Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Early Middle Ordovician Cephalopods



I went with Dan and his Paleo Class out into Utah's West Desert. We collected some trilobites from the Cambrian Wheeler Shale, some brachiopods from the Permian Gerster Limestone, and then some fossils from the Ordovician Juab Limestone and Kanosh Shale.

The first photo is a Tarphycerid from the Juab Limestone, the second, a large Endocerid in a block of limestone from the Kanosh Shale.

Just a note on the advantages of taking two vehicles into the desert, if the battery goes dead on one, you can take the other into town to get some jumper cables. Of course if one would have had the cables in the first place there would have been no need for the run to town. But without the other vehicle it would have been a nice 30 mile hike, or at least a good long wait for someone to happen by.
I would also like to thank the truck driver at the Border Inn who gladly gave up a spare set of jumper cables, he wouldn't take anything for them, said someone had helped him earlier so he was just passing it on; someone has a good deed coming.
Dan's Paleo class on the slopes of Fossil Mountain,
L-R Mike, Patty, Connie, Dan, Kevin and Salem

1 comment:

  1. That's a good lookin' group of young fossil hounds!

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