I admit, I am a bit of a Charles D. Walcott junkie. I have read the two long books written by the great Ellis Yochelson (here and here) about Walcotts life, and I highly reccomend them. I was super excited to find out he had worked in Glacier. To celebrate the 100th anniversery of his discovery of the Burgess Shale John and I were happy to be able to attend the International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion in Banff, Alberta. The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is hosting and exhibit in conjunction with the meething entitled "A Fossil Paradise: The Discovery of the Burgess Shale by Charles D. Walcott" Last night we went to a talk at the museum by Sarah Staurderman entitled "The Panorama Photographs of Charles D. Walcott." It was really interesting to hear about the photos Walcott took and about thier conservation at the Smithsonian. You can find more information on this great collection here.
© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster
Showing posts with label Cambrian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambrian. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Fieldwork Friday #4
Sorry this is late - but it is still Friday (for a few more seconds...)
What a week! We arrived home from our trip to the Marble Mountains Tuesday. I am home for a week and a half and then we are in and out of town until the second week of May! I should not complain - a little over a week of that is field work.
Our trip to the Mojave was wonderful! We could not have asked for better weather! A little background on the trip – we were in the Marble Mountains south of the Mojave National Preserve of California searching for trilobites in the late Cambrian Latham Shale. My husband has been working there since he was an undergraduate and is gathering data for a presentation he will be giving this fall at the International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion. Last year they collected 147 specimens. This year we collected close to 300 specimens.
We met Dr. Andy Farke (curator of paleontology at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, California) along the road on our way to the site. Andy worked out in the field with us the first day. I had a great time getting caught us with him. We realized it was out first time to do fieldwork together - and we were in the CAMBRIAN! What is the world coming to? We need to get out to the Cretaceous where we belong. ;)
We had great luck at our first site. The area was frequented by many hobby collectors while we were there and we had the pleasure to be seriated with gun fired from the camp below our pits (as their children ran loose on the mountain side trying to find trilobites). But everyone came away with a trilobite and no gun shot wounds, which always makes for a good day.
The second day we worked out first day’s area, and then moved to an area closer to camp. We had moderate success at this site. We worked pits that had been opened by others (minimizing any surface impact) and found an amazing amount of trilobite cephalons in the spoil piles. It appeared that many of the people who were working the area were looking for whole trilobites. I found 2 complete trilobites on this trip. The rest were cephalons (and some pretty nice ones!).
All in all it was a great trip! Feel free to take a look at my pictures from the trip. I hope to take some pictures soon to share of the curation process and research the trilobites we collected will now be going though.
© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster. Please see the "Fieldwork Friday Rules" about the work I do and collection practicies.
Our trip to the Mojave was wonderful! We could not have asked for better weather! A little background on the trip – we were in the Marble Mountains south of the Mojave National Preserve of California searching for trilobites in the late Cambrian Latham Shale. My husband has been working there since he was an undergraduate and is gathering data for a presentation he will be giving this fall at the International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion. Last year they collected 147 specimens. This year we collected close to 300 specimens.
We met Dr. Andy Farke (curator of paleontology at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, California) along the road on our way to the site. Andy worked out in the field with us the first day. I had a great time getting caught us with him. We realized it was out first time to do fieldwork together - and we were in the CAMBRIAN! What is the world coming to? We need to get out to the Cretaceous where we belong. ;)We had great luck at our first site. The area was frequented by many hobby collectors while we were there and we had the pleasure to be seriated with gun fired from the camp below our pits (as their children ran loose on the mountain side trying to find trilobites). But everyone came away with a trilobite and no gun shot wounds, which always makes for a good day.
The second day we worked out first day’s area, and then moved to an area closer to camp. We had moderate success at this site. We worked pits that had been opened by others (minimizing any surface impact) and found an amazing amount of trilobite cephalons in the spoil piles. It appeared that many of the people who were working the area were looking for whole trilobites. I found 2 complete trilobites on this trip. The rest were cephalons (and some pretty nice ones!).
This area provided a nice view and we saw a nice variety of lizards (2 Chuckwalla’s!), a nice variety of spring flowers, some fun weird beetles, and 1 huge scorpion!! The weather was perfect with the exception of a strong wind we had our third night that threatened to take down our tents, and did take out our shade tarp. We all got a nice coating of dust and a free facial that day.
This trip was also our dog Tikka's first field excursion since we have had him. He is an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix, and an older dog. He enjoyed going out with us and stayed very close, enjoying any shade he could find. He did not even chase any lizards or bugs, just chilled out and watched us work, snapping at the occasional fly that would bug him. He did really well until the last day. We were returning to a quarry that was up a long shale covered, rocky hill and as soon as he saw where I was headed he sat down on the trail and refused to go any further. We decided, since it was the last day and he was so insistent on NOT going up that trail, to just let him hold down the fort at camp that day. He seemed to be feeling much better, although still sore, that evening.
All in all it was a great trip! Feel free to take a look at my pictures from the trip. I hope to take some pictures soon to share of the curation process and research the trilobites we collected will now be going though.
Olenellus (nevadensis?)
Mesonacis fremonti
Mesonacis fremonti
The brachiopod Paternia pospectensis (below)
Mesonacis fremonti
Olenellus nevadensis
© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster. Please see the "Fieldwork Friday Rules" about the work I do and collection practicies.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Fieldwork Friday #3
Welcome to the third installment of Fieldwork Friday! This week we are headed out to the Marble Mountains of California this weekend to collect trilobites from the Lower Cambrian Latham Shale, below cliffs of Chambless Limestone. Last April the museum took a collecting trip out and came back with more than 147 specimens for the museum collections.
While trilobites are invertebrates and are legally collectible from BLM land (reasonable amounts for personal use, no permit required), when collecting large amounts for research you do need a permit (which the museum had). But what is a "reasonable amount?" According to the Utah BLM website, which has a nice descriptive paleontology section, "You may collect common invertebrate and plant fossils for NONCOMMERCIAL purposes only. A reasonable amount is what you may keep for a personal hobby collection or display in your home. Collecting common invertebrate or plant fossils for landscaping (even if it's just around your house) is not a hobby activity and must be done as a mineral materials sale." [link] If you are wondering if you need a permit, check out this link.
But anyway...last year they got some great specimens. Trilobites collected include:
Camp
Prospecting for trilobites
One of the museums great volunteers, Darrell, and a trilobite he found.
Zeb sorting trilobites
More pictures to come! Have a great week!
View Larger Map
© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster. Please see the "Fieldwork Friday Rules" about the work I do and collection practicies.
While trilobites are invertebrates and are legally collectible from BLM land (reasonable amounts for personal use, no permit required), when collecting large amounts for research you do need a permit (which the museum had). But what is a "reasonable amount?" According to the Utah BLM website, which has a nice descriptive paleontology section, "You may collect common invertebrate and plant fossils for NONCOMMERCIAL purposes only. A reasonable amount is what you may keep for a personal hobby collection or display in your home. Collecting common invertebrate or plant fossils for landscaping (even if it's just around your house) is not a hobby activity and must be done as a mineral materials sale." [link] If you are wondering if you need a permit, check out this link.
But anyway...last year they got some great specimens. Trilobites collected include:
- Olenellus gilberti
- Olenellus clarki
- Olenellus nevadensis
- Mesonacis fremonti
- Bristolia mohavensis
- Bristolia harringtoni
Camp
Prospecting for trilobites
One of the museums great volunteers, Darrell, and a trilobite he found.
Zeb sorting trilobitesMore pictures to come! Have a great week!
View Larger Map
© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster. Please see the "Fieldwork Friday Rules" about the work I do and collection practicies.
Monday, June 23, 2008
An International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion
Since John and I are pretty sure we will not be able to afford to go to Bristol for SVP next year, we have found this alternative closer to home. Unfortunatly the field trips are already full, but luckily we hiked up to the Walcott quarry last fall. It was tough and I am not sure I want to do it again so soon ;)
The meeting will be held at the Banff Centre for the Arts, August 4 - 6th, 2009. The resort town of Banff, located about 125km west of Calgary, Alberta , is one of the most scenic spots in the Canadian rocky Mountain National Parks and is only 80 km away from the discovery site of the Burgess Shale (near Field, British Columbia).
Conference website
An International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion
We invite you to attend a special Conference on the Cambrian Explosion to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Burgess Shale by Charles Doolittle Walcott. We cordially extend this invitation to all geologists, paleontologists, geochemists and biologists interested in the profound oganismal, ecological and environmental changes that occurred during the Precambrian-Cambrian transition. Morever, we think that this meeting would be of great interest to historians of geology and anyone curious about the origins of animals.
The meeting will be held at the Banff Centre for the Arts, August 4 - 6th, 2009. The resort town of Banff, located about 125km west of Calgary, Alberta , is one of the most scenic spots in the Canadian rocky Mountain National Parks and is only 80 km away from the discovery site of the Burgess Shale (near Field, British Columbia).
Conference website
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