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Post by Tonyterner on Apr 27, 2009 21:41:16 GMT -5
Amber and I recently joined the local rock club in her area. Their first hounding trip was this past Sunday morning and we went for fossils. The site is just north of Blue Mountain, the only Appalachian mountain in PA, and looks to be an active borrow pit. The fossils found at this site consist of Devonian period marine animals. We found tons of clam shells plus several other types of shells including spiral and scallop. We also found some crinoids and one trilobite. The bulk of the fossils are molds but we did find one or two actual shells. The site was so full of clam fossils and in some places it was nearly impossible to look down and NOT see any. The only downside to the fossils is the rock, its sandstone and are either poorly formed or well weathered so the rocks break too easily across the bedding planes. I took a couple of pics of the site and Amber will post the close-ups she took. If anyone should want any of these just let me know, we can get into the site anytime and its not too far away. Here is the site as it looks when you pull in off of the road. Looking back towards the road. We had about 10 club members at the dig. Sings of recent truck traffic, and rockhound traffic.
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Post by Bejewelme on Apr 27, 2009 21:52:49 GMT -5
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 28, 2009 9:12:37 GMT -5
Nice fossils! The first few pics are actually brachiopods not clams. They have a different symmetry than pelecypods ( clam like bivalves). Some ( pic #1&4) appear to be Neospirifer sp. Those in picture 5 look more like pectans which would be pelecypods.....Mel
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Post by Bejewelme on Apr 28, 2009 9:36:24 GMT -5
Mel: Thanks, but holy crap it is like tumbling, I need another dictonary!!! In short I think they are neat and interesting.
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Post by Tonyterner on Apr 28, 2009 9:49:34 GMT -5
Thanks Mel. I found a book of PA fossils online and will print it out when I get a chance and then get get some specific ID's.
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Post by texaswoodie on Apr 28, 2009 10:48:18 GMT -5
Great job guys! I love trilo bugs and have never found one.
Curt
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Post by BuiltonRock on Apr 29, 2009 16:53:42 GMT -5
First let me say I agree 100% with Mel's assessment.
I also agree with Amber, they look cool.
I think fossils are great for kids because you don't need to know anything to see what they are and that can spark a lifetime interest.
John
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