Vopros Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 What do you think about this opal from Lightning Ridge? Thanks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
val horn Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 It is pretty bit I have no clue 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
val horn Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 I would be asking the local experts it is a very famous site. There must be museums and people familiar with the shapes that a biological and rare and the more common geological processes in the area 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 @Vopros: you mean the quality or - if it is Opal at all? Nice and interesting specimen, definitely Opal in it, but I have never seen a structure with opal before 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isotelus2883 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 They remind me of oncolites, but that’s probably just because I was in Shandong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 (edited) 1 hour ago, Isotelus2883 said: They remind me of oncolites, but that’s probably just because I was in Shandong. Thank you, all! could be worms burrows? And how about coprolite? It appears to have some crystals that I see under a microscope and a tiny inclusions of unknown origin. it is also rather big Dimensions (mm) 45.000 x 35.000 x 24.000 mm Weight (cts) 127.000 Edited July 19 by Vopros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcfossilcollector Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 At first glance the specimen(s) shown have the appearance of opalized fossil clams. I thought it might be a few clams joined together during the fossilization process. On closer inspection, of the images provided, the surface texture seems a bit different from any of the opal clam fossils I’ve seen. I would definitely bring them to someone familiar with opalized material. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 1 hour ago, bcfossilcollector said: At first glance the specimen(s) shown have the appearance of opalized fossil clams. I thought it might be a few clams joined together during the fossilization process. On closer inspection, of the images provided, the surface texture seems a bit different from any of the opal clam fossils I’ve seen. I would definitely bring them to someone familiar with opalized material. Thank you! I will ask Dr. Smith from the Opal Centre. In a meantime, IMO there is some similarity between these two specimens, the first one of a Dino coprolite taken from here https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/14925813143 and the opal from Lightning Ridge. Don’t you think so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isotelus2883 Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 I don’t think this is a coprolite. The bits look too ‘solid’. I think weathered clams are a good suggestion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, Isotelus2883 said: I don’t think this is a coprolite. The bits look too ‘solid’. I think weathered clams are a good suggestion. Well, you are probably right. However, fossil poop is a very tricky thing. For example, here is fresh poop of a zebra https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fresh-zebra-animal-dung-droppings-poop-2291430995 If this poop were to fossilize, there would have been a few separate pieces of it. However, if the same poop was deposited on sand, it could have been cemented together by that sand . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 I think we may have mentioned this to you before, but I'll repeat it anyway. This subject is so specialized that the overwhelming majority of the participants here can at the most just make conjectures about your ideas as to what your opals may or may not be. I think your best bet to find answers is to go directly to the experts you know. Please don't get me wrong, since your posts can be quite interesting, but I thought I'd just make this suggestion to you. 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 5 hours ago, Ludwigia said: I think we may have mentioned this to you before, but I'll repeat it anyway. This subject is so specialized that the overwhelming majority of the participants here can at the most just make conjectures about your ideas as to what your opals may or may not be. Disagree! Opal fossils look like all other fossils do . And, if the opal in question was not a opal but simply a rock of the same structure, it would have been hard to ID anyway… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 (edited) Opal will fill any void in the rock it is forming in. Coprolites seldom if ever have voids in them.. If the external shape of an opal is not preserved it is very hard to say what the piece started as. Partially filled clam or snail steinkerns seem to fit the piece in question better than a coprolite does. Your piece looks nothing like the known coprolite picture you posted. Edited July 20 by ynot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 3 hours ago, Vopros said: Disagree! Well that's your choice I suppose, although I for myself couldn't make head nor tail of most of the things you have posted, but maybe I'm the only one Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Ludwigia said: Well that's your choice I suppose, although I for myself couldn't make head nor tail of most of the things you have posted, but maybe I'm the only one Don’t know about you but If I cannot make either head or tail of somebody’s question, I usually simply do not respond this questions because why to bother if you have nothing to say. Anyway, I send the images to an expert and I will post an update when they respond. Edited July 20 by Vopros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 11 minutes ago, Vopros said: Don’t know about you but If I cannot make either head or tail of somebody’s question, I usually simply do not respond this questions because why to bother if you have nothing to say. As a matter of fact, I have not responded to most of your posts for that very reason. I just thought I'd make a suggestion this time around. Now I'm just curious to see your update. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Hi, 15 hours ago, Vopros said: Anyway, I send the images to an expert and I will post an update when they respond. I hope you will honor your word, unlike the vast majority of people who come here asking for an identification of something they think is incredible and new to science, but who inexorably refute our answers and never update after consulting "real" specialists in person... Coco 1 ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Pareidolia : here Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 31 Author Share Posted July 31 At last I got a response from Phil Bell PhD Associate Professor, Earth Science Coordinator, Bachelor of Geoscience School of Environmental and Rural Science University of New England Armidale NSW 2351 Australia. Dr. Bell writes: Sorry, I have no idea what that is! Looks to have a couple of claystone nodules through it, some of which obviously have opal, but I'm not sure of their origin. So, at this point, I believe we could assume that those are probably not shells because Dr. Bell knows shells of LR quite well. Maybe the right question to ask if it is a fossil at all of it is just the Nature at play. If it is a fossil it could be worm burrows. In some places I see a strange surface under a microscope that looks as something was digging. I attached the microscopic images. And because those are not shells I still believe there is a remote possibility it is a coprolite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 31 Author Share Posted July 31 On 7/20/2024 at 6:56 AM, ynot said: Coprolites seldom if ever have voids in them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 @Vopros I see no voids in that piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelden Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 It could be peacock oar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vopros Posted July 31 Author Share Posted July 31 11 minutes ago, zelden said: It could be peacock oar It is an opal from Lightning Ridge and here is a video of it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelden Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 Yes your right really cool 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 If Dr. Bell has no idea what it is and that it looks to have a couple of claystone nodules through it, then I would suggest you go back to him directly with your conjectures. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixpaleosky Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 It seems to be several opal nobbies together. You can see on this link a typical nobby : https://blackopaldirect.com/blog/rough-opal-nobbies-lightning-ridge/ You may contact the website owner who is a famous expert. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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