Hi Rodney,







Thanks.


John Adamek, Edscope Enterprises, recently sold a fossil fish stated to be
from Picton (as below).

If you can trace the site back through him I'd be pleased to go and have a
look sometime ... re potential for finding any more, and re what part of
the strat sequence it is in. It probably is Ashfield Shale as stated.

Fish in the Ashfield Shale are pretty rare and one-off events, so chances
of finding more are very slim .. although repeat finds have been reported
from the Bowral brickworks quarry.

Dealers often will not reveal where they get things from .. however what
one can always try doing is to send them an email asking that one's
message/query be sent on from them to the collector/seller and describing
therein a wish to visit either the fossil's exact site or else the general
area, and way, and asking for help/advice. If done there might or might
not be any reply direct(?). It could not hurt to try doing something like
that.

And/or try Australian Museum and Geological Survey and ask if
paleaontological catalogues give any localities for Ashfield Shale better
than just "Picton". If so then they might be clues too.

Fresh Ashfield Shale is dark grey to black and it rapidly (in quarries)
breaks down into tiny splinters. Hence fossil fish in shale cannot
naturally weather out. The sparse indurated (by siderite) bands can,
however, weather out .. and that might be how the fish in question got to
market. The fossil appears to be in a block of some some thickness and at
one place broken at 90 degrees.

So my first suspicious would be that it's from natural outcrop, rather than
from a quarry.

But also note the Maldon cement works lies east of Picton. It may be
worth contacting them too, as cement making loves shale .. shale and
limestone makes clinker, makes cement. So they could have someone who well
knows about shale around that area.

Cheers,



John




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.fossilmall.com/EDCOPE_Enterprises/fish/fishfossil44/fossilfish-44
.htm

Triassic Fish FossilSize (25.4 mm = 1 inch) Fossil Fish: 50 mm long,
Matrix: 100 mm by 120 mm. Fossil Site: Ashfield Shale, Wianamatta Group,
Picton, New South Wales, Australia ...
www.fossilmall.com/EDCOPE_Enterprises/fish/fishfossil44/fossilfish-44.htm

Rare Ashfield Shale Triassic Fish Fossil

Actinopterygii indet.
Osteichthyes

Geological Time: Middle Triassic, Anisian Stage (~210 m.y.a.)

Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch) Fossil Fish: 50 mm long, Matrix: 100 mm by 120 mm

Fossil Site: Ashfield Shale, Wianamatta Group, Picton, New South Wales,
Australia

Fossil Code: AAF265

Price: $295.00 - sold

Description: A diverse number of actionopterygian fish have been described
from the Triassic continental sediments around Sydney, with the youngest
coming from the Wianamatta Group. Many of them are of uncertain taxonomic
status due to poor preservation of cranial features. This specimen is
missing the anteriormost portion of the head, but the balance is preserved
in exquisite detail. Several sites around Sydney were quarried for shale
and clay, and are known as the St Peter’s quarries, of which there were
some 20-odd. They have been a rich source of fossils, the most famous of
which is a labyrinthodont known as Paracyclotosaurus. The lower part of the
Ashfield Sahle, in addition to amphibians and fish includes insects and
bivalves indicative of a lacustrine environment. The stratigraphically
higher parts of the shale provides evidence of brackish to shallow marine
conditions indicative of transgression of the sea. Although part of the
head is missing, the balance of the specimen preserves detail with amazing
fidelity. Fe specimens ever become available, with even fewer being this
intact and complete.






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


At 10:17 PM 2/02/08 -0800, you wrote:

>Hi John,
>I have an orriginal report on the fossil from that
>Railway ballast quarry at Gosford, If you give me some
>time as i am currently in the Mt Isa Field Office
>I can email a PDF to you.
>
>Also i recently purchased a fish from Picton of the
>internet but no details came with it, do you know of
>any fish localities in the picton area?
>
>Fossils from Sydney are becomming harder to source if
>any one has any they would like to sell... please let
>me know.
>
>Many thanks
>
>Rodney



<SNIP>