A Brief Excursion Through Kansas

[Missourian]

(Since I didn't find too many fossils of note, I will place this here in 'Member's News & Distractions' instead of in 'Fossil Hunting Trips'.)

Last weekend, we took a trip across southeastern Kansas. It wasn't a fossil hunting excursion per se, but I did take the opportunity to examine one Pennsylvanian site up close.

First on the itinerary was the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve:


This is situated in the Permian Flint Hills, but because the preserve is a NPS unit, no collecting was allowed. There wasn't much in the way of fossils anyway -- or outcrops for that matter. I did see some rock along the trail with abundant fusulinids and some brachiopod hash.

The lack of rocks was made up with an abundance of wildflowers. The diversity was surprising, particularly for September. A few examples, from left to right, are Maximilian sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani), blue sage (Salvia azurea), and prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya):

Locust in focus:

I must say I've never before struggled to hold an insect in my hand. The thing was downright strong.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Missourian

[Missourian]

The preserve was created from the vast Z Bar/Spring Hill Ranch.

The main house was built in 1881:


Obviously, the original landowner was quite wealthy.

Corrals and beyond:


The House Cat, a.k.a. 'Chairman of the Bored':

Edited September 19, 2013 by Missourian

[Missourian]

We made it into Hutchinson later that evening. Ok, time for a math question. What is the probability of randomly visiting the one town that holds the state fair during the state fair? Well, we hit those odds. The "benefit" of (not) attending the state fair is that you get to pay twice as much for a crappy motel room -- that is, if you can find one. Oh, and there is also a $20 state fair tax. Note to self: Check schedules of state fairs when traveling.

The next day, we arrived at Strataca, which is a museum in a vast salt mine 650 feet below the surface. The mine was excavated within the 300-foot-thick Hutchinson Salt Member of the Wellington Formation (Permian). Down here, salt is everywhere, including the walls of the restroom:


Wall up close:


The banding was caused by clastic sedimentation from runoff during wetter periods back in the Permian.

Besides mining salt, the excavated areas are used to store all kinds of things from government documents to Hollywood films and costumes. An interesting aspect of the mine is the trash left behind by the miners. These 'artifacts' remain where they were discarded.

One benefit of the tour is that everyone was allowed to collect a sample of rock salt from the pile:


Soon after we returned to the surface, we visited the Cosmosphere. This museum has excellent exibits on the history of rocketry and manned space exploration, including everything from the V-1 to Virgin Galactic. Here is a moon rock that was on display:


Sorry. It didn't contain any fossils.

The next day, we visited the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita:


Giraffe: "Hey buddy.... You got a salt lick?"
Me: "No. Sorry. I left it in the car."

Omm nom nom nom....

Edited September 20, 2013 by Missourian

[Missourian]

After the zoo, we worked our way back home. By "worked", I mean we went about fifty miles out of the way to Wilson County to visit a road cut at the margin of a large algal reef mound that I read about in an old Kansas Geological Survey publication.

The reef mound is a thick build-up of limestone within the Plattsburg Formation. It formed as carbonate sediment was trapped among blades of phylloid algae. After several generations of algal growth, the reef rose 100 feet or more above the surrounding sea floor. Many forms of marine life made this their home. Increased current flow around the reef margins was particularly favorable to sponges. Because I always love to collect sponges, I thought it was worth a shot to at least see what I could find (or not). The road cut, which I spotted on Google Street View, seemed to be just what I was looking for:


At the top is the Captain Creek Limestone of the Stanton Formation (hidden in the brush), followed by the Vilas Shale Formation, Plattsburg Formation (mostly Spring Hill Limestone), and some shale making up the lower half of the cut. I thought this lower shale was the Bonner Springs (Lane Formation), but after reading through the publication again, I realized that this is actually the anomalously thick Hickory Creek Shale (Plattsburg Fm.). Both the Hickory Creek and the Spring Hill here are radically different than what I'm used to back in Kansas City.

This particular road cut is along the margin of the reef, which would be mostly behind me to the south. The beds within the shale dipped away from the ancient topographic high. Much of the uneven bedding visible in the cut is probably due to scouring and sedimentation along this slope. I didn't find any spectacular fossils, but there was still much of interest -- to me, at least.

I did find many sponges in the Hickory Creek, but they were heavily encrusted with algae and weren't quite as 'collectible' as I'd like. They include Heliospongia, Girtyocoelia, Maeandrostia, and possibly other forms.

Heliospongia sp. 'bundle':


Girtyocoelia sp. String of pearls:


A second string:


(Hopefully the Chiefs' second string will be as presentable this year.... )

Several more sponges can be seen in the top and right of this small cache, which also includes crinoids, mollusks and bryozoans:

Edited September 20, 2013 by Missourian

[Missourian]

Also interesting was some nice fossil hash:


Fossils include mollusks (gastropods, pelecypods, scaphopods), bryozoans, brachiopods and ostracods. The usually rare scaphopods were a nice bonus. A portion of the hash up close:


There was also some very fine fossil hash that was embedded in cylindrical structure that are either fossil traces or scour marks:


Up close, many tiny fossils can be seen, including several forams, some ostracods, and whatever else:

[Missourian]

Lastly, there was a unique bed with a strangly textured top surface. I collected a couple pieces:


A second, smaller piece:


The surfaces are quite knobby. Under the microscope:


Most likely, this is some sort of algal mat. The texture is somewhat similar to that of Ottonosia, which is a nodule formed from intergrowths of forams and blue-green algae.

Fortunately, the second piece is perfectly split on the side:


Other than a thin band of encrusting red algae a few millimeters below the knobby surface, there isn't any trace of any structure within the bulk of the pieces, so there's no easy way to discern their nature. Some forams (tiny white tubes) and sparse crinoid fragments are mixed throughout. The light-colored ovals interrupting the algal band are probably filled burrows or borings.

[Missourian]

All fossils shown in this thread were found in the upper portion of the Hickory Creek Shale.

[Bullsnake]

Very cool report!

Not sure which out of the way highway you took to come back, but searching some roadcuts in the general area of Marion, Ks., we found some really cool geodes (Permian).

Incidentally, my niece is one of the elephant handlers at Sedgewick Co. zoo. Had I known you'd be there, I could have had her give you a behind the scenes tour. Pet the elephant, and rhinos, and 'backstage' with the tigers in a 5 foot wide aisle surrounded by their cages is quite a rush! No pictures allowed though!

[Ramo]

Missourian, Nice trip report. Looks like you made the most out of your time. Make sure you coat that salt chunk with some clear-coat before you set it on a nice shelf, or in a bag for that matter. Those things get nasty when exposed to our surface moisture if you aren't careful.

Ramo

[Uncle Siphuncle]

now that's livin'!

[squalicorax]

Very neat! What is the secondary mineral in that salt sample?

[Ludwigia]

What a great report and you discovered a very interesting site as well! The hash plates are really nice and the string of pearls is fascinating. What is that exactly?

Edited September 19, 2013 by Ludwigia

[Missourian]

Incidentally, my niece is one of the elephant handlers at Sedgewick Co. zoo. Had I known you'd be there, I could have had her give you a behind the scenes tour. Pet the elephant, and rhinos, and 'backstage' with the tigers in a 5 foot wide aisle surrounded by their cages is quite a rush! No pictures allowed though!

That would have been cool. Actually, our zoo visit was a last-second decision, thanks to the Hutchinson room rates.

[Missourian]

Make sure you coat that salt chunk with some clear-coat before you set it on a nice shelf, or in a bag for that matter. Those things get nasty when exposed to our surface moisture if you aren't careful.

The folks at Strataca did recommend coating the salt. I didn't remember if they said it was ok to rinse it off or not, so I did so before I took the photo. The piece was rather disgusting pre-wash. I did dry off as much water as I could. I'll let it air out for a few more days before I treat it.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Missourian

[nala]

Great report and pictures!

[Missourian]

Very neat! What is the secondary mineral in that salt sample?

The dark bands probably are clay. There are probably trace amounts of many different elements. The guide mentioned potassium chloride being a concern. In places in the mine, there was some iron oxide staining near dissolution pockets.

[Missourian]

the string of pearls is fascinating. What is that exactly?

Here's a diagram I made some time ago of the internal structure of Girtyocoelia and two other sponges:

[Auspex]

Here's a diagram I made some time ago of the internal structure of Girtyocoelia and two other sponges:

Sponge-ID.png

Demosponge, yes?

[Missourian]

Demosponge, yes?

That's correct. Apparently all the Pennsylvanian sponges I've found fall under Demospongia except for Wewokella, which belongs to the Heteractinida.

So far, my tally is Amblysiphonella, Coelocladia, Fissispongia, Girtycoelia, Girtyocoelia, Heliospongia, Maeandrostia and Wewokella.

[Plantguy]

Very nice report....Enjoyed seeing the variety! Regards, Chris

[Ludwigia]

Here's a diagram I made some time ago of the internal structure of Girtyocoelia and two other sponges:

Sponge-ID.png

Thanks for the info.

[Wrangellian]

I bet that spot was like a refreshing rain after a drought! Nice stuff there.

[Missourian]

I bet that spot was like a refreshing rain after a drought! Nice stuff there.

Thanks. I was hoping for many more sponges, but I was quite happy with the Girtyocoelia in matrix. For some reason, those are very rare closer to Kansas City.