hrguy54 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 (edited) A few weeks ago my wife and I drove NY for the weekend. She had a wedding to attend in Oswego I went on a huntin' in the Buffalo area. I am truly psyched about bringing home a good number of the phacop/greenop trilobites the area is known for. Her family owns a cottage on Seneca Lake so that was our "base". I left for Alden around 6:30, Saturday morning. Arrived at stop #1 around 8:30. There were already a few guys (Rich and Matt?)at the spot along the creek that I was directed to so I went upstream a bit. Had little to no success there so I returned to where the guys were to my intended spot. As I get there a female friend (Sue) of one of the guys had persuaded him to go to a spot further upstream than I had been, so I moved into his original spot...still no luck. He, however, had collected some nice pieces there over the last few weeks. In about 45 minutes the guy came back for his pack and suggested I go with him. I did. At a cut in the creek bank almost immediately I start finding pyrite nodules. Here's some of them, unprepped. When I got back to Ohio I had to clean some as soon as I could, and, once I saw what I had I couldn't stop at just one. Edited July 6, 2013 by hrguy54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Some have encrusted around pyritized gastropods Any ideas about these? I find a few cephalopod segments and a nicer piece, too. They look as if they were machine tooled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 I found these sitting vertically in the horizontal shale layers. Due to their uniformity and shape I wonder if they're burrows that filled with pyrite over time. I retrieved all this in an area in the shale maybe 6'x3' and less than 12" deep. I'm a pyrite fan - probably the closest I'll ever get to real gold - and a nice collection. Here's some non-fossils I collected in a quarry in Indianapolis. (PM me if you want to see more) Around 12:30 I head off to Penn-Dixie. I'm a member but have never been there. The temperature is in the upper 80's by the time I arrive. Few clouds. I find few brachiopods and horn coral before deciding to leave around 2:30. Next stop is a creek further "inland". A very picturesque area, but with very little success. After about 3 hours I head back upstream to my car. When I get to my entry spot decide to go the opposite direction from initially. See an interesting concretion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Keep going upstream to a tall shale bank containing numerous concretions, a few I decide to take back with me. They, too, contain pyrite as it turned out. Here's one I split. Here's a small one one I began to clean with water and steel brush and as I uncovered more decided to get a picture in case it ended up being especially nice. I haven't completed cleaning it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 As I'm looking around the bank I hear a splash/thud behind me. I see a fawn is lying in the creek cooling off. I slowly walk up to it as it lounges and drinks. When it sees me it tries to run away up the embankment but slips on the algae covered rocks and takes a nosedive into the water. I'm embarrassed for it. It then makes it up into the brush and hides, still afraid. (I wasn't as close as this pic implies) Never spotted the doe. I decide to head back to "base" around 7:00 pm. Dead tired. Although I pretty much struck out on what I REALLY wanted initially, I bring home some unexpected treasures and a great wildlife memory. It was a great day. Last thought....I told the folks I met at the first creek about FF, they'd never heard of it??? They gave me their contact info so I could send her pics of what I found, but I lost the info sometime that day! So, guys and Sue, contact me for more pics. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Unexpected treasures are their own reward Thanks for the great report! "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...
mikeymig Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Nice finds, Im glad you had a fun adventure in NY. Mikey Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 (edited) Cool. I'll be in that area later this summer. Your Penn Dixie finds worry me as I plan on a day or two there in hopes of something good we can't find here. Edited July 6, 2013 by RickNC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Hi, Cool day, and nice Bambi ! Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Love that pyrite ceph! Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Love that pyrite ceph! I've had several people doubt that it was natural..."maybe someone dropped it there and it got covered by mud" It looks man-made...like a bullet. It's 100% pyrite (hopefully not marcasite) yet rather fragile, I've broken the sections apart several times while prepping it and even just handling it and had to glue them back together. Each section is perfectly rounded inside and out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymig Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Its diff real! Check out my entry for fossil of the month for June. Mikey Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lissa318 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Great trip!!!! I use to live in Fulton, NY... Been hoping to get back there one of these days! Looks like you had a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thanks for the detailed and informative report. I'm hoping to get up that way sometime this fall. That cephalopod is wonderful! Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Its diff real! Check out my entry for fossil of the month for June. Mikey I checked it out....Very nice piece, mikey. Very tough competition this month. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 hrguy54, looks like you were downstream from the fossil productive part of Spring Creek if you were finding the round Marcasite nodules. Your "any idea about these" appears to be an inside cast of a bivalve. The Bambi sighting looks like a pleasant find too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinoid1 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I love the cephalopod! I like the fawn as well. Looks like a good trip! Gabe I like crinoids...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members richardkauffman Posted July 7, 2013 New Members Share Posted July 7, 2013 As I'm looking around the bank I hear a splash/thud behind me. I see a fawn is lying in the creek cooling off. IMG_0693 (1280x960) (1024x768).jpg I slowly walk up to it as it lounges and drinks. When it sees me it tries to run away up the embankment but slips on the algae covered rocks and takes a nosedive into the water. I'm embarrassed for it. IMG_0695 (1280x960) (1024x768).jpg It then makes it up into the brush and hides, still afraid. (I wasn't as close as this pic implies) Never spotted the doe. IMG_0697 (1280x960) (1024x768).jpg I decide to head back to "base" around 7:00 pm. Dead tired. Although I pretty much struck out on what I REALLY wanted initially, I bring home some unexpected treasures and a great wildlife memory. It was a great day. Last thought....I told the folks I met at the first creek about FF, they'd never heard of it??? They gave me their contact info so I could send her pics of what I found, but I lost the info sometime that day! So, guys and Sue, contact me for more pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members richardkauffman Posted July 7, 2013 New Members Share Posted July 7, 2013 . hi my name is Rich from Alden and i sure would like to check out what fools gold looks like from Ohio i'm still checking out the site .love what im seeing . my next place i want to go to is were you went,Pen Dixie right here in my own back yard As I'm looking around the bank I hear a splash/thud behind me. I see a fawn is lying in the creek cooling off. IMG_0693 (1280x960) (1024x768).jpgI slowly walk up to it as it lounges and drinks. When it sees me it tries to run away up the embankment but slips on the algae covered rocks and takes a nosedive into the water. I'm embarrassed for it. IMG_0695 (1280x960) (1024x768).jpgIt then makes it up into the brush and hides, still afraid. (I wasn't as close as this pic implies) Never spotted the doe. IMG_0697 (1280x960) (1024x768).jpg I decide to head back to "base" around 7:00 pm. Dead tired. Although I pretty much struck out on what I REALLY wanted initially, I bring home some unexpected treasures and a great wildlife memory. It was a great day.Last thought....I told the folks I met at the first creek about FF, they'd never heard of it??? They gave me their contact info so I could send her pics of what I found, but I lost the info sometime that day! So, guys and Sue, contact me for more pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacha Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 The Alden site was a regular with my father and me in the late 60's and early 70's. The marcasite nodules and cephs were a nice addition to the very nice trilobites found in profusion. Unfortunately, oxygen and humidity destroyed the entire collection within 5 years. Make every effort to protect them as advised by experts in this forum. The life of your samples may at least be extended a few years. I still have the trilobites (no marcasite) and the memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 So they are marcasite....I was afraid of that. One of the guys at the site said something about them turning white over time. Darn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacha Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Turning white and grey and crumbling to sulfery dust. I tried clear nail polish iver some of my samples (I was a kid at the time) and I don't think it made much difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 in the split nodule i think i see an ammonite showing its face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Keeping them in Mineral Oil does a good job. If you sealed the specimens in an air tight container with desiccant, that would prolong their integrity too. The Pyrite "bloom" is atmospheric Oxygen and water turning the Ferric Sulphide to Sulphuric Acid and Ferric Sulphate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefootgirl Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Great finds and picts! In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress toward victory. Alfred North Whithead 'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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