Found a fossil deposit

[toasted]

Was looking for new places to detect along the water today when I came upon a large formation of fossils that were eroding out the side of a bluff. Pretty common I imagine in some parts of the country and even in some parts of Maryland but first time Ive seen this this close to home. How old would these be? Thousands or millions of years

 

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[smokeythecat]

If you're working along the Chesapeake south of Annapolis, all of that is primarily Miocene, the time of the Megalodon shark. Lots of fossils from Chesapeake Beach south all the way into Virginia. When you get to western MD, that is primarily Devonian and some of the coal bearing areas are Pennsylvanian and Mississippian - from memory, so check out the Miocene on the net. Fascinating period of time.

 

[toasted]

If you're working along the Chesapeake south of Annapolis, all of that is primarily Miocene, the time of the Megalodon shark. Lots of fossils from Chesapeake Beach south all the way into Virginia. When you get to western MD, that is primarily Devonian and some of the coal bearing areas are Pennsylvanian and Mississippian - from memory, so check out the Miocene on the net. Fascinating period of time.

Im on the upper eastern shore

 

[smokeythecat]

Upper eastern shore is probably Cretaceous period, same as the C & D canal fossils. 65-85 million years ago. Or so they say. I'm not convinced the dating is right. I have lived in my house over 40 years. The creek bed then was a soft mud. It is now so hard you might as well call it rock - you need a hammer to break it. 40 years, go figure. You can get a geologic map on MD on line and check the spot. Most of the eastern shore deposits are a lot "newer" than the western shore, which can go back to Cambrian times.

 

[toasted]

Upper eastern shore is probably Cretaceous period, same as the C & D canal fossils. 65-85 million years ago. Or so they say. I'm not convinced the dating is right. I have lived in my house over 40 years. The creek bed then was a soft mud. It is now so hard you might as well call it rock - you need a hammer to break it. 40 years, go figure. You can get a geologic map on MD on line and check the spot. Most of the eastern shore deposits are a lot "newer" than the western shore, which can go back to Cambrian times.

Only thing I know for certain is that that type of mollusk certainly no longer exists around here anymore

 

[Wildcat1750]

Nice fossil finds!

 

[smokeythecat]

They look like the ancestors of modern cockle shells and perhaps Atlantic slipper shells. Some of the shells look so close to living counterparts I'm not sure why they classify them as something different. I have found Atlantic slipper shells in MD and DE and cockle shells in SC and FL.

 

[Calabash Digger]

cool!

 

[Red-Coat]

Those are the fossil impressions of brachiopods, rather than fossils of the actual shells. They differ from bivalve molluscs in that the shell is hinged at the rear end, so they open top/bottom fashion rather than hinged at one side to open left/right.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on some neat fossils.