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Penn Dixie, Oct 8-10, 2017


Kane

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Deb and I came back from three half-days at the Penn Dixie site with an ok mix of finds despite some weather and site challenges. This is usually an ideal time for us to get out and collect as Monday was our Thanksgiving, and my university has implemented a new Fall Reading Break. However, not everything went according to plan! 

 

This trip report will mostly be in situ pictures (when we had time to take them, or it was not too rainy to risk it), and a few preliminary shots of what was found.

 

So, story mode first...

 

Day 1

 

We arrived around 1 pm and left before sunset.

 

The site itself is vastly different from when we were on the big TFF dig back in April. After the Digging with the Experts, a lot of overburden seemed to have been dumped on areas we had been working. About 5 or more feet of the stuff, actually. Usually one will find a spot where a bench has been started, and that becomes the starting point for expansion. Not so much this time around as it more meant starting a bench from scratch at the right spot where the trilobite layer is. I found an entry point about a foot and half wide and we got to work moving about a foot or more of overburden. I then starting carving out slabs and placing them on the piles of debris we were scooping up (I'm glad I did as Day 2 will make clear). 

 

There was a slightly higher proportion of Greenops bits at this spot as I suspected from the general area we had covered last year. Pictured here are some slabs. The first one with my rock hammer dangling was resting on a very smooth inclined layer that ran about 4-5 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. The bottom half of that slab is about a foot and the top tapered part is only about a few inches. The one I pulled out the next day was a real monster at about 2.5x larger and about 400 lbs, and it took a heck of a lot of energy and several tries to wrestle it into an upright position. My back was pretty sore after that! The other slab pictured has some promise as there are some trilobite parts showing. 

 

Ultimately, I was in search of a trilobite party, and the stuff at the base of the inclined layer seemed to hold a bit of promise for a multi-plate.

 

(cont)

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Some in situ pictures. The first shows what might turn out to be a complete prone. The second is a a cluster of partials with possibly a complete one in the mix. And the third is a Bellacartwrightia at a fairly awkward angle. That was by far the most surprising find of the day, and I've yet to determine if it is complete. Sadly, the right genal spine and eye is damaged.

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And this is how I left the place after day one of slab-carving. There are some promising areas for continuing the expansion. 

 

(cont)

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Day Two

 

The weakening vestiges of Hurricane Nate had made its way northward and gave Western NY a bit of a soaking. The weather forecast up to this point had been inconsistent to say the least, so it was really a gamble on what this day would bring. So we did a little bit of shopping in the morning, and by 11 am or so the rain finally stopped. So it was back to the site. However, so much rain had fallen that we were met with a fairly flooded area. That bench I carved out the day before? A little lake. 

 

Those slabs I cut out the day before were on top of piles of overburden, so we were able to spend some time breaking those down and finding some good rollers and the occasional prone. 

 

Although the torrential rains had stopped, the drizzle was constant. Rocks got covered in mud, my gloves became slick and muddy along with the tools, so it made work very challenging. I spent about and hour bailing the muddy water out of the bench with a bucket, and we spent another hour or so scraping and shovelling off goopy, sticky overburden. I was then able to hack out a near shopping cart sized slab that took a lot out of me. With some artful use of a wedge and pry bar, I was able to lift it just enough to get my fingers in and do a mighty pull by securing one boot on a ledge and the other stabilizing it so it wouldn't fall on top of me. It took about five or six tries, but I was able to get it on its side and start carving. The stuff was very dense and not cooperating as bedding planes just weren't a thing for this rock. Still, I managed to turn a boulder into shards, probably bagging little more than ten or so trilos. Not a great return on investment!

 

By about 4 or so, there really was no point continuing with this bench. Water was filling back in and I couldn't determine where the bottom of the slabs were except by touch. Also, the water had seeped into the cracks creating additional suction. I was just too pooped with the big slab anyway, so off we went to the brach area.

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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The photos are amazing and so refreshing to see the fossils being uncovered and where they came from.

Never ask a starfish for directions

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Some in situ photos from the water-logged bench. In the first picture, I am pointing to a promising trilobite peeping out from the side which did turn out to be good. In the second, a full prone, but the stickiness of this layer resulted in some of it stuck on the impression side. And the last one has no head, but I kept it because it is about an inch wide. Prep practice, for sure.

 

(cont)

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Day Three

 

We had started around 4 pm the previous day in "brach city," an area that is close to the small tributary. This is an ideal spot to find a lot of Spinatrypa spinosa, Mucrospirifer audaculus, Athryris sp., Orbiculoiodea sp., Pseudotrypa sp., and Mediospirifer... The shale here is very crumbly, so these ones pop right out of the matrix. Trilobite pieces can be abundant here, but very rarely complete (comparable to the high energy coral biostrome of the Hungry Hollow member). The Mucrospirifers can be quite fragile and a challenge to find intact, but we got a bunch. We filled a bucket and planned to spend our final half day before leaving just focusing on this area. It is also filled with crinoid stems, bryozoans, occasional pelecypods, and other marine bits.

 

And thank goodness for easy pickings! My hammering arm was sore and my grip strength felt pretty weak.

 

Pictured here are 1. Some typical pieces from the layer; 2. What the layers look like as you pry out pieces which usually can be broken apart with your hands; 3. Typical spiriferid cluster; 4. Remember this piece since it seems to be a full trilobite nicely associated in this "sample pack" of the layer.

 

(cont)

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How many fully intact brachs did we bucket? Well over 1000. These are pictures from mostly different buckets. When I got home, I started rinsing them and trying to put them in order. I gave up for the time being. 

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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I can't help but think of Peat Burns whenever I go brach hunting given his predilection for them. Here are some closeups of the species here in small piles. I forgot to mention that there are also Rhipodomella sp. in this layer. 

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Aftermath

 

After a three hour drive back home, and a little over 15 hours total of collecting, we were bushed. I still haven't gone through everything yet. A picture of some of my homework:

 

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And some preliminary inspection of what I have, skimming a few pieces and fiddling with them a bit. The first is an association piece.

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This multi might prep out nicely. Pity that the curling one on the far right is damaged.

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Some rollers to chop out and/or clean. In the third picture, the roller on the left has a serious "underbite."

 

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Might be full, and associated with a spirifer for added flair.

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Remember that piece on Day Three that I thought might be a full trilobite? Well, it is! Finding full ones in this layer is pretty uncommon. This one is going to take some finesse to prep as these layers flake very easily.

 

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Oddly enough, the brach layer has a much higher percentage of Greenops than the Smoke's Creek layer. We were finding bits everywhere, but due to the shredded nature of so many bits, full ones were not to be. So, instead, how about this: I could tell by the genal spine that this was a Bellacartwrightia cephalon. In this case, it is covered by a brach, so I carefully removed it, and although it was sticky, lo and behold there it was. Note the little dot spike below the glabella. 

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And I'll update as I can find the time to get through the buckets as there are plenty more finds, and just as many to clean and prep. 

 

In total, not a bad haul. About 50 trilobites, 1000 brachs, a few gastros and sundry bits. The best find would be the Bella found on the first day if it preps out as full. Not pictured are a few Spinatrypa spinosa on matrix with the telltale protruding spines. 

 

Thanks for reading!

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Excellent report and pictures, K-man.   :dinothumb::hammer01:

Not to shabby of a haul, either.  :wub: 

Congratulations on a productive trip. 

 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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wow, the hard rock mining paid off handsomely for you!  I am embarrassed now to post my meager trilobite shots after seeing this haul. ;)

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Arizona Chris

Paleo Web Site:  http://schursastrophotography.com/fossiladventures.html

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Love the trip report and the great photos. Looks like someplace else to add to my bucket list.

 

We deal with hurricanes and tropical storms a bit more directly down here in South Florida but we tend to forget that those storms continue on north and have distant impacts far from our area. You made great work of less than ideal conditions and brought back a nice amount of material. I'll have to hide the pictures of your buckets of fossils from this site or my wife won't let me go there. :P I still have buckets and boxes in the garage and house from our recent outings.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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Very nice, wish I could have met up with you but had family down for Canadian Thanksgiving.

 

See you next Friday can hardly wait to get out again been too busy with family and music the last few weeks. If anyone is interested Kane, myself and Shamalama are meeting up in Arkona on Friday October 20. PM me if you are interested in joining us....

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On 10/11/2017 at 8:16 AM, Kane said:

I can't help but think of Peat Burns whenever I go brach hunting given his predilection for them. Here are some closeups of the species here in small piles. I forgot to mention that there are also Rhipodomella sp. in this layer. 

:faint::faint::faint::faint:

 

Wow! Those are fantastic.  It was worth the long scroll through the trilobites to get down to the good stuff :drool:

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Amazing lot of finds, Kane!!!  I'm already looking forward to the next time I can head out to Penn Dixie with Viola...

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Pity about the rain, but that's just the luck of the draw sometimes. Looking forward to seeing the prepped finds. Looks like you've got some interesting stuff there.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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Thanks, everyone. :) 

 

I probably have enough brachiopods to spread and trade around. Or tile my entire house. Or use them as poker chips. :P 

 

@Monica I can certainly tell you where that productive layer for brachs is for next time you go. Viola will be over the moon. :) It is in a spot hardly anyone goes, as most people are there looking for trilobites.

 

@Ludwigia - yes, the rain was a bit of a bummer, but autumn is a little unpredictable weather-wise. Prep has started, albeit slowly. My new scribe arrives in the mail in the next while, which should cut down on matrix removal time. 

 

@Malcolmt - Very excited to get back out to Arkona. I second the invitation to anyone who would like to join us on October 20th. Malcolm, I'll get your advice on how best to approach the Bella pictured in the second post above. I've removed a bit more, but it seems to cut across a few layers. Not sure if it will come out complete yet. 

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Just an update as I slowly go through the buckets. I had actually forgotten about these trilos, having focused on another bucket's yield.

 

We just kind of threw them in as we found them. Of course, not everything we put in turned out to be complete! So as I go through the finds, about a quarter of them get pitched aside.

 

* First picture shows what I think to be promising candidates (the specimen near the upper left is just a Platyceras photobombing the shot).

 

* The second picture is after I use various tools to remove excess matrix, and not all of them from the first picture are shown as they still need some serious work. That one in the back has two fairly large rollers on the same rock. That should make a nice display piece when prepped. The rest are freed up rollers and a few semi-prone.

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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40 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

That Platyceras looks like a real beaut.  Any chance for a pic of that?  Which species is it?

Can do! Not sure of the species (yet). It is not as nice as the ones I find at Arkona.

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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33 minutes ago, Kane said:

Can do! Not sure of the species (yet). It is not as nice as the ones I find at Arkona.

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Thanks. That's a monster.  I've never found one that big at Penn Dixie yet.  It looks like it might be complete with some prep?  Was that found down in the brachiopod zone or up with the trilobites?

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14 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

Thanks. That's a monster.  I've never found one that big at Penn Dixie yet.  It looks like it might be complete with some prep?  Was that found down in the brachiopod zone or up with the trilobites?

Heh. My bad for not adding a scale in that photo. It is a little under an inch. I found it in the trilo layer. Oddly enough, I have yet to find a Platy in the brach zone. Still, they are as rare as hen's teeth for me at PD as opposed to comparable strata up here. :headscratch:

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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