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November Jackson Bluff Formation trip


Plantguy

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Hi Gang. Thought I'd share some photos of some material I collected early last month when the Fl Paleo Society went to collect at Jackson Bluff Dam up north. I still havent gotten thru all the little stuff and I'm nearly cross eyed looking at it..I envy those of you who are using scopes to sort thru this semi micro stuff. Anyways I tried to cut back on my hoarding and I purposely only brought home two 1-gallon ziplock bags full of soil/shell stuff.

 

Here's a view of the section that we were working. A limited number of others went down to the dam base lower in the section in the Ecphora zone.  It was very loosely consolidated and the goal was to dig into the bank a ways to get at the shell material that was not so friable. The area we were collecting from is known as the Cancellaria zone and it was strange that I never saw one of those critters while I was there....lots of pectens, oysters, worm tubes, some other pelecypods and a few gastropods.  There was also an awesomely big spider that was very excited to see what I was doing!

Jackson Bluff fm collecting.jpgJackson Bluff section.jpgJackson bluff formation fossil shell material.jpgJackson bluff spider.jpg

Someone did find a Mako tooth and possibly another bone fragment but that was it that I heard about from the vertebrate standpoint. 

 

Most of the digging was using garden tools, rock hammers but I did hear downrange some severe wallops going on in much more lithified material. I'm not sure what they found. I was working in very soft material that literally crumbled in your hand. Jackson Bluff FM pelecypod possible Astarte and another unknown.jpgJackson Bluff Pecten examples.jpgJackson Bluff Glycymeris.jpg

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I also found a really cool Chesapecten...here's what it looked like when I first saw it and then progressively as it was cleaned up. Took about 25 minutes to carefully dig out and then about 30 minutes of scrubbing delicately with a toothbrush and water. Its not 100% but I'm very happy--2nd big one this year. Interesting to note that there are two circular white colored scars where barnacles used to be. 

Chesapecten insitu.jpgChesapecten with barnacles side view fresh from the hillside.jpgChesapecten fresh from the hillside.jpgChesapecten prep.jpgChesapecten and barnacles Jackson Bluff.jpg

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So in the bag of stuff I was most surprised not by the little stuff but a scaphopod that I'd never collected before and some juvenile Ecphoras which was another first albeit they are almost micros and the very little echinoid spine that is all of 2mm long...

Jackson bluff smalls with tentative IDs.jpg

Had alot of fun and got to meet MikeR and and hear about his recent collecting/travels. Great trip! Regards, Chris 

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Ooops forgot to add a Cancellaria that I did come home with that I nevered noticed initially!

 

Regards, Chris 

Cancellaria with bryozoan Jackson Bluff.jpg

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Wow, those are great finds as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for the pictures and story.

-Dave

__________________________________________________

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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Can you post some photos of the front side of the specimens you have labeled as Ecphora sp.? They look like Fossarus to me. Jackson Bluff Fm. has Fossarus anomala floridana and Fossarus sp.. It doesn't match F. anomala floridana, but I can't find a figure of F. sp.  It does look similar to F. orbignyi, from the Tamiami Fm.

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5 hours ago, calhounensis said:

Can you post some photos of the front side of the specimens you have labeled as Ecphora sp.? They look like Fossarus to me. Jackson Bluff Fm. has Fossarus anomala floridana and Fossarus sp.. It doesn't match F. anomala floridana, but I can't find a figure of F. sp.  It does look similar to F. orbignyi, from the Tamiami Fm.

 

Hi Chris

 

I agree with Daniel that it is Fossarus.  Here is a link to F. orbignyi LINK

 

Also not Chesapecten but Carolinapecten eboreus.  The other pecten is Argopecten comparilis.

"A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington

"I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain

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39 minutes ago, MikeR said:

 

Hi Chris

 

I agree with Daniel that it is Fossarus.  Here is a link to F. orbignyi LINK

 

Also not Chesapecten but Carolinapecten eboreus.  The other pecten is Argopecten comparilis.

 

6 hours ago, calhounensis said:

Can you post some photos of the front side of the specimens you have labeled as Ecphora sp.? They look like Fossarus to me. Jackson Bluff Fm. has Fossarus anomala floridana and Fossarus sp.. It doesn't match F. anomala floridana, but I can't find a figure of F. sp.  It does look similar to F. orbignyi, from the Tamiami Fm.

Thanks Mike and Daniel, I should have been much more careful. Fossarus it is. I tried to photograph it further last night and I just cant get crisp photos that are that small--decided to just let them in the group shot. They are unfortunately also both disintegrating and are so small its impossible for me to try to clean them up further without damaging them further. I'm curious what type of preservative you guys are using to consolidate this friable shell material? 

 

I also actually dug out the two larger Pectens I had and photographed them side by side (the one earlier from Calooosahatchee/Tamiami spoil pile is on the left and the latest from Jackson Bluff on the right) and its pretty easy to see that the ribbing patterns are substantially different! I was even close...uggh. Thanks for the clarifying the genus on the Pectens. 

Pecten comparisons.jpg

Here's that scaphopod that I forgot to add in the earlier post. 

Scaphopod Jackson Bluff fm.jpg

Thanks again for looking and the help. 

 

Regards, Chris 

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6 hours ago, PFOOLEY said:

A+

Thanks for looking! I'm knocking my grade down to a C- after the misidentifications. Regards, Chris 

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11 hours ago, Shamalama said:

Wow, those are great finds as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for the pictures and story.

Thanks Dave, we had a good time. Regards, Chris 

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22 hours ago, darctooth said:

Nice finds congrats!

 

20 hours ago, CBOB said:

Nice!  That Chesapecten with the barnacles is awesome!  Really cool find!

Thanks for looking and the comments...Looks like the large Pecten is actually  Carolinapecten eboreus. Regards, Chris 

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Does the Florida Power Cooperative allow access by the general public or is it only for groups like yours that are granted permission.?

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8 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

Does the Florida Power Cooperative allow access by the general public or is it only for groups like yours that are granted permission.?

 

It's the latter.  The FPS trip was organized through the Florida Museum of Natural History.

 

"A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington

"I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain

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11 hours ago, Plantguy said:

 I'm curious what type of preservative you guys are using to consolidate this friable shell material? 

 

I use Butvar B-76 dissolved in acetone.  A google search will show you vendors who sell it.

"A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington

"I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain

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1 hour ago, MikeR said:

 

It's the latter.  The FPS trip was organized through the Florida Museum of Natural History.

 

Thanks. That was my suspicion. I am going to be in your area in early February and am just trying to plan ahead for a little fossil fun!!!! Will look at other alternatives.

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14 hours ago, MikeR said:

 

I use Butvar B-76 dissolved in acetone.  A google search will show you vendors who sell it.

Thanks Mike. I'll have to go do some reading up on B-76--I have been fortunate so far as most of the shells from other locations are pretty sturdy. I actually have some Butvar somewhere from the TB club that I got but never used. Hope you've not been working too hard and have had the chance to look at your finds from your recent trips. 

 

Regards, Chris 

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