8th Trip to Chatsworth: Much Lower River Yields Really Good Trilos!

[MeargleSchmeargl]

It was that time of the month again, when I just had to scratch that fossil hunting itch. After the relative disappointment the other week in Floyd County, I decided to go ahead and pay another visit to my all-time favourite site in Chatsworth.

 

When we got there this morning, it was obvious that the Conasauga river had greatly receded since the last time we saw it. In fact, it was the lowest it's been for more than a year (back in Feb. 2018).

 

River on my last visit (Feb. this year):

 

 

The river today:

 

 

And a view from river bank:

 

 

With how low the river was, I had a greater range of movement than I've had for more than a year's worth of visits to the place as a result. This also meant I had a lot more places to find Trilobites! And the Aphelaspis specimens I found were definitely worth the trip!

 

To be continued

[MeargleSchmeargl]

To start off, a family photo as always:

 

 

Next up is easily one of the best Aphelaspis positives I've ever found. 100% whole exoskeleton. Was a little bit sketchy getting the rightmost portion exposed from the overlying rock as the exoskeletons on these trilos are extremely fragile and flake really easily. In the end though, I got the exoskeleton out 100% complete. Also have its negative:

 

 

Right after I found it, with overlying rock:

 

 

Another really good one I found. The whole exoskeleton is on this one too, but it's got some shale flakes overlying it. Any tips on potential prep, anyone?:

 

 

 

A complete negative, the best negative of today:

 

 

 

A hash with a really good negative:

 

 

And now, a trilo-bit montage!

 

[MeargleSchmeargl]

 

And the tiniest bits:

 

 

 

Overall, a very productive and fun day on the river!

[Nimravis]

Lol- I was there at 1 pm for about 1 hour. I will post my report shortly.

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

They’ve got a nice color. That orange-red shows well on the light brown rock

[MeargleSchmeargl]

22 minutes ago, Nimravis said:

Lol- I was there at 1 pm for about 1 hour. I will post my report shortly.

You got there like 20 minutes after I left! You narrowly missed me!

[MeargleSchmeargl]

19 minutes ago, UtahFossilHunter said:

They’ve got a nice color. That orange-red shows well on the light brown rock

Yeah, the Conasauga rocks are really nice and colorful.

[Ludwigia]

5 hours ago, MeargleSchmeargl said:

 

Another really good one I found. The whole exoskeleton is on this one too, but it's got some shale flakes overlying it. Any tips on potential prep, anyone?:

 

 

Razor knife, pin vice and toothbrush are probably your best bet here.

 

[Fossildude19]

Nice report and finds!  

 

[Monica]

Terrific trilos - congrats!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice finds.

Everyone loves those Conasuaga bugs.  

[rmcwilson]

Great site...but I've read that there are conflicting reports about whether the site is "officially" closed to the public now. 
In any regards, here is our short field trip video report about Trilobites in Georgia: