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rachelgardner01

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I had my first taste of the Carboniferous period. I made the trip to Centralia PA for a look at the fossils there. I went to coal deposit up the road from the cemetery on 2nd street ( pic below ). Centralia was not a "ghost town" not when I was there. There was a lot of people around. Many looked like they where their for the Graffiti Highway and other for some kind of four wheel event across the street from the spot I was at.  The Shale was very soft and I had a hard time picking up anything bigger than 2 inches. :unsure: I pulled away 3 layer but still had the same problem. I don't know if it would be them same if a kept going. Over all the sit was easy to find, and had a good view. With many fossil to pick from.   

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5 hours ago, Castle Rock said:

Let me add a correction, the word you are thinking of is BOTrioidal.  Dave

Fixed, I wasnt sure of the spelling and it kept auto-correcting to "bitroydal" so I went with it.

 

 

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Glad you were able to find a spot @rachelgardner01. I was hoping to check out that location myself this weekend but i got derailed by a family emergency.  I'm guessing you would need to dig a pit to find some less weathered matrix. That rock has been exposed to the elements for a long time.

I love the tree casts you found, the one in the middle on the right edge of the last photo in particular.  And the geologic is a cool piece too. 

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Thanks for showing these. The white Pyrophyllite coating on the ferns makes them stand out beautifully, like the fossils at the now-mostly-closed-to-collecting St. Claire site.

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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Good report, and nice finds. :) 

 

Thanks for posting them. 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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

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I recall an article in Pennsylvania Geology Magazine regarding rare precipitated minerals at the fire vents. Hopefully that type of area is off limits now!

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1 hour ago, Plax said:

I recall an article in Pennsylvania Geology Magazine regarding rare precipitated minerals at the fire vents. Hopefully that type of area is off limits now!

 

According to this report: Stracher, Glenn & Nolter, Melissa & Schroeder, Paul & McCormack, John & Blake, Donald & Vice, Daniel. (2006). The Great Centralia
Mine Fire: a natural laboratory for the study of coal fires. Geological Society of America Field Guide. 8. 33-45. 10.1130/2006.fld008(03),

 

"New mineral occurrences discovered in association with Pennsylvania's coal fires include hydrobasaluminite and voltaite in the
assemblage alunogen, voltaite, and hydrobasaluminite discovered at an active gas vent near one of two currently active fire fronts in
Centralia."

 

I also hope that the active fire vents are off limits. Interesting, though. 

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Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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I am not sure about those areas I didn't wander from the coal mine or the cemetery. Lol.  I did pass by event numbered 6 . I was there in the morning so it was a bit chilly but I saw no steam or smoke coming from any area. The spot  I was in was at an incline about 50%.  With typical soil it wouldn't have been trouble at all accessing those spots,  But with shale quite different. I was considering reading up on rope work/repelling.  So if I'm in an area similar in the future I would have more options. 

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@rachelgardner01, great finds. I actually visited the site this summer and posted about it. I concur with the steepness to this site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is an excerpt:

 

 

 

  

 I am an early riser, so on our second day, I decided to head to York County and hunt for trilobites in the Kinzer Formation before anyone woke up and more importantly before it heated up. After an hour of splitting shale, I returned to the motel hot and sweaty with nothing to show for my labor!! It still was fun and my expectations going into the hunt were low. This formation does not have a high density of trilobites. Family members were just coming down for breakfast when I arrived. So they wanted to hear about my excursion. Upon describing where I was and what I was looking for, a group of members decided they wanted to try fossil hunting again. @DevonianDigger had guided this crew 2 years ago when we met in Buffalo, NY and he planted the "bug" in many of my wife's family members!!! I explained the heat and humidity was a MAJOR issue and I preferred to sit in the pool instead. This excuse did not settle the desires of 3. So after relentless hounding, off we went into the mountains to find cooler temps and fossil ferns. As we approached the site in Schuylkill County, the thermometer on my dash said 99 degrees, and occasionally hitting the century mark. So already we failed on one of my goals, cooler temps!  Will we strike out on the second one?? Especially since I had never been to this location. It had been recommended to me by a forum member, Thank You!! Common sense did not prevail with my relatives, so we loaded up with water and headed on about a third of a mile walk to the site. The exposure was BLACK shale tipped directly at the sun beating down on us. As we approached, I could feel the heat radiating from these stones and it was 100 degrees away from the heated shale. Who knows on the shale what the temp was. It took awhile to find the location of the ferns at this site. They were on a slippery slope 30 ft down the hill. I quickly filled a bag with some nice specimens and said I had enough. I was already overheating after just 15 minutes on that black surface. But on attempting to scale the hill I slid down to begin with, for every step I took up the hill, I slid backwards 2 steps. After assessing the situation, I attempted to crawl on all fours. Let me say the heated shale made it IMPOSSIBLE to place my hands on the ground. Even my knees felt the burning sensation through my jeans. So a reevaluation of the situation was needed as I was beginning to get dizzy and dry mouthed. "Worry" is usually not a word in my vocabulary, but this was getting serious and I was worried. My plans were changed and I headed down the shale until I reached vegetation that allowed me to get the necessary footing to ascend the hill around the exposed shale. By the time I reached the top, I collapsed under a tree and wondered if I could make it back to the car. Thank goodness a 5 minute "cooldown" and I knew I could make it back. 

 

 

 

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On 9/15/2019 at 7:24 PM, caldigger said:

That piece next to the tape measure I believe is botrioidal Hematite.

Nifty finds.

 

On 9/16/2019 at 1:24 AM, Castle Rock said:

Let me add a correction, the word you are thinking of is BOTrioidal.  Dave

 

On 9/16/2019 at 7:13 AM, caldigger said:

Fixed, I wasnt sure of the spelling and it kept auto-correcting to "bitroydal" so I went with it.

Just for the record -- and I do recommend recording this :D -- the word you all are stretching for is botryoidal.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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