Along the Thames River

[Kane]

Before having to teach, I decided to take a small walk along the Thames River that runs through our campus. The river runs a course of about 170 miles, and was extremely high after very heavy rains and high temperatures that melted a great deal of snow. Since then, the river levels have receded significantly, leaving large stretches of sand and transported materials.

 

I didn't plan on doing any collecting, but where there are rocks... 

 

So these are two snaps of the bank. The deposited material went on for some distance.

[Kane]

As I had no plans on collecting, I obviously didn't have any of my collecting gear on me... And perhaps it would arouse some unwanted attention to be going about campus with a rock hammer. 

 

There are a lot of tough Dundee limestone and glacial till along the lazy Thames River. They make a clanky, almost metallic sound when struck. Some of them are encrusted with horn and tabulate corals. But here we have a rare specimen from the Computing Formation, a Circuitus boardi:

 

Amidst the usual rocks is plenty of old building materials like chunks of asphalt, concrete, bricks, and flooring. Pictured here is a bit of material upon which sits a worn brachiopod. Beneath that is a water-worn coral piece.

[Kane]

Pictured here is what I suspect to be the impression of a trilobite fragment.

 

 

A few things going on here. At the very top a brach impression, below that a curious trace/impression on black shale where the gouges seem to alternate on angles rather than a sequence of horizontal lines, a worn spirifer, a high-spired gastropod steinkern, and a worn coral and bits assemblage.

 

[Kane]

I was finding pieces of very water-worn smooth, yet more dense-than-fissile black shales. Many of them were blank or contained pyrite staining - but not all. Take a closer look at this one:

 

 

If you look closely, you can see the cranidium of a Triarthrus sp. trilobite. Why this is an oddball in the mix is on account of the locality: an enormous swathe of the region is predominantly Devonian, and this shale is hailing from the Ordovician. It must have been transported some distance as the nearest Ordovician outcrop is probably about 150 miles away.

 

This more brittle, lighter brown shale is just chock full of tiny, shiny brachs:

[Kane]

Another Triarthrus sp. cranidium, all alone, and of a healthy size.

 

 

Some of the pieces I idly put in my teaching bag:

 

[Kane]

A closeup of some trilobite fragments to inspect more closely: 

 

There were a few other pieces of the Ordovician shale I need to look at more closely, including a minuscule Triarthrus (~0.3 mm) that has its midsection intact. 

 

So, in all, nothing earth-shattering, but it was unplanned and right at work. The sun was warm, and it felt lovely to be outside and by the river rather than cooped up in the office or lecture hall. There were minnows in the water, and I came within 10 feet of a white-tailed deer. Thanks for looking.  

[Pemphix]

No pics ??

[RJB]

Hi Kane, not my kind of stuff, but i do agree, its nice to get out. We still have waaaaaaaaay too much snow here to do any fossiling.  Nice pics  of the great outdoors.

 

RB

[Darktooth]

I wish I could find time to explore before work!

[Auspex]

Walk-and-scan...

Just like shark-toothin' at Maryland's Calvert Fm. beaches.

[Peat Burns]

Looks like a very peaceful and stress-releaving hunt. 

 

When I was  child, I would hunt our long gravel driveway (in situ glacial deposits) during spring snowmelt after a long winter of dreaming about fossil hunting.  It was rich in worn coral and brachiopod fragments.

 

I found myself doing this very thing the other day.  I found a nice mucrospirifer, too.  Some activities are so enjoyable that they are tumeless.

[Fossildude19]

Good way to put you in the right frame of mind to deal with those inquisitive minds.  

[LiamL]

Nice finds!

[Pagurus]

You just couldn't help it, huh? Couldn't fight that urge. Well, at least you made it to school, which is likely more than I would have done.  

[Tidgy's Dad]

Not bad for an impromptu wander before work. 

And as for the Circuitus boardii,  ! ! ! !

[Kane]

Thanks, all.  My expectations are always scaled to what the area affords (which is quite low in this area). Finding Ordovician fossils this far in was a real treat, and I still need to identify that 3D nautiloid with the thick ribbing as I've never encountered them in Devonian Dundee Fm deposits. Although none of the finds were particularly ooh/ahh, hopefully it bodes well for a good season of collecting, near and far.

[FossilDAWG]

Those photos do not align much with my recollection of Ontario in late February/early March.  Where are the six foot snow drifts?  Where is the melting dog poop "surprise"?

 

Don

[Kane]

9 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Those photos do not align much with my recollection of Ontario in late February/early March.  Where are the six foot snow drifts?  Where is the melting dog poop "surprise"?

 

Don

It's been a wild winter up here! We've had record-breaking lake-effect snowfalls followed by sudden thaws - some of which caused a great deal of major flooding along the Grand River, as well as overspilling banks in Chatham at the southernmost end of the Thames. Just for fun, I've been taking pictures of my backyard at 2 week intervals that I'll throw into a GIF once the year is over, and already the snow levels go up and down dramatically. And winter's wrath is still not over...

 

And this was the river a few weeks ago (photo credit: Mike Hensen/LFP): 

[FossilDAWG]

No it's not over.  My daughter was born on March 22 in Ottawa in the midst of the worst snowstorm of the entire winter that year.  March: in like a lion, out like a lamb.  Also: in like a lion, out like a lion; or in like a lamb, out like a lion.  Really anything is possible in March, or April.  Kind of like the rest of the year.

 

Don

[Monica]

13 hours ago, Kane said:

Thanks, all.  My expectations are always scaled to what the area affords (which is quite low in this area). Finding Ordovician fossils this far in was a real treat, and I still need to identify that 3D nautiloid with the thick ribbing as I've never encountered them in Devonian Dundee Fm deposits. Although none of the finds were particularly ooh/ahh, hopefully it bodes well for a good season of collecting, near and far.

 

Hi Kane!

 

It sounds like you did what Viola and I do when we head to Etobicoke or Mimico Creeks - fossil-hunting through flipping rocks.  And it looks as though you brought home a nice number of items as a result - congrats!

 

Your nautiloid is a beauty (I think cephalopods might just be my favourite fossils ) and it reminds me of the Spyroceras sp. I found at Penn Dixie, although the ribs on yours do appear to be thicker - best of luck in identifying it!

 

Have a good one!

 

Monica

[Kane]

1 hour ago, Monica said:

 

Hi Kane!

 

It sounds like you did what Viola and I do when we head to Etobicoke or Mimico Creeks - fossil-hunting through flipping rocks.  And it looks as though you brought home a nice number of items as a result - congrats!

 

Your nautiloid is a beauty (I think cephalopods might just be my favourite fossils ) and it reminds me of the Spyroceras sp. I found at Penn Dixie, although the ribs on yours do appear to be thicker - best of luck in identifying it!

 

Have a good one!

 

Monica

Thanks.  It was fun to pick along the bank, although cracking fresh rock in the context of identifiable strata is more my thing.  Although at this point I'll take what I can get; looking out the window, it is a winter wonderland again.  

 

It could be a Spyroceras or similar type, and the rib thickness might be due to its overall size. Unlike the cephs we find in shale, the ones in limestone are nice and robust as opposed to flattened.

[ynot]

It is amazing how much material a river can move.

Nice pebbles.

[masonboro37]

Great report!

[JustPlainPetrified]

Warmest area in Alberta is Lethbridge on the Oldman River. Still too much snow on the banks to do much prospecting but once dry enough, and before ice goes out we hope to get to some good exposures. Your saunter before class is envious. Thanks for sharing.