Fossils?

[itchmesir]

I was picking through a stretch of river rock and came across this.. If I'm not mistaken.. it's a whole cluster of fossils..

[Slabasaurus]

I wish it hasn't been 9 years since I took my college Geology classes....

Here goes though. That last pic looks like a species of Clymenia... out of the Devonian period.

I'd say it's sandstone based on the color and texture appearnace, and how much quartz is in it.

Again. It's been a while since I've studied this... so I could be a bit off. The time period should be close though. If it's not Devonian it's Ordovician.

Anyway, cool pics man.

Until I started troutin i never realized how many really, really awesome things you can find in rivers. Arrowheads, fossils, bones, skeletons.... oh. Trout too sometimes.

[sanka]

Those are ordovician fossils. That specimen has been tumbled by the river though. They are common in the Mississippi river basin. Winona has a lot of great places I'd like to visit to snoop around. There is a Twin Cities PDF about it here.

That's not specifically your area, but the geologic structure is the same. You want to look for the Decorah shale. I have heard the Winona area is far better for Trilobites than the Twin Cities. Google up some fossil info in your area, there are several links to follow.

Even in the Twin Cities I have found large 1ft x 1ft blocks of solid ordovician fossils.

[DARK30]

Found this thingapod the other day...looks like a petrified lobster tail. I think its a plant?

[itchmesir]

maybe it's coprolite

[bobbymalone]

There are lots of good fossils along the sippi through town, even outside of that spot in st. paul that is known for it.

I've found some really neat stuff right at the mouth of creek in Minnehaha park.

Dark, i've got no idea what you've got there but that's a gold star find.

[flyfisher03]

Dark I think it might be a section of a cephalopod tail.

[Zelmsdawg]

Dark I think it might be a section of a cephalopod tail.

That was my first thought too, except I thought it was the head, not tail?

[flyfisher03]

Yeah I guess it would be the head.

[sanka]

I uploaded a bunch of fossil finds from around the metro here.