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Two Ordovician Spots in Ontario


Kane

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I was able to fit in some prospecting for new sites while the missus had a week off from work. Obviously I couldn’t monopolize all the vacation as the main purpose was to visit a relative and lounge on a beach. Regularly accessible and productive Ordovician sites in Ontario are few and far between, mostly relegated these days to the biannual trip to the quarry in Bowmanville, or to the creeks around the greater Toronto area (GTA). 

 

Trilobite collecting in Ontario is massively curtailed by a confluence of factors sadly common in so many other areas: development, quarries that no longer permit access (even to clubs), laws governing protected areas, and over-collecting. We have a rich abundance of trilobites in Ontario, just as in New York, but accessible sites remain a problem. This means defaulting to the traditional method of prospecting new potential areas, and even putting a hard shoulder into shovelling a lot of soil to expose bedrock. This means smaller areas that are more easily exhausted.

 

A pic of our haul from the two spots:

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Stop 1: Whitby Fm Shales

These grey, black, and brown shales of the Whitby are well known for their abundance of two trilobites, Pseudogygites latimarginatus and Triarthrus spp. These generally occur in large moult assemblages with fully intact body fossils more of a rarity. They are also filled with shiny brachiopods, and the occasional nautiloids. 

 

Apart from the upper levels at Bowmanville, most of these shales are concentrated in the Craigleith and Collingwood areas up along Georgian Bay. Sadly, the most productive site that has produced amazing full body trilobite fossils that now reside at the ROM is designated a provincial park where it is illegal to collect; most other areas along the Bay are built up private property (some with posted signs prohibiting trespassing and collecting). I did manage to locate one very small pocket that was quickly exhausted within a half hour. Thousands of little red mites were disrupted or destroyed in the process, sadly. The pocket was also filled with biting flies, making this a bit less than pleasant. 

 

There were only a few shales to split in this tiny pocket, and I took one small chunk home for further splitting.

 

Here is an in situ pic of the split area and the stuff I brought home:

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Stop 2: Verulam Fm

 

Ever since the quarry in Brechin was shuttered to collectors, the rich and diverse fauna of the Verulam Fm has been largely restricted to tiny pockets along the creeks, or at the lowest levels of Bowmanville quarry. Prospecting did result in my finding a very good spot, and for several good reasons I won’t disclose the location. This was upper Verulam, dominated by Isotelus gigas partials with a few rare complete examples, and a few other trilobite species. Gastropod steinkerns, brachiopods, and robust nautiloids are also fairly common in distribution. The strata itself is grey with intercalations of crinoidal beds, grading upward into an orange-coloured shell bed. 

 

I was mostly performing preliminary recon to test the layers for future visits. I only got to spend a combined 4.5 hours on site, but see the potential for multiple visits. For a single collector, it would likely be productive for about 2-3 full seasons. Rather than a smashy-smashy visit, this was more about careful examination and plotting of occurrences of Isotelus, which seemed to occur at regular intervals throughout the strata. Maximum depth from surface to basal contact was about 2 metres (~7 feet). 

 

Typical fauna littered everywhere: 

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Apart from a lot of Isotelus fragments, some of which would have belonged to monster bugs 30 cm (~1 foot) long, there are also plenty of other neat things. I can't seem to resist pocketing gastro steinkerns and any free nautiloids and the occasional brach (like Rhynchotrema sp.). Here is an assortment: 

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Some hashes and a neat nautiloid with calcite lined siphuncle: 

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Ventral Ceraurus and Isotelus juvenile with the long genal spine: 

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A fairly large Flexicalymene senaria cephalon buried in matrix, and a cute Isotelus juvenile cephalon: 

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A phacopid bit, likely Flexicalymene senaria.

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Partial Isotelus. The first one I found in the orange-y layer. The second was an accidental split when Deb tossed a rock aside thinking it was blank. The left eye preservation on her piece is exquisite. 

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My trip-maker was this effectively complete Isotelus, semi-enrolled. It's missing some bits of shell, both eyes, and will need delicate prep: 

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Well done, sir Kane! :)

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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Awesome Kane!! I’m still looking for Ordovician exposures in New York that are legal and accessible. 

 

That isotelus :envy:

 

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Thanks! There's something exciting and satisfying about sourcing your own site rather than rely on long established ones (I know Al has been doing a lot of that lately, and he also faces many of the same obstacles we do up here in Ontario). 

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Being a big fan of the Upper Ordovician Cincinnatian fauna I really enjoy seeing fossils from these other Ordovician stratas.

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Your report Kane reminds me that very likely the best fossil collectors are those, like yourself, who are out there today. Over the years I've been bombarded with stories of the good old days when fossil collecting was relatively easy.  You and others who work hard for their fossils and who make wonderful and rare finds are what's keeping this hobby/science going. Big congratulations on an excellent report and finds. Love to see more. 

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To the motivated go the spoils!

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Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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16 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Keep up the good work, Kane. Even better results shall be forthcoming, right?

I hope so, but only the rocks, time, and opportunity will say! I hope to get out there again this summer, although it is a very long drive to get there. Maybe next year I'll give you the tour. :) 

15 minutes ago, Jeffrey P said:

Your report Kane reminds me that very likely the best fossil collectors are those, like yourself, who are out there today. Over the years I've been bombarded with stories of the good old days when fossil collecting was relatively easy.  You and others who work hard for their fossils and who make wonderful and rare finds are what's keeping this hobby/science going. Big congratulations on an excellent report and finds. Love to see more. 

Thanks, Jeffrey. :) With ever more sites vanishing, some people have packed it in. I admit being pretty bummed out about a few major site losses in the last two years, but I had a clear choice of complaining and resigning myself to not collect, or be stubborn and seek new opportunities even if nine out of ten spots turns out to be a bust. And rarely does complaining ever change one's circumstances. Harder work can really pay off... and, as Uncle Siphuncle says above, "to the motivated go the spoils!" :D 

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Awesome report and finds, K-man.  :) 

Congratulations on a more than decent haul. 

Cheers, mate. 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

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4 hours ago, Kane said:

  I hope to get out there again this summer, although it is a very long drive to get there.

I recommend you not speed down highway 10 on the way back though :P

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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5 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

I recommend you not speed down highway 10 on the way back though :P

Oh, you mean the Ontario Autobahn? :D

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4 hours ago, Kane said:

but I had a clear choice of complaining and resigning myself to not collect, or be stubborn and seek new opportunities even if nine out of ten spots turns out to be a bust. And rarely does complaining ever change one's circumstances. Harder work can really pay off... and, as Uncle Siphuncle says above, "to the motivated go the spoils!"

True, true, true!!! :D (I know, I know, I am repeating myself, but self-prospecting and self-discovering new sites is above everything :)).

 

I don´t know the extension of fossiliferous strata in southern Ontario, but in New York state they are extensive, covering at least the area of my country (> 86.000 km2). @Al Tahan (for New York) and @Kane (for Ontario), would you be able to make a guess how many fossil sites are documented in your area, how many are "forgotten" and how many are still to be discovered (natural outcrops). Soooo many nice creeks everywhere...

 

Just for comparison: The Devonian Plabutsch-formation around me covers an area of far less than 100 km2 and about 100 fossils sites were documented about 100 years ago. Some new sites where discovered since than, but the count of somewhat productive sites - where you can pick up fossils regularly - would be around 20-40.

Interestingly, nearly the same density of fossil sites in the Miocene Florianer Schichten in western Styria. The fossil-rich part of the formation covers about 30 km2, with about 20 productive sites I know of.

And the funny thing: Nearly the same situation in the Campanian St. Bartholomä-formation in western Styria: 3 km2, and 2 productive sites!

Franz Bernhard

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Great work, Kane!!!  I love those high-spired gastropods and the nautiloids (of course!).  Best of luck on future trips to your new site!

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