Frozen in time at Cascadilla Falls EarthCache

This Earthcache is located at Cascadilla Falls Park, where you will find a trail leading from downtown Ithaca to Collegetown on the hilltop above. The trail follows the stream, which carved out a gorge along this hillside. Over time, the water cut through bedrock to expose the Late Devonian shales and siltstone layers of rock, revealing fossils.

Fossils are the preserved traces (like footprints) of animals, plants and other organisms. The fossils you’ll find in Ithaca date from the Ordovician to the Late Devonian Period. They are the imprints of ancient animals that were buried in mud and sand in a warm shallow sea that covered this area of New York between 450 and 360 million years ago. Below you will find a list of the most common types of fossils found here.

Brachiopods are the most common fossils in the area. Brachiopods have two shells, and look a little like clams, but they are actually very different kinds of animals. The fossils are small, usually less than 2” across. Brachiopods are still alive in oceans today but are much less common than they once were.

Trilobites are one of the most well-recognized fossils. They are now extinct, but are related to living horseshoe crabs and lobsters. Their segmented bodies look a little like pill bugs. Two kinds of trilobites are frequently found in rocks around Ithaca, and one is especially common. It is rare to find whole trilobites because most fossils are of the broken molted skins of growing trilobites.

Corals come in two kinds among the Devonian fossils of Ithaca: Rugosa or "horn" corals, and tabulate or "honeycomb" corals. Both of these kinds of corals are extinct, but they resemble modern corals in some ways.

Crinoids (sometimes called "sea lilies") are not plants but are relatives of starfish and sea urchins. They have a multi-armed head on a long, flexible stalk made of many discs. The discs are often preserved as fossils.

Cephalopods are mollusks and today include squids, octopus and the chambered nautilus. Fossils of two kinds of cephalopods can be found in the rocks around Ithaca. Both have straight or coiled shells divided into separate chambers. Nautiloids have simple curved walls separating these chambers; ammonoids have more complex walls.

To Log this Earthcache you need to complete the following task:

• Find a fossil in Cascadilla Park, and take a picture of it with your GPS.
• In your log, post your photo and identify the type of fossil you found.