Fossils From the bottom of the Old Seas

[jonny_redhorse]

Years ago on the iron ore "dumps"(by Keewatin/Hibbing).... I found numerous bits and pieces of sharks teeth intact with it's partial jaw, also fossilized snails and "trilobites"....These "dumps" were overburden dug out by the mining companies years ago in there hunt for the iron rich ore deposites....I was told that this area was once under a lake or ocean called "The Agassiz".....I believe these are even before the "dinosaur days" of life on our planet and was just wondering if anyone out there has ever found similar artifacts as these in other areas.....I haven't been back to this area in many years(70's)....I'll be going back to that area this spring which is only 5 miles from my house here in Hibbing to once again hunt for these rare treasures....

[globug]

Hi Jonny,

It sounds like you have a sweet spot for fossils near your house. How big are the teeth you have found?

There are a number of locations in and around the metro where small invertibrate fossils are fairly common, mostly small clam like and coral looking things. Most of what I have found will not cover my thumb nail.

My understanding is that the fossils in the metro are very primitive, before the time of sharks. We have several glass jars we are filling up with our local fossil treasures, nothing too spectacular to show for our efforts so far. I am eager for the snow to melt so the fossil search can resume.

Mark

[redhooks]

My friend works for a paving company in Grand Rapids and they found a wooly mammoth tusk in their gravel pit. It's on display at the old school house museum in town.

[jonny_redhorse]

I gave a quart jar full to my daughter years ago that had the sharks teeth etc .....the teeth were probably about 1/2"-3/4" long if I remember right and "3 pointed" with the center point longer then the 2 others plus they were "serrated" ....I remember finding some teeth everytime I went out and was especially good "pickings" after a fresh rain which washed up and uncovered new teeth...I had a couple jaw sections with 3 teeth.... plus I'd find spinal column bones (like the kind in a can of salmon) small round bones with a hole in the middle for the spinal coloumn....things gotta really be old!.......looking forwardto getting up to that "ore dump" this summer! ......Sure would like to see that mammoth tusk!

[fnord]

I found a nice polished looking shark tooth, one inch+ long, about fifty feet from the Mississippi river in Ramsey after they dug down ten feet for a sewer line or something. Now I will try to figure out how to post the pic.

[fnord]

[fnord]

[jonny_redhorse]

Great find Fnord!...That's about the same types of teeth that I found also...slight variations of course but basically the same....colors were gray with the piece of jaw bone attached..... some of mine had 3 teeth....I've always wondered if the tooth is a fossil or just the tooth itself preserved for millions of years in the mud and dirt...gotta be a fossil one would think....not sure if bones/teeth last that long without being fossilized....interesting to see these !.....Looking forward to this summer!...but this time,I'm taking photos of the fossils!....

[DARK30]

I have some fairly decent fossils from the bottom of the Root River. My dream...cast and look for rocks at the same time

[hydro]

The Agassiz (sp?) gravel deposits are less than 30,000 years old and came from the retreat of the last glacier. The fossils in those deposits were most likely transported from elsewhere so dating them might be a little difficult. Here in the Minneapolis area, the limestone layers just above the St. Peter sandstone (the white stuff)are in the 400 to 500 million year old range and full of fossils.

BTW, nice shark tooth and I like the incense burner in the background

[fnord]

Thanks hydro for the compliments. Got my wisdom teeth pulled today and got to thinking about the shark tooth. I once met with a retired paleontologist at the science museum and showed him the tooth. He said it was only the third tooth he had ever heard of coming from the cities. The other two smaller and coming from W. Bloomington. I said "you're kidding, so I have found the best specimin to come out of the cities?" He said "most likely." I have a hard time believing that and have yet to study the geology of Ramsey. I remember picking it up from sand thinking it was just a rock. I wonder where it came from and how old it might be? Anyone willing to give some insight much appreciated. The paleontologist only had five munutes and didn't tell me much.

[hydro]

If the fossil tooth was found in "sand" then it was probably in glacial "till" transported during the last ice age. You might want to study how the ice sheets moved and how the retreating water flows changed during that time. The glacial geology of the Twin Cities area is pretty interesting! Try googling Minneapolis glacial history for a start.

[fnord]

Will do. I started reading wikipedia's glacial history of Mn and I'm definitely a greenback in regards to that. Seems interesting and complicated. Lots of different glaciers but most likely transported from the northeast. Thanks for your input. Will be quite the investigation.

[hydro]

fnord,

Here's a field trip for you after you have done some research on how the glacial runoff shaped the Twin Cities area.

Take a day and go to Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. Walk around the park, check out the dry falls, walk the gorge to the Mississippi, and make a couple climbs up the banks to check out the strata. When you get to the river, take a pause and think about how that gorge was formed and how the St. Anthony Falls walked it's way back upstream. Remember, it was in St. Paul 10,000 or so years ago and went past where you stand probably 6,000 years ago. Think how high that falls was then as it sliced through the top layers of limestone and carved out the soft St. Peter sandstone beneath.

After the park, drive north along West River Road and stop at 36th street. Hike down the gully to the river and note the fossils in the rocks. Think 450 million years ago.

Next drive up to Lake Street and take a walk to the middle of the bridge and ponder the falls cutting it's way north past where you stand. It should give you a sense of the power of nature and the inevetibility of time.