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I bought a few trilobite fossils from a store in Adelaide, South Australia a few months back. It's amazing to have such old fossils to display at home :-D
Fossil Winged Fruit (Deviacer sp.) preserved in the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation about 34 million years ago. This wind-dispersed fruit is from a genus of broad-leaved trees, related to maples, that went extinct by the early Oligocene. Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Teller Co., Colo.
Fossil wood (quartz permineralized fossil wood) (2.2 cm across)
Plants are multicellular, photosynthetic eucaryotes. The oldest known land plant body fossils are Silurian in age. Fossil root traces of land plants are known back in the Ordovician. The Devonian was the key time interval during which land plants flourished and Earth experienced its first “greening” of the land. The earliest land plants were small and simple and probably remained close to bodies of water. By the Late Devonian, land plants had evolved large, tree-sized bodies and the first-ever forests appeared.
The fossil shown above is "petrified wood", which is a horrible term for what is technically called permineralization. Biogenic materials such as wood or bone have a fair amount of small-scale porosity. After burial, the porosity of wood or bone can get partially or completely filled up with minerals as groundwater or diagenetic fluids percolate through. The end result is a harder, denser material that retains the original three-dimensionality (or close to it). The wood or bone has become “petrified”. Well, no - it’s become permineralized. Not surprisingly, the most common permineralization mineral is quartz (SiO2). Sometimes, fossil wood and bone have been permineralized with radioactive minerals such as black uraninite (UO2) or yellowish carnotite (K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O). Recently, fossil bones permineralized with cinnabar have been identified (García-Alix et al., 2013, Lethaia 46: 1-6).
Fossil Creek just below the Irving power plant. The plant and was decommissioned in 2005. The dam, flume, buildings, and other structures were removed. The creek was designated a "Wild and Scenic River" in 2009.
Fossil Creek is one of only two National Wild & Scenic rivers in Arizona and is fed by springs coming from the cliffs of the Mogollon Rim. Over 30 million gallons of water are discharged each day at a constant 70°F. The high mineral content leaves travertine dams and deposits, giving rise to fossil-like features.
In 2005, Arizona Public Service (APS) decommissioned the Fossil Creek Dam and Flume, restoring full flows to Fossil Creek. The diversion dam at Fossil Springs was partially removed, allowing the creek to flow freely. The flume that once carried water to the power plant was disassembled. The Irving power plant and other buildings around the site were removed. Traces of history remain visible at the Irving site and along the Flume Trail in the form of old building foundations, rock work along the flume's maintenance road, and concrete pilings that once supported the flume.
Photo by Deborah Lee Soltesz, November 26, 2006. Credit: Coconino National Forest, U.S. Forest Service. Learn more about Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River on the Coconino National Forest.
11 campsites with drinking water, restroom, tables and fire rings. Fed by the rains and snows of the last Ice Age, the Owens River once flowed from Owens lake down through this narrow valley between the Coso and Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges. Several times during the last 100,000 years, the discharge from the Owens river has been great enough to form a vast interconnected system of lakes in what are now the arid basins of the Mojave Desert. The rugged and primitive features of Fossil Falls are the produce of volcanic activity. As recent as 20,000 years ago, lava from the local volcanic eruptions poured into the Owens River channel. The erosional forces of the Owens River acted upon this volcanic rock, forming the polished and sculptured features that now can be seen at Fossil Falls.
Photo by Jesse Pluim, BLM
Fossil sketch (13 x 15 cm.)
Repository: Ernst Mayr Library, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
Call number: bfAg 168.60.7p
View downriver from Redwall Cavern, Grand Canyon. This exposure of Redwall Limestone contains a remarkable fossil discovery. In a 7-foot-thick stratum within the lower Redwall, fossil nautiloids (squid-like animals with straight cone-shaped shells) have been found in abundance. Most are 1-2 feet long, some longer, exhibiting various life stages.
They were first discovered 1.5 miles south of Redwall Cavern at Nautiloid Canyon. One geologist, curious to see if they existed elsewhere, has traced these fossils in this same layer in dozens of outcrops, all the way to the east side of Las Vegas, almost 200 miles to the west. He also found them far to the north and south. Just about every exposure of this particular layer he has examined contains nautiloid fossils.
Estimates from the extent of the outcrops suggest that billions of nautiloid fossils exist in this layer extending over 10,000 square miles. They are found in upright and horizontal positions, but with a statistically significant orientation, suggesting that they were all buried in a single event that involved a current. If so, it contradicts the standard view that the Redwall (or at least this stratum) was deposited slowly in a placid sea.
I personally have seen these nautiloids in the same layer in Nautiloid Canyon, Havasupai Canyon, Kanab Canyon and the Virgin River Gorge--widely separated points (see samples below). They're not hard to spot if you are in the right layer and know what to look for. Upright specimens, for instance, look like a circle in cross-section. Horizontal specimens look like cones with a blunt end, the growth chambers clearly evident. The outlines look like hardened glue embedded in the gray limestone.
Plants are multicellular, photosynthetic eucaryotes. The oldest known land plant body fossils are Silurian in age. Fossil root traces of land plants are known back in the Ordovician. The Devonian was the key time interval during which land plants flourished and Earth experienced its first “greening” of the land. The earliest land plants were small and simple and probably remained close to bodies of water. By the Late Devonian, land plants had evolved large, tree-sized bodies and the first-ever forests appeared.
Shown here is a fossil tree trunk, apparently preserved as a cast. Casts are sediment infillings that occupy the spaces where biologic structures used to be. Many plant fossils, such as tree roots and tree trunks, are preserved as casts - the original wood is gone. Casts are typically sandstone or siltstone or shale.
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From exhibit signage:
Widowmaker
Coal is compressed vegetation - trunks, roots, branches and leaves of ancient trees. Petrified tree stumps such as this one sometimes occur above coal seams. Once the coal is removed from below these stumps can fall on miners, hence the name widowmaker.
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found down by the creek...all the rain we've been having have unearthed tons of them...my boys are in heaven.
Fossil wood (quartz permineralized fossil wood) (2.2 cm across)
Plants are multicellular, photosynthetic eucaryotes. The oldest known land plant body fossils are Silurian in age. Fossil root traces of land plants are known back in the Ordovician. The Devonian was the key time interval during which land plants flourished and Earth experienced its first “greening” of the land. The earliest land plants were small and simple and probably remained close to bodies of water. By the Late Devonian, land plants had evolved large, tree-sized bodies and the first-ever forests appeared.
The fossil shown above is "petrified wood", which is a horrible term for what is technically called permineralization. Biogenic materials such as wood or bone have a fair amount of small-scale porosity. After burial, the porosity of wood or bone can get partially or completely filled up with minerals as groundwater or diagenetic fluids percolate through. The end result is a harder, denser material that retains the original three-dimensionality (or close to it). The wood or bone has become “petrified”. Well, no - it’s become permineralized. Not surprisingly, the most common permineralization mineral is quartz (SiO2). Sometimes, fossil wood and bone have been permineralized with radioactive minerals such as black uraninite (UO2) or yellowish carnotite (K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O). Recently, fossil bones permineralized with cinnabar have been identified (García-Alix et al., 2013, Lethaia 46: 1-6).
11 campsites with drinking water, restroom, tables and fire rings. Fed by the rains and snows of the last Ice Age, the Owens River once flowed from Owens lake down through this narrow valley between the Coso and Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges. Several times during the last 100,000 years, the discharge from the Owens river has been great enough to form a vast interconnected system of lakes in what are now the arid basins of the Mojave Desert. The rugged and primitive features of Fossil Falls are the produce of volcanic activity. As recent as 20,000 years ago, lava from the local volcanic eruptions poured into the Owens River channel. The erosional forces of the Owens River acted upon this volcanic rock, forming the polished and sculptured features that now can be seen at Fossil Falls.
Photo by Jesse Pluim, BLM
Draft product - spherical (equirectangular) panorama of the Waterfall area of Fossil Creek, Arizona near Camp Verde. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to activate the shutter on the down-nadir shot (waterfall is loud, so I couldn't hear if the shutter released). Setup includes Nodal Ninja 4 pan head and Manfrotto tripod with ball head.
Top left and bottom right are fossil brachiopods in coated copper with precious metal accents. I saw some at a mineral and fossil show, they reminded me of ginkgo leaves. I had to buy a few to carefully clean and wire wrap. I explain a little bit about what brachiopods were/are on my blog magpiesmiscellany.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/fossil-echoes/
The fossils on the top right and bottom left are both ammonites. The top one is a whole ammonite in gold fill accented with one large faceted garnet heart and many small garnet beads. The bottom left is sliced open to reveal the chambers and wrapped in brass and copper and accented with gears for a steampunk/clockpunk nod. A little on ammonites and other fossil projects magpiesmiscellany.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/fossil-record/
An interpretation ranger shows visitors fossils in the Kaibab Limestone layer during a Fossil Walk.
NPS Photo
Fossil Snail (Turcica caffea). Deposited in the Millerton Formation during the early Pleistocene about 1.8 million year ago. Marin Co., Calif. (Collection of the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. Golden, Colo.)
Fossil traces of ancient worms eroding out of sandstone on a beach near Tribune bay, Hornby Island BC, Canada.
via Discuss Fossils - Discussions on fossil hunting, rocks, locations, and identifying your finds ift.tt/2dl4ukC
Fossil Rose Leaf (Rosa hilliae), an extinct species, preserved in the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation about 34 million years ago. Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Teller Co., Colo.
11 campsites with drinking water, restroom, tables and fire rings. Fed by the rains and snows of the last Ice Age, the Owens River once flowed from Owens lake down through this narrow valley between the Coso and Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges. Several times during the last 100,000 years, the discharge from the Owens river has been great enough to form a vast interconnected system of lakes in what are now the arid basins of the Mojave Desert. The rugged and primitive features of Fossil Falls are the produce of volcanic activity. As recent as 20,000 years ago, lava from the local volcanic eruptions poured into the Owens River channel. The erosional forces of the Owens River acted upon this volcanic rock, forming the polished and sculptured features that now can be seen at Fossil Falls.
Photo by Jesse Pluim, BLM
The megalodon (pronounced /ˈmɛɡələdɒn/ MEG-ə-lə-don, "big tooth" in Greek, from μέγας and ὀδούς), Carcharodon megalodon or Carcharocles megalodon (in dispute), was a giant shark that lived in prehistoric times. The oldest remains of this species found are about 18 million years old and C. megalodon became extinct in the Pleistocene epoch probably about 1.5 million years ago.It was the apex predator of its time and is the largest carnivorous fish known to have existed.
C. megalodon could grow to more than 18 metres (59 ft) long and is also quite possibly the largest shark ever to have lived. From scrutiny of its remains, scientists conclude that C. megalodon belongs to the order Lamniformes. However, scientists are still debating which genus would be most appropriate for C. megalodon from the two proposed. Fossil evidence has revealed that megalodon fed upon large marine animals.
www.stonesbones.com/shark.htm?referrer=Google
A trail crew of Coconino National Forest employees (Adrian, Kyle, and Ring) and Arizona Civilian Conservation Corps volunteers (Ben and Lindsay) worked their way through Fossil Springs Wilderness from Fossil Springs Trailhead to Flume Trailhead for three days. One of their tasks was to clear brush along the side trail to the first spring source where hikers often refill their water bottles. They also added signs to the junction of the springs side trail and Fossil Springs Trail to help hikers find the spring.
Fossil Springs begin approximately three quarters of a mile above the old Fossil Creek Dam. A series of springs gush 20,000 gallons a minute year-round at the bottom of a 1,600 foot deep canyon, creating a lush riparian oasis rich with life, and feeding Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River. Over the years these calcium laden waters have laid down huge deposits of a type of limestone called travertine, creating deep pools for miles along the creek. The Wilderness and surrounding area are on the Tonto and Coconino National Forests, and are managed by the Coconino National Forest.
During the spring-summer season, camping is prohibited in Fossil Springs Wilderness and the surrounding area, and a reserved parking permit is required to park at the trailheads that access the Wilderness. See Fossil Springs Wilderness and Fossil Creek on the USFS Coconino National Forest website for maps, regulations, permit reservations, and other details.
Photo by Deborah Lee Soltesz. Source: USFS Coconino National Forest.
Strobist info: 580EXII camera right in front at !/8, SB28 camera left in back at 1/8. Both flashes bounced off a piece of whitecard.
Fossil Springs near the Mogollon Rim, taken on 7-20-06 by Debbie Hom. For more information, visit www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/red_rock/fossil-spgs.... Credit: U.S. Forest Service, Coconino National Forest.
The lava rocks inside of Fossil Falls, polished by the floods into some pretty neat shapes. This photo was taken in the crevasse at about 11:00 a.m. It's dark in there!
Paleontology GIP at Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado & Utah, Rachel Grandpre excavating for fossils in the field. (NPS Photo by Rachel Grandpre, GIP)
I rescued this fine specimen from the trash ! I was seven at the time, and my parent's wouldn't believe I found it in someone's trash, and demanded to know where I got it. I wouldn't tell them, because I was afraid whoever threw it out would realize their mistake and I would never see it again. I was punished, and they took it away. A few years later I found it in the attic, and quietly took it back and hid it. I still think I did the right thing, heh heh..
Fossil wood (quartz permineralized fossil wood) (2.2 cm across)
Plants are multicellular, photosynthetic eucaryotes. The oldest known land plant body fossils are Silurian in age. Fossil root traces of land plants are known back in the Ordovician. The Devonian was the key time interval during which land plants flourished and Earth experienced its first “greening” of the land. The earliest land plants were small and simple and probably remained close to bodies of water. By the Late Devonian, land plants had evolved large, tree-sized bodies and the first-ever forests appeared.
The fossil shown above is "petrified wood", which is a horrible term for what is technically called permineralization. Biogenic materials such as wood or bone have a fair amount of small-scale porosity. After burial, the porosity of wood or bone can get partially or completely filled up with minerals as groundwater or diagenetic fluids percolate through. The end result is a harder, denser material that retains the original three-dimensionality (or close to it). The wood or bone has become “petrified”. Well, no - it’s become permineralized. Not surprisingly, the most common permineralization mineral is quartz (SiO2). Sometimes, fossil wood and bone have been permineralized with radioactive minerals such as black uraninite (UO2) or yellowish carnotite (K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O). Recently, fossil bones permineralized with cinnabar have been identified (García-Alix et al., 2013, Lethaia 46: 1-6).