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Cover Photo:  Carrie Wivell Wolf and Jonathan Wolf’s son, Jackson, grandson of Phil and Shelly Wivell, celebrates his first Halloween!

Fossil Collecting in Maryland

Part 2: West of Frederick

by Richard D. L. Fulton

For hundreds of millions of years, the land that Maryland presently resides upon had rested predominantly at the bottom of the ancient oceans.

Around 335 million years ago, two continental plates—one referred to as the African Plate and the other known as the North American Plate—began to move toward one another, such as an irresistible force colliding with an immovable object, on a vastly grand scale.

The collision of the two continental plates was so violent that not only did their convergence form a new continent, which geologists have dubbed “Pangaea,” but as the North American Plate actually buckled from being rammed by the African Plate, the Appalachian Mountains were then created, which initially had been as high as the modern-day Himalayan Mountains as the result.

The ancient sea beds that would become, in part, Maryland, were then forced upward as a result of this continental collision, thereby becoming incorporated into the formation of the primordial Appalachian Mountains. 

Washington County provides excellent “windows in time” when it comes to exploring these very ancient sea beds. Also please note that these sites have been compiled from online sources. However, over time, listed sites can unfortunately become inaccessible, while new sites open up to collecting. 

Always remember, “Trust, but verify.” Avoid collecting in state and federal parks, or on posted properties, unless permission has been obtained from the owners.

 The following fossil sites have been gleaned from a list published at www.donaldkenney.x10.mx/STATES/MD.HTM. It is not known if or when the site information is updated.  However, the site listings as given could at least be used as a starting point from which to locate currently productive fossil sites.

The Cambrian Period

The Cambrian Period began about 538 million years ago and lasted until about 485 million years ago.

Fossil sea life of the Cambrian Period in Washington County are somewhat rare, but immense beds of fossil algae (also known as cryptozoons and/or stromatolites) can be found.

Sites where the algae bed have been located include one that is located 1.2 miles south of Antietam Station, and 1.2 miles south of Clear Spring. Both of these sites are located in the Conococheague Formation.

A third site wherein the fossil algae may be found is near Funkstown, 2.8 miles southeast and  1.24 miles south of Pleasant Hill School.

The Ordovician Period

The Ordovician Period began about 485 million years ago and lasted until about 443 million years ago.

Some Ordovician fossil sites suggested by online sources include a site in the Eakles Mills (Keedysville) area, specifically 1.24 miles south of Smithsburg at the mouth of Little Antietam Creek.

The fossils reportedly found there include brachiopods (bivalve shells— meaning they consisted of matching, hinged shells as per scallops and clams—but not related to them).

Another site is located in the area of Funkstown, along the National Highway, in limestone beds, which are from the Beekmantown Formation.  Fossils there include invertebrates (animals without backbones), including mollusks (of which clams and snails are members).

The Silurian Period

The Silurian Period began about 443.8 million years ago and ended about 419.2 million years ago.

Some Silurian fossil sites suggested by online sources include a number of sites in the Hancock area and include fossils from Mifflintown and Rochester formations.

Searching roadcuts to the east and northeast of Hancock is recommended. Both formations yield a vast array of prehistoric species, including sea scorpions, trilobites, brachiopods, and sea lilies (related to starfish and sea urchins). These sites almost certainly contain nautiloids as well, which are the ancestors of today’s Chambered Nautilus.

These formations are typically comprised of thin shales interbedded with limestone layers.

Other Silurian sites have been reported in the area of Roundtop in the Wills Creek and Williamsport formations. 

Species reportedly collectable in the Roundtop area include ostracods (very small, shelled animals), trilobites, brachiopods, and clams.

The Devonian Period

The Devonian Period began some 419 million years ago and lasted until around 358 million years ago and is known throughout the Mid-Atlantic for its rich fauna (animal life). The Devonian Period is well-developed in Washington County.

An exposure of the Early Devonian Period has reportedly been located in the Hancock area in the Oriskany Formation.  The site is described as being located westward 2.36 miles on Creek Road, and south on Sandy Mile Road in sandstone roadcuts.

Fossils found have included brachiopods and sea lilies. Usually, large snails can also be found in the Oriskany.

Outcrops of fossil-rich Middle Devonian Mahantango Formation can reportedly be found in the Keyser (Rawlings) area 6.2 miles south of the of 21st Street Bridge, above the river along the eastern side.

Fossils which can be found there include trilobites, brachiopods, clams and snails, cephalopods (including (nautiloids and ammonites – ammonites are related to nautiloids).  Corals also sometimes occur in the Mahantango, as well as sponges.

Late Devonian Jennings Formation fossil sites can reportedly be found in the Parkhead area, in Sandstone, 6.8 miles east of  Hancock.

Fossils reportedly found in the Jennings Formation include brachiopods and mollusks (clams and snails).

Recommended Equipment

Beginning fossil collectors usually equip themselves with a carpenter’s hammer and a chisel (or screwdriver).

However, the following would be recommended for a successful venture:

    Glasses or goggles (flying fragments of hard rock can travel at an amazingly rapid velocity).

    An actual rock hammer.

    A crack hammer (which is a small, handheld sledgehammer).

    An array of different-sized chisels.

    A knapsack (preferable military-style) or a backpack.

    Fast-setting glue (to make onsite repairs to broken specimens).

    A variety of snap-lock plastic bags for holding specimens.

    Newspaper to wrap specimens in.

    Water, for both consumption, and to use for washing off specimens as needed.

    First-aid kit.

    Compass.

    Topographic and bedrock maps (For the more advanced collector).

Additional Tips

Collectors sometimes like to try to locate fossil sites by using Google Earth before actually trying to visit them, employing such in the hope it might provide insight as to whether or not a potential site still exists, to locate nearby sites, and to determine the parking situation.

When parking at roadcuts, be sure that the car is completely off the roadway, and as much off the shoulder as the site will allow.  Make sure that it is safe to open doors when exiting the vehicle on the traffic-side of the vehicle,

The writer cannot emphasize strongly enough to stay away from state and federal parks and forests, and to be absolutely certain that the land or roadcut is not posted regarding trespassing. 

 Collect only as much as the collector needs (the writer has seen at least two sites completely destroyed by one or two greedy collectors).

Just because an old quarry might be noted as “abandoned,” it is likely that only quarrying has been abandoned, while the abandoned quarry is very likely still on private property!

Additional Research

Already cited was www.donaldkenney.x10.mx/STATES/MD.HTM as a resource for fossil sites in Maryland. Bear in mind that the site list may not have been updated and some sites may no longer be accessible.

Also consider joining a rock, mineral, and fossil club, many of which offer field trips. A list of clubs can be found at www.mgs.md.gov/geology/clubs.html.

Also, the Maryland Geological Survey has published numerous books on the paleontology of Maryland, mostly in the 1960s. Most are free to access online, but again, bear in mind that these are old publications, and sites noted therein, may no longer be accessible, but they may provide direction for further investigation.

Appalachian Mountains; Source: National Park Service

Examples of Silurian Mufflintown Formation Fossils

Top: Coral (Favosites niagarensis) colonies. (Collection of Richard D. L. Fulton)

Middle left: Snail (Hormatoma) shells. (Collection of Richard D. L. Fulton)

Middle Right: Trilobite (Dalmanites limulurus) exoskeleton. (Collection of Bob Cross)

Bottom: Nautiloid shell. (Collection of Bob Cross)

Fossil Collecting in Maryland

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Part 1: From the Bay to Frederick
During the course of hundreds of millions of years, the land that comprises Maryland had undergone countless transitions, from being located under oceans to being locked up in a mountain chain as high as the present-day Himalayans.

In the beginning, after billions of years of “cooling off” following its creation, Earth was initially an oceanic planet, with the first-known land mass to rise above the ocean some 3.2 billion years ago.

Maryland’s oldest “window in time” can be found in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which have been dated around 1.1 billion years old. But don’t bother looking for signs of prehistoric animals among them.  Traces of any life that might have existed then would have long been eradicated through metamorphosis—a rock-altering process, which would have destroyed any fossils that might have existed.

Calvert Cliffs

One of Maryland’s most renowned fossil sites is those of the Calvert Cliffs (also known as Scientists Cliffs) of the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. In fact, the first fossils described from North America were collected from these cliffs.

Prior to the mid-1970s, there were many publicly accessible fossil sites within the 25-mile length of the cliffs. However, today, collecting is permitted only within a small portion of the series of cliffs, this being specifically within the confines of the Calvert Cliffs State Park. 

The fossils contained within the cliffs range from 15 to 20 million years of age and were deposited in a sea that covered much of eastern Maryland, during a period of time known as the Miocene Epoch.

This was a time when 60-foot Great White sharks patrolled the Maryland shoreline, sharing their habitat with over 600 species of other prehistoric animals, including other sharks and rays, whales, porpoises, fish, marine crocodiles, sand dollars and sea urchins, coral, sponges (the writer of this article discovered the first fossil sponges—which also represented two new species—reported from the cliffs, which were presented to the Smithsonian Institute), mollusks (which include snails and clams and other types), and crabs.

Non-marine fossils are sometimes encountered, such as sea birds. Even prehistoric elephant teeth and other land mammals whose remains were washed into the sea via rivers have been encountered.

To arrive at the Calvert Cliffs State Park (CCSP), take Route 2/4 south to approximately 14 miles south of Prince Frederick. Exit onto H.G. Trueman Road, where the park entrance is located. Once at the park, the shortest route to the fossil-bearing beach is the 1.8-mile Red Trail, according to the CCSP. 

There is a fee to collect at the beach, which is $5.00 per vehicle ($2.00 additional for out-of-state residents); $10.00 for a small bus; and $20.00 for a large bus. Parking fees must be paid in cash only.

Fossils may only be collected on the beach. Digging in the cliff is prohibited for safety reasons (and to prevent landslides and washouts).

For additional information, contact the Calvert Cliffs State Park at 443-975-4360.

Dinosaur Park

Around 155 million years ago, during a period of time known as the Early Cretaceous, Prince George’s County was covered with freshwater wetlands adjacent to an ancient river, which was inhabited by early dinosaurs.

The present day remains represent several types of Early Cretaceous dinosaurs that have been found in the Early Cretaceous of Maryland.   (Don’t expect to run across a Tyrannosaurus rex—the dinosaurs found here are 50 million years older than the Tyrannosaurus rex).

The park allows supervised digging, overseen by an on-site paleontologist (one who studies prehistoric life). However, there is a catch. Those finding dinosaur remains during the dig are not allowed to keep what they find. 

However, according to the Dinosaur Park website, “Digging is prohibited by visitors. Instead, you will learn surface collection techniques used by paleontologists in the field. Your fossil discoveries help park paleontologists better understand the ancient world of Prince George’s County. All fossils are stored and preserved in our Dinosaur Park lab. If you find a significant fossil, your name is recorded with it! You will be forever immortalized in our museum collection.”

If one wants to merely enjoy a chance of finding a dinosaur fossil (most likely a tooth or a bone), this site could fulfill at least that much.

For more information on scheduled digs, contact the Dinosaur Park by email at dinosaurpark@pgparks.com, or by calling 301-627-1286.

For more information on collecting dinosaurs in Maryland, refer to Maryland Geological Survey Educational Series No. 6, Dinosaurs in Maryland by Peter M. Kranz free at mgs.md.gov/output/reports/ES/ES_6.pdf.

“Wildcatting” in Frederick County

During the early 2000s, the writer of this article discovered the largest early-dinosaur fossil site that had ever been found in Maryland. However, the 140-acre site is located on private land. 

The 220 million-year-old fossils recovered from the site included hundreds of fossil reptile and insect tracks, millipedes, and even complete fish (scales and fins included). 

The site represented mud flats preserved adjacent to a prehistoric lake (dubbed Lake Lockatong), which existed from Rocky Ridge, growing in size towards the northeast, as it sprawled through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and into New York State. Some believe that this great lake had covered an area equivalent to the presently existing Lake Tanganyika in Africa, at some 20,000 total miles in size.

Although the public at large is not permitted to collect at the 140-acre site, several roadcuts exist from Rocky Ridge to Old Frederick Road, which have produced plant leaves and branches and the remains of freshwater clam shrimp, which were deposited in backwater eddies associated with the main lake located on the 140-acre site.

For those interested in trying their luck at finding one of these satellite sites, the roadcuts in the general area as noted have produced numerous fossils, specifically, plant fossils and freshwater clam shrimp have been found in a telltale greenish, silty shale.

When examining roadcuts, find a place to safely pull off the roadway and keep an eye out for traffic on any narrow roads. While digging, ensure that any chunks of shale or rock do not roll onto the roadway.

The first (and only) Late Triassic dinosaur tracks that have been found in Maryland came from an abandoned flagstone pit located just outside of the Emmitsburg Town Limits and had been found in the 1800s.  The site is on private property, which at one point even had mounted security cameras along the road leading to the site, and the residence beyond.

But who knows. There could be (and likely is) one or more as yet undiscovered dinosaur-track-bearing sites lurking in Frederick County.The “Really Old Stuff”

After all, Maryland has, paleontologically, been one of the most researched sites in the Mid-Atlantic, beginning back in the 1700s… and yet the largest Triassic dinosaur age fossil site was not discovered until the early 2000s!

The “Really Old Stuff”

Part 2 of “Fossil Collecting in Maryland,” which will appear in the November edition of The Catoctin Banner, will address fossil sites west of Frederick County.

The fossil sites west of Frederick County consist of layers of rock dating as far back as hundreds of millions of years ago, long before the dinosaurs existed, when the land comprising Maryland lay below the oceans and predate the formation of the Appalachian Mountains.

Photo Credit: Maryland Department of Natural Resources