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Miocene sites around St. Josef, Styria, Austria (10/01/2019)


FranzBernhard

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Hello,

at Tuesday, 10/01/2019, I made my first visit to the area around St. Josef, Western Styria, Austria ("Florianer Schichten", Langhian-Miocene) since about 11 months. I checked out 6 sites in 5 hours, three of them were made public by me 2-3 years ago:

Fuggaberg-3-a  Fuggaberg-3-b (This one was also published in a local journal 2 years ago.)

Hoellerkogel-4

Bramberg-1

FlorianerSchichten_Karte_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.438c76ef10d09fd408da0bca21f581ec.jpg

All sites had easy surface pickings of small fossils from debris. Outcropping sediment with fossils is exposed in 5 of them, in one you have to dig a little bit (Fuggaberg-3), but its still easy going. I guess I have collected and seen about 40 mollusc species within these 5 hours. So, the situation around St. Josef is still very good (if you like miocene molluscs and small fossils, though :D). I am starting with:

 

Fuggaberg-3

Two fossil-rich outcrops are located in a very small creek, about 15 m apart (W and E, 1st row, left).

At E, only the fossil-poor overlying sediments are exposed at the moment (1st row, right, the red object is about 12x6 cm large), but digging in the debris below (2nd row, right) yielded some fossil-rich matrix specimens. You can see the yield of this 10-minute dig in the pic of the 3rd row, right. Of special interest are the two small fossils lying on oyster shells (coral and muricid). The debris 1-3 meters below the outcrop contains many loose fossils, eg. Granulolabium bicinctum (2nd row, left) or Terebralia bidendata (3rd row, left).

Nearly the same situation at W, only overlying sediment is exposed (4th row, left). In the debris below, below the red object, many small fossils are lying around (4rd row, right). You can see Granulolabium bicinctum, Terebralia bidendata, Turritella partschi, Sphaeronassa shoenni, Acanthocardia paucicostata and a bi-valve Anadara diluvii; only the last one is not lying at its original position but was put there for photo purposes ;).

Fuggaberg_3_Zusammenstellung_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.45e12485a0e74fb88a8668f435d5a675.jpg

Continued...

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I picked these fossils within a few minutes mainly from the debris below the W-outcrop, from an area of about 1-2 m2:

Zusammenstellung_Fuggaberg3_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.826cab39adc4e210a40d272ebe0c4a6f.jpg

At the upper left are 6 Granulolabium bicinctum, by far the most abundant fossil in this outcrops (> 80%). In the middle are two Granulolabium plicatum, to the right two Terebralia bidendata. Next row is a fragment of a Turritella partschi, a nice Dorsanum haueri, a small naticid gastropod and a juvenile Amalda glandiformis. Next row shows two Sphaeronassa shoenni, a complete Acanthocardia paucicostata and two Anadara diluvii, one of them bi-valve. At the lower left is an Ostrea digitalina, in the middle a Caryocorbula carinata (new for the site). To the right are two fragments of corals. These were a real surprise! A coral specimen was already found two years ago by a friend, and now I found two myself. The fauna is dominated by intertidal species (Granulolabium, Terebralia), but some subtidal species are also there (Turritella, corals).

Other fossils that I have seen but not collected were Crassostrea gryphoides, Vitta pictaStriarca lactea and tellinid bivalves.

 

I found also some "spectacular" fossils (for the site :D):

OcenebraMioincrassataFraglich_Fuggaberg3_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.39e2fe2629d7b687e8fa70470d6610b9.jpg

This is a muricid, possibly Ocenebra mioincrassata. First for the site, of course ;). It can also be seen in the pic of the first post, 3rd row, right. A few other muricids have been already found at this site, though.

 

The next one was a chunk of matrix with some Granulolabium. I thought, I could prep a nice matrix specimen of this most abundant species of this area. No-no!! A G. popped off, and below was this snail:

EuthriofususVirgineusFraglich_Fuggaberg3_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.dff730e4f439af6e701c2d718c732cc8.jpg

It´s a fasciolarid snail, not totally sure of species. Also new for the site.

 

The next and last one is nothing special, just a nice compo of abundant species:

Mischung_Fuggaberg3_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.2185bce28c3a35a9ef5442dc24b6ba8a.jpg

 

All in all, I have collected and seen 18 mollusc species during this short visit (< 1 hour) at this site. In the local paper, we have documented 32 species from this site. So the site is still very productive, even without heavy digging, and also some surprises can still be found.

 

Next site will be Höllerkogel-4, totally different fauna, but this will take an unkown amount of time to prepare...

 

Thanks for your interest and happy hunting!
Franz Bernhard

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Beautiful gastropods and bivalves, Franz!  I especially like the pieces with different species present on the same rock - very nice!

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As usual, fantastic report Franz! I'm always so impressed by how rich those sites are. I can't wait to go look at them myself one day (hopefully!).

Thanks for sharing! 

Max

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Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

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On 5.10.2019 at 8:59 PM, Kasia said:

Very nice finds and - as usual - fantastic precision in respect of locations :dinothumb: Thanks for sharing!

 

On 5.10.2019 at 9:49 PM, Ludwigia said:

Nice finds, Franz and a very good description of the accompanying circumstances.

 

On 6.10.2019 at 1:52 PM, Monica said:

Beautiful gastropods and bivalves, Franz!  I especially like the pieces with different species present on the same rock - very nice!

 

On 6.10.2019 at 10:12 PM, Max-fossils said:

As usual, fantastic report Franz! I'm always so impressed by how rich those sites are. I can't wait to go look at them myself one day (hopefully!).

Thanks for sharing! 

 

On 7.10.2019 at 1:13 AM, Plantguy said:

Nice photos Franz! Thanks for sharing the report. 

Thank you very much for all your kind words, appreciate it very much! Thanks!

 

@Max-fossils, I would be proud to show you around! Maybe time will tell, but I would have no time at the moment, unfortunately. But this could change anytime!

 

Ok, next one:

Höllerkogel-4

Unfortunately, camera quit working for some time. So I will present some pics from older trips. Not much has changed since then:

Hoellerkogel_4_Zusammenstellung_kompr.thumb.jpg.9e31a167129bfd70999464e531bdfe66.jpg

I discovered this rather large outcrop (for St. Josef) about three years ago. Three trees had fallen some time ago at a very step slope a few meters above a small creek. The site is not easy to reach, neither from below nor from above (I prefer access from above). But it is save to walk and work at the site, the stumps have formed a stable, horizontal platform. 

Upper left is a general view of southern and middle part of the site. Upper right is the southern part, after removing some debris and heavy rains. Exposure is about 2-3 m high, fossils can be found everywhere, but higher up they are usually weathered. Lower left shows the most abundant fossil of the site: Turritella partschi. But there are also other things to find, like the venus clam Pelecyora gigas the lower right pic. Its the largest bivalve I have discovered so far in the "Florianer Schichten" (except the giant oysters, of course), its about 9 cm large.

 

I knew, that a collector from Vienna had visited this outcrop at the begin of September 2019. So I expected some remains and I was not disappointed. This collector had dug a little bit in the southern part and left many of rather large matrix specimens with some fossils behind. And these are some of the fossils I have found within about 30 minutes:

 

Mischung_Hoellerkogel4_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.aa57cac16537e28efb3d31d14efc5bc0.jpg

Matrix specimen with the most abundant fossil of the site.

 

Turritella_Hoellerkogel4_01102019_Laenge22mm_kompr.thumb.jpg.c5ac3fe13d6004ede6efd8102066baf7.jpg

Another Turritella partschi with a very small Sphaeronassa schoenni. Length of Turritella 22 mm.

 

DivaricellaOrnata_Hoellerkogel4_01102019_kompr.jpg.93ae6b000cc634303f2d16500066d272.jpg

This lucinid bivalve (Divaricella ornata) is rather abundant at this site. Size of bivalve 12 mm.

 

DiplodontaRodundata_Hoellerkogel4_01102019_c.jpg.e0381c20930128df9dc6f61461766280.jpg

Another abundant, but very small lucinid bivalve: Diplodonta rotundata, size 6 mm, with boring of a naticid snail.

 

TugoniaAnatina_Hoellerkogel4_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.1e3acb74b5693fde86d9640cb7c22a35.jpg

Also not rare: Tugonia anatina. Its very fragile, complete specimens are nearly impossible to obtain, size is 14 mm.

 

Anadara_Hoellerkogel4_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.446d030652b6921e76484023c808cf4b.jpg

Anadara diluvii is not missing, of course. Size of individuals is about 17 mm.

 

Continued...

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:wub: :wub: :wub:

Love the fossils and the locality photos.  Almost feel as if I am there, except of course that I cannot collect anything myself.

 

Don

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Excellent report, pictures and finds!

Thanks for the field trip! :) 

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33 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Love the fossils and the locality photos.  Almost feel as if I am there, except of course that I cannot collect anything myself.

 

 

26 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Excellent report, pictures and finds!

Thanks for the field trip!

Thanks for your kind words, but I had not yet finished the second part, some technical problems... ;).

 

I did not find many gastropods, expect Turritella, there this day, and nearly all were loose ones:

Zusammenstellung_Hollerkogel4_01102019_HoeheCB13mm_kompr.thumb.jpg.4132f56834359c0de6fc9c6f67bd4d78.jpg

From left to right:

A fragment of Turritella aquitanica / T. gradata. Its the second one I have found, the first one I donated to NHM Vienna.

Conilithes brezinae, height 13 mm.

Sphaeronassa schoenni, juvenile individual.

And another bivalve, Acanthocardia paucicostata.

 

This one is new for the site, its not perfectly preserved, but my second rather complete one:

GenotaRamosa_Hoellerkogel4_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.94cc59d3c323a5fb0556a8ed97d6d0df.jpg

Not much else to say...

 

Including an undetermined gastropod fragment, I have collected 11 species in 30 minutes. One was new for the site; total count since 2016 is 27 species.

 

I promised a totally different fauna compared to Fuggaberg-3. This is only partly true. The most abundant fossils are different (Turritella vs. Granulolabium), but Anadara diluvii, Acanthocardia paucicostata, Sphaeronassa schoenni and naticid gastropods occur regularly at both sides. Turritella and Granulolabium seem to indicate different habitats, subtidal vs. intertidal. But there seem to be also some molluscs, who don´t care about that difference...

 

Note: In the map in the first post, sites with predominating Granulolabium are indicated by bright green dots (dark green dots are beds of giant oysters), sites with predominating Turritella are indicated by blue dots. Lilac sites are dominated by bivalves (and are mostly unexplored), red dots are unclassified (totally unexplored and not much to see in the existing outcrop, except some mostly fragmentary fossils. But that could change with slight digging...).

 

Thanks for looking and your interest! Maybe continuing with Höllerkogel-10...
Franz Bernhard

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Good pictures and report. Thanks to which document or source do you identify the shells ? I have fossils of a very similar fauna from french miocene and still have a few undetermined species. And how do you realize the black backgroung on the picture ?

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On 10.10.2019 at 11:10 PM, Ludwigia said:

You sure do have some lovely molluscs there you lucky guy!

Thanks! Yes, I am a lucky guy! And some rudists and Devonian corals nearby :).

 

On 10.10.2019 at 11:47 PM, RuMert said:

Preservation is very good, some look as if alive

Yes, some are very well preserved, some are not. It can change within cm.

 

On 11.10.2019 at 11:12 PM, Pixpaleosky said:

Good pictures and report.

Thanks! Cheap, old and dirty point-and-shoot camera, holding in my hands, desk lamp, sometimes two lamps... Does decent macro shoots, but very poor field pics...

 

On 11.10.2019 at 11:12 PM, Pixpaleosky said:

Thanks to which document or source do you identify the shells

My finds were identified by a local "amateur expert" and checked by Mathias Harzhauser. I will send you two papers via pm.

Other finds not yet published I try to identify with Hoernes (18xx!), Schultz (1998), various papers of Harzhauser etc. But I am very poor in pattern recognition, so most of my unknowns have question marks or are still total "unknowns" (see below).

 

On 11.10.2019 at 11:12 PM, Pixpaleosky said:

french miocene

Try to ask @Coco and @fifbrindacier. And there are more french members here on TFF, some have already shown some french miocene fossils! You may have different species than in Vienna and Styrian basin.

 

On 11.10.2019 at 11:12 PM, Pixpaleosky said:

And how do you realize the black background on the picture ?

You really want to know it?? :zzzzscratchchin: Ok: Black sleeping pants...:D

 

Ok, going to Höllerkogel-10.

I have discovered this outcrop 3.5 years ago. Its a forest road cut, about 10 m long, with a sandy, nearly 0.5 m thick, fossil-rich layer between more silty layers. I have only one poor pic, and thats from May 2016:

Hoellerkogel_10_Uebersicht_16052016.thumb.jpg.3c4c038d246c380199435c5a60140319.jpg

You can not see the outcrop itself, only the scree below. Not much has changed since then, and you can always pick some fossils, even matrix specimens, from the scree. Good thing is, this outcrop is know to other collectors who visit it regularly, so some fresh material is always available in the scree.

 

Another good thing is: The outcrop is not heavily worked, because the fossils are small and more than 90% of the fossils are, you guessed it, Granulolabium bicinctum! However, because it is so easy, I have collected several times at this spot, and my total species count is around 40 at the moment.

 

So, lets show what I have picked up within a few minutes at 10/01/2019:

Stachelschnecke_Hoellerkogel10_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.57428fc968c66901446b9362e1262ffe.jpg

Unable to even guess a name! But partly very nice preservation! Any one able to ID it? :)

 

StriarcaLactea_Hoellerkogel10_01102019.jpg.ed5292567205d9d1e3588f57058fcd06.jpg

Arc clam Striarca lactea, size 8 mm.

 

BarbatiaBarbata_Hoellerkogel10_01102019_kompr.jpg.06258aeb59d88088c75345941fb68b5e.jpg

Arc clam Barbatia barbata, size 14 mm

 

Plattmuschel_Hoellerkogel10_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.7a910d66068ea6c8a9cd5a254181d9d7.jpg

Tellinid bivalve with naticid drill hole, size 14 mm. I am at a total loss with this kind of bivs...

 

This one I have already posted in "Fossil du Jour":

Amalda_Hoellerkogel10_01102019_kompr.jpg

Amalda glandiformis with fragments of Tugonia anatina to the right. Height of snail 22 mm.  Its by far the nicest Amalda matrix specimen I have found so far. Already slightly weathered, but I don´t bother.

 

And this one I have already submitted to FOTM October 2019:

Mondschnecke_Hoellerkogel10_01102019_Zus_kompr.jpg

 

I have collected only three loose fossils this day at this site:

Zusammenstellung_Hoellerkogel10_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.f8440f2364bff551987f49dccead9f74.jpg

Left: Granulolabium bicinctum, height 26 mm. Middle: Heavily worn terebridae. Right: Barbatia barbatia.

 

And now taking a short walk to Höllerkogel-18:

I have presented this outcrop already last year:

This is a somewhat special site, its neither dominated by Granulolabium nor by Turritella. Most abundant fossils are scavenging and predatory gastropods (with Amalda glandiformis dominating), followed by tellinid bivalves. Total species count is about 80. 

 

Nothing has changed since then. This day, I only removed some small pieces of matrix with a screw driver from the exposure and came back with these few, loose fossils:

Zusammenstellung_Hoellerkogel18_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.ff297a2d84eb0db76631524b1c4a8c65.jpg

Upper left partial, but bi-valved tellinid bivalve, size 40 mm. Lower left two naticids, both Cochlis sp.? To the right two somewhat fragmentary Amalda glandiformis. And an unknown gastropod:

SchneckeUnbestimmt_Hoellerkogel18_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.9bea9fe216c8b411ebafeebc7985c367.jpg

Looks like a turridae, but I am not even sure of this.

 

Next and last will be Bramberg-1 and possibly Bramberg-2, but nothing was collected at Bramberg-2, though. Will take some time, I have quite a large amount of specimens to prepare from Bramberg-1. Meanwhile, you can have a look at this ;):

Bramberg-1

 

As always, thanks for looking and your interest!
Franz Bernhard

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Hi,

 

Pixpaleosky, where your miocene shells come from in France ? From memory it seems to me that I have some PDF publications on Miocene molluscs, and even of Redonien (Pliocene basal), but I would need time to look a little (during the Toussaint holidays) If you remember me that ;)

 

Coco

----------------------
OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici

Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici
Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici
Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici
Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici
Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici
Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici

Un Greg...

Badges-IPFOTH.jpg.f4a8635cda47a3cc506743a8aabce700.jpg Badges-MOTM.jpg.461001e1a9db5dc29ca1c07a041a1a86.jpg

 

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Hi @FranzBernhard, thank you for your kind reply and i will have a close look at the documents ! Maybe i will do an ID topic. Your camera setup is as cheap as mine but it works well !

 

Hi @Coco, the location is Vaucluse, and the exact age is Tortonian. The shells are in grey marl. I identified 90% of them but i am stuck on the rest.

If you have anything helpful it is welcome :)

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Hi,

 

I am not able to attach files to public responses, but I can in MP (what I did for Pixpaleoski). I think it’s been like that for several years... Can an administrator help me ? Thanks.
 
Coco

 

----------------------
OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici

Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici
Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici
Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici
Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici
Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici
Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici

Un Greg...

Badges-IPFOTH.jpg.f4a8635cda47a3cc506743a8aabce700.jpg Badges-MOTM.jpg.461001e1a9db5dc29ca1c07a041a1a86.jpg

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Starting over with:

Bramberg-1

 

I "discovered" this site nearly 4 years ago. It was obvious, that it is already known to collectors, at least the western part. You can have a look at it here:

Bramberg-1

The eastern outcrop, about 20 m away, was heavily overgrown and only somewhat later I realized, that it could be an old dig site. The whole are was heavily collected around 1900!

This was the situation at the eastern outcrop at 10/01/2019 (yes, camera is working again, and yes, the pics are sucking again...):

Bramberg_1_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.89362eb36ecf4b9dfcd8207c7c501a3e.jpg

The outcrop is about 4 m long and 1 m high, and located about 4 m above a very small creek.

A collector from Vienna had visited this site in September 2019 and left lots of debris behind (upper left) with plenty of fossils (lower left). This site is dominated by bivalves, the most obvious are Linga columbella, Anadara diluvii and, less common, Pecten styriacus. Shell density is very high, but this is not good, because high shell density increases permeability and dissolution of shells, resulting in very fragile fossils, except very thick-shelled or calcitic ones. And shell fragments are also very abundant!

 

Despite these problems, I was able to recover about 15 different bivalve species from the debris in a short time, but only 3 gastropod species.

Mischung_Bramberg1_01102019_mitText_kompr.thumb.jpg.1438e8f62ca4c2ed302082a0b35d1361.jpg

Already posted in "Fossil du Jour"...

 

Mischung_Bramberg1_01102019_b_Text_kompr.thumb.jpg.eab29e40177de7971327518aea016fe4.jpg

Left one is new for the site, right one the second one for the site, nice combo.

 

Mischung_Bramberg1_01102019_c_Text_kompr.thumb.jpg.55ba8316ae2de3ddaf24c623c371c9dc.jpg

Nice bivalve with cute, little new gastro for the site.

Continued...

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Zusammenstellung_Bramberg1_01102019_kompr.thumb.jpg.ebb2713b859cf43830b1d27c4dfaf88d.jpg

Collage with 9 different bivalve species. @Max-fossils ;).

Circomphalus sp. and Caryocorbula carinata are new for the site.

 

Additionally observed bivalves were: Diplodonta rodundataGlycymeris sp., Ostrea digitalina.

Additional gastropod: Granulolabium plicatum.

Total count of species is now around 35.

 

Bramberg-2

I took nothing from Bramberg-2. Its a rather large outcrop (about 10 m long) near a small creek, and well known to collectors. It is dominated by the mud snail Granulolabium plicatum, followed in abundance by Granulolabium bicinctum. Other fossils are rather rare, but they do exist (some Terebralia, Vitta picta, tellinid bivalves etc.).

 

That´s all from this day. Great variety in very short time. Thanks for your interest!
Franz Bernhard

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More beautiful fossils! Such a cool area; I love how different the species representations are from one site to another, even though they're all relatively close to each other. Very interesting!

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Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Hi Franzbernhard

If it can help you:

The muricid is a very nice Ocenebra boeckhi (Hoernes & Auinger, 1885)

Sometimes call Hadriania boeckhi……….

Sans titre 7.jpg

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On 10/14/2019 at 2:49 AM, Coco said:

Hi,

 

I am not able to attach files to public responses, but I can in MP (what I did for Pixpaleoski). I think it’s been like that for several years... Can an administrator help me ? Thanks.
 
Coco

 

Hello Coco. Are you still having problems attaching files? If so, maybe someone more capable than I can help. @Fossildude19

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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