Trilobite Farm
Mt. Orab, Ohio
Arnheim Formation
We were graced with an invitation from the land owner to come out to to the Mt. Orab trilobite farm and collect fossils. Not only is this by invitation only, but it's not every year we get to go to the best trilobite locality in the Cincinnati tristate area. This is because the site is privately owned for the purpose of mining trilobites.
We gathered at an offsite meeting location so we would not have to publish directions to this site. Since this site has limited parking we had to car pool to fit the cars on the lot.
The trip was led by Bob Bross, who arranged the caravan, and trailed by Bill Heimbrock, to ensure all were present.
Once on the site, we were treated to a surprise. We were allowed to dig! This means we can find fresh trilobites like in the old days. But with limited tools available, most were assigned to split the shale that Bob and a few others extracted from the layer.
Here are some pictures of the fun. Enjoy.
Fossils Found and Dug That day
Trilobites: Isotelus
Trilobites: Flexicalymene
Here's a group shot of 3 Flexicalymene
and one Isotelus.
Nautiloid Cephalopods
Brachiopods
Here is an articulate brachiopod named Rafinesquina with many inarticulate brachiopod epibonts. The inarticulates (not a disability at all) look to be Petrocrania scabiosa.
Another inarticulate brachiopod commonly found while digging
at Mt. Orab is
Pseudolingula. They are uncommon at other sites because they
are very fragile and fragment easily. But because we dig at Mt. Orab, we found
large numbers in the Arnheim formation.
Pelecypods (clams or bivalves)
Many different kinds of Pelecypods can be found on this site -
while digging and while surface collecting. Here's an example of
Caritodens.
This clam is an internal mold with some black surface that may reveal the microstructure of the shell. It's likely the genus is Modiolopsis.
Gastropods (snails)
Bryozoans
As is true for all Cincinnatian Series sites, a wide variety of common bryozoans were found. This first one is a cyclostomate bryozoan.
I can't identify the encrusting bryzoan, but it is clearly
encrusting a gastropod in its entirety.
Graptolites
This is an unusual Graptolite that is commonly found while
digging at Mt. Orab in the Arnheim formation. According to Rich Fuchs, it is
likely to be Mastigograptus strictus, but it could be
the same species as Mastigograptus tenuiramosus.
Non-Ordovician fossils
Every time we visit Mt. Orab, we find fossils that are not
from the Upper Ordovician strata. These were brought in as gravel at some time
or perhaps other ways. Here are some non-Ordovician brachiopods.
That's all for this field trip.
Here are the previous trips to Mt. Orab.
May 2009
May 2005
May 2004
May 2003
May 2002
May 2001
Sept.
2000
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