Critical Mineral Exploration in the Dunkirk Shale - Episode 6

[@beachbum200009]

Dunkirk is my hometown, so I find this very interesting. Thank you for making these videos. It's hard to find information on the geology of the western side of NY. Is the black shale related to a mass extinction event?? I think I read that somewhere. As a child cracking open the shale I never found fossils like trilobites.

[@randyblood8966]

Thanks so much for watching and your interest! Indeed the rock is named for the exposures at Dunkirk they are so good. Yep, at the base of the transition is the Kellwasser Bed which marks the culmination of one of the "Big Five" mass extinctions in Earth history. This is the one that hammered the armored fish and reef communities. You can find lots of armored fish debris in the Kellwasser Bed and on rare occasions large armor plates from the fish!

[@beachbum200009]

@@randyblood8966 Thank you for the info. I now live a few miles from Rocky River Ohio. That's where the armored fish dunkleosteus was found in the wall of Rocky River. Ahhh.... It's all coming together. ; )