramps was happening. Within a few minutes I found my first nodule. As I climbed a ridge at the edge of the clearing, I found more nodules in areas that had been scraped clear for the trails, including this big one- it's about 6 by 6 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 From the top of the ridge I heard a loud motor start down in the clearing- looking down I saw a backhoe rumbling out to start working on the ramps. Later a front-end loader and some dump trucks would join in and they continued working the entire time I was there. Looks like they are really pushing to meet the mid-October grand opening for the bike park. I wandered around on and off the trail for a little while and made my way back to the parking lot to unload my bag. Although I found a few nodules off in the gullies, most were found in exposures of shale on the edge of the trail or next to the road. I then continued onto some of the trails on the other side of the lot and found even more nodules, many of them just laying on the trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 As I made my way back to the clearing where construction was happening, I found another big concretion- this one is over 9 inches long. I'm hoping it's a full fern pinnule. After 3 hours I had to head back, but I was very happy with what I found, including a few open nodules, despite only exploring one small corner of the 300 acre park. I can't wait to get the freeze-thaw process started and find out what's inside! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Wow those are nice finds! Thanks for the report! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomwith3girls Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Deutschebun, can you explain the freeze thaw process to me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 Tom- the freeze-thaw process forces the concretions to break along the natural plane of weakness where the fossil lies, since water expands when it freezes. First, you soak the concretions in water for a few days to a week to ensure they are fully saturated. Then you place the container, water and all, into the freezer and let it freeze solid for at least two days. Then take it out, let it thaw for a day, and check your concretions to see if any have split. Those that haven't go back in the water to soak for a day, then back into the freezer again, and then repeat for as long as it takes. Some nodules split after one cycle, while others take dozens or never split. Another option for those in northern areas is to simply put the nodules in water and leave them outside over the winter to let the natural cycle of freezing and thawing do the work. If you search for Mazon Creek on this site you can find some great posts with pictures of the process made by other members. -Ben 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Nice finds! Looking forward to seeing what is in the big ones! Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barerootbonsai Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Very nice hope you get some good stuff will keep an eye on the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomwith3girls Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Thanks deutscheben for explaining that process. I was wondering how that was done. Ive got something new to try now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smt126 Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Nice finds. Looks like a great place to take a trip to and not too far of a drive at less than 2 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 I made another trip down to Fowler Park a few weekends ago to collect some more nodules and then finally started the freeze-thaw process. I haven't had too many split yet- these two partial ferns are the best so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belemniten Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 Nice finds ! Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils Regards Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 After a few months of freezing and thawing, I have split almost all of my Fowler Park nodules, and learned a few things about the fossils from this site. First, to my disappointment, all of the largest rocks I found were not ironstone concretions, but instead concretions of softer shale. They contained many small plant fragments, but nothing identifiable. Still, I did find a nice variety of other plant material to add to my collection, welcome since I never got the chance to collect at the Mazon Creek Pit 2 site. Most of the material was incomplete, and some was preserved twisted along slightly different levels within the concretion, which seems to show it was a higher-energy deposition area. I will try and post some pictures of the better material later this week, but for starters, here is one of my favorite finds, a nice nearly complete fern pinnule. I'm still working on my plant IDs, but I believe this is a Pecopteris of some sort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Very nice fern! I have yet to collect any "Mazon Creek" type fossils, but hitting such a spot is definitely on my bucket list. Is the park still accessible, or has it been restricted to bike riding only? Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 When I spoke to a county parks official last year, she told me it was still permitted, and they would post an announcement if there were any changes. The rules for Griffin Park are here: https://griffinbikepark.com/hours/ And they don't indicate anything regarding fossil collecting. Additionally, walking is still explicitly permitted on park trails. The key thing is just being aware of the presence of bikers and being ready to step aside when they pass by. Here are a few more of my finds- first is a partial Sphenophyllum. I wish it were more complete, but I like the contrast of colors. The next one is another one of my favorites, an interesting "3-D" preservation of Asterophyllites with overlapping leaves. The third one is another well-preserved but pretty incomplete plant, this one a Rhacophyllum or Aphlebia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Here are two individual Annularia whorls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Next up are some more ferns- first, an assortment of the better partial Pecopteris I found: This next one appears to be a different form- I'm not sure if it is just preserved differently, but it looks more like Alethopteris to my eyes. If anyone with more experience with plant fossils has an opinion, please comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archimedes Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 nice ferns, thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Thanks! Finally, I found this little indeterminate piece- it looks similar to some of the foliage associated with lycopsids. I don't know if further ID is possible, but I like the simplicity of this fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBOB Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Sweet fossils! Looks like a cool place to collect. I love collecting the Mazon Creek fossils and this place is a whole new area to collect similar fossils. I will definitely have to head down that way this spring to collect some nodules. A bummer about the large nodules not holding great fossils. I saw those pics and was hoping for some great stuff for you. Thanks for all the info and the great pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aek Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Great stuff! I collected there back in October and found some nice Pecopteris pinnules. The larger nodules never yielded anything for me either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCG DAWG Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Nice finds. As a cyclist I just want to come ride the trails! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 20 hours ago, aek said: Great stuff! I collected there back in October and found some nice Pecopteris pinnules. The larger nodules never yielded anything for me either. Hey, excellent! You should post some pics here, there is so little information out there about this fossil site, I would love to see what other folks have found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aek Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Here's a nice Pecopteris I found from Fowler Park/Chieftain mine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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