Pennsylvanian Fossils from the Glenshaw Formation

[connorp]

Beautiful specimens! Would you mind explaining your new photography method? The pictures are amazing.

[cngodles]

On 5/31/2022 at 12:57 PM, connorp said:

Would you mind explaining your new photography method?

Sorry @connorp, I didn’t realize this flipped to page 6.

 

All photos are taken with an iPhone 11 Pro. Each is a stack of 6-15 images, sometimes it’s 5 stacks of 10 images.

 

After reading about it for quite a while, I learned how to apply ammonium chloride vapor to fossils. You simply heat it up (it’s a white powder) in a glass tube and blow the smoke onto the fossils. It crystallizes as it hits the specimen. I have a setup that is a lab glass drying tube connected to an aquarium pump. I heat it with a propane torch. I wear a N95 and goggles and do it on my porch, as it can irritate lungs, eyes, etc.

 

The best part, it disappears simply by breathing on it. Or running water over it.

 

It can be difficult to do if it’s humid or breezy out.

 

The photos are taken through the microscope lens. I use an inspection microscope with a zoom. I usually use the 2X lens on the phone. I found a piece of software, CameraPixels Pro, that will auto step through the whole focus range for me, while I hand hold the phone at the right spot.

 

I use a strong LED light source at the top left, and a weak one from the bottom right. This creates the strong relief.

 

I stack and focus blend the photos in Photoshop.

 

While this seems complicated, I’ve got it down to smoking a group of 3-5 fossils in 5 minutes, including setup. Taking photos is about the same. Then the photo work might take 2-3 minutes per photo. I’ve been putting together a print-on-demand book (8x10) with the black-and-white photos, and if I’m ever happy with it, I can link it (at cost).

 

 

[Misha]

The photos are beautiful, and I wanted to ask about them too. Thank you for the explanation! I might have to try this some time

[cngodles]

@Misha and @connorp, if you ever want to attempt it, send me a message. The biggest problem was trying it for the first time. I went from highly skeptical to this being the only way I take photos.

 

Most of my recents here are like that.

https://fossil.15656.com/catalog/
 

I’ve been trying to add additional classes. I did Crinoids a couple days ago.

[DPS Ammonite]

40 minutes ago, cngodles said:

Most of my recents here are like that.

https://fossil.15656.com/catalog/

Your purported Shansiella is not one; it is too high spired.

 

https://pennsylvanianatlas.org/genera/shansiella/

[cngodles]

Yeah, this one was a rollercoaster of a ride. When I first found it, it was thought to maybe be something never found anywhere near where I found it. It helped get me my first trip to the museum. But once seen in person, it was determined to be Shansiella. 
 

The spire is a bit misleading, as a good portion of the top is just attached matrix. It’s also mostly a steinkern, and you can see a broad selenizone embedded at the midwhorl. Also the Brush Creek limestone can be rough for gastropods, with the outside of fossil shells stuck hard to the matrix. I found another that is absolutely huge, which maybe be another smashed example.

 

I wrote about most of this here:

https://fossil.15656.com/2019/06/04/shansiella/

The other huge one is here:

https://fossil.15656.com/catalog/specimen/CG-0144
 

I donated it to the museum before I could photograph it with contrast.

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by cngodles
Additional context

[cngodles]

And why not some more information about Shansiella.

 

Here is one cut in half:

CG-0512 - Shansiella carbonaria cut in half.

 

 

 

CG-0504 - Shansiella carbonaria

 

 

CG-0527 - Shansiella carbonaria

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by cngodles

[cngodles]

Lets post a brachiopod and two cephalopods (or possibly a gastropod and a cephalopod).

 

Composita sp.

ID: CG-0588

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

This is in internal mold, the shell material has long been dissolved away. Before coating, this fossil appears as a dark orange color.

 

 

Liroceras sp.?

ID: CG-0589

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

I'm calling this Liroceras due to the shape. There is a slight imprint of a growth-line pattern in the umbilical impression. There is evidence of a single camerae at the top, but if there is a septal opening, it is obscured by the small layer of matrix. It's quite possible we can see it directly in the middle, but I'm not convinced.

 

 

 

Class unknown, maybe a gastropod, maybe a cephalopod.

ID: CG-0590

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

This specimen has an absence of septal wall markings. If it's a cephalopod, it's only the body chamber. The spiral ornament impressed into the umbilical area is curious and points to a possible life as a gastropod. Yet, the open umbilicus is curious.

 

[cngodles]

Isogramma is a weird brachiopod. That is not in question.

 

More about Isogramma here.

 

CG-0587 - Isogramma sp.

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

 

CG-0595 - Isogramma sp.

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

 

[cngodles]

A few recent finds.

CG-0624—Worthenia tabulata

Pine Creek limestone, Armstrong County, PA

Scale bar = 5 mm

 

 

CG-0626—Amphiscapha sp.

Pine Creek limestone, Armstrong County, PA

Scale bar = 5 mm

 

[cngodles]

CG-0695—Delocrinus sp.

Pine Creek limestone, Armstrong County, PA

Scale bar = 5 mm

 

I've been looking for a local crinoid calyx for 4–5 years. A guest happened to look at my Pine Creek limestone spoil pile and spotted it quickly.

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by cngodles

[cngodles]

I will go a little out of the state and post a couple from neighboring West Virginia.

 

Euphemites callosus is a newer type of gastropod for me; I haven't found it in local rocks. The nodes that grow appear to vary in shape and configuration across specimens. There is a selenizone between them, but it's not very apparent. The groves on the younger part of the conch are thought to have been laid down after the nodes were formed. A few studies have shown the various layers that hint at this process. You can see the callus it leaves on the left side of this photo:

 

 

Euphemites callosus

CG-0704

Portersville Limestone; Glenshaw Formation

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

 

Euphemites callosus

CG-0642

Portersville Limestone; Glenshaw Formation

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

[cngodles]

Ditomopyge decurtata

CG-0709

Ames Limestone; Glenshaw Formation

Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

This is significant because I have collected so few fossils from the Ames limestone. Over five years, I've managed to recover a trilobite from the Brush Creek, the Pine Creek, the Cambridge, the Portersville, and now the Ames Limestone in the Glenshaw Formation.

 

These are two pieces, but both were within a centimeter of each other.

 

Edited January 6 by cngodles

[cngodles]

Three examples from Strobeus. The examples below are all small fossils. They occur in small and large sizes at this location.

S. paludinaeformis has a higher spire and is less robust than S. primogenius.

 

 

Strobeus paludinaeformis

CG-0701

Pine Creek limestone; Glenshaw Formation.
Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

 

 

Spire detail below.

 

Strobeus paludinaeformis

CG-0702

Pine Creek limestone; Glenshaw Formation.
Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

 

Strobeus primogenius

CG-0703

Pine Creek limestone; Glenshaw Formation.
Scale bar = 5 mm.

 

 

[cngodles]

A couple of Cymatospira Knight 1942.

 

CG-0767—Cymatospira sp.
Scale bar = 5 mm.
Pine Creek limestone, Glenshaw Formation, Conemaugh Group

Was able to preserve an aperture wing. The selenizone is very easy to see.





CG-0768—Cymatospira sp.

Scale bar = 5 mm.
Pine Creek limestone, Glenshaw Formation, Conemaugh Group

Preserved and detailed anterior margin

 

 

[cngodles]

I never had a chance to find one of these until I started leaving my normal locations. I'm very happy with this one; I don't see many comparable specimens, especially from the Appalachian Basin.

 

CG-0807—Tainoceras sp.

Scale bar = 1 cm.
Portersville Limestone, Glenshaw Formation, Conemaugh Group

 

 

[cngodles]

Another rare bird, Schistoceras; a Goniatitid. I have two favorite features here. One, the shell ornament is preserved. In life, this had at least one more whorl. During prep, the final whorl was not worth leaving. Second, you can see the siphuncle tube. It shows up zoomed in the plate below but it is very interesting to see using a microscope.

 

CG-0810—Schistoceras sp.

Scale bar = 1 cm.
Portersville Limestone, Glenshaw Formation, Conemaugh Group

 

 

Edited April 14 by cngodles

[Jeffrey P]

Your mollusks are astounding. And your photos of them are exceptional. Love the exterior shell on the Schistoceras. Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your wonderful collection.