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Post by Tonyterner on Jul 17, 2007 13:15:31 GMT -5
I live in Pennsylvania, a rockhound in PA you say, well yes there are a couple of us eventhuugh its the equivilent of a skier living in Barbados. This past weekend I took my daughter on a fossil hunting trip to a state park that allows collecting. The photos below are some of our find. We only looked for about 1/2 hour, the usual attention span of a 6 year old, but managed to find 6 shell fossils. Below are some photos. We plan on making a return trip with my wife and spending more time looking for fossils of other sea life.   Thanks for looking. |
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adrian65
Cave Dweller 
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,790
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Post by adrian65 on Jul 17, 2007 13:55:01 GMT -5
That's the advantage of the fossils, the rock could be common, soft and ugly but the fossil is still great and interesting.
Adrian
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Post by texaswoodie on Jul 17, 2007 19:07:26 GMT -5
Aren't kids the best thing ever invented. Ya just got to love their curiosity.
Neat fossils you guys found!
Curt
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Post by connrock on Jul 18, 2007 12:29:47 GMT -5
Pretty neat Tony!! I have only a few fossils in my collection but loe them to death! I think one of the most interesting and beautiful fossil/calcite specimens come from Ruck's Pit in Florida. They are a fossilized clam with calcite crystals in them. I have a few and cherish them!! This is NOT mine,,,,,,  connrock |
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Post by Tonyterner on Jul 18, 2007 12:57:17 GMT -5
That is really cool!
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Post by Lady B on Jul 18, 2007 17:35:00 GMT -5
For all of you who love fossils and especially fossil shells--that beauty sitting up there in Connrock's post came from one of my favorite places. It's about two hours from here and sits in the middle of the State of Florida. Rucks' Pit and the Fort Drum Crystal mine sit on property that was originally a dairy farm and there are still many cattle in the area. The Rucks family currently leases the mining rights out to a commercial company that is excavating the shells found there so they can be ground up for asphalt and concrete purposes. It is sad to think what fate awaits so many of these precious fossil specimens. The Venus Clam geodes are about 2 million years old--relatively young in the grand scheme. There are still millions of other shells being unearthed from layers deeper than the geodes that are up to about 4 million years old.
None of mine are in the beautiful condition that is pictured above but I'll post some pix as soon as I learn how to use the digital camera and figure out the upload/download thingee.
Lady B
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Post by creativeminded on Jul 19, 2007 9:36:15 GMT -5
Love the fossiized clam with the crystals in it, that is stunning.
Tami
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Post by Original Admin on Jul 20, 2007 5:09:21 GMT -5
Tony - its great to split sedimentary rock and make finds like that - getting both the imprint and also the shape itself.
Im a fan of fossils aswell.
Cheers
Mark
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Post by Tonyterner on Jul 20, 2007 8:56:39 GMT -5
Thanks Mark. My next trip is to a coal mine spoil pile that is reported to have very nice fern fossils. Actually I should say piles since there are several huge (100'+ tall) piles. Its the last spoil pile open to public use here in PA. Most have been closed (including the one of the best fern sites in the country) due to liability concerns.
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Aug 1, 2007 22:36:28 GMT -5
the last pic is of a brachiopod, the others are pelecypods (clams).
St. Clair, PA has the nicest ferns in the world. They are white on black slate. There used to be a few fossil dealers that had them for sale, but I haven't seen them for a good long while. Once long ago, I had a 3 foot by 2 foot slab with ferns up to 18 inches long.
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Post by Tonyterner on Aug 2, 2007 12:19:49 GMT -5
The coal mine has now banned access to its dump piles. No more fossils coming from there unless someone has an in with the mining company.  |
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