Anyone been to Marble Mountains recently?

[ynot]

14 minutes ago, 1andonlyFinn said:

shot of the overall slab

Reminds Me of hackle fringe marks in differentiated rock (2 layers distinguished by the color.).

[Sagebrush Steve]

8 hours ago, 1andonlyFinn said:

Ok I tried a better shot of the overall slab and the area zoomed in, I'm really limited by the phone. 

 

Hard to say, but the bottom picture looks like a couple of poorly preserved Olenellus cephalons at the top, but I’m not sure what is below them.  The fossil in the top picture has the general shape of another cephalon.

[1andonlyFinn]

I’ve been back to the junk pile of Latham Shale in Cadiz (see attached image of my son standing on the mountain of smashed Shale for why I’m calling it that) three times since my earlier report and my son each time cracked some rocks and found some interesting things. But most interesting, and puzzling to the people I’ve shown them to, are these weird worm-like things. Anyone have an idea what we keep finding out there? This image is the best one we found (and unfortunately only part of the original find- my son dropped it by accident and the rest of it disintegrated).

[Fossildude19]

@1andonlyFinn

Your item looks a bit like Cruziana, the trackways left by trilobites.

 

More images HERE.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Fossildude19
add links

[ynot]

Cute little fossil hunter.

[Sagebrush Steve]

It could also be an annelid, a type of worm.  They have been found in the Latham shale in the Marble Mountains:

 

http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/latham/latham.html

https://www.palaeontologyonline.com/articles/2014/fossil-focus-annelids/

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Nice haul !!

 

It is definitely a great spot.  Whole trilos are rare but it does happen ... One of these, I don't remember which, is featured in a California textbook.  My one contribution to science (?)  haha

 

 

 

A little brachiopod ....

 

[FossilDAWG]

Wow, those are very nice! 

Don

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

2 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Wow, those are very nice! 

Don

Thanks ... these were not lucky finds on a first time stint. 

 

As with most fossil endeavors it took many visits over several years to slowly build a collection of complete specimens. I must have destroyed more complete trilos with my chisel that I revealed.  The shale can be very hard when it has a fresh face.  Knowing what I know now .. I wonder if the method used for eurypterids would work here. ie. take a chunk of promising material home and let nature help soften the bedding planes with a freeze thaw action.

 

Cheers,

Brett

[Sagebrush Steve]

20 hours ago, Brett Breakin' Rocks said:

Thanks ... these were not lucky finds on a first time stint. 

 

As with most fossil endeavors it took many visits over several years to slowly build a collection of complete specimens. I must have destroyed more complete trilos with my chisel that I revealed.  The shale can be very hard when it has a fresh face.  Knowing what I know now .. I wonder if the method used for eurypterids would work here. ie. take a chunk of promising material home and let nature help soften the bedding planes with a freeze thaw action.

 

Cheers,

Brett

I may try this with material from the next time I go there or to any of the similar Cambrian sites in California or Nevada.  Although I fret about taking home many pounds (kilos for you Europeans) of material that may have nothing in it.

 

[1andonlyFinn]

On 12/15/2018 at 5:23 PM, Brett Breakin' Rocks said:

Nice haul !!

 

It is definitely a great spot.  Whole trilos are rare but it does happen ... One of these, I don't remember which, is featured in a California textbook.  My one contribution to science (?)  haha

 

 

 

A little brachiopod ....

 

Wow Brett, these came from the Latham at Cadiz?? The rockpile of what now remains for the outcropping must be a sorry reflection of what once was. Then again, it looks like someone took a bulldozer to it relatively recently.

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

2 hours ago, 1andonlyFinn said:

Wow Brett, these came from the Latham at Cadiz?? The rockpile of what now remains for the outcropping must be a sorry reflection of what once was. Then again, it looks like someone took a bulldozer to it relatively recently.

Haha .... well, to be honest this location has always been a litteral wall of broken shale extending 100 feet downslope and stretching all the way to the summit. Best bet is to find a place where someone has been digging heavily and make them work for you... That fresh shale is great and having sat out for some time it is ripe for a hammer or sledge and a small chisel.

The bedding planes will start to loosen up. Are you bringing in chisels ? Eye protection and honestly a mask too is necessary. I will say that it takes several visits to get the hang of it ... some parts of the mountain are less productive etc..

 

 

Good Luck.