Waldron Shale, Indiana

[aek]

Last week, after checking the weather wunderground numerous times, I decided to drive 3.5 hours from Chicago to St. Paul Stone Quarry. It was the last "open house" day according to the ESCONI website. I arrived at 7:45, the first and only person there. Shortly thereafter, after a brief safety instruction, I followed the manager to the collecting site, heaps and heaps of Waldron shale. 

 

 

Even though I dressed in layers, I still had to take breaks and warm up in the car for a few minutes, but I much rather prefer collecting in cold weather as opposed to hot summer sun with mosquitoes, any day. It didn't take too long to start finding fossils. Here are just a few of my finds:

 

Eospirifer

 

 

Platystrophia brachiopods with pyrite 

 

 

Platyceras niagarense encrusted with strophomenid, bryozoa and pyrite.

 

front:

 

back:

 

 

Partial Dalmanitid 

 

 

Trilobite in matrix

 

 

When prepping, it's really wonderful how the waldron "butter" shale just crumbles apart around the predictable morphology of an enrolled trilobite.

 

 

The trip just wouldn't seem complete without a short drive east to the Cincinnati Arch roadcuts. I first went to South Gate and found a flexicalymene eroding right out of the cut. It is interesting to see the comparisons here. The trilobite on the left is from St Paul (Silurian) and has beautiful pyritized eyes. The one on the right is from South Gate (Ordovician). Both trilobites have 21 articulated segments; does this make them both the same age as "adults"? Interesting to note the difference in size, being 40 million years apart, same species..

 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

 

[doushantuo]

nice report,AEK.

A word on terminology:Flexicalymene is a genus

[digit]

Nice report--great finds. Glad you got one last hunting trip in before winter's grip locks things down for several months.

 

Both "roller" bugs are in the same genus. Are you certain they are the same species? When I got a chance to hunt the St. Leon roadcut in Indiana, I believe there were two species (or possibly subspecies) present there with different sizes.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Phevo]

Those are some pretty spectacular finds especially with the pyrite, what do you do to keep the ironoxide from overtaking them?

 

Over here we try to keep them dry and put them with some cotton bedding but they still succumb eventually

[Vieira]

Fantastic report. Thanks for sharing.

 

And nice fossils too

[Fossildude19]

Nice report and finds.

Thanks for sharing it. 

 

Keeping the pyrite dry, in an airtight plastic container, with a silica gel desiccant pack inside, should protect from pyrite disease. 

You can search the Forum for other threads about pyrite disease.

Regards,

[Herb]

nice finds

[piranha]

Flexicalymene is an Ordovician trilobite.

 

The calymenids are:

Calymene breviceps  

 

The dalmanitid is:

Glyptambon verrucosus

 

 

[aek]

7 hours ago, digit said:

Nice report--great finds. Glad you got one last hunting trip in before winter's grip locks things down for several months.

 

Both "roller" bugs are in the same genus. Are you certain they are the same species? When I got a chance to hunt the St. Leon roadcut in Indiana, I believe there were two species (or possibly subspecies) present there with different sizes.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Thanks, Ken. I'm fairly certain they're the same genus, however I am definitely not an expert. The one on the left is silurian age from the quarry and the little one on the right is ordovician from St Leon.

[aek]

7 hours ago, Phevo said:

Those are some pretty spectacular finds especially with the pyrite, what do you do to keep the ironoxide from overtaking them?

 

Over here we try to keep them dry and put them with some cotton bedding but they still succumb eventually

 Thanks, probably the same: keep dry, air tight container, possibly with silica, like Tim suggested.

[piranha]

8 hours ago, digit said:

Both "roller" bugs are in the same genus. 

 

44 minutes ago, aek said:

Thanks, Ken. I'm fairly certain they're the same genus, however I am definitely not an expert. The one on the left is silurian age from the quarry and the little one on the right is ordovician from St Leon.

 

 

They are certainly not the same genus.  
 
As I posted above; Flexicalymene is Ordovician. There is one species of calymenid from the Waldron Shale: Calymene breviceps

 

 

 

[aek]

28 minutes ago, piranha said:

 

 

 

They are certainly not the same genus.  
 
As I posted above; Flexicalymene is Ordovician. There is one species of calymenid from the Waldron Shale: Calymene breviceps

 

 

 

I see, it is an enrolled Calymene breviceps. Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.

[piranha]

4 minutes ago, aek said:

I see, it is an enrolled Calymene breviceps. Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.

 

 

It's easy to be certain because Calymene breviceps occurs only in the Waldron Shale of Indiana and Tennessee.  There is also a distinct feature to differentiate C. breviceps from other species of Calymene.  The frontomedian glabellar lobe of C. breviceps protrudes over the cephalic anterior border.  The attached photos illustrate that difference quite well.

 

 

 

[aek]

A few more finds from St Paul, please correct me if these ID's are wrong..

Unicinulus stricklandi with some sort of epizoan annelid encrustation

 

 

Eucalyptocrinus crassus calyx

 

 

Leptaena with pyrite

 

 

 

 

[doushantuo]

Nice macrofauna!!!!!!!!!

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Wonderful pyrite preservation!  When I die, I want to be pyritized....

[RJB]

Ive never been one much interested in brach's, but those are perty dang cool!  By any chance are you going to clean up the shell?

 

RB

[aek]

On 12/30/2016 at 3:30 AM, doushantuo said:

Nice macrofauna!!!!!!!!!

Thanks

[aek]

On 12/30/2016 at 9:38 AM, Uncle Siphuncle said:

Wonderful pyrite preservation!  When I die, I want to be pyritized....

Haha! Me too...

[aek]

On 12/31/2016 at 7:10 AM, RJB said:

Ive never been one much interested in brach's, but those are perty dang cool!  By any chance are you going to clean up the shell?

 

RB

Thanks, I know what you mean .. slowly making progress..

[aek]

Glyptambon verrucosus compound eye