Monthly Archives: March 2009

Solite Day 3

Posted on March 30, 2009 by altondooley

It looks like Apple may have corrected the iWeb bugs that were interfering with comments (keep your fingers crossed). Solite is often a strange site to excavate. After being swamped with Tanytrachelos specimens for 2 days, I don’t think we found … Continue reading →

Posted in Newark Supergroup, Paleobotany, Solite Quarry | 3 Comments

Solite Day 2

Posted on March 29, 2009 by altondooley

It was sunny and warm today, a perfect day for excavating. The biggest issue (besides the traffic snarls caused by today’s NASCAR race in Martinsville) is the fact that the museum is currently closed on Sundays and Mondays due to … Continue reading →

Posted in Newark Supergroup, Solite Quarry | 1 Comment

Solite Day 1

Posted on March 28, 2009 by altondooley

Believe it or not, it doesn’t rain every single time I go in the field. Today we started an excavation in the Triassic rocks at the Solite Quarry (now owned by CEMEX), on the Virginia-North Caroline State Line (see my … Continue reading →

Posted in Newark Supergroup, Solite Quarry | 1 Comment

Psephophorus

Posted on March 25, 2009 by altondooley

Now that I’m back in Martinsville, with our five Carmel Church jackets safely stowed in the museum, I can begin to follow-up on some of our finds. On our first day Brett found the small bone shown above, which I tentatively attributed … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmel Church Quarry, Carmel Church reptiles, Chesapeake Group | Leave a comment

Carmel Church Day 10

Posted on March 19, 2009 by altondooley

We’re starting to wrap up now. The big job today was loading yesterday’s jacket onto the flatbed trailer I brought for transporting jackets. With the quarry still a muddy mess, just getting the trailer into position was a 45-minute adventure, … Continue reading →

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged | 7 Comments

Carmel Church Day 9

Posted on March 18, 2009 by altondooley

This morning it was cool and foggy, but around lunch time the sun finally came out, so we were able to get a lot of work done today. While waiting on the pit to dry out a bit we continued … Continue reading →

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church Geology, Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged | Leave a comment

Carmel Church Day 8

Posted on March 17, 2009 by altondooley

The main thing we found today was mud – lots and lots of mud. It finally stopped raining last night, but was cool and overcast today, so the quarry didn’t dry out very much.

Posted in Carmel Church Chondrichthyans, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Leave a comment

Carmel Church Day 7

Posted on March 16, 2009 by altondooley

There’s not a great deal to report on today. The rain finally let up for a few hours, allowing us to drain the bottom of a very muddy pit. We worked furiously all morning trying to complete the trench around … Continue reading →

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged | Leave a comment

Carmel Church Day 6

Posted on March 15, 2009 by altondooley

With the rain driving us off the site, we set up a makeshift preparation lab in the hotel room and spent the day cleaning some of the fossils collected last week.

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged | 5 Comments

Carmel Church Day 5

Posted on March 14, 2009 by altondooley

We had more or less continuous rain today. The work tarps keep some of the rain off, but it eventually seeps into the trenches, making it impossible to see what we’re working on, so we only put in about a … Continue reading →

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged | 1 Comment