Good areas to find ammonites in va, wv, pa, md,

[Samuel.73727]

Any regions where ammonites are more commonly found? I have yet to find a good area to find them. Is there a certain formation that has an abundance of them?  Thanks. 

[FossilDAWG]

The short answer is no.  Ammonites are found in Mesozoic (Triassic/Jurassic/Cretaceous) marine formations.  Only late Cretaceous rocks occur anywhere in those states, and that is only in Maryland.  Late Cretaceous sediments (not really rocks) are very limited and rarely exposed in Maryland; mostly you are talking about temporary exposures at construction sites.  Even in the best of circumstances ammonites are rare in those exposures.

 

If you extend your search to ammonoids such as goniatites, they can be found in some Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian formations in those states.  However they are rare, and well preserved examples are even more so.

 

You will have to travel West to New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, South Dakota, Montana etc for ammonites in any abundance.  Even then, except for the straight-shelled Baculites you will have to look hard for more than a few specimens in a day of collecting.

 

Don

[Samuel.73727]

Okay thank you very much for that info. That is really helpful I appreciate your response. 

[NickG]

Ammonoids and nautiloids can be found in all four states -- two books to get on this topic -- Hoskins on fossil collecting in PA (1983) and Burns on fossil collecting in the Mid Atlantic States (1991).

 

Good luck,

 

Nick