Fossil hunting in the Bois Blanc and Onondaga formations

[dinosaur man]

Hi this is my topic on fossil hunting in the Bois Blanc and Onondaga formation of southern Ontario. Not to far on the cliffs of Lake Erie by Dunnville Ontario there are lots of Outcrops of the Bois Blanc formation and Onondaga formation, there are a few Silurian outcrops in the town on the banks of the Grand River with a few fossils, but nothing like the Devonian Outcrops of Lake Erie’s cliffs. There mostly around Rock Point Provincial Park you can’t!! keep fossils here because it’s illegal to take fossils out of any provincial park. I’ve been collecting in these two formations for years, and good quality fossils are hard in the two formations. These two formations were a shallow reef in the the Devonian period, the formations are 419.2 million to 358.9 million years old. Most fossils from this area are corals, crinoids, brachiopods, cephalopods, and some Trilobites, there the more common fauna. Hope this helps with something. I will post some of my finds from these formations later.

[Kane]

Since you posted this in Questions and Answers, what is your question? It’s a bit challenging to read this without punctuation.  

[dinosaur man]

Sorry about punctuation and I have no questions I was just doing a informal post am I supposed to post it somewhere else?

[Kane]

As you will be posting finds from these formations, I’ll move it to Fossil Trips.  

[dinosaur man]

Thank you!!

[JohnJ]

9 minutes ago, dinosaur man said:

Sorry about punctuation

 

Please use punctuation.  Without it, your post is confusing.  For instance, it would be easy to misunderstand your post and think you have collected fossils illegally from the Park....

[dinosaur man]

Added punctuation 

[JohnJ]

1 minute ago, dinosaur man said:

Added punctuation 

Thanks.  You may need a few more edits.  Carefully proofread and correct as needed. 

[dinosaur man]

Hi here are some of my fossil finds in these two formations enjoy!!

 

Unknown species of tube coral.

 

Worm burrows 

 

Unknown species of Horn coral.

[dinosaur man]

Perhaps Cephalopods?

[jpc]

Nice fossils.  Nice lesson.  Nice punctuation.

 

The third photo look like horn corals. What are the top two?

[dinosaur man]

Sorry, it’s not allowing me to send any more. I’ll try to send more later.

[Tidgy's Dad]

The two rocks in the top photo seem to be bryozoa. 

Nice finds. 

[dinosaur man]

Thanks for the ID.

[JohnJ]

1 minute ago, dinosaur man said:

sorry, it’s not allowing me to send any more. I’ll try to send more later.

Refresh your browser and try again. 

[dinosaur man]

Type of sponge? 

 

Unknown coral

 

 

Unknown fossils I have no idea about these ones.

[dinosaur man]

Some more unknown fossils, probably coral of some sort.

 

Unknown Brachiopod 

[dinosaur man]

Last but not least a huge rock with a mixture of tube coral and some brachiopods. This is some of my collection from these two formations, but these ones are my best quality ones as I mentioned above hard to get good quality fossils from this area. I also have my eye out for Trilobites in these formations haven’t found any yet!!.

[Tidgy's Dad]

3 hours ago, dinosaur man said:

Type of sponge? 

Coral colony.

[FossilDAWG]

Your "sponge" is a Pleurodictyum coral.  Your "brachiopod" in the last photo is a solitary coral calyx showing major and minor septa around the periphery.  The three fossils in the photo above that are also bits of solitary corals.  The fauna of the Onondaga in Ontario is really dominated by corals.

 

Don

[dinosaur man]

Thank you!! 

[dinosaur man]

@FossilDAWG I can tell, lots of my finds from here are coral Thanks!!.

1 minute ago, FossilDAWG said:

Your "sponge" is a Pleurodictyum coral.  Your "brachiopod" in the last photo is a solitary coral calyx showing major and minor septa around the periphery.  The three fossils in the photo above that are also bits of solitary corals.  The fauna of the Onondaga in Ontario is really dominated by corals.

 

Don

 

[FossilDAWG]

Years ago there used to be some inactive quarries in Port Colborne where I collected a ton of Bois Blanc and Onondaga corals.  I suppose they are gone now, just because that seems to be the fate of all those old sites.  I also found a lot of beach rocks with nicely silicified corals just outside of Rock Point Provincial Park.  I prepped those with dilute hydrochloric (sold as muriatic) acid and that brought out the corals very nicely.  Don't try that unless you have access to a lab with a fume hood!

 

Don

[dinosaur man]

 

2 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Years ago there used to be some inactive quarries in Port Colborne where I collected a ton of Bois Blanc and Onondaga corals.  I suppose they are gone now, just because that seems to be the fate of all those old sites.  I also found a lot of beach rocks with nicely silicified corals just outside of Rock Point Provincial Park.  I prepped those with dilute hydrochloric (sold as muriatic) acid and that brought out the corals very nicely.  Don't try that unless you have access to a lab with a fume hood!

 

Don

 

 

 

Thanks, and that’s where I’m finding a lot of my fossils around Dunnville. I actually live two minutes up the road from Rock Point Provincial Park. So I’m always looking for some cool fossils to add to my collection.

[Monica]

I especially like the horn corals - congrats on finding some nice fossils!

 

By the way - could the item boxed in red below be an orthoconic nautiloid (cephalopod)?  If so, lucky you!