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This old city dump borrow pit is a few miles west of Mineral
Wells and a mile north of highway 380. This strata is the Mineral
Wells Formation, Salesville Shale member. The age is Late
Pennsylvanian Period circa 305-306 mya. This site has abundant
crinoid stems and fragments, brachiopods, and an occasional trilobite and
shark tooth.
On this DPS trip (and the private trip a month prior) I focused on small
things like the star shaped crinoid columnals, echinoid spines &
plates, and trilobites. I found one worn rolled trilobite and some
molts, also parts of two Petalodus shark teeth.
All trip photos by Roz Morgan. See also the Aug.
12, 2007 and Oct. 13, 2007 fieldtrips.
| Fossils everywhere! |
Plenty of ground to cover. |
|
| Eroding wall. |
|
Lance |
| Brian, Mark, Adam and Don.
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Polly |
Miscellaneous fossils. |
| Echinoids: | ||
| Archaeocidaris sp. echinoid plates |
Archaeocidaris sp. echinoid spines |
Archaeocidaris echinoid |
| Crinoids: | ||
| Apographiocrinus sp. crinoid |
Apographiocrinus sp. crinoid |
crinoid cup plates (unknown) |
| Crinoid cup spines and anal spines |
Cyclocaudex columnal? |
crinoid cirri (root cirri?) |
| "Floricyclus" crinoid columnals |
"Pentaridica" crinoid columnals |
"Pentaridica" columnal (nodal) |
| unknown crinoid columnals |
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|
| Corals, bryozoan: | ||
| Lophophyllidium sp. coral |
A bryozoan |
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| Gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods: | ||
| Straparollus sp. gastropod |
Astartella sp. clam?? |
Punctospirifer sp. brachiopods |
| Nautiloids (straight-shelled): | ||
| Orthoconic nautiloids |
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| Other: | ||
| Crinoid columnal with sponge damage |
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| In the afternoon the group reconvened in town for lunch and then traveled about 30 miles northeast to a location next to the Lake Bridgeport spillway. There I collected many very large echinoid spines and plates, also again parts of two Petalodus shark teeth. | |
Large echinoid spines & plates from the Bridgeport
location. Strata: Lake Bridgeport Shale Period: Pennsylvanian (c. 300 mya) |
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| The next day me, Roz, and Polly continued hunting with a trip to the famous Lake Jacksboro exposure. Click Here to see. |