Flinger Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) Hello all. I just joined the site. I live in central Mississippi and I am a fossil newbie. I asked on this board where I should start and one of the suggestions was to start with our Museum of Natural History. I got in touch with the curator of paleontology and he told me about an extinct quarry not too far from my house that had early oligocene marine macro-invertabrates. So I went and scoped out the place and took pictures. I am hoping you could take a look at the images and the questions associated with them and give me some pointers. I'll number the images and then ask my questions below. Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5 Image 6 Image 7 Image 8 Image 9 Explanation and Questions- Would you guys mind IDing the types of rocks in the images? Images 1 and 2 - I found an area which had features I had imagined that I was looking for. Basically a sloping wall of crumbly sedimentary rock. What I don't really understand is why there are big spongy looking boulders on top of the slope. They seem to be out of place. Is this a bad sign that I am not in a good area? Should I ignore the spongy rocks and stick to the crumbly sedimentary looking slope? Image 3 - Holy Jeebus this rock was hard. You can probably see the little light colored dots on the rock where I tired to whack it with my hammer. I barely scratched the surface. Please tell me this isn't the type of rock I'm supposed to be looking in? Image 4 - This group of rocks was kind of interesting. The vertical plane facing the camera of the top rock was flaking easily, but that seemed counter intuitive because I would have thought it would be more likely to flake long ways. Am I off in my thinking? Is this a type of rock I should ignore? Image 5 - This is a close up of what I call the spongy rocks. Any idea what type of rock this is? Is this a rock I should ignore? Images 6 and 7 - Some scallop looking things that I found. This stuff was all over the place. If these types of scallop shell are in abundance, does mean that I'm in a good area to find bigger and better invertebrates? Basically, are these shells an indicator of how fruitful this site could be? Images 8 and 9 - Cool little star looking thing inside a shell. Any idea what the little star thing is? Edited August 11, 2011 by Flinger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 When at a new site the best thing to do is walk and look for rocks that have fallen off the face of the formation with fossils in them. After you find some you can then match the fallen piece with the source, which will tell you what sediments you should be looking in. So basically if you don't see pieces of that particular rock with fossils in it laying about, then it most likely wont have any. The star shaped object is an external mold of a sand dollar type of echinoderm by the way. I cant id the neat little scallop shells as I don't normally collect in the Oligocene. They are nice finds though. If you can find the layer those weathered out of you should be able to find bigger and better stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flinger Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 So, it sounds like you are saying that I should just look on the ground near the slopey area where I found the little scallop things? I guess I have it in my head that I'm supposed to be whacking boulders with a geologist hammer because I'm addicted to geology documentaries. So, should I put the hammer away and get down close to the ground? Keep in mind, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm ready to learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 search the ground first, find a piece of matrix with a fossil, match it to the layer or rock type it came from and you'll know where to start whacking. In a lot of cases the whacking of rocks isn't necessary as the fossils weather out of the sediment or enough matrix with fossils has been shed by the formation to satisfy the collector. That depends entirely on the site. In some cases looking at fallen pieces of matrix is the only way (such as road-cuts - where most states don't take active quarrying into the road-cut lightly.) It also tells you what color of matrix and the type of sedimentary rock to look for. Examine the matrix stuck to the fossils you found. Look for rock with that color or texture. And keep in mind that if a strata is fossiliferous then you will see fossils sticking out of it. Also if part of the formation is weathering into mud or sand check that too for fossils that have weathered out and are loose (easy pickins') hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Congrats on your finds. The fact that you found fossils with very little experience on what to look for is extremly encouraging for both your abilities and the site in general. Fossils can be found in solid rock, BUT that is not necessarily a good thing. You have to get them out of the rock in such a manner as to get them home and get them presentable. This is doable, but does require some skill/experience. Photos 1 and 2, in the foreground, make me want to get in the water and start looking. That material, also termed "float" is eroded out of the rocks above them. This is where you will find fossils. Many will be badly eroded and not worth keeping, but some will be nice. Fossils like sharks teeth, bone, teeth in general, and some types of shells, are pretty hard, and will resist the weathering better then the rock that holds it. I would suggest also finding a stratigraphic sequence for the area. Ask at the museum, they will probably be able to help you. That will tell you what rock layer is what, and given time and experience, you will begin to recognize them in different areas. The stratigraphic sequence will probably list if any fossils are present, particularly common ones. Welcome to a life-long hobby, your first steps are extremly encouraging. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts