Post by Ryan on May 17, 2010 19:28:47 GMT -5
Greetings all, Heres a breakdown of my fossil hunt last Sunday. Ive posted some pictures here of my finds, the site itself and directions to the site. If anyone were interested in hunting their own fossils from this site, heres the best step by step guide to finding them! Keep in mind that I can get here all summer (its only 5 miles from my home) so I will have (in abundance) these samples available for trade if anyone is interested.
SO! From any of the major arteries that feed into Pittsburgh
(I-279, I-376, Rt. 28, Rt. 51, or I-76) you need to find 28 north. The best way is to take 28 North out of downtown and take the exit immediatly after the Etna exit. This will turn directly into Route-8 North.
You will come to a few stoplights, the best landmark (#1) is a large cut away hillside across from Hunt's Tavern (dive bar). You can see several layers of geologic time in this particular cut. Mainly shale, a couple different sandstones, and some limestone. I would stop here (#2) and inspect for fossils in the limestone but theres nowhere to park.
Continue about another 3/4 of a mile until the first McDonalds on your left (#3). Turn left immediatly after the McD's and park in the restaurant's back lot. You will see a one lane car bridge (#4) crossing a creek. Walk over it and turn right. Here are the corresponding pictures to the number cues. I will continue in this format.
After crossing the bridge and following the RR tracks to the right. Continue down the tracks (you will see a dilapidated building on your right (#5)) for a little over a half mile. The tracks curve to the right, (#6) keep going. When you get to this building with the truck bays and water tower (#7) keep an eye to the left. You are looking for an area where a stream has carved down through several thousand years of shale formation.
Here is a picture of the cut out in the shale. Its easy to miss in the summer, it gets overgrown. This is my hunting spot. It always produces
The best tools are a putty knife for drywall plaster or some kind of thin knife. The shale parts in sheets rather easily. No hammers are neccesary here. (EXCEPT when you undermine a shelf too far and dont feel safe. Then a sledge is useful to pound off a bunch of rock that may have become unstable. The soft shale is NOT strong and is very heavy. NO CAVE INS! Safety first! Anyways, as far as other tools youll need, I suggest gloves. You will be getting dirty. Here, Kevin (my little bro and rockhound hunting buddy) shows how easily his plaster knife goes into the rock (#8). In the next photo (#9) Kev points to the most productive layer we found this day. Then in (#10) I pan back a bit for reference on the best layer. Keep pulling sheets of rock out and look at them carefully, sometimes just a tiny bit of the fossil is sticking out and the sheets need carefully separated to reveal the whole fossil. (#11).
After only an hour or so, the good finds start piling up! (#12) We lost our daylight and I took the best finds back to my house for a good washing. Heres the best of the day. (#13) Then, James the rock-kitty inspects the fossils (#14), sniffs them, and then gives a single "meow" of approval. The best find of the day by a longshot was Kevins find of an entire branch of a very large fern with great relief, contrast, and a good size to boot! (#15)
Here is a close-up detail of that particular piece. This represents the best of what this area has to offer as far as ferns.
I will be hitting this spot several times this summer. I will have some good pieces for trade all summer. There is also a RR cut about a half mile up from this site where clay-ironstone concretions bear wurtzite, barite, and calcite. They are good for micromineral collectors but nothing in western PA mineralizes in large enough crystals for shelf specimins. The largest Wurtzite ive seen was a little over 1mm.
This is why Im so jealous of all you WNC rockhounds. You are truly blessed with geologal paradise down there! Rockhounds around the country must be jealous of y'all. Lastly, there are small shell fossils in the limestone above the shale and beneath the sandstone along this railroad. The concretions occur at the contact zone of the shale and lime and the ferns are in the shale. This is about as interesting as it gets around here. If anyone is interested in fossils, just PM me. Happy hunting!
P.S. Ive got business in WNC this coming June 1-3. Anyone wanna hit the tree or the Ray with me?
SO! From any of the major arteries that feed into Pittsburgh
(I-279, I-376, Rt. 28, Rt. 51, or I-76) you need to find 28 north. The best way is to take 28 North out of downtown and take the exit immediatly after the Etna exit. This will turn directly into Route-8 North.
You will come to a few stoplights, the best landmark (#1) is a large cut away hillside across from Hunt's Tavern (dive bar). You can see several layers of geologic time in this particular cut. Mainly shale, a couple different sandstones, and some limestone. I would stop here (#2) and inspect for fossils in the limestone but theres nowhere to park.
Continue about another 3/4 of a mile until the first McDonalds on your left (#3). Turn left immediatly after the McD's and park in the restaurant's back lot. You will see a one lane car bridge (#4) crossing a creek. Walk over it and turn right. Here are the corresponding pictures to the number cues. I will continue in this format. 
After crossing the bridge and following the RR tracks to the right. Continue down the tracks (you will see a dilapidated building on your right (#5)) for a little over a half mile. The tracks curve to the right, (#6) keep going. When you get to this building with the truck bays and water tower (#7) keep an eye to the left. You are looking for an area where a stream has carved down through several thousand years of shale formation.
Here is a picture of the cut out in the shale. Its easy to miss in the summer, it gets overgrown. This is my hunting spot. It always produces
The best tools are a putty knife for drywall plaster or some kind of thin knife. The shale parts in sheets rather easily. No hammers are neccesary here. (EXCEPT when you undermine a shelf too far and dont feel safe. Then a sledge is useful to pound off a bunch of rock that may have become unstable. The soft shale is NOT strong and is very heavy. NO CAVE INS! Safety first! Anyways, as far as other tools youll need, I suggest gloves. You will be getting dirty. Here, Kevin (my little bro and rockhound hunting buddy) shows how easily his plaster knife goes into the rock (#8). In the next photo (#9) Kev points to the most productive layer we found this day. Then in (#10) I pan back a bit for reference on the best layer. Keep pulling sheets of rock out and look at them carefully, sometimes just a tiny bit of the fossil is sticking out and the sheets need carefully separated to reveal the whole fossil. (#11).
After only an hour or so, the good finds start piling up!
(#12) We lost our daylight and I took the best finds back to my house for a good washing. Heres the best of the day. (#13) Then, James the rock-kitty inspects the fossils (#14), sniffs them, and then gives a single "meow" of approval. The best find of the day by a longshot was Kevins find of an entire branch of a very large fern with great relief, contrast, and a good size to boot! (#15)
Here is a close-up detail of that particular piece. This represents the best of what this area has to offer as far as ferns.
I will be hitting this spot several times this summer. I will have some good pieces for trade all summer. There is also a RR cut about a half mile up from this site where clay-ironstone concretions bear wurtzite, barite, and calcite. They are good for micromineral collectors but nothing in western PA mineralizes in large enough crystals for shelf specimins. The largest Wurtzite ive seen was a little over 1mm.
This is why Im so jealous of all you WNC rockhounds. You are truly blessed with geologal paradise down there! Rockhounds around the country must be jealous of y'all. Lastly, there are small shell fossils in the limestone above the shale and beneath the sandstone along this railroad. The concretions occur at the contact zone of the shale and lime and the ferns are in the shale. This is about as interesting as it gets around here. If anyone is interested in fossils, just PM me. Happy hunting!P.S. Ive got business in WNC this coming June 1-3. Anyone wanna hit the tree or the Ray with me?
