microraptor Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Those fossils are really cool, but I'm not much use at identifying them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue in ohio Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Hi John, just a heads up on a trip up this way..we got decimated around here by the recent flooding, Williamsport and surrounding areas were especially hard hit..roads and bridges in the outlying areas were washed away or destroyed...I've been cleaning up yet again from the damage the last 2 days in between my shifts at work and helping out with the Red Cross efforts, the water has receded in my area but it's still a disaster area down where you want to go for the Dipleura. Hold tight coming up till I can go down and survey the area..I highly doubt any of the roadways back into there survived. I saw on the local news coverage, the redlight at the junction of #118, with the minitmart off to the right..that intersection was under many feet of water and you know how far away that creek is that flooded this town. It will be some time before the roads that were destroyed are repaired not to mention the rebuilding/replacement of the bridges. If any PA members or former Pa members here remember the floodings from Hurricane Agnes in '72 that went into the histroy books as the worstever floodings in the history of PA...this is so much worse, so much damage it's still hard to fathom and rightafter Hurricane Irene tore through here just 2 weeks ago. It started raining here Sunday and didn't stop till this morning...some areas got well over 10". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrified Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 Yeah the weather is pretty nasty out right now. Flash flood warnings everywhere but I think everything will clear up before then. We'll just play it by ear is all and see what mother nature has in store for us. Definition of a fossil= Love at first site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Hi John, just a heads up on a trip up this way..we got decimated around here by the recent flooding, Williamsport and surrounding areas were especially hard hit..roads and bridges in the outlying areas were washed away or destroyed...I've been cleaning up yet again from the damage the last 2 days in between my shifts at work and helping out with the Red Cross efforts, the water has receded in my area but it's still a disaster area down where you want to go for the Dipleura. Hold tight coming up till I can go down and survey the area..I highly doubt any of the roadways back into there survived. I saw on the local news coverage, the redlight at the junction of #118, with the minitmart off to the right..that intersection was under many feet of water and you know how far away that creek is that flooded this town. It will be some time before the roads that were destroyed are repaired not to mention the rebuilding/replacement of the bridges. If any PA members or former Pa members here remember the floodings from Hurricane Agnes in '72 that went into the histroy books as the worstever floodings in the history of PA...this is so much worse, so much damage it's still hard to fathom and rightafter Hurricane Irene tore through here just 2 weeks ago. It started raining here Sunday and didn't stop till this morning...some areas got well over 10". Jeez Sue, you just can't catch a break out there. We are looking at comming up on the 20th of this month. I'll PM you when it gets closer. On the good side, maybe with all the washouts, they'll be pulling material from that Dipleura spot and get into some fresh material, that would be the silver lining on this disaster. Sorry to hear you guys got whacked again. Thanks for your concern. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Yeah the weather is pretty nasty out right now. Flash flood warnings everywhere but I think everything will clear up before then. We'll just play it by ear is all and see what mother nature has in store for us. Roger that. I think things will be cleared up by then. We do however have a couple more possible hurricaines out there. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue in ohio Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 (edited) Yeah the weather is pretty nasty out right now. Flash flood warnings everywhere but I think everything will clear up before then. We'll just play it by ear is all and see what mother nature has in store for us. Roger that. I think things will be cleared up by then. We do however have a couple more possible hurricaines out there. John Bite your tongue John!!!! the thoughts of any more Hurricanes, Tropical storms, Depressions, stalled out fronts..any storms sends a horrifing panic through me now..3 floodings in 9 months is absolutely devasting enough..any more will put me in a rubber room bouncing off the walls for sure...so, shhhhhhhhh no more storms for north-central PA, lol. The water will be receded by then for sure but the roads and bridges that were destroyed, that will be a long term process because so many were destroyed over the last 2 weeks. I'll let you know as soon as I can break away and take a drive down there what conditions we are facing..Benezette area should be fine, they only got a bit of rain to the west of me. The flood warnings were taken down just hours after the storm passed through for them. Edited September 10, 2011 by sue in pa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Sue and you all. Sorry to hear about all of the serious water issues up there! I do remember the Agnes disaster and visiting Milton/W.Milton afterwards where one set of my relatives are from and seeing the aftermath and high water marks on all of the homes/businesses. The Susquehanna is a very substantial river and with all of those feeder creeks! I've seen the video and read reports and see how much worse it is this time. Be very safe and hang in there! Wishing you all the best in dealing with that situation. Looking forward to when some level of normalcy returns up there for you all and to seeing what you all come up with more fossils and some positive ID's. Exciting! Lets see some vegetative or reproductive fronds! Cant wait to see what you narrow this down to... Psilophyton, Rhacophyton, or Cephalopteris (Protocephalopteris)and Lepidodendropsis, etc. Great stuff! Again be safe and our thoughts are with you. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue in ohio Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Thank you so much Chris for your sweet thoughts and concerns, hugs...by the time you come up John, I'm so going to need a getaway, I'm looking forward to it. I took Owen(Oh-man) down there a couple weeks ago and he found a complete Dipleura also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Well, I wanted to re-activate this thread. Glad Owen found a nice bug Sue. For those interested, we have lined up a trip to the area "Petrified" mentioned. It'll be me, my regular diggin partner Dave, Sue and possibly one of Sue's friends. We'll be heading up Tuesday, early. I'll be leaving around 3 AM. I'm sure we'll all be posting some trip results when we're finished. It's been a couple weeks since last I've been out, I'm excited. Meeting new people, a new site area and cool plant fossils, what's not to like. Might even have a shot at finding some nice bugs at another site on the way home. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdevey Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 For those interested, we have lined up a trip to the area "Petrified" mentioned. It'll be me, my regular diggin partner Dave, Sue and possibly one of Sue's friends. We'll be heading up Tuesday, early. I'll be leaving around 3 AM. I'm sure we'll all be posting some trip results when we're finished Sounds Like Fun, can't wait to see what you all find. Be sure to take something to secure those weak plates. Bob There were alot of bigger ones about 3 feet. The second one was 2 feet x 2 feet then it broke in pieces so I only picked this piece up and its about 6x7. The shale was very fragile and it broke way to easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue in ohio Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 (edited) I'm so excited to meet all of you also but the weather forecast for this area is looking awful for our outing tomorrow.. tonite(Mon) 90% chance of rain with thunderstorms possible after 5am, tomorrow(Tues) showers with thunderstorms possible till 11 am then showers between 11 am and 2 pm with rain tapering off, highs reaching 70......wasn't the forecast I wanted to see, dang..better bring rainjackets guys. Edited September 19, 2011 by sue in pa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Suze, do you actualy believe what the weather guys predict? I predict it'll be 72 degrees, clear to partly cloudy with fossils everywhere. We'll have rain gear just in case. I haven't been in the field for a week and a half. I don't care if it snows, I'm fossilin. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I'll do a better write up of our trip tomorrow. I'm totaly bushed. I did want to try to clear up the "mystery stems" I think I got it. We really had a great time. Sue is a sweetheart, Jacob was a perfect host. I enjoyed my time with them immensly. Again, more on all this tomorrow. First of all, our friend Jacob was not in Devonian material. It was Mississippian, Shenango through Oswayo formation. I collected several identical "stems", in fact next to his specimens. Fortunatly, these rachis had sufficient attached pinnules to ID. They are the rachis of Odontopteris sp. The pinnules belong to the group Odontopterids proper (Xenopteris). I couldn't get pics today, it rained frequently and was way too cloudy. I will write up all our finds tomorrow. Our wildlife observations were plentiful. Ravens, Pileated woodpeckers. cedar waxwings, Elk, deer, porcupine, red squirrel, grey squirrel, turkeys and grouse. It really was fun. Good night all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Great follow-up John. Looking forward to your photos tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I think Petrified has himself a Devonian land-plant deposit! See what you can do to nail down the stratigraphy. Checked, double checked and just now, triple checked. No question on the stratigraphy. It is unquestionably Mississipian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Not sure I'll be able to get any photos today. Raining now, cloudy all day with sporadic thunder storms. The preservation on the foliage of these rachises is marginal. certainly enough detail to get, I believe, a solid ID. Louping it in hand is one thing, photographing it to show this not so great detail is another. I'll try as soon as I can. You can see on the specimen that Petrified posted, no foliage. Even zoomed in tight, it's not visable. The pieces I have are quite a bit better as far as detail goes but still not easy to shoot. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 John, and all, Thanks for your efforts on nailing this down. You folks are hardcore - doing this trip despite the miserable weather! My hat's off to you all! Great research there, John! Best regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 So, just how rare is a Mississippian land plant site, in N. Am.? Around my Camp in N.PA, we have Devonian marine, Mississippian marine, and Pennsylvanian coal-swamp. I have not found a Mississippian site that was even transgressive up there. This is pretty cool! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Well, I'll tell you this my dear administrator. There's not much material there. Not without significant overburden removal. Pretty tuff spot. Even the matrix is right on. I'm very anxious to get a pic up. It's a very difficult piece to photograph. Tried several light sources I have to no avail. We, by the way, went to a somewhat nearby (20 miles away) Pennsylvanian period site. Found several, Pseudorthoceras and two, Strobeus gastro's. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue in ohio Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 It was an awesome day hunting with John, his friend Dave and Jacob. I was so busy fossiling I didn't even think to break the camera out till the last minute when Jacob had to leave so I got a couple shots...I can't believe I forgot to take pics, lol!! When I get off my shift tomorrow I'll get my pics up too. John..you were equally a sweetheart, I'd go out on a hunt with you anytime...Dave and Jacob too, it was a fun day. Hope we can do it again soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrified Posted September 23, 2011 Author Share Posted September 23, 2011 Im glad everyone had fun. It was nice to meet everyone. By the way how did everyone do at the other site that I had to leave at? Probably in the spring we'll have to do this again. Ill have a better location set up for those who come next time. Definition of a fossil= Love at first site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Had a great time Jacob. Found a couple small things at the second site. Made lunch and headed home. Dave wanted to stop at Alan Seeger natural area to coolect more mushrooms. We ended up spending about two hours there, well worth it. It was beautiful. Old growth Hemlock and Rhodadendron forest. Never been logged. Reminded me of the forests of northern California. Carpeted with ferns, club mosses and lichens and yes, mushrooms. Tons of them. Dave was in his glory, his sack was a bulgin with fungi. It's down on Tussey moutain by State College. You should check this park out for your landscape painting. Thanks a million for having us up Jacob. Good luck with all your hobbies and collecting. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos_Being Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 I admit I had come across the thread before I registered and was intrigued. Glad to hear the mystery was solved- looking forwards to the new pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 I'm having very aggravating internet connectivity problems today. Let me try to get these up. These are only part of what I found but they are of the explanation for the "mystery branches" that petrified posted. In my effort to quickly grab some pics between rain storms I forgot to put a scale in the pics. For that reference, the stem lying across the bottom is abut 1/4 inch thick. I believe these branches are the rachises of Odontopteris. I'll include a site that describes these plants. It's a nice site to have. There are several duplicate photos. I've included them because they seem to me to have subtle differences contrast etc, that may help in the ID. I'd like others to jump in here on the ID, please. What ya think? Again, Mississippian in age. At this spot I also found Cordiates, both leaf and stem impressions. I'll get those up when I can. At another location, about 20 miles away, Pennsylvanian period, I found several Pseudorthoceras and a couple Strobeus. Here's that site. Please do give me your opinion on this specimen ID, thanks. http://www.georgesbasement.com/LesquereuxAtlasP/ODONTOPTERIS-to-DICHTYOPTERIS-Lesquereux.htm#I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Hey John and all, looks like you all had a great trip and brought back some neat finds! I like the proposed ID but unfortunately the more I see these days the less I'm convinced I know about these things. Odontopteris is a genus that has a great deal of variability and I shot an email off to an expert in hopes of getting some confirmation on the ID. Could be someone else in the forum could offer some confirmation as well. Dang, I sure wish I still lived up that away and could see this stuff in person and collect some too with you all! Thanks for the post. I'll let you know when I get feedback...Great finds! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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