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Hunting Devonian Cephalopods in Hannacroix Ravine, Albany Co., NY.


Jeffrey P

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Today I returned to Hannacroix Ravine, a site in Southern Albany County, NY. (Helderberg Plateau) I last visited over three years ago. It is a beautiful site along a narrow cliff lined ravine, however it is tough to get to requiring a steep decent from the road and making one's way through thick prickly bushes and downed trees. No wonder why I've avoided this place in favor of road cuts and quarries.  The stream itself was barely flowing, more just a series of shallow pools and mud. It was a cool, sunny day (temperatures in the 40s and later low 50s), but perpetually shady in the deep ravine.  I was collecting from deep water strata in the Dave Elliot Bed, part of the Mount Marion Formation which is part of the Marcellus Shale which forms the lowest part of the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group. The rock was primarily siltstone, not terribly hard to remove decent sized pieces from the wall which hung precariously overhead. I was forever fearful a bunch of it would collapse and land on me. Some pieces did come down on their own, but none came close to hitting me. Biodiversity is very limited here: some small bivalve shells and goniatites and straight-shelled nautiloids. There appears to be even less diversity than the Dave Elliot deep water site near Kingston. Spent about six hours- the first four were mostly a dud, but in the last two found some nice goniatite and nautiloid specimens. Did even better than I did the last time I was there. The prize was this goniatite, Tornoceras mosopleuron, the best one I've collected from this site and better than any of the ones I've found at the Kingston site.

IMG_5047.JPG

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Great finds, Jeff. :wub: 
Glad you were able to get out today. 

Thanks for the excellent trip report. 

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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Great finds and that Tornoceras is a beaut! You can just see some of the suture lines along the edge of the piece, nice!

-Dave

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Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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It's always nice to hear about your hunting exploits, Jeff. I'm glad you got out there and happy you came back with some excellent finds.

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thought I'd add this pic of another goniatite found that day- a partial specimen with some suture pattern present.

IMG_5116.JPG

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