Flint Fun

[Synechodus]

It has certainly been a while since I last visited or posted on this forum - I even got a gentle reminder - mainly because most, if not all, of my little spare time still goes into renovating both home and garden.

But .... I did get to go out on occasion and this a report of one of those trips.

On this particular day, I went to one of my favorite quarries, only to find that new, freshly uncovered chalk deposits were minimal and those that were visble were all in echinoid-unproductive areas. What a bummer!

Not wanting to quit so early into the game, I switched to the second option: looking for echinoids in the flint depot in the same quarry. If only it had still been there ...... The overseer informed me the complete depot had been shipped out the day before, go figure!

But .... I hung in there and decided to try some in situ sampling of the flint eluvium, a mixture of sand and large blocks of flint, on top of the chalk deposits, left behind after the top of the chalk deposits had been eroded in times long gone by. I had tried this before but with very limted success so far. However, this time it turned out to be a good guess and I was rewarded with some nice finds ...

A bit dismayed, I saw little to nothing had changed in the chalk deposits since my last visit. Business is slow indeed!

So I switched to the flint depot, only to see and hear that that had been hauled away the day before.

Among the remants of that depot I did manage to find two Diplodetus echinoids. This one being the first and a true shamer ..... snif, snif

The other Diplodetus.

A tiny toad caught on film while crawling around just like me.

Next, I switched to the in situ flint eluviate (picture); a mixture of sands and flint on top of the remaining chalk deposits.

The tell-tale imprint left behind by a belemnite rostrum. See the tiny tip at the bottom, where the phragmacone used to be.

A block of flint with a "nest" of Oolopygus pyriformis echinoids as flint casts.

Detailed shots of two different Oolopygus pyriformis flint casts in aforementioned block.

And then, in the wall: I saw "THE MOTHERLOAD", i.e. a huge block of flint just loaded with Oolopygus pyriformis. That must have been one happy gathering in the old days !

Detailed shot. Notice that more than 70% of the tiny echs were broken and/or seriously deformed.

So I started smacking the block apart ever so gently and harvest the echs. This is what was left when I finished some 2 hours later, exhausted.

And this is the harvest of good echs from this one block: well worth the effort!

Bear in mind that I threw away any damaged specimens, I still managed to harvest 83 good to excellent quality specimens from this one block of flint.

Detail of the pile.

This Oolopygus pyriformis specimen I found in another block and is my best one ever: a true piece of art, scuplted by Mother Nature .....

Cheers,

Paul

[Roz]

Great trip report. There is something about seeing another hunters

stomping grounds and their finds.

That Oolopygus pyriformis is just beautiful!

[Synechodus]

..... That Oolopygus pyriformis is just beautiful!

Yes it is isn't it?

I was so stunned when it popped out of that block of flint that I just sat down and sat there for a while, admiring the skills of Mother Nature in crafting this specimen. I surely hope to go back there some time soon .....

Take care,

Paul

[Auspex]

Teasing those echies out of the Mother Lode looks to have been a bit like extracting the seeds from a pomegranate!

The Oolopygus is a stunner

[MikeD]

I always enjoy your echinoid posts. Good to see you back.

The Oolopygus pyriformis is a really unusual looking specimen. Very nice.

[jax]

Paul, its been too long. I was just about to email you to see if you were still alive.

83 echis! Thats crazy!

[JohnJ]

Really nice finds, Paul. What is the age of the formation they came from?

[Synechodus]

Hi guys,

@ Auspex: freeing those echs from the flint matrix was quite a challenge, indeed. It took me the better part of two hours and delicate hammering. Not all specimen survived, mainly because they were not fully fossilized.

After drying up, the pattern on that Oolopygus has become less distinct, so I am glad I took that field shot.

@ Mike: thanks for the welcome back. It feels good to share stories with like minded. I have some more in store, so keep tuned.

@ Justin: too long indeed, my friend, but as you can see I am still alive and kickin' albeit quite busy. Doing a lot of the remaining work myself does save money, but also takes up a lot of time, unfortunately. All well with your wife and son?

If you think 83 echs is crazy; my estimate is that at least the same amount was lost during fossilization and/or extraction.

@ John: the deposits that I usually visit are all from the Late Maastrichtian, i.e. the very last part of the Cretaceous. So they are some 65 million years old, give or take a few million years.

Cheers,

Paul