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wide range of sites...hooray, hooray on my anniversary trip


dalmayshun

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This summer has been great for me. After learning so much about fossils on the forum I decided to convince my wife to make a few side trips on our way from Ft Myers to Shawano, Wisconsin for our 50th anniversary celebration...she has no interest in fossils, but indulges me, so you can see why our marriage would last 50 years.  At anyrate, our first stop was the little Conasauga formation near Dalton, Ga...north of Atlanta. I've been there before, and so decided to simply fill a box with pieces of mudstone to take back for door prizes over the year at my local fossil club meetings. That was fun  because I know almost every little chunk will produce some nice trilobite fossil. From there I had convinced my wife to stop at the Jersey Road cut by the Harsha bridge over the Ohio River. That road cut is even larger than the well known one I hunt near St Leon, Indiana. I had stopped there because I had read there were edrioasteroids there, it having been part of the sea floor....oops...The road cut , like many, cuts through lots of differernt layers...and is terraced. From the images I had found on line, I decided to hunt the very top section. The formation I was looking for was the Bellevue Formation, but I have no idea where it was. The site was overwhelming...no, that is a wrong word, awe inspiring is better. I didn't have alot of time, so I looked and carried out a backpack of 70 # or so....of layered sections so I could crack them at home. (And that pattern of operation would serve me the rest of the trip as well. ) I will post a few of my interesting pieces for this site on this note,  nothing great, but interesting to me.  From there, we drove to New Salem  Illinois to avoid the Chicago corrider. On our way from New Salem north, I realized we were close to the site of the famous Mazon Creek nodules. Once again, my lovely wife, agreed to stop, but on our way home. We had rented a house on a lake near where we both grew up, and had our children's families come stay with us for a week of fishing, and visiting. Great time. My children live in Michigan and Maine, and my grandchildren rarely get to see their cousins unless we arrange things like this. So it was gratiying to have them all so thoroughly enjoy each other. We had a great time. After the cottage, we decided to head through the middle of the state  for a 4 day visit to my sister near Madison. ( me checking out possible future fossil sites and my son-in-law who is an avid bird watcher, hoping to see the endangered Whooping Crane. I had hoped to be able to fossil hunt near Madison and had asked on the forum for help...being told to look along highway J. There wasn't time. Though we did underetake a trip to Cave of the Mounds near Dodgeville, and lucky me, on the way back to Madison, I noticed a quarry by the side of the road. We stopped and I was able to look for a half hour, picked up three stones from a discard pile for inspection and cracking later, and headed on. Leaving Madison the next day, I was excited to be able to visit the Mazon Creek site...I had been told , nodules are hard to find in summer with all the overgrowth, but wanted to make this bucket list stop anyway. Again, as on the Ohio, the site can be overwhelming. Having asked for a good place at the reception desk, and following the advice I had received from the Forum associates, I headed out. Once again, I wish I had someone along who knew what to look for...I mean, when you are picking up rocks to open later, you don't want to pick up and carry a bunch of things that are rocks, and not nodules. To hedge my bet a bit, I decided to crack a few rocks I thought promishing, they looked somewhat like they had layers. If I found something, I'd be ahead of the game in knowing what type of rock to pick up....Success....I cracked a rock along a seam and there inside is "something"....LOL, I know, I know. Can't tell what it is , but it is something, so I picked up a bag of similarly looking rocks and headed back to car to add yet another collection to my growing car rockpile for searching later. By the way, many of you suggested the best time to hunt is in early spring or fall, and that sometimes the workers plow areas to upturn nodules at the Mazon site. Where I hunted was a washout from rain. And the receptionist said the rangers sometimes burn the vegetation along the edges of the ravines at these wash outs so they don't get so overgrown as to prohibit collecting....I came across one such ravine, and could have stayed all day. 

       Well, I am back home safely, now planning my annual trip to the Apalachicola and Chipola rivers to search for Miocene shells. I am back on my home turf and somewhat know what I am doing here. I believe that is one great advantage for the forum as well....that is, to be able to meet someone in another part of the country who is familiar with an area to hunt, and then hunt together. We often see such trips happen, and I  am so proud to be a part of a group that accomplishes such service to one another. Now that i am familiar with the areas, I too , may well arrange a trip with a buddy, when I have more time to explore.  

   The few images attached are from the Jersey cut. I thought the crinoid stem, with little bumps around the outside was interested...and the crinoid stem center with stalk material around it was really interesting to me. While it doesn't show in the photo, under my loop, the material around the core is made up of a pattern like that of a sunflower seed head...intricate, and wonderful to contemplate. The other hashplate has those little triangular cross-sectioned needle like pieces...and I don't know what they are. I am hoping someone lets me know. Thanks. (oh, and one Whooper)

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After posting the photos, I realized the needle like structures look like indentations, however, they are not. They are raised 3-d pieces that stand up from the background

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1 minute ago, dalmayshun said:

After posting the photos, I realized the needle like structures look like indentations, however, they are not. They are raised 3-d pieces that stand up from the background

Lighting can play tricks on us, for sure, but they seemed 3D to my eyes. 

 

Quite the trip, and I hope you took more pictures that you can post of this great summer adventure. :) 

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Had time to crack any of the Conasauga bugs open? Would love to see more stuff from my favourite local paleozoic site! :D

Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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Is that Madison, WI?  Are there whoopers to be found there? My wife and I just drove through (and had lunch in Madison).

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Saw the Whooping cranes near McFarland, 20 miles south east of Madison. They can also be found near Hancock, west of Oshkosh, I've heard. 

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@doushantuo,@RaggedyMan,@ minnbuckeye. Are any of you able to help. thanks. Raggedy Man, I have a question for you also...stopped at a quarry, and think perhaps I picked up a random stone with an ammonite...is that possible. It was near Verona, right off highway 51

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@dalmayshun

In order for the "member tags" to work You have to select the proper user name from the dropdown menu that appears when You type the @(username).

 

@doushantuo, @Raggedy Man, @minnbuckeye

You will see a highlighted block with the username in it, if done correctly.

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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Great report! Glad you were able to enjoy a awesome trip with your wife. She sure sounds like a keeper to me!:)

Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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4 hours ago, dalmayshun said:

@doushantuo,@RaggedyMan,@ minnbuckeye. Are any of you able to help. thanks. Raggedy Man, I have a question for you also...stopped at a quarry, and think perhaps I picked up a random stone with an ammonite...is that possible. It was near Verona, right off highway 51

I know the Platteville has ammonites, but they're extremely rare. Out of six years hunting it I've only found one. The area around Madison does have ordovician outcrops, but they're only a few. As for the mines, they're mostly frack sand mines. Unless you have permission to enter the mines or a good lawyer, id stay clear. It is possible you found an ammo and wouldnt be surprised tbh. They do not let anyone in these mines so id suspect the floors are littered with goodies. I do know the mine you're talking about though. I've sent several letters asking for permission to hunt, but with no response, which is typical up here.

...I'm back.

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On 7/28/2018 at 8:32 PM, jpc said:

Is that Madison, WI?  Are there whoopers to be found there? My wife and I just drove through (and had lunch in Madison).

We have a lot of sandhill craines, but yes whoopers are here as well.

...I'm back.

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If you put that pic of the needle-like things upside down, it would look positive instead of negative.

I'm trying to figure out what those are. I see some of them are intersecting, which rules out echinoid spines. (maybe the age does also?). And I don't think sponge spicules are ever that large, so the only thing left in my mind is some sort of crystal, like selenite, or maybe pseudomorph after such...?

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Thanks for the suggestions... as for the quarry, i actually didn't go down into it... was really tempted by the thought of what might be there... no i actually searched the rocks they had used by the side of the road to close the quarry off... even then i knew iwas pushing it taking along a few road rocks.. from what ifound in them,  it would be wonderful for them to open to a fossil group... too bad.  And its interesting you mention sponge, because that was my inclination...i don't believe they are trace burrows... many are pointed at each end.  Conundrum... they don't look like a mineral deposit to me... from their arrangement.... but i don't know what you mean by pseudomorph....

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16 hours ago, dalmayshun said:

  Conundrum... they don't look like a mineral deposit to me... from their arrangement.... but i don't know what you mean by pseudomorph....

Wrong environment for corundum.

Pseudomorph is one type of crystal being replaced with a different mineral while keeping the shape of the original.

 

I can see them being selenite or calcite pseudomorphs.

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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ha ha ha...a "conundrum" is a puzzle, something really beyond decisive identification, or understanding. This is a tit- for- tat I guess, my word meaning for yours. Thanks so much. And when I look at them, especially the crossed pieces, I too can see the selenite . It is such a cool looking hashplate, even without fossils, I think I'll display it for awhile, thought I am not really a "mineral" guy. Thanks again to everyone. 

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