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FranzBernhard

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Hello,

today I had another opportunity to fossil hunt in St. Bartholomä. I tidied mostly up my main dig and collecting site in the quarry at Point 25 east of Kalchberg. As expected, I did not find much, only some small so-so specimens (19 specimens in 3 hours, but the majority would be rejects).

 

However, in the same small quarry, a few meters to the north of the main dig site, "Knödelbrekzie" is also exposed (upper part of lower right pic), with some steep scree below. I have found two good rudists in this scree two years ago. Today, I dug again with bare hands in the scree. First without any success. Sure, every piece was fossiliferous limestone, but even not a rudist fragment among them. But then, only a few minutes before I had to leave, it was there! Just pulled out of the dark hole to the left of the specimen: A slender, slightly bend Vaccinites vesiculosus. The apex is broken off (pillars are visible there) and it is also broken at the top end, but it is quite aesthetic and elegant, that´s at least my thinking ;). I like it very much!

25_Zusammenstellung_24092019_Nord_kompr.thumb.jpg.6d9bbee48a6badee2e405c7570257a94.jpg

 

Ok, back to work :D: This is the main dig site at point 25 as of today, 09/24/2019. There are no longer many clasts of fossiliferous limestone in the scree, mostly sandstone and marl.

The orange bucket in the upper left pic contains clasts of fossiliferous limestone, the black bucket waste material (marl and sandstone). Today I have removed 23 buckets (10 Liter) of waste and 3 buckets of fossiliferous limestone from the dig site. Scale bar is 1 m.

In the lower left pic, piles of fossiliferous limestone are visible, the waste material is dumped to the left (not visible). In the lower left corner, cutting rejects are deposited.

At the right edge of the lower right pic, fragments and partials of rudist are deposited.

25_Zusammenstellung_24092019_kompr.thumb.jpg.a2ca16df48fc0ac031a4ab363ff9a71c.jpg

 

This was probably my last hunting trip to St. Bartholomä for some time. I would like to do more prospecting and light surface collecting during my next trips. I am not really the born digger, I like prospecting more, but sometimes, I just have to dig :D.

 

Thanks for looking!
Franz Bernhard

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38 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said:

I am not really the born digger, I like prospecting more, but sometimes, I just have to dig :D.

My 2 sons are mini excavators.  If I could afford and convince my wife we need to vacation in Austria...ah the pits we could dig. :D 

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5 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

But then, only a few minutes before I had to leave, it was there! 

Nice rudist!

 

I always seem to find something awesome just as I’m getting ready to call it quits for the day and end up staying longer than I intended. Drives my wife crazy... Just 5 more minutes! :heartylaugh:

 

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The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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That's a nice one for sure.

I've said it before - Your collecting sites are so different from mine! I can't picture digging down into the dirt in a forest over here. I would not (and could not) expect to find anything, even if there was shale down there! :unsure:

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Thanks for all your kind words and your appreciation, @grandpa, @Monica, @Adam86cucv, @Al Tahan, @FossilNerd, @Wrangellian!

Yes, its a nice rudist (for the formation), I like it very much. A very good "last specimen" for some time.

 

On 24.9.2019 at 8:50 PM, Adam86cucv said:

My 2 sons are mini excavators.  If I could afford and convince my wife we need to vacation in Austria...ah the pits we could dig.

Your family would come in handy! Your two sons could remove overburden, you and I could dig in the fossiliferous layer ;).

 

On 25.9.2019 at 1:24 AM, FossilNerd said:

always seem to find something awesome just as I’m getting ready to call it quits for the day and end up staying longer than I intended. Drives my wife crazy... Just 5 more minutes!

Yes, or finding something good - the best of the day! - within the first few seconds :D

 

On 25.9.2019 at 1:29 AM, Wrangellian said:

I can't picture digging down into the dirt in a forest over here.

It depends on the type of bedrock. I can not do the the same in the Miocene "Florianer Schichten". They disintegrate into mud in the weathering zone, including the fossils. In that strata, I have to work the very, very small natural, fossiliferous exposures. Oh well, back to the "Florianer Schichten"... :D

 

Am I correct, that your shale disintegrates during freezing-thawing? And the fossils, too? So you really depend on (fresh) exposures. Btw, you submitted a very spectacular ammonite for FOTM! I like this specimen very much!

 

Franz Bernhard

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10 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Am I correct, that your shale disintegrates during freezing-thawing? And the fossils, too? So you really depend on (fresh) exposures. Btw, you submitted a very spectacular ammonite for FOTM! I like this specimen very much!

Yes, the shale and fossils crumble, ever after rain and sun (it doesn't freeze here much until the Winter). You have to get at it while the fossils are still fairly fresh, and get glue in them before they fall apart. There is always some gluing to do, except with the smallest bivalves and corals and the like, which sometimes weather out intact. The worst is when you find something good that is already falling apart and you have to try to salvage it. There is always some piece(s) that refuse to go back together snug and tight. It's not so bad when you break open fresh blocks, but that's more work. Fewer finds but better quality, usually.

Thanks, I think that is the best example of this taxon that I have found in 11 years collecting up there, but it's still maddeningly incomplete - missing not only the turret but the other half that should be enclosed within the rock... Apparently the dead ammonite settled down in the mud, and the exposed part was dissolved from acidity(?) and then what remained was buried by further sedimentation, so we end with only the half that was buried/protected in the mud. This is common with ammonites up there. I should go collecting up-island where they are more often complete, but it's a bit of a drive.

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