Florida Trip - Modest Finds

[Missourian]

Sorry, no shark teeth.

We just got back from a 12 day trip to Florida. Since we were on a tour, I really didn't have any opportunity to hunt for fossils. That didn't stop me from working with what scant little was available.

The only locality of note was a small, artificial island along the causeway to Sanibel. This fill is made up of a mixture of sand and shells. They probably used material dug up from somewhere in the Fort Myers area. As the shells are bleached and contain lightly cemented matrix, I think they could be Pleistocene. Conveniently, waves have cut into the fill, leaving a nice vertical face with a pile of shells at the bottom:

In places, large chunks have broken loose:

There is an interesting mix of forms. Some are shells encountered on area beaches. Anyone familiar with Sanibel will recognize these fighting conchs:

Other types were unfamiliar, and may no longer be present in this part of Florida. I believe this includes corals:

I looked at these through the microscope:

I took a few of the nicer pieces home with me:

[Evgeny Kotelevsky]

Sorry, no shark teeth.

We just got back from a 12 day trip to Florida. Since we were on a tour, I really didn't have any opportunity to hunt for fossils. That didn't stop me from working with what scant little was available.

The only locality of note was a small, artificial island along the causeway to Sanibel. This fill is made up of a mixture of sand and shells. They probably used material dug up from somewhere in the Fort Myers area. As the shells are bleached and contain lightly cemented matrix, I think they could be Pleistocene. Conveniently, waves have cut into the fill, leaving a nice vertical face with a pile of shells at the bottom:

In places, large chunks have broken loose:

There is an interesting mix of forms. Some are shells encountered on area beaches. Anyone familiar with Sanibel will recognize these fighting conchs:

Other types were unfamiliar, and may no longer be present in this part of Florida. I believe this includes corals:

I looked at these through the microscope:

I took a few of the nicer pieces home with me:

Nice colonial corals you've got! )))))

[Missourian]

I also spotted these crinoids in a rock wall in Chattanooga, Tennessee:

Due to the crazy geology of the area, they could have come from any part of the Paleozoic. They're not much, but they are the only close-up I got of anything in Tennessee.

West of town, I snapped this waterfall spilling from a cave in an interstate cut:

Being stuck in rush hour traffic occasionally has its benefits. I snapped some photos of some nice Mississippian beds in the St. Louis area, somewhere along the southwest side of the I-270 loop:

Edited February 14, 2013 by Missourian

[CH4ShotCaller]

Nice trip report and locale site pics. I'm gettin' the itch to get back in the field!

[Missourian]

We also visited a massive flea market in Fort Meyers. I was surprised that there were no fossil shark teeth to be seen anywhere. I'd expect at least one vender would be there selling them to the tourists. I guess I'll just have to find one of my own some day.

[masonboro37]

Great report and insitu pic's and other pic's. The St. Louis road pic is striking. Florida is one of my future fossil destinations and your pic of the gastropod in the matrix is awesome! I have heard that Sanibel has thousands of shells all over. Nice finds! Thanks for sharing!

[Missourian]

I have heard that Sanibel has thousands of shells all over.

Sanibel is phenomenal. The beaches are literally made out of shells in many places. The best experience of all was on another trip when we went out at very low tide one evening. The water had drained away from the wave-scoured sand flat, and mollusks of all kinds were coming out. They included both gastropods and clams. Here is an olive:

This is just an empty shell, but the color is the most stunning I've ever seen:

Unfortunately, the blue color faded a bit once it dried out.

Sanibel beach at sunset:

Edited February 15, 2013 by Missourian

[Auspex]

Sanibel is phenomenal...

Did you get to the refuge?

[Missourian]

Did you get to the refuge?

Not on this trip, but I had been there before. A few pics of the mangroves:

And I gather you've been through much of the area. The variety of birds in southern Florida is incredible.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Missourian

[Coco]

To protect the recent shells and return them a beautiful color (as when they are wet), you can put a MINERAL OIL on them. I protect all my recent shells in this way. I use a brush to put some liquid paraffin oil above them, I leave so 2 or 3 days, and then I wipe several times with some colored paper for toilet (very absorbing, and the color allows to see if it remains some oil on shells). I wipe so much that there are tracks of oil on the paper. Then, that doesn't move any more.

If somebody walks on the Sanibel beaches (or Florida or another beaches with shells), I would be interested in the current shells (MP for more information). Thanks.

Coco

[arien]

Sanibel beach is a realy nice place for surching for recent shells I bin there two times already nice beach

Where is that other layer of shells the fossil ones???

we found several fossil shells at shell creeck they are almost the same like the ones you showed us

Hope to here from you greats Arien

[Missourian]

To protect the recent shells and return them a beautiful color (as when they are wet), you can put a MINERAL OIL on them. I protect all my recent shells in this way. I use a brush to put some liquid paraffin oil above them, I leave so 2 or 3 days, and then I wipe several times with some colored paper for toilet (very absorbing, and the color allows to see if it remains some oil on shells). I wipe so much that there are tracks of oil on the paper. Then, that doesn't move any more.

I soaked the shell in water, but the color didn't return. I figure the blue came from some sort of micro organism.

[Missourian]

Where is that other layer of shells the fossil ones???

It's hard to say. Shell-bearing deposits seem to be pretty widespread across Florida, so it's not possible to tell where they came from.

[Wolffish]

I just got back from 5 days on the north end of Captiva - South Seas Resort. There are so many shells here it is mind boggling. But - in my stay, I spent a total of 1/2 hour looking for them. Heavy seas, cold temps, strong north winds, ... blah! (Plus, my wife and I have a ton of great shells - olives, cones, conchs, .. - from Marco Island from 20 years ago) Plus - I went fossiling on Sat and Sun with Mark Renz.

Bottom line - the shelling on Captiva/ Sanibel / Marco is nothing short of phenomonal

I DID, however, catch a 20+ pound snook in my hour and a half of fishing!!

Joe

[Auspex]

...I DID, however, catch a 20+ pound snook in my hour and a half of fishing!!

Kind of a handful on a split bamboo fly rod, yes?

[Joyce]

Great report! Wonderful finds and I love the pics! I have an weird affinity for those tube worms. I love that you have pics of the coral under the microscope. I think the building of not just the finished product is amazing!!! Thanks again!:-)