Two Trips to the Hollow

[Kane]

I was able to get out twice in one week to Hungry Hollow - the first with Roger, and the second with my missus. A few neat things were found on both outings, but nothing particularly “wow” for the site. I’ll let Roger speak to the first trip and focus here on the second outing.

 

Deb and I concentrated on the south pit as the prospect of biting flies in the north was not exactly how she wanted to spend a Sunday afternoon. We mostly worked two new benches that were made by someone else in the dense coral layer of the Hungry Hollow member. Attempts to extend the bench were a bit messy given the amount of wet overburden, and the rock itself was tough to work with as it was wet and tended to be very crumbly. And the stuff was pretty much dominated by so much coral that it seemed there was more of that than matrix. However, with a bit of persistence you can find other things in that layer. If you went in too far, it became far too dense to break off in anything but shards; if you went too low, it became a kind of mush. The best spot was a thin band just above the mush, but it involved hacking through a lot of coral at the top to access it.

 

No full trilobites were found. I chopped out some matrix that had a full prone Eldredgeops rana, but it was missing its one side. Unlike Penn Dixie, you have to work that much harder at this site for a lot less trilobites beyond a litany of bits and pieces. On the other hand, they are a bit bigger here than at PD. 

 

The Favosite corals were impressive in both size and number. We mostly left those behind for other collectors, piling them up so that they would be readily visible. They ranged from muffin-sized to pie-sized. As we were not having great luck, we shifted our collecting to picking up stuff for gifting purposes.

 

There were a few oddities in the mix, and these were picked up from a bit of surface collecting. 

 

I think the next time I go, I’ll be heading back to my spot in the north. I’m just waiting for some stuff to weather a bit more before going on the attack with the strata I was able to expose through some bench-work. The goal will be to find three full Greenops that are currently spoken for. I can average one for every four hours of work if I hustle in moving a lot of shale, and if the bugs will kindly leave me be! 

 

Depending on how many more trips I make up there this year, I hope to put together some Arkona sample bags for those who don’t have the opportunity to collect here. I seem to have accumulated a lot of the same material from there over the years, and it would be good to spread it around.

 

Anyway, a few pictures of typical rather than remarkable finds:

First up is the heartbreaker. Almost two inches long but missing his better half.

Next up is a coral Deb wanted to split to see the structure inside:

A typical hash plate from the HH member where the corals do NOT dominate for a change.  

[Kane]

A typical encrusted shell pavement from the Arkona Fm that I picked up while Roger and I were picking over the north pit.

[Kane]

An assortment of odds and ends.

 

Top row: Trilo-bits, and a possible fish plate at the far right

Middle row: crinoid columnals in the middle (with a few cirri scars), with some crazy encrusted business near the end.

 

a Platyceras conicum on the bottom row followed by some inflated brachs.

 

A little Bactrites in there and a tiny branching bryo.

This one I'm less sure about. It looks a bit like a Basi-trilobite glabella, but it is almost an inch long. 

A couple of these came out of the rock, too, along with some nice fenestellate bryozoans I decided to leave behind. 

 

So, not a highly productive trip, but fun nonetheless.  

[Darktooth]

Nice finds Kane! Glad you were able to get out!

[Kane]

Thanks.  

 

It's a fun place overall, and easy to lose hours in.

 

These are all probably going into my giveaway pile as there is nothing much here worth trading or selling. 

[Ludwigia]

I guess I might as well add my 2 cents worth now that Kane has opened up the subject. I just love this Forum. Where else do you get the chance to meet such friendly, interesting and multifacetted personalities like Kane? We had a great time together at the site and Deb had made a tasty chicken stew for us by the time we got back to their place for dinner. Here he is in all his glory on the bench on the north shore of the river.

 

 

It didn't take me all that long to prep my finds when I got home, since I was being much more selective about what I was taking, having visited Hungry Hollow already a good number of times. I must admit, I've never been on the north side before, so thanks to Kane for guiding me there and thanks to the flies for being relatively bearable on that particular day.

I was pretty ecstatic when I found what I first thought to be a complete Greenops. It was sitting on top of a little block which practically fell into my lap as I was clearing up some debris in order to access a layer which had some potential for Goniatites. It was caked in mud but I couldn't be bothered to go down to the river to wash it off, so I just wrapped it up and dropped it in my bag. You can probably imagine my disillusinment when I washed it off at my brother's place only to discover that the cephalon was missing. I can at least console myself by the fact that it was on a loose block, so I probably would never have found the positive in a thousand years. At least the negative is still more or less visible.

 

Here is a selection of the rest my finds from that day, some of which were passed along to me by Kane, starting with a nice little hash plate full of Platyceras arkonense gastropods with various fossiliferous debris.

 

Tornoceras arkonense from the Arkona Shale.

 

I've identified this as Tornoceras uniangulare for the time being. Widder Formation.

 

Typical finds from the Arkona Shale. The brachiopods Mucrospirifer thedfordensis and Rhipidomella vanuxemi, and one you have to keep your eyes open for: The gastropod Naticonema lineata.

 

I really like these little button corals: Microcyclus thedfordensis.

 

I believe that this here is a calyx from Arthroacantha carpenteri with a Platyceras arkonense gastropod attached. I've seen this type of association somewhere before. I'd appreciate it if someone is able to confirm this.

 

I'm not able to identify these ones except to say that they're pyritized orthocone nautiloids from the Widder Formation. Any ideas?

 

One more thing. These little pyritized bivalves are relatively common in the Hungry Hollow Formation and can easily be found weathered out both in the south and north pits. As yet, I've not been able to identify them and would be happy if someone could give them a name for my records.

 

 

[Northern Sharks]

Hi Roger: I think your last bivalves are Paracyclas lirata and the calyx does look like an Arthroacantha with attached Platyceras. From what I've heard, seen and have, it's nearly impossible to find an Arthroacantha that doesn't have at least one Platyceras attached.

[ynot]

Nice finds and report Guys!

Thanks for sharing.

[doushantuo]

Agree with Tony completely

Hats off for the photography,and to Kane's missus for wanting to see the inner structure of paleozoic corals

I'll admit ,for someone who is that much out of shape ()"slouchoFaucho" himself  does look good on that ledge.

Paleontology rocks!!

edit:those goniatites are the bee's knees

[Fossilian]

Very cool!

[Ludwigia]

17 minutes ago, Northern Sharks said:

Hi Roger: I think your last bivalves are Paracyclas lirata and the calyx does look like an Arthroacantha with attached Platyceras. From what I've heard, seen and have, it's nearly impossible to find an Arthroacantha that doesn't have at least one Platyceras attached.

Thanks Kevin. That's it! Now I just need an id for the nautiloid.

[Kane]

Wow, Roger... Those Tornoceras cleaned up like a dream!  

[Fossil-Hound]

Excellent report. Thank you for sharing.

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for the comments, guys. Here's one more that I forgot about. I's another pyritized goniatite with a diameter of 7mm. which Kane found at the north pit (Arkona Shale?) and gave to me. I've tried tracking it down for an id, but as yet to no avail. Can anybody help out? The lighting wasn't so good on the photos, so I can try to make better ones if need be.

 

 

[Peat Burns]

@Ludwigia, I think I recall there being a similar association with the Ordovician gastropod genus Cyclonema and crinoid calices.  If I remember correctly, it is thought that the gastropods may have been coprophagous. 

 

Nice pics and finds.

[Ludwigia]

9 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

@Ludwigia, I think I recall there being a similar association with the Ordovician gastropod genus Cyclonema and crinoid calices.  If I remember correctly, it is thought that the gastropods may have been coprophagous. 

 

Nice pics and finds.

Interesting, but we're in the Devonian here.

[Peat Burns]

2 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Interesting, but we're in the Devonian here.

I know that...  

[Malcolmt]

Nice report Kane and Roger.

[Ludwigia]

10 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

I know that...  

Ah. Sorry. I guess you were thinking more associative, eh?

[Peat Burns]

4 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Ah. Sorry. I guess you were thinking more associative, eh?

Yes, no problem.  I was just thinking / wondering perhaps that the proposed Platyceras-Arthroacantha association might also be related to coprophagous habits.  I have a number of Arthroacantha carpenteri from the Silica Formation.   I'm going to have to go back and check them for Platyceras.  

[Ludwigia]

4 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

coprophagous habits. 

I just learned something new. A somewhat unappetizing conception

[Peat Burns]

2 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

I just learned something new. A somewhat unappetizing conception

I agree.  With apologies to the writers of Jurassic Park: "Life finds a way..." 

[Monica]

Wonderful report, guys!!!  Now that my summer break is almost here (I have about an hour left of exam-marking, which is what I'll be doing as soon as I get off TFF, since my students are to look over their marked exams this morning!!!), I'm itching to get out and find some nice stuff.  @Kane - I'll be contacting you soon so we can hopefully set up a fossil-hunting get-together in the summer - Viola and I can't wait to get back out to your neck o' the woods!

[Max-fossils]

Some incredible finds!!! Especially (in my opinion) in the seashells/brachiopods part. I love the spiriferids, and the hash plate with the Platyceras is awesome 

 

Congrats!

[Ludwigia]

26 minutes ago, Max-fossils said:

 and the hash plate with the Platyceras is awesome 

 

Congrats!

Thanks. That's my favorite too.