Nashville, TN - Hunting Ordovician Fossils in a Target Parking Lot

[Masonk]

Hi All,

Was in Nashville, TN for several days for a bachelor party! Had an amazing time enjoying music, food, way too many drinks, and even managed to squeeze in a fossil hunt!

 

We had to Uber everywhere, so I picked a somewhat convenient spot, which just so happened to be a Target parking lot. 

 

This is part of the Cathey's formation, which is Ordovician. Most common finds here are Brachiopods.

 

I spent about an hour here, but could have spent way more time, and brought back a lot more fossils.

 

Some general photos of the area:

 

That was not my cart, I promise!

 

Target on the left. Stark contrast to my normal scenery in a New Jersey Brook.

 

This and other similar formations are visible in multiple places throughout Nashville. 

 

Easy pickings...

 

Small Brachiopod hashplate. 

 

 

Edited April 11 by Masonk

[Masonk]

A few group shots to establish scale (mm)

 

 

 

[Masonk]

I'm working on ID's. Think I may have been successful on several using multiple websites specific to Nashville and a few books I have on hand. 

 

Some smaller, individual Brachiopods and a piece of Calcite, I believe. 

 

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

 

5.

 

6.

 

 

[Masonk]

Some larger pieces

 

7.

 

8.

 

9.

 

10. Discomyorthis, bottom left?

[Masonk]

11.

 

12.

 

13.

 

14.

Edited April 9 by Masonk

[Masonk]

15.

 

15a. (same piece as above)

 

16.

 

16b.  Same piece as above

[Masonk]

Hope you enjoyed, and thanks in advance!

[FossilNerd]

Not bad for an hour of hunting. I would have used the cart to haul the fossils back to the truck.  

 

Also, as an FYI, the genus Platystrophia was renamed to Vinlandostrophia back in 2007.  The paper was made available online for free by one of the authors so I have included it here for your reference.

 

Platystrophia_Orthida_and_new_related_Ordovician_a.pdf

[Fossildude19]

Nice report, Mason.

Thanks for posting it.  

[FossilDAWG]

Not Atrypa, that is a Silurian to Devonian genus.  Your fossil is probably Hebertella.

 

Don

[Masonk]

9 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

Not bad for an hour of hunting. I would have used the cart to haul the fossils back to the truck.  

 

Also, as an FYI, the genus Platystrophia was renamed to Vinlandostrophia back in 2007.  The paper was made available online for free by one of the authors so I have included it here for your reference.

 

Platystrophia_Orthida_and_new_related_Ordovician_a.pdf 1.66 MB · 1 download

 

I wish I had a truck! Unfortunately, everything I took had to fit in my "personal bag" for my flight back home.

 

Thank you for the corrected ID! My own fault. If I had actually read beyond the title from the source I used to make the ID, I would have seen the name change in 2007. 

 

http://tennesseefossils.com/FossilList/Platystrophia.php

[Masonk]

9 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Nice report, Mason.

Thanks for posting it.  

 

Thanks!

[Masonk]

7 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Not Atrypa, that is a Silurian to Devonian genus.  Your fossil is probably Hebertella.

 

Don

Thank you for the correction. Seeing a comparison photo of the two, I was way off!

[FossilNerd]

1 hour ago, Masonk said:

 

I wish I had a truck! Unfortunately, everything I took had to fit in my "personal bag" for my flight back home.

 

Thank you for the corrected ID! My own fault. If I had actually read beyond the title from the source I used to make the ID, I would have seen the name change in 2007. 

 

http://tennesseefossils.com/FossilList/Platystrophia.php

Ah, I see. Yes, the plane ride would put a damper on things. Still, you have a nice haul for a carry on. 

No worries on the ID. Nobody can keep up with all the name changes that have occurred over the years.  

 

[FossilDAWG]

In the past when traveling I have avoided overweight baggage charges by shipping fossils home with fixed rate boxes from the US Postal Service.  It's pretty reasonably priced and you can fit a lot in one of the large sized boxes.

 

Don

[Masonk]

10 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

In the past when traveling I have avoided overweight baggage charges by shipping fossils home with fixed rate boxes from the US Postal Service.  It's pretty reasonably priced and you can fit a lot in one of the large sized boxes.

 

Don

Thanks! I thought about that after the fact. Oof!

 

Gives me a reason to go back. My wife loves the new country music scene, so I'm sure it wouldn't take much convincing to plan a trip 😁