Imprint

[HorribleImmortal]

Found this a couple years back as well, have never figured out what it could be. Found in Nova Scotia, Canada. It’s about  2.4 inches long and 1.8 inches at its widest. It’s stumped a lot of my friends too.

[Fossildude19]

Any idea where in Nova Scotia? It's a pretty big island.

 

 

If this was found near other plant fossils, I would hazard a guess at some sort of Calamites fossil imprint.

 

If found near marine fossils, I would posit some sort of bivalve or brachiopod shell imprint.

[HorribleImmortal]

7 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Any idea where in Nova Scotia? It's a pretty big island.

 

 

If this was found near other plant fossils, I would hazard a guess at some sort of Calamites fossil imprint.

 

If found near marine fossils, I would posit some sort of bivalve or brachiopod shell imprint.

I’m not sure where honestly, it was a couple years ago

[TqB]

Looks like a Calamites node.

[Fossildude19]

Location found is important  in the identification process, as we infer the geologic setting and stratigraphy  (formation, and age of strata) present in an area wherever the fossils are found.

It is always a good idea to make note of where things were picked up or found.

 

 

[HorribleImmortal]

3 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Location found is important  in the identification process, as we infer the geologic setting and stratigraphy  (formation, and age of strata) present in an area wherever the fossils are found.

It is always a good idea to make note of where things were picked up or found.

 

 

Because I normally roam beaches and the distance I am willing to drive, it could either be from the Northumberland Strait or St George’s Bay. But then again, this could be a piece I found while out with friends who have taken me to Halifax area and Windsor area.

[Rockwood]

3 hours ago, TqB said:

Looks like a Calamites node.

I can see it being a partial pith cast. Isn't the feature oriented wrong to be a node though?

[TqB]

30 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

I can see it being a partial pith cast. Isn't the feature oriented wrong to be a node though?

I think it's just a fragment on a projecting bit of matrix, the rest broken away to the left and right..

Edited 20 hours ago by TqB

[Fossildude19]

[Rockwood]

1 hour ago, TqB said:

I think it's just a fragment on a projecting bit of matrix, the rest broken away to the left and right..

It's that broken look that keeps me from being convinced that this isn't just a crack in the casting. The separation should be a straight line. 

[Rockwood]

Oops. Ready fire aim.  I see it often doesn't look straight in a pith cast. 

[TqB]

9 hours ago, Rockwood said:

It's that broken look that keeps me from being convinced that this isn't just a crack in the casting. The separation should be a straight line. 

This sort of thing? From: 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/calamites

 

[Rockwood]

It just happens that most of the examples in my collection have much cleaner lines, and I look at them straight on. I did an image search and quickly noticed that it's actually the exception. Especially a larger diameter cast viewed from an angle. 

[HorribleImmortal]

23 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

It just happens that most of the examples in my collection have much cleaner lines, and I look at them straight on. I did an image search and quickly noticed that it's actually the exception. Especially a larger diameter cast viewed from an angle. 

So for someone who’s only just waking up from a 12 hour shift, what are we looking at here?

[Rockwood]

Subject in a sleep study?

It's a cast of the inside of a tree like horsetail ancestor from the Carboniferous period known as Calamites. The cavity is filled with pith in life. The feature seen here represents the tissue that divided segments of the stem. The growth habit had the selective advantage in that sections would separate before the plant was uprooted. The same habit can make weeding horsetails from a garden a perpetual chore.