Jump to content

Summer Road Trip - Part 2 - Kemmerer Fish Dig - **UPDATED!**


abctriplets

Recommended Posts

Our giant summer road trip (18 states, 20 days, almost 7,000 miles) began at a road cut in St. Leon, Indiana, finding trilobites. I haven't unpacked those yet, so I'll start this trip report with Part 2, the Kemmerer Fish Dig.

 

After the extended family left to head home (there were 11 of us for a few weeks), I took my family on an extended fossiling adventure. First stop was the south-western corner of Wyoming. Just outside of Kemmerer, we stopped at the American Fossil Quarry (http://www.fishdig.com/) for a full day of splitting fish.

 

The quarry wasn't that far out of town, and the roads were actually quite decent. (In a minivan, this is always a concern of ours.) We even had cell-reception for most of the drive! At a fork in the road we turned left, down the driveway into American Fossil's quarry. (on the other side of the road was Fossil Safari at Warfield Fossil Quarry - the difference is that at American Fossil, you get to keep all that you find, and I think there are better services - a guy at our hotel had a giant plate with a tiny fish to bring back....I would have cut it down)

 

IMG_6149.thumb.JPG.ee613dc9a0e91527c89a7d5abb94e86c.JPG

 

The quarry itself was a small area, with some areas to the left and right staked out by the professionals. We were focused on the middle section, a few rows of rocks that had been pulled off the quarry wall. They were divided into an older section (left) and a newer section (right), with the difference being that the newer section the rocks were a bit more damp, and didn't split as well.

IMG_6152.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were given a brief tutorial, and a hammer and a flat chisel blade, and we went to work. Each of the us had water bottles, gatorade, and cooling towels. But as the day wore on, the heat would eventually get to us. But with our gloves on, we went to work!

IMG_6157.thumb.JPG.0ee762b13866c08329e6696929ae07ed.JPG

IMG_6163.thumb.JPG.5245f38595ff2ff33217ac63ff9cad3d.JPG

IMG_6167.thumb.JPG.50418e039e91f079bfcfe461d092b0b6.JPG

We would split rocks in half, and then split those halves in half, and then split those.....

A good chunk of rock could keep you occupied for quite a while. But all 3 kids were able to do it on their own (they are just about 10 years old), and it kept their interest for the whole day. It was an amazing treasure hunt!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the day went on, other families and individuals came and went, staying for shorter durations, yet there was rock to spare for all!

IMG_6158.thumb.JPG.c3b46028ecd335028f61d50bb24a6d3b.JPG

Occasionally we'd watch what was going on at the quarry wall, as the guys were searching for the head of one of the turtles that had been found the previous week (I hope Seth will share a pic soon of that discovery!)

As we found items, we added them to the shelving that they had marked for us.

IMG_6166.thumb.JPG.f18520f13cb998a83615940d8af0300e.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG_6165.thumb.JPG.3d6a3e0f655c30ec6043f12dc2e04dac.JPG

 

We ended up liking the facility a lot. There was a porta-potty, a few shaded areas, picnic tables for lunch, and we were even given some extra water once ours ran out. But the best thing (for us), was that they had a cutting station. With 90 minutes to spare in our day (and with storm clouds approaching), we were shown how to use the rock saw. We used a wheelbarrow to cart over all of our finds from the shelving, and my wife went to work cutting down the pile of rock, into travel-sized pieces (we still had thousands of miles to drive). I went to work packing and organizing the fish (the kids were terrified that their finds would get mixed up). I ended up using padded priority-mail envelopes, that sealed nicely, and labeled them with sharpies. They survived the trip home!

 

IMG_6300.thumb.JPG.bb796296cbd383a6065611857745a959.JPG

 

Getting out of the quarry was a bit of a challenge. An interesting tidbit is that the rock is so soft that the cars and machinery driving on it pulverized the ground into an inch to 2 inch layer of dust. We were all coated by the end of the day!  But getting up the hill was a bit of a challenge for my minivan (which also has trouble with my parents' driveway in snow or light ice). But after one failed attempt, I reminded my wife that I had to gun the car to get out of my parents' driveway, so she backed up, revved the engine, and we were on our way!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Home now, I have started unpacking our finds. Here are the ones found by my kids (I think I have another 2 tables-full to show, probably tomorrow)

5977c6e4ccd39_FullSizeRender(29).thumb.jpg.b16f3d0a6d14135089fb5afaf5ed6a31.jpg

IMG_6500.thumb.JPG.77e0fe081f88f6f816bf9a2e25f04e5d.JPG

IMG_6501.JPG

FullSizeRender_(30).thumb.jpg.e262ddb97439bd193e83b3aba92e872f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't identified the species of the fish yet, but it seems the kids found a few different ones? (they also found a few sticks, and some fish poop...)

 

We also don't quite know what to do next. A few still need some prep work done....but we don't have the skills or experience.

Here's one my son found, and the guy at the quarry said we should glue it back together, and then excavate down from the top?

IMG_6503.thumb.JPG.0c3e066a0b40f5dea35eaa3d38f53bf7.JPG

IMG_6504.thumb.JPG.3c411e4d2ac0e05aa8cfcfe96284d720.JPG

IMG_6506.thumb.JPG.bef5c64dd1632943e348d4a02f726ccc.JPG

Here's another from my daughter's pile that looks like it could be better:

IMG_6507.thumb.JPG.cf179677263de3830f84e8b664371054.JPG

IMG_6508.thumb.JPG.e9b027814eaac5f68ce8d3ac3d1082bb.JPG

And another. Not sure why they didn't save the other half of these fish.

IMG_6509.thumb.JPG.d8b281463ffeac66a2c70c73b71d4ded.JPG

IMG_6510.thumb.JPG.7b962a7847de2e810eeae6d7615c2975.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And another.IMG_6511.thumb.JPG.1a1fcb2ba8dcbb6294671e37e5db12a9.JPG

IMG_6512.thumb.JPG.ac450bd4e18114844fa460d332bf8807.JPG

Tomorrow I'll post what my wife and I found (a lot of hers are going to go to her classroom - the school district just decided that 8th graders should learn Earth Science, so she's setting up a new curriculum).

 

And I'll also share the large plant that one of my daughters found - a palm inflorescence. In many pieces.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So glad you all had a great trip to Kemmerer!

Seth and Pat are great guys that really know what they are doing up there!

 

I took the liberty of starting your identification process. These are the 2 most common fish you will find up in those quarries!

 

abcfish.thumb.jpg.f7e32849b34310d9f1310d75ac1ff2bd.jpg

 

Congrats on an awesome day!

Maybe next time I will see you there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! It was an amazing experience, and we definitely want to do it again! (maybe with some side trips to Utah this time....)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's some amazing stuff! I gotta get up there someday...

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great trip report it felt like I was right there, minus the dust. Can't wait to see your other finds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, here are the ones that my wife and I found:

IMG_6513.thumb.JPG.cfb2be21f3e297298941df6e4675d9af.JPG

Quite a few that were headless, which was sad. It seems the larger blocks had come away from the walls right in the middle of the fish. A few of the blocks had multiple fish in them, and there's one that I need to try to reveal a 3rd fish (top of pic). Here are 3 closeups:

IMG_6514.thumb.JPG.da2a9079bc6aaeb5a111cb013be0b813.JPG

 

IMG_6515.thumb.JPG.cf4642165783528b430dd813b04d97b1.JPG

IMG_6516.thumb.JPG.e18208e4c8c9d52f26ce504e65307aca.JPG

And then here were some that haven't been split properly, or need better revealing:

IMG_6517.thumb.JPG.874176eea87f89df84e152b55c41b91b.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And then here is our most interesting find. My daughter split this apart (so it's in a few pieces). It was the only decent plant of the day (save a few sticks my son is proud of...), and appears to be a palm inflorescence. She kept both halves (left half, right half) of the rock when it split. And while it survived the drive, it looks like in our rush to cut rocks down, we trimmed too much off of one of the chunks of the right half :(

IMG_6519.thumb.JPG.ed4c7c298bbb26790ce1b4663589016b.JPG

Any idea if this is worth saving and prepping professionally? She's really proud of it, and I don't know what to do in order to best display it. As you can see, there's a few fish in the rock as well, and there might be more layers of the leaves further down?

 

Here's a closeup of the left half:

IMG_6520.thumb.JPG.8140e23dbeb8933bb6c6ccdb290b1edd.JPG

 

And here's a closeup of the right half (in 3 pieces):

 

 

IMG_6521.thumb.JPG.b113f823c2240db01d69270361904e50.JPG

 

And here's a closeup of the fish head on the bottom of the right plate:

IMG_6522.thumb.JPG.dde01d5a3aed65484ed3a8556fdc8e89.JPG

 

Seems to be bigger, and have more spiky teeth than the usual Knightia and Diplo.  Maybe a Phareodus??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@abctriplets, I do believe the fish head on your last photo is, indeed, Phareodus testis.  Even as a partial, it will be a neat specimen with those teeth:)

 

P.S. I think it is positioned up-side-down in your photo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

@abctriplets, I do believe the fish head on your last photo is, indeed, Phareodus testis.  Even as a partial, it will be a neat specimen with those teeth:)

 

P.S. I think it is positioned up-side-down in your photo

 

Yes, evidently he didn't think too much of the aesthetics of his corpse's alignment next to the plant before he died.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@abctriplets this is a great trip report. You made quite a haul! Well done. The palm is very interesting.

 

If you're interested in having anything prepped for you, feel free to send me a PM and we can work out the details.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty neat finds and a nice trip report! Good work!:dinothumb:

Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Always nice to see how much fun folks have on fossil hunting trips.  Nice report with lots of pics.  Love the Phareodus snout!

 

RB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

modern moomeye + Hiodon

Eocene mooneye = Eohiodon.

I think it's pretty rare in the Green River formations.  At McAbee in British Columbia, Eohiodon rosea is the most common fish.

 

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

modern moomeye + Hiodon

Eocene mooneye = Eohiodon.

I think it's pretty rare in the Green River formations.  At McAbee in British Columbia, Eohiodon rosea is the most common fish.

 

Don

@RJB

 

The scientific name is Eohiodon.  We typically find abut 1 per year, although I am sure they are often mistaken for another fish.  I have seen folks mistakenly think they are a juvenile Phareodus or even a Knightia alta.  They are a very neat little predator.  Called mooneye because of the shape of their eyes.

_____________________________________
Seth

fossil-shack-new-banner-use-copy.png
www.fossilshack.com

www.americanfossil.com

www.fishdig.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wow, you made it so I'd like to go with my grandchildren....great report, thanks. The palm inflorescence looks like a sea grape to me....any chance some plant like that grew back then...as you can see I know nothing ( less than nothing if that is possible) about plant fossils - I do have a fossil of sea grass from Wisconsin, but it is nothing special...your plant is great. Hope you are able to get these prepped and identified. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Incidentally, when i travel from Florida to Michigan, I always stop at the St. Leon roadcut. Cool finds always. This year I am planning to also stop at the Quarry Spoils north of there, Paulding County community Fossil Garden...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...