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December 3, 2008

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Here are two links to posts dealing with how to post pictures on Black River Fossils forums.

1. How to Post Pictures on Black River Fossils Forums by ditchweezil

2. How to Post Pictures on Black River Fossils Forums by Daryl

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Shark Teeth

I don't get it ...

I don't get it . . .

11/15/2005 1:56:14 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

I don't get it . . .

I found a fantastic, newly dug pond in Dorchester County that yielded many shark teeth, coral, bones, etc. This pond is now filled with water; however, a new pond was dug not too far away. Guess what the new hole has yielded. NOTHING. How can two holes dug not too far from one another be so different? ANY THOUGHTS?

11/17/2005 12:40:32 AM

ditchweezil

342 posts

RE: I don't get it . . .

Congrats on your finds at the pond. i'd love to see some pix if you care to share. Now, to answer your question: There are all kinds of scenarios that can explain what it. One is the oceanic rivers. They would pile gravel in some spots and keep others completely devoid of anything. another possibility is that the ashley formation (the hard white-yellow-grey stuff) is deep in the second area and excavations just didn't reach the fossil layers. If the ashley is deep in the second spot, its possible that the ocean scoured out the low area and redeposited the fossils somewhere else during one of its many ingressions. The geology up here is pretty interesting.

11/18/2005 2:07:38 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: I don't get it . . .

Wow. So, that pretty much sucks when trying to find anything. You find one good spot but finding something nearby is not guaranteed.

How deep is the teeth-rich layer in Dorchester County, generally? I've searched a few pretty deep holes now and have found nothing; although, I am running into some pretty nice beach-like sand. Now that my little gold mine is a neighborhood pond I've been getting pretty discouraged trying to find new spots.

Is the Goose Creek/Moncks Corner area a good place to look?

11/18/2005 2:09:29 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: I don't get it . . .

Hey ditchweezil,

I could post pics of my finds, but don't know how.

11/20/2005 6:39:31 PM

ditchweezil

342 posts

RE: I don't get it . . .

Yes, looking for spots is quite discouraging! Good ones are hard to come by, and great ones are few and far between. My best site ever was amazingly rich - hundreds of complete megalodon teeth from one single pond that is only a little bigger than 2 standard lots where they were building houses. Not to mention the whale skulls, dugong, and treasure trove of pleistocene mammal fossils there. And then, in the three ponds that surrounded this one there was nothing worthwhile. Amazing, huh?
The layer in the summerville area ranges from little over a foot under the surface to 25 feet down. Its tough to generalize dorchester county because of how long it is. On the Orangeburg side, we're talking Eocene and on the Charleston side, Oligocene onward is what we're dealing with.
You'll find the sand everywhere in some respect. There were a bunch of oceanic ingression and regression cycles that left old dunes and beaches all over the place. You can bet in all but a few situations, however, that the good stuff is usually underneath it.
Both Moncks Corner and Goose Creek are loaded with teeth. They were underwater at the same time as Summerville, so the same stuff is found there.
I would love to see some pictures, but unfortunately you can't post them yourself here yet. If you send them to me, I'll post them.
Thanks for your comments!
dw

11/20/2005 10:53:02 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: I don't get it . . .

It all has to do with taphonomy. There are examples of bonebeds and vertebrate bearing strata that are laterally extensive - e.g. the Sharktooth Hill bonebed, and the Concretionary bonebed at Capitola, california. The latter can be traced for a mile or so, and bears Carcharodon carcharias teeth everywhere it outcrops.
However, many paleoenvironments are responsible for producing bonebeds that are not laterally extensive, and are very localized. For example, there are current winnowed lags - these form in the troughs between 'megaripples' - something like sand dunes on the seafloor - something every scuba diver here is familiar with. Ever notice how coral and rock fragments occur in these troughs? Thats just one example of a localized bone/tooth deposit.
Bob

11/22/2005 3:02:20 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: I don't get it . . .

The previously freshly dug, now soon-to-be-full pond I had found bore a LOT of big fossilized coral chunks (in and of themselves pretty cool). I figured I had just found a big coral bed where sharks may have fed.

Ditchweezil, I'd be happy to share my finds, including my first whole meg. How do I e-mail you pics?
20051123 diTchweEziL Edit
These are links to the pictures JC sent. The megalodon is about 3 inches long, for reference.
First group picture of teeth with megalodon from JCs glory pond
Second closeup pic of megalodon , big mako, and nice sand tiger from JCs pond

11/28/2005 2:22:25 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

RE: I don't get it . . .

Hey ditchweezil,

Just wanted to let you know I found another site--another newly dug pond in The Ville. It's not exactly a secret, though. On Sunday, I was one of three people digging there, and apparently more people were there on Saturday. I found a couple of nice whole megs--one three and a half inches and the other about two and a half inches. It was definitely one of my best days.

One of the people there, a guy named Steve, was quite informative about fossils, the site and digging genereally. Thanks for the info, Steve.

JC

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