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Sometimes You Have To Whack It !!


Nimravis

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1 hour ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

Nice fish. I never found one, not even a blade.

Thanks- I have not found a Blade in forever.

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42 minutes ago, Nimravis said:

I would have to look for that one, but if I remember correctly, it is just the way the concretion is.

I have some that have the "shelf" "pedestal" but the fossil is contained upon it. Seldom goes beyond the top of the shelf.

Edited by Mark Kmiecik
added strikethrough and replacement
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Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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On 7/9/2018 at 9:19 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Perhaps they are UFOs. 

They are! Unidentified Fossilized Objects.

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Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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On 7/13/2018 at 9:47 PM, Nimravis said:

Unknown- will have to look into this one.

 

IMG_7369.jpg.b4cf1ba33b7ecfe76f27a4ca993a27cd.jpg

Cyclus Americanus lateral view???

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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On 7/18/2018 at 11:24 AM, Nimravis said:

Thanks for the nice comments and you are exactly right about instant gratification, it rarely happens in the field when collecting concretions.

 

I rarely opened any concretions in the field because if I found nothing, which most likely would have been the case, I had the 1 1/2 hour drive back to Chicago to think about that. So I decided to always wait until I arrived home to open some and then I just started hoarding them, knowing that the areas I collected from were vanishing due to developments or nature and lack of weathering.

You don't open Mazon Creek in the field for one very simple reason. In the time it takes you to crack it open and probably destroy it you could have found two more, or if you are with a group someone else picked them up instead of you. It's a waste of valuable search time; freeze/thaw will serve you better until you are EXTREMELY FAMILIAR with what concretions may have the really good stuff. I mean at least a couple of thousand. Ralph has the experience and 25,000 concretions to play with, and even so, each time he shows us something relatively rare I think about how much better it may have been if freeze/thawed. If you've read this all the way through you will know that he is saving concretions of specific shape, size, color and other factors to be freeze/thawed because they are the "high-percentage" ones.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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On 7/26/2018 at 8:34 AM, Nimravis said:

@RCFossils When I opened it yesterday I put it off to the side, because it seemed odd and I was thinking a larger than normal for me Asterophyllites. @Wrangellian mentioned “insect wing” but I am not seeing that. What do you think on this one?

 

052AA668-11D0-43A6-8FE1-6DFC17CD4DC1.thumb.jpeg.40cf3b9cd051a3a21751d2c2d7e8826b.jpeg

Cockroach??? 

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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44 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

Cockroach??? 

Not a cockroach, I have 1 or 2 of them and this piece looks nothing like them. I am not positive on what insect it is, but was happy to find it and more happy that @Wrangellian noticed it. I just cracked it, took a quick pic and moved on.

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  • 2 weeks later...

After heading into the city this morning to hid Easter eggs and toys for my grandson, I headed home and decided to whack open a few concretions. Prior to getting some concretions from a bucket, I decided to grab the small container that I had been freeze / thawing in my freezer and thaw them out and give them a couple taps with the hammer.

 

IMG_0511.jpg.f00c5d130cd36dfb79f6414702e3a0f7.jpgIMG_0510.jpg.daf4aebff29a9f0ed415a4e620e4fbe2.jpg

 

All of the concretions in this container were "duds", here are two examples.

 

IMG_0515.jpg.30d47e67381f571b1dbff676f3ee3e89.jpgIMG_0521.jpg.ef43c7c2e6768285989aed5840a3ebf4.jpg

 

There were only two concretions that contained anything the first piece is some coprolite.

 

IMG_0522.jpg.5b9e49725b094435ac98c7d45346c3e0.jpg

 

The next piece was my best find of the session. I gave it i slight tap and it split perfectly, aided by the Freeze / Thaw method. This is why the Freeze / Thaw method has been the preferred method of Mazon Creek collectors for decades. I just have way too many concretions to do this method on a routine basis, so I whack them. The remainder of the +300 concretions that I froze over the Winter will not be subject to Thor's Hammer yet, I have plenty more buckets full of concretions to go through, so these will be spared for the time being.

 

Annularia stellata-

 

IMG_0513.jpg.b6e907f9df6a12a7cd8bf21c97021ec1.jpgIMG_0514.jpg.519d1436241d799e8de34d38fedcfc96.jpg

 

Here are a couple finds from some of the concretions that I cracked open from a bucket.

 

Essexella asherae Jellyfish-

 

IMG_0507.jpg.5b12e40c1723a9dbbd8ff7c3bc739a35.jpgIMG_0508.jpg.9c8e9d9e5c56808e357375e95ab9b314.jpgIMG_0516.jpg.f0a56c6d1a12cd2a8d42d6926410fce1.jpg

 

Pecopteris-

 

IMG_0523.jpg.966a00337f22e7d8b14044d5dd0aa900.jpg

 

Sedgwickia marine bivalve-

 

IMG_0519.jpg.047de19411973da6966aa1682dc8c529.jpg

 

Partial Neuropteris leaf-

 

IMG_0512.jpg.62a750e02f406e37d843d659568880eb.jpg

 

Subsurface bark-

 

IMG_0509.jpg.c156f2e8a3d6957087cac0acf355f5cc.jpg

 

Asterophyllites equisetiformis tip (?)

 

IMG_0520.jpg.8676ece37832c972368d638b800071f1.jpg

 

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The Annularia is very nice. Only 15,000 or so to go now?

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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1 minute ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

The Annularia is very nice. Only 15,000 or so to go now?

Well maybe around 10,000- but it is a start.

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That Annularia is indeed gorgeous, Ralph!  Congrats!

 

I hope AJ enjoyed the hunt, too :)

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13 hours ago, Monica said:

That Annularia is indeed gorgeous, Ralph!  Congrats!

 

I hope AJ enjoyed the hunt, too :)

Thanks Monica and he did, especially when he found a couple more sets of Lego Jurassic Park and a Lego Stars Wars book. Hope you guys had a good Easter.

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Yes, the freeze-thaw Annularia is a beauty and i rather like the Sedgwickia too. :)

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Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I have now spent a good part of 3 days reading this thread ;) whew, that's a lot of hammer blows to watch. Being in AK I'll more then likely never get out there so it has been great viewing your finds. Love the fish but my favs are the ferns types. Love the details.

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26 minutes ago, Sjfriend said:

Well, I have now spent a good part of 3 days reading this thread ;) whew, that's a lot of hammer blows to watch. Being in AK I'll more then likely never get out there so it has been great viewing your finds. Love the fish but my favs are the ferns types. Love the details.

Go to the "Member Collections" topic and find Mazon Creek Flora and Mazon Creek Fauna on the third page to see the really good stuff.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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After working on some other fossil related stuff, I figured that I would open a few concretions, heck they are not going to open themselves if I don’t get this process going again, plus I need to get more material for the September Braceville Shaft Mine Trip put on by ESCONI.

 

Nothing special was found today, but here is what I believe is a nice “Plain Worm”, I will have to clean it up a bit.

 

D5A18CB7-49A2-4013-A976-3A5686CE4017.jpeg.cc573e41519b960b5e180058b9e7b3ba.jpeg

 

Here are some others finds-

 

Pecopteris-

 

93912531-A164-4B20-B56B-E3C6AD84B0AA.jpeg.d11d283a87517937ba4f9c8fe45b3df3.jpeg113EB68C-7134-4394-858C-C83FF501CD54.jpeg.452dd04182efc2717bdf87cc222a18e7.jpeg

 

Neuropteris-

 

D921CDB1-A657-4608-B02A-84A345E2336F.jpeg.c5c6372313a30c01114f183371523133.jpegB7E5DCE2-E4D1-4107-927D-C2CA3649FAC1.jpeg.7b079e25eca3eb8836c0ad26205d70db.jpegC7385AC4-03E3-4023-BE28-0DF78A0AFFAC.jpeg.3ae5d3c16ec345ac7e1f17be143ecea8.jpeg

 

Bark and Sub-Surface Bark-

 

1B7352CD-6827-4935-9856-7ED55F2E48B7.jpeg.cfd61cd875017c15c9741eb3bc9e1332.jpeg898B858E-55DE-4853-8B2C-B4B025476425.jpeg.6446adf393656f5975168f14a894972a.jpegF0D708E1-BF38-4604-8BA9-FDF0616A2EF4.jpeg.86a9efcfbf39d40960eff66482a8088e.jpeg90E09F48-EEBA-465A-908F-53F8CF4611E2.jpeg.dbab7ccb28f8d0152cf66aba612698e5.jpeg6B66B17A-C2E3-4E0A-BED0-729D220AAE19.jpeg.56e75e66eb19e0c6a0f6d499cb413737.jpegBCF61413-A4FE-4B08-A39F-C83DFA2D511C.jpeg.e9e5d4c40da0778e678aa6d8e7dec4c7.jpeg

 

Annularia- needs to be cleaned up.

 

E94278EF-450C-47E8-88C1-2E2521F28EA2.jpeg.c19dee41f301e8f8dfffb205a598fda9.jpeg

 

Myalinella meeki-

 

4C7301F4-7342-4D37-9B8A-61C87C790AE9.jpeg.b16cd20f04755edb6a9e260d012de94d.jpegDB551011-92A7-43F8-ABDF-92261BE44DD5.jpeg.f895291e1d6c9059337b83373da6a083.jpeg9907754C-6D22-45A0-BFA8-3CE94141530B.jpeg.b64808373789a151729ce36fcd6fe319.jpeg9DC64949-58D5-4819-9345-5F75B9009069.jpeg.5c68b40607396f56ab869ed6956a1d59.jpeg

 

Ano of course there were countless ones that contained nothing, but I do hate it when perfect concretions split correctly and are void- here are a couple examples.

 

C2BCEEF9-0FDF-498A-92EC-5247D5100232.jpeg.88876cc3a78da02bd47f21d1dc7866da.jpegA1E9ABB1-4AB8-46EA-AE21-F131688FF26E.jpeg.e84644339760dba180b25bcb2d580416.jpeg

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I like the worm, the group of Myalinella and the last Neuropteris especially. :)

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Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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10 hours ago, Nimravis said:

 

Annularia- needs to be cleaned up.

 

What further work would you do to this?? 

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector

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1 hour ago, Yoda said:

What further work would you do to this?? 

I will soak it in water and brush it lightly with a toothbrush, if that does not work, I will soak it in vinegar for a little and brush it.

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16 hours ago, Yoda said:

What further work would you do to this?? 

This is after a quick brushing with a toothbrush.

 

05A2111E-876B-4C44-8351-CEAE244D9087.thumb.jpeg.5dae87340539bd35c4fe7eb61c32f82b.jpeg

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On 5/20/2019 at 5:16 AM, Yoda said:

What further work would you do to this?? 

Be aware that the vinegar does attack the fossil as well. If you leave it in vinegar too long you can erase the fossil, literally.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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2 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

Be aware that the vinegar does attack the fossil as well. If you leave it in vinegar too long you can erase the fossil, literally.

I understand that and have never had a problem using vinegar and only rarely will use it on fauna.

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55 minutes ago, Nimravis said:

I understand that and have never had a problem using vinegar and only rarely will use it on fauna.

Comment intended for others who are following this thread. Don't want anyone to think "Ok, I'll just soak it in vinegar to clean it up." and have their fossil disappear. I did that once in '91 on what would have been a fairly nice 7" complete Pecopteris pinna and still remember that heart-sinking feeling vivdly. Put it in a vinegar bath in the evening and forgot about it. In the morning there was a long bump and a long trough where the pinna had been. Once you try it a few times on throw-away specimens you develop a sense of how long you can soak it to remove/loosen the calcite, but it takes many tries to get a feel for it. I don't try to improve specimens any more. I figure whoever has them after I kick off can ruin their own.

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Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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21 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

Comment intended for others who are following this thread. Don't want anyone to think "Ok, I'll just soak it in vinegar to clean it up." and have their fossil disappear. I did that once in '91 on what would have been a fairly nice 7" complete Pecopteris pinna and still remember that heart-sinking feeling vivdly. Put it in a vinegar bath in the evening and forgot about it. In the morning there was a long bump and a long trough where the pinna had been. Once you try it a few times on throw-away specimens you develop a sense of how long you can soak it to remove/loosen the calcite, but it takes many tries to get a feel for it. I don't try to improve specimens any more. I figure whoever has them after I kick off can ruin their own.

I figured you meant it for others and it is good advice not to leave it for a long time, and now I am like you, I leave them alone unless I can clean it with water. I have a lot of pieces that are a real mess and I leave them that way, same holds true with some that could use some prep, I don’t do that either. My mentor and others that lived in Wilmington and Braidwood use to put egg whites on all plant specimens to bring out detail. Note to self- Don’t lick old Mazon Creek flora pieces.

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