firefish68 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 This is a rock I found by a creek in Salem, VA and it appears to this simple fellow that it may contain a few fossils. I'm hoping some of you out there can either dispel that rumor or help it fester into fact. Either way, thanks for taking the time to look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Definitely fossils. They look like crinoid stems to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolPete Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Looks like a conglomerate of crinoid stems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyonts12 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Was it near Catawba? Or more near Salem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 There's some oooold rock 'round Roanoke; what's left of the roots of the mountains, which was sea floor in the Paleozoic. This is a chunk of that ancient sediment, full of crinoid ("sea lily") 'stem' sections, and it's been rolling around in streams for a long time. "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...
firefish68 Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Thanks for the info guys. I really do appreciate it. And it is more in Salem. Are you familiar with the area? If so, its down behind a little convenience store at the end of Kessler Mill Rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefish68 Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Yes sir, it does look like its earned a little time out of the water! Are there any spots you know of or have heard about where a fellow such as myself might find a few o' them oooooold rocks? Also, I'm taking the family to Westmoreland State Park next week. Any words of wisdom Auspex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Westmoreland I know: there is a small fossil hunting beach on the down-river end of the park; best at low tide (the staff can direct you to it; do not, however, venture to the beach under the cliffs, as it is strictly off limits). Shark's teeth and chunks of marine mammal bone are the draw.. The beach at the up-river end can be fun for small, water-worn shark's teeth in the coarse accumulations along the small jetties. Down your way, not knowing any better, I'd cruise the watercourses, flipping rocks. "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...
firefish68 Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 10-4 boss. I shall continue the afore mentioned flipping. And I'll be sure to post pics of anything found on the trip. We are planning to stop by Stratford Hall as well. As long as the kids are outside and away from the TV I will be happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyonts12 Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 (edited) I know of where you collected. I think it is from the Brallier Formation but I am not sure. I know that rock in the area is around that age. At the moment I can not find my articles regarding that area. If I find them I will post them on here for you to read about. At Boones Mill you are in igneous and metamorphic rock where you will not find fossils. If you travel to the northeast you will quickly leave that stuff and enter the Valley and Ridge province where you can find fossils. Most of what you will find is brachipods, crinoid stems, very rare trilobites, Cephalopoda, bryozoans, and Gastropods. I will post more a little later when I get some time. Edited August 10, 2012 by Jyonts12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefish68 Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 Sounds great Jyonts12! I appreciate the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyce Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 (edited) I am from there (Salem, VA) and I have collected several crinoids that I have whole and some in rocks. We lived in the country (at the base of Fort Lewis Mountain), we moved into th city of Salem when I was about 11. Grew up off Thompson Memorial. Westmoreland is a good place. Hike down to fossil beach at low tide and dig in the sand about a foot into the water. Bigger stuff there is usually burried. I go there a couple times a year. Edited August 11, 2012 by Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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