South Eastern Pa Concretions

[redbrick]

Just tonight, as I was thumbing through a "Fossils for Beginners" type book, I realized that my dad's farm is loaded with ironstone concretions. We always called them "goonies", an old PA Dutch word that basically means "fist sized to head sized rounded rock". I remember seeing a few that had been frost split, but never found fossils in them. To be honest, I never really looked that close. Did I pass up a "gold mine" as a kid? According to a PA Geologic map, it's Hamburg Formation Ordovician shales and siltstones.

Anybody ever collect fossils from concretions in this general region?

Edited October 8, 2010 by redbrick

[Fossildude19]

Redbrick,

I have not collected there, but there is only one way to find out for sure.

Many times, concretions will not have a fossil inside, but sometimes they do.

Only way to tell for sure is to split a bunch of them.

Some people try to do it with a hammer. This can be brutal on the fossil if there is one.

Best way is to try to do a bunch of freeze/thaw cycles. Much gentler on a possible fossil.

Anyway, if you have access to an area that has them, I would definitely get a bunch and give it a try!

With winter approaching, there is no time like the present.

Regards,

[frozen_turkey]

Also if you go with the hammer approch you can always glued it back together, and then prep it. It sould work. Ive never done it, because I have never had the honor to find concretions.