Yankeetown, Florida....Periarchus floridanus

[Sacha]

When water levels restrict my access to the few river localities I'm familiar with, I like to go to the Yankeetown Spoil islands to look for echinoids. It's a different and very enjoyable place to spend a couple hours.

 

 

These islands were created by the dredging of limestone to deepen the adjacent channel. The "beaches" are a combination of lower Ocala limestone cobbles, rounded by wave action and sand. I've lately been interested in finding decent examples of the sand dollar Periachus floridanus which is very common in the lower Ocala, but because it is so large and thin, it rarely survives exposure to the elements and wave action. I started looking at the beach cobbles for traces of more complete samples.

 

 

The goal, obviously, is to find the cobbles with just a hint of sand dollar periphery so the damage to the specimen is minimized. Then with a dremel engraver, scrapers and stainless wire brushes, remove the soft limestone to expose the prize. Sometimes easier than others. Sometimes luckier than others. But entertaining and a worthwhile way to spend time while the rivers go back down.

 

 

[Sacha]

[historianmichael]

Those turned out really well. Great finds!!

[MikeR]

I have a few pre-prepped myself that I will one day get to.  Yours turned out better than I would expect.

[Sacha]

20 minutes ago, MikeR said:

I have a few pre-prepped myself that I will one day get to.  Yours turned out better than I would expect.

 

I think they work out best when still damp. No dust and the limestone seems softer.

[Fossilis Willis]

Looks like a pretty spot to do some poking around. Nice finds as well.

[digit]

1 hour ago, MikeR said:

Yours turned out better than I would expect.

Agreed!

 

Proof that there is more to the Ocala Limestone in the Inglis/Yankeetown area than just Eupatagus antillarum.

 

1 hour ago, Sacha said:

 

I think they work out best when still damp. No dust and the limestone seems softer.

Good tip to those trying to prep specimens out of the Ocala Limestone. One of these days I'd like to make it out to those spoil islands. They are now an hour from my house instead of 5+ hours so maybe I'll manage it sooner rather than later (but I still need to get a decent kayak).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Al Dente]

I’ve kayaked out to these islands a couple times years ago. I found some nice stuff but the highlight was watching a group of dolphin chasing fish next to my kayak and then a few minutes later watching otters swim by.

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

Awesome, that transformation is staggering... Good job!