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Quick Visit to the Niobrara Chalk


coled18

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This past weekend, my dad, brother and I were able to go out to Western Kansas to search in the Niobrara Chalk formation. We live in Manhattan, KS, so we had to drive about 4 hours to get to a suitable spot. A lot of Western Kansas is private property, so we had to look up GIS maps for Lane and Gove counties, which is where we wanted to search. Sadly, when we got there, one of the roads seemed to not exist; our map led us through the middle of some farmer's cornfield. It wasn't blocked off, but we decided not to take our chances. We started to look around in the area, and about an hour later, we finally found a spot that was not fenced off on the southern border of Gove County. 

 

 

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CD

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The ground was covered in Inoceramids such as this Volviceramus grandis. If only I had brought some actual equipment, I would have put one in a mold and taken it home to prep! 

We also found (and left) what I think is a heavily eroded crinoid. 

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We only could stay for a little bit, but we found some cool stuff. A few fish verts and what I think is a pharyngeal tooth and a chunk of petrified wood. 

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CD

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I think this to be a Ptychodus Mortoni tooth, but some say it could be a large ray denticle. I included a comparison pic of several teeth found in the same county. 

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Oystera on a Inoceramid

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A bit of Inoceramid with Cirriped damage

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CD

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@coled18 Wow- Some really nice fossils. I really want to get out there some time to collect. I did purchase a number of items from the Chalk when I was at the M.A.P.S. Fossil show last year and really like it- I also just bought the book The Oceans of Kansas.

 

 

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Nice finds!

“...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

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Now I really will sneak into your car now! Those finds are amazing! 

If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

 

Mosasaurus_hoffmannii_skull_schematic.png

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NEXT TIME you really should go to Castle Rock!  There is a wonderful drone video on YouTube featuring the canyons around Castle Rock.  Look up DJi Phantom 3  Pro and you will find it. BTW, I was actually BORN in Manhattan myself!  It's kinda fun to tell the story that the building I was born in is NOW A FRAT HOUSE! I would also mention that my favorite domestic beer is Buffalo Sweat from TallGrass Brewing in Manhattan!  Dave

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36 minutes ago, Castle Rock said:

NEXT TIME you really should go to Castle Rock!  There is a wonderful drone video on YouTube featuring the canyons around Castle Rock.  Look up DJi Phantom 3  Pro and you will find it. BTW, I was actually BORN in Manhattan myself!  It's kinda fun to tell the story that the building I was born in is NOW A FRAT HOUSE! I would also mention that my favorite domestic beer is Buffalo Sweat from TallGrass Brewing in Manhattan!  Dave

I have seen that video,I believe on a recommendation that you gave before- it is outstanding.

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@coled18

Hey I live in Rush/Ellis County and I've been looking for a site like this. The place where I'm at its simply Greenhorn Limestone and Pierre Shale, if you ever would like to check it out give me a heads up and I can show you some good places, as well as a couple private. This looks like an amazing site! How did you find this location? Is there anyway I could get the coordinates or directions to it? I would kill to check this place out! Great find

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When you say "we finally found a spot that was not fenced off" raises some questions. Just to be clear, even if an area of land is not fenced off that does not mean you can freely access the property. Keep in mind this is private land and without proper permission, you would be trespassing. Just something to keep in mind. 

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20 hours ago, CarlosSchwindt said:

 

Hey I live in Rush/Ellis County and I've been looking for a site like this. The place where I'm at its simply Greenhorn Limestone and Pierre Shale, if you ever would like to check it out give me a heads up and I can show you some good places, as well as a couple private. This looks like an amazing site! How did you find this location? Is there anyway I could get the coordinates or directions to it? I would kill to check this place out! Great find

@coled18 

 

This is better done via Private Message, rather than on the open forum, for thousands of people to view. ;) 

Especially considering the question of legality to hunt the location.  :( 

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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The "ptychodus tooth" or "large ray denticle" is a piece of an iron concretion. Many times they are perfect balls called "pop rocks".  I've picked up bunches of those thinking they were something else. Rats!

 

And to Kansas Fossilhunter's point....yes, even though it wasn't fenced you were 99% trespassing. There's not much chalk exposure that isn't in private hands. Finding land where you have permission to hunt is the single hardest part of hunting in the chalk beds. 

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ON the matter of public access, as has been pointed out before, Castle Rock, although being on private land...IS OPEN to public access...UNLIKE MOST other outcrops in the Chalk trend.  I would mention my own good fortune in having access to land held by family members who reserve their land for family hunting only. As my family members in that area continue to grow older, I live in perpetual DREAD of the possibility that I might lose access...probably just a matter of time.  I consider myself SO FORTUNATE to have been able (so far) to have had  collecting access my entire life!  Dave

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Here is just one example of the material I collected a few years ago: a medium-sized Xiphactinus skull.  Needless to say, I DREAM of the next trip to Kansas!  Dave 

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8 hours ago, Castle Rock said:

Here is just one example of the material I collected a few years ago: a medium-sized Xiphactinus skull.  Needless to say, I DREAM of the next trip to Kansas!  Dave 

P1010521.JPG

Beautiful skull!

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10 hours ago, KansasFossilHunter said:

When you say "we finally found a spot that was not fenced off" raises some questions. Just to be clear, even if an area of land is not fenced off that does not mean you can freely access the property. Keep in mind this is private land and without proper permission, you would be trespassing. Just something to keep in mind. 

Don’t worry, the area was not private property according to Gove county’s GIS map. 

 

CD

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9 hours ago, Xiphactinus said:

The "ptychodus tooth" or "large ray denticle" is a piece of an iron concretion. Many times they are perfect balls called "pop rocks".  I've picked up bunches of those thinking they were something else. Rats!

 

And to Kansas Fossilhunter's point....yes, even though it wasn't fenced you were 99% trespassing. There's not much chalk exposure that isn't in private hands. Finding land where you have permission to hunt is the single hardest part of hunting in the chalk beds. 

I should have phrased that better. We were looking at a GIS map of Gove county and that area was listed as “not a property”. 

@Castle Rock beautiful find!!

CD

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For all those who are concerned about the legality: 

 

I am sorry, I have a weird way of phrasing things sometimes. I am not to be taken literally all the time, which I do not blame you for doing. I am confident that where we went was NOT private property, according to the county GIS maps. 

CD

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1 hour ago, doushantuo said:

I'm not sure knowledge of the indications on a GIS map exonerate one from an accusation of trespassing

The GIS maps I viewed showed all owned land in Lane and Gove counties. I plotted a specific area that was not listed as being owned by anyone. I would not have been trespassing if the land was not owned by anyone. 

CD

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All land in the US is owned by Someone.  If it is listed as "not a property" that just sounds weird.  If it is not privately owned, it is publicly owned in which case you have the County or the State or the feds as landowner.  Whoever owns the land, you NEED their permission to trespass legally.  I don't want to be giving you a hard time, but I just want to make sure folks know the rules, nay, the laws.  

 

There are many landowners here in Wyoming who will not allow fossil hunters on their land because they have found too many folks just out there walking about with no idea whose land they are on and never even thought to ask for permission.  I hate for the owner of this land to join that camp because they found you guys out there without permission.

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I understand your guys' concerns, and thank you for trying to reach out. We are aware of the laws around here; happy hunting and good luck to you all!

CD

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