This trip is part of The Fossil Project meeting on Oct 12 and 13 and is free to DPS members and guests and The Fossil Project attendees. There is no charge and lunch is included. You must register online for this event. To register click here and select the Events and Field Trips tab or go to www.dallaspaleo.org. Registration is limited to Dallas Paleo Society members and guests and members of The Fossil Project until September 27. After that date, it will be open to the general public; so register now to insure you get a seat.
There is no charge, but you must register. Seated is limited and it is on a first come first served basis.
Mark McKenzie, author of Pennsylvanian Fossils of North Texas, will be our expert commentator. A sandwich lunch will be provided. An added attraction is that we will be there for the unveiling of the new benches and shade areas just installed by the City of Mineral Wells.
Schedule:
6:15 Board bus at Brookhaven College BCGI Building
9:30-11:15 Fossil Hunting at Lost Creek Dam
11:30 Bus ride to a park in the city of Mineral Wells for lunch
12:00-12:45 Lunch Break with sandwich provided
1:00 Mineral Wells Fossil Park: fossil hunting and opening celebration for new seating and shade areas just added by the city.
2:30-3:00 boarding for return trip
4:00 - 4:30 Return to Dallas
Directions: Brookhaven College is located at 3939 Valley View Lane, just north of LBJ Freeway (IH-635) in the city of Farmers Branch, between Marsh and Midway roads. See www.dallaspaleo.org for maps.
What we’ll find:
Lake Jacksboro Spillway
We will be hunting the lower sections of the Graham Formation, Upper Pennsylvanian. This 300 Mya outcrop represents one of the most richly fossiliferous exposures of marine shelf sediments in the United States. Fossil material that can be found include corals, brachiopods, gastropods, nautiloids and some shark material. You will have to walk a quarter mile across the dam and climb a fence. You will need a tool to pry embedded fossils from the matrix and a collection bag for your finds (a plastic storage bag will do nicely).
Mineral Wells Fossil Park
The park as it exists today is a result of 20 years of erosion of the old City of Mineral Wells landfill's borrow pit, which was closed in the early 1990s. The erosion of the borrow pit has revealed fossils documenting ancient sea species of crinoids (sea lilies), echinoids (urchins), brachiopods, pelecypods (clams and oysters), bryozoans, corals, trilobites (arthropods), plants and even primitive sharks. http://www.mineralwellsfossilpark.com/
YOU MUST REGISTER AT WWW.DALLASPALEO.ORG IN ORDER TO RIDE THE BUS.
The DPS is a group of professional and amateur paleontologists that want to exchange information, interact, and continue their education in paleontology. We meet once a month on the second Wednesday evening of the month at Brookhaven College, Building H.
