A Special thanks to super hero field trip chair Bob Bross for keeping the rain away during the October field trip.
A Special thanks to super hero field trip chair Bob
Bross for keeping the rain away during the October field trip.
It was a dreary, rainy Saturday morning. The night before at the Dry Dredgers meeting it seemed clear no one was coming to the field trip the next day because it was raining at the time and the rain was forecasted to continue throughout the weekend. Bill Heimbrock presented slides at the Friday night meeting of the fossils that can be found at the field trip. He urged everyone to go out to the site that morning rain or shine because we could get lucky and the rain may stop.
Bill's pep talk worked. People showed up. And thanks to the super powers of Bob Bross, the field trip chair, the rain did not happen during the field trip except for a little "spitting" (less than a drizzle).
The site is a popular one in Northern Kentucky that has been visited and studied by the local colleges for decades. It's also popular with the Dry Dredgers. We go here almost every year.
The site exposes the Southgate member of the Kope (Latonia) Formation. The rocks are older than the Maysvillian or Richmondian formations - About 450 million years old. The fossils are generally smaller than in the other formations, with the exception of Cephalopods and a few other fauna.
Here are some pictures of the Dry Dredgers collecting that day.
Fossils Found That Day
Crinoids
Perhaps the best finds of the day were a couple of nice examples of Cincinnaticrinus varibrachialus. This site is known for the crinoids that can be found and this shows that the site is still uncovering specimens. (Next 2 pics)
Someone found a nice Lichenocrinus holdfast with stem still associated.
Some of the crinoids stems we found were encrusted with
bryozoans. (Note: the exception is the crinoid
Anomocrinus,
which gets its revenge by encrusting
bryozoans!)
These rocks are loaded with the stem columnals of crinoids Cincinnaticrinus and Ectenocrinus.
Trilobites
Here are some glabellas of the trilobite Flexicalymene granulosa.
Cryptolithus fragments known as "lace collars" were common on this site.
Isotelus
Hypostome (mouth plate)
Pygidium
Nautiloid Cephalopods
External chambers
Siphuncle
Possibly a large external shell surface of a nautiloid?
Graptolites
Our Dry Dredgers Graptolite expert Rich Fuchs found these nice examples of Geniculograptus typicalis. (next 2 pics)
Brachiopods
One of the common brachiopods found in this site is the small
but abundant Cincinnetina multisecta.
Along with the Cincinnetina's were also
found a longer brachiopod named Sowerbyella.
Trace Fossils
Pelecypods (clams or bivalves)
Gastropods (snails)
Bryozoans
Interesting Lithological Features
That's all for this trip.
Now lets look at the photos from the February 2013 trip to the Geier Center Collections.
Previous Trips to This Site
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