Trips to the middle Oxfordian

[RuMert]

Hi all! 

Here's a short trip report to show the diversity of fossil hunting conditions in the Jurassic. We have very few places with large inflated mid-Oxfordian ammonites, most of them are shown below. The red mark is on the site I discuss.  It's on the Volga too, but much less accessible and productive than others.

 

The site is situated some 10km to the east of Kineshma, a not-so-rich middle-sized town.

 

 

 

I visited it in various seasons but couldn't catch a suitable water level. The shore is either under snow or the water is already high and remains high throughout the year.

Edited December 25, 2023 by RuMert

[RuMert]

The shore is totally overgrown with only tiny beaches remaining, so using a kayak is a must:

 

 

Edited December 25, 2023 by RuMert

[RuMert]

Lots of large belemnites (I've never seen so many of them loose), some ammonite fragments (marl), but that's pretty much it.

 

 

 

 

 

Still., in summer I was able to find some more interesting fossils, like a plesiosaur phalange:

 

Some gastropods of typically Oxfordian preservation, brachs and crinoid fragments:

And a couple of better ammonites:

Edited December 26, 2023 by RuMert

[RuMert]

One curious moment was seeing some creature cross water from afar, possibly from the opposite bank. Turned out to be a mole😀 I thought it could be a desman which happens to live there and is semi-aquatic, but looking at the pictures afterwards I'm 100% sure it was a mole. It paddles very fast😀

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by RuMert

[RuMert]

I collected some fossils from Callovian and Middle Oxfordian, but truly good finds are still ahead

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited December 26, 2023 by RuMert