Rediscovering New York: Triarthrus

[Al Tahan]

Hello everyone!

 

I’ll be doing a few posts here and there named “rediscovering New York”. Ive been doing a lot of research recently and I had massive geologic maps printed out from office max a couple months back. They are a very valuable tool. I’ve been finding a lot of potential sites from them and I may post what I find but not necessarily post the actual locality for reasons that anyone can stroll onto the forum and extract information. 

 

Since I’m in central New York...Utica, New York to be exact I started doing some searching in my own hometown. Triarthrus is known to many collectors in New York. The Utica shale has some nice exposures in the Little Falls, NY area that collectors have posted about many times on the forum. I had a feeling I could find some to the west in my hometown.

 

Before I went to school for geology me and some friends were wandering around in the woods behind his backyard he took us to the “gorge”. All I really remember were sequences of black shale. This was at least 15 years ago. Somehow the memory came flying back to me while doing research. I had forgotten this memory for years and years. 

 

Last Friday night (day before I found that Eurypterid!! Lol) I was determined to have a look. I went to a local park adjacent to the stream in question and took a walk. It wasn’t long before I saw another hiker...... and promise  

 

The Utica shale!! 

 

This must be a different sequence than what’s found in Little Falls cause this shale seemed different from my samples to the east. 

 

I found this not long into the hike!! This was really exciting. First confirmed local trilobite in some time I presume. I don’t even know if these have ever been documented here. I have a handful of papers on the Ordovician sequences and even some specific to the Utica shale and I haven’t seen this locality reported. I also have a limited access to  scholarly articles so that may be a reason too. Seeing this in a weathered block I assumed I needed to keep going up stream. I sadly destroyed this trilobite trying to reduce the block....it was heartbreaking but I knew I could find more if I found that. The march continued! 

 

I decided to try and find something “in situ”. In my past experience the Utica shales can be barren then you start seeing bits sometimes. I had to assume something was around in these shales. 

Then I found this negative of a complete Triarthrus. The actual trilobite washed away ugh...This was in situ and also proved they came from the local bedrock found under my feet. This was still a very exciting find for me. 

 

I took it home as proof of concept. Got it out in 2 clean pieces luckily. 

 

further down stream I found this 3/4 specimen in a block. This time I didn’t destroy the prize. This made up for the first blunder. 

 

cephalopod. Poor preservation. 

 

Found a decent cephalon in a weathered block. Got it out clean. 

 

heres a close up. 

 

In conclusion....I really need to go back and hike further. Upstream the sequence appears to open up again into some vertical walls but it’s far upstream. I need more than a Friday night to do the hike! This area is weird and appears to be used by snowmobilers and 4 wheelers depending on the season. There are trails all around so I have no clue what the land status is. It appears locals see it as a little known, little used parcel of land sandwiched between dozens of backyards. One of my other fiends that used to live in that area had a snowmobile trail going right to his own backyard. 

 

Anyway, this was a very interesting development for me. A milestone for sure. I hope I can go back and find a decent specimen. Just need to find the time to make the hike. I have so many places on my list to visit! 

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Al

 

 

[Fossildude19]

Congratulations, Al!  

It's a great feeling when research and bushwhacking pay off! 

You put in the work, you get the rewards! 

Thanks for the great photos and report.  

[FranzBernhard]

23 minutes ago, Al Tahan said:

Anyway, this was a very interesting development for me. A milestone for sure. I hope I can go back and find a decent specimen. Just need to find the time to make the hike. I have so many places on my list to visit! 

Self (re-)discovered fossil sites are the best!! You are now doing what I have done for the last 5 years.

Thanks for sharing, good luck! And - keep us updated please !

Franz Bernhard

 

[Malcolmt]

Great post

 

[Al Tahan]

Thanks! @Fossildude19 @FranzBernhard @Malcolmt 

 

it was really fun doing explorative geology/paleontology......can’t wait to go back. 

[doushantuo]

NICE!!!!

good photography,again

[Jeffrey P]

Interesting report Al. I wish I had more time to explore as you have done. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Very interesting and rather exciting report! 

Thanks for that.

[Al Tahan]

9 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

Interesting report Al. I wish I had more time to explore as you have done. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us.

Well now that you are home from your trip we can go check out the Pulaski formation and whetstone gulf formation like we talked about. The fishing stream I found is perfect but requires 5+ mile hike. I hear trilobites are in the Pulaski shale. Not sure if that’s part of the Pulaski formation or not but it’s New York Ordovician and not targeted for fossils ever.

[ynot]

Nice job and finds!

[Fossil-Hound]

Excellent work. Always a good feeling to find some nice fossils in the wild. I'll never forget my first wilderness experience away from any pay to dig sites. It's a completely different feeling. Really neat.

[Monica]

Congrats, Al - well done (as usual!)!

 

PS - I like the cephalopod, even if its preservation isn't the greatest 

[RJB]

  Very interesting report.  Thanks.

 

RB

[deutscheben]

Thank you for sharing your report, excellent fossil detective work! Doing the research (or following a hunch) and then having it pay off is such a rewarding feeling. 

[I_gotta_rock]

Interestingly, I was just out that way with my club two days ago. We got kicked out. We were at the famous bridge site. There were fresh "no trespassin"g signs everywhere except near the bridge itself. We had permission from the landowner to poke around their property. We set to work in the tranquil stream,  and found lots of goodies. Someone saw us from the bridge, apparently watched us in action for awhile, then proceeded to harass the one poor person who remained on the banks waiting to be rescued by someone who could unlock her car after she left the keys inside. The observer called the state police and the trooper spent the next half hour on her cell phone to find out if we were, in fact, doing anything wrong. The person at the other end finally quoted her some statutes and she decided we had to go without delay. Something about not disturbing the wildlife in any NY waterway. We grabbed our gear, left any finds not already packed and left. I've been dying all weekend because I found the most beautiful 3-ft plate, covered in trilobites and graptolites,  and it had to stay behind. It is now my great fish story. The New York club was out there two weeks ago without incident, including one of our members who is part of both. We are all scratching our heads.

[Al Tahan]

@I_gotta_rock The location in this post isn’t the location you were at but similar exposures. I haven’t been out towards little falls in some time but from what I understand if you are by the town garage you won’t be bothered. 

[I_gotta_rock]

1 minute ago, Al Tahan said:

@I_gotta_rock The location in this post isn’t the location you were at but similar exposures. I haven’t been out towards little falls in some time but from what I understand if you are by the town garage you won’t be bothered. 

That's what we thought. Then we learned the signs got put up at the garage just recently. Some of the signs were put up less than a week ago. We minded the signs and stayed close to our vehicles where we thought we were permitted. However, the rules seem to be obscure statues with the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation. If anyone knows anything about this, so we don't run into issues again, I'd be most appreciative.

[Al Tahan]

2 hours ago, I_gotta_rock said:

That's what we thought. Then we learned the signs got put up at the garage just recently. Some of the signs were put up less than a week ago. We minded the signs and stayed close to our vehicles where we thought we were permitted. However, the rules seem to be obscure statues with the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation. If anyone knows anything about this, so we don't run into issues again, I'd be most appreciative.

So the DEC basically overruled everything despite having permission??

 

Well if that’s the case that is an enormous disappointment...........more reason for me to keep looking for other places around the state that are fossil friendly. Time seems to be the worst enemy for fossil localities..........a history that repeats itself over and over.

[I_gotta_rock]

2 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

So the DEC basically overruled everything despite having permission??

Yes. The premise is that the property owner does not own the creek. All waterways belong to DEC.

[Sjfriend]

14 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

So the DEC basically overruled everything despite having permission??

 

Well if that’s the case that is an enormous disappointment...........more reason for me to keep looking for other places around the state that are fossil friendly. Time seems to be the worst enemy for fossil localities..........a history that repeats itself over and over.

Problem being the state can claim "disturbing wildlife" for anything, even your fishing if you really tick someone off. When we pick up rocks sometimes there are animals under them (snakes, salamanders,  etc.) and the state can whine about anything.  Don't like when people who don't know what's up get their noses bent out of shape. We lose more access that way. Good luck on your future hunts.

[dalmayshun]

Getting  harder and harder. In florida also.  Here if you come across a native american artifact, point, scraper, etc. You have to leave it in place...

[Shellseeker]

We have had lots of discussions on TFF about fossil laws, artifact laws, access rights usually based on true anecdotal stories and more often (because of what we are) from a fossil hunters perspective than from the view of those who are charged with protecting the resource or administering the laws.  I find that there are Lots of good people in the fossil hunting community, but also that there are lots of good people among those responsible for administrating the policy. I like and build good relationships with members of the local county sheriff department, the Department of Environmental Protection, the fish & wildlife officers. They are actually very decent people.

Certainly there are jerks and bad actors in both communities, but over the last 15-20 years , I have noted more greed and destruction from fossil hunters than from the community that regulates them.

 

I think I am OK with the rules governing fossils AND artifacts in the State of Florida.

1) If it is private property that you own, you can basically do anything you want.  The exceptions are too few and rare to care about.

2) If it is private property that you do not own, you must get permission to remove anything from the owners property. Sounds good to me.

3) In Florida, we have the concept of Sovereign Submerged Land (SSL) which since the incorporation of the State of Florida is administered by the State (Department of Environment Protection) for the good of Florida residents. DEP decides the status of all waterways, beaches , etc. and what rules govern the collection of fossils and artifacts.

In practice, this is a pretty light set of rules: You can not hunt within the boundaries of Federal, State, Local parks, conservation areas, preserves or any waterways flowing thru those areas.

You can hunt in all other waterways defined as SSL. That is a lot of river bottom extending to the high water line.

4) Within SSL, you can keep any marine fossils you find: gifts without costs or fees. If you pay $5/year to the State of Florida and report any significant finds, you can also keep all terrestrial mammal fossils you find. That is a price performer.  I get to keep stuff like this!!!! and I started thinking:

I am a guest on public property and I am allowed (within the policy regulations) to keep in excess of 99.998 % of what I find. That's pretty good.

 

5) and finally, I am not allowed to keep any artifacts that I happen to find on public property while hunting fossils. Let me let you in on a secret. Anyone who hunts fossils in Florida waterways will eventually find artifacts. At one time we could legally keep such artifacts, but human nature gave ammunition to opponents of the policy.

There used to be an "Isolated Finds" policy for Artifacts in Florida. From Wikipedia:

Quote

The Isolated finds program was discontinued on June 1, 2005 following a recommendation from the Florida Historical Commission.^[9] The program was widely considered a failure as issues of non-compliance from citizens basically defeated the program's purpose and instead provided a legal front for the looting of archaeological sites and the illegal artifact trade. Additionally, citizens often reported isolated finds that were later referenced and discovered to be from known archaeological sites, further highlighting the difficulty of determining whether or not a find is isolated.^[

 

[rachelgardner01]

So is it basically useless to try an hunt in the Nowadage creek? 

[Al Tahan]

5 hours ago, rachelgardner01 said:

So is it basically useless to try an hunt in the Nowadage creek? 

Maybe not useless....but possibly risking the same fate as above. 

[rachelgardner01]

I think it could be worth a try. I'm always on the look out for places where I can fossil collect but also have a beautiful scenic hike/view. Pack light,  Look discreet maybe I will have some luck.