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California Collections

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:30:17 +0000

This second installment represents my fossil-hunting experiences in California. Like Texas, where I live now, there were fossils in every road cut and in many hillsides and creek beds.

Marine Fossils of Orange County

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:23:45 +0000

Before a portion of the Costa Mesa Freeway was finished in Newport Beach, California, I was allowed to gather marine fossils from the work site. They are early Pliocene in age (possibly late Miocene), the best preserved of all my fossils.

South Laguna Clams and Coral

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:22:52 +0000

The fossils above represent an early fossil hunting expedition. I found out that they are Late Oligocene or Early Miocene. I found them in the lower strata of the Vaqueros Formation in South Laguna Beach, Orange County, California.

Worm Borrrows and Mystery Fossils of Holz Shale

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:11:27 +0000

I learned that the fossils in this group are probably worm burrows, though the ones indicated on top look like vertebratefossils. They were found alongside of the mollusks and sharks teeth in the Holz Shale. Unfortunately, even paleontologists find it difficult to identify just exactly what species inhabit such burrows.

Ammonites Of Silverado Canyon

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:10:30 +0000

Found alongside of the other molluscs in the Holz Shale of Silverado Canyon in Orange County, were numerous ammonites, which represent two of the basic configurations of the ammonite shell, as shown in the photo above.

Fossils of the Holz Shale

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:01:27 +0000

Silverado Canyon in Orange County, California, is Late Cretaceous and Middle Cretaceous in age, the oldest bed being the Holz Shale member of the Ladd Formation. The above fossils represent the most ancient strata in this fossiliferous zone.

Stratigraphy Of Marble Mountain

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 22:53:13 +0000

For the edification of the viewer I have included the stratigraphy of Marble Mountains.

Oncolite

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 22:40:33 +0000

During my second trip to Marble Mountains, I found fossils I later identified as oncolites. In this presentation, I compare one of my samples with living cyanobacteria.

Trilobites and Brachiopod from Marble Mountains

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 22:23:06 +0000

My expedition to Marble Mountains (Lower Cambrian, Latham Shale) was my first fossil hunt in California. Later I returnedand found the specimen shown here with a brachiopod in the matrix. In this photo are also samples of Olenellus Clarki andOlenellus Fremonti.