Newbie would like some advice

[Joe Salande]

Greetings Guys!

I had a question for you guys if you don't mind. I'll try to keep it simple.

---I am a Newbie at this.

---I finally got to take my first road trip to look for fossils.

---I'm from Louisiana, so not much rock formation around here so I went to the Appalachian foothills in North Carolina.

---I stopped at multiple locations where there were streams, rock formations, etc.

--Couldn't find a thing until my last stop, which was and rock slide.

---I found a ton of Crinoids, pretty much every few feet. 

--I looked for multible hours for trilobites or anything else I could find.

This is the question---

Do you guys think I should revisit that place and look a lot more, and be more patient, or should I move on. I only stayed within a 100 yard radius but got wore out. I made two trips

to the same spot that weekend. I don't really need anymore Crinoids, but I don't want to pass up what could be a honey hole, and I don't realize it. i don't really know what a honey hole

is in fossil hunting. This fall, I would like to go back, but I don't know whether to move or not.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[BobWill]

I learned the most about collecting sites by joining my local fossil group. There are groups for professionals only but those are mostly for geologists and there are many more that include anyone who's interested, even kids. There are clubs that focus solely on fossils and others that include rocks, gems, artifacts and even jewelry making but most of them have at some advice about collecting sites and they all go on field trips. Learning ahead of time about the different formations where you plan to travel is key if you go out by yourself. You can look at rocks all day and never see fossil number one or you can see some fossils every time you stop if you know where to look and the clubs can help you learn about that. Some states have excellent geological maps that show the names of the formations and you can search for information about the likelihood of there being fossils in each one. Sea shores, road cuts, stream beds any rock outcropping is fair game. Good luck on your next venture.

[Miocene_Mason]

Many mistakenly believe fossils are distributed across the land with no real rhyme or reason, however this is not true. Fossils mainly come from sedimentary rocks, and (as @BobWill said) are only common in certain formations. A geologic map (such as the app Rockd) is instrumental in learning where you can find fossils. Then, you can utilize satellite imagery to find outcrops. Research also helps, but nothing beats talking with someone who has Fossil hunted in the area. I have not, but I can say that in the eastern US, typically crinoids are only common in the Paleozoic. Trilobites lives the entirety of the Paleozoic, though were rare in the Permian. Therefore, trilobites should be possible. However, trilobites only lived in certain environments, so they are only common in those. Not too deep, not too shallow. I’d do research on that stream and see what the environment was like and what people have found there before.

[Herb]

that looks like Mississippian crinoids. There were not many trilobites in the Mississippian, they had almost become extinct by then

[Joe Salande]

Thanks guys for the input.

I really appreciate it and will take your advice.

Joe

[Plax]

What a fantastic find for North Carolina Joe! This may possibly be the first occurrence of such fossils in North Carolina. If I were you I'd do a google search of "Paleozoic Fossils, North Carolina".