The Wayne County Gem and Mineral Club Show Committee is pleased to announce that next spring’s big show will be held June 6th-7th at the Greater Canandaigua Civic Center just north of Canandaigua city center off route 332. Previous shows had been held in Newark that same first full weekend in June. The new facility at 250 N. Broomfield Road features a hockey/skating rink in the winter, but the ice is taken up in April and the location is available for conventions and trade shows in the spring and summer. The setting will provide us with much more space, improved lighting, better parking, and full snack/food service. We are excited about the move and will have more details as the date approaches. Dealers interested in joining us can contact Pat Chapman (607-868-4649). Pick up your skates and head over some time this winter to check out the new venue.
Monthly Archives: October 2014
Greens Landing, Canandaigua Lake
“Site of the Month” article I wrote for Nov. 2014 WCGMC News
More than two decades ago, WCGMC member Stephen Mayer did his M.S. at SUNY-Fredonia focusing on the stratigraphy and fossil assemblages of the Jaycox member of the Ludlowville Formation. A small creek on the east side of Canandaigua Lake provided wonderful exposure of the section and became the key exposure for his work. On Saturday September 27th Stephen returned to his old haunt, this time leading 17 members of our club on a fossil hunt at Green’s Landing. Naturally we learned a little about the local stratigraphy from Stephen also as we hiked about 1200’ up the creek, mostly through Wanakah member shales.
Everyone was clean at this point !
Eldredgeops vs. Phacops
My fledging knowledge of fossils grew this month when University of Rochester Fossil Technician Gerry Kloc introduced me to Eldredgeops and his book on Trilobites of New York.
For over 150 years the common Devonian trilobite of New York and other North American locations had been referred to as Phacops rana, after the description and identification of Phacops latifrons in Europe. The literature, museums, and individual collections carry the name. As it turns out, this North American trilobite is not a Phacops genus, but rather an Eldredgeops. Although this has been known in the paleontology world for two decades, many specimens continue to be misnamed.
A most thorough and readable note on the distinction between the two genus can be found on the Fossil Forum website (www.fossilforum.com). The discussion, dated June 8, 2014, is called Phacops Vs Eldredgeops and is found in the General Discussion Forum of the website. The author is Gerry Kloc, a Rochester paleontologist who has studied trilobites extensively. Gerry has identified numerous subtle, but definitive, differences in the cephalons between the European Phacops rana and the so called North American variety. He concludes that the Middle Devonian New York species is actually an Eldredgeops and proposes it be given the full name Eldredgeops rana. If you have one, it is time to update your label.
