| New York State Geological Association Meeting of the New York State Geological Association (joint meeting with the NEIGC) September 27 - 29, 2002 Fort William Henry Motel & Conference Center, Lake George, New York HOSTED BY COLGATE UNIVERSITY |
 |
 |
 |
| Eurypterids: Central-Eastern New York Fieldtrip Samuel J. Ciurca, Jr., Joseph LaRussa, Rochester, New York |
| Eurypterids.net |
| STOP 2:The photos below were taken on September 29th at the Litchfield Town Hall Site. I discovered this site in the late 1960s. At that time, the site was a smooth, glacially polished |
| surface, very resistant to collecting fossils. I noted a carapce of Eurypterus remipes on this glacially polished surface and be- gan to 'dig in.' I revisited the site for several years and was able to study, in detail, the fauna that had been trapped beneath this surface for so long. During this fieldtrip, we examined the stratigraphic sequence exposed here and collected eurypterid remains from the Phelps Waterlime exposed along the edge of the exposure. Samuel J. Ciurca, Jr. |
| Note all of the 'talus' that fieldtrippers are searching for eurypterid remains. All of this rock is waterlime, all broken up by collectors as they remove the bedrock below the hill and split the slabs containing the eur- ypterid fauna. The hillside consists of shaly material weathering from the Forge Hollow Formation partly ex- posed in the hillside. Many specimens were collected on this trip, including near- ly complete eurypterids. |
| PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
| College students, a few teachers, and fossil col- lectors are eagerly look- ing for fossils amongst the debris left by previous collectors. While others are busily excavating into the bedrock, many great finds have been made by searching the talus piles. Weathering, including freezing and thawing, are natural 'tools' that have provided many a surprize. Turn over that small rock and 'surprize' -a complete eurypterid (while others are using their sledge- hammers and wondering where they all went). Col- lecting eurypterids is a special phenomenon - Enjoy! |