Archaeopteris Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) Or Fossils in an Urban Setting. Fossils come from quarries. Rocks from quarries are used in the building industry, paths, roads and gardens. I see lots of rocks everyday, strewn about the place. Might any of these everyday rocks be fossiliferous? Edited March 9, 2015 by Archaeopteris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepTimeIsotopes Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Depends on what place you are talking about. Some places have none whatsoever like where there is a lot of volcanic activity that has otherwise melted all of the sedimentary rock or some places might even use fossil beds as gravel as in places of Florida. Each dot is 50,000,000 years: Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic........... Paleo......Meso....Ceno.. Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here Doesn't time just fly by? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeopteris Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Well none of the rocks will be volcanic as I'm in England. But of course they would have been in the past.... I guess what I want to know is how do you spot a potential fossil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediospirifer Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 You won't find them in a building made of granite blocks, or a metamorphic rock. Try looking at limestone or sandstone blocks. Look at the common fracture patterns, then look for odd spots. If you see a round or conical anomaly (especially of a different color), for instance, it might prove to be a horn coral on closer examination. I've seen a few around here. Good luck! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeopteris Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Thanks. I see a lot of rocks that look like very fine sandstone, often with long cracks where i imagine there are layers and possibly a fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) Fossils are common in particular places where sedimentary rocks are abundant, non-existent in others which have metamorphic, vulcanic or plutonic stones. I'd suggest you do some perusing of this website. I'm sure you'll find lots of information there, including where to look for fossils in the UK. http://www.ukfossils.co.uk/ Edited March 9, 2015 by Ludwigia Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Here you go: LINK 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Next time you're in London, look at pretty much any white buildings in town; they're made from local limestone (upper chalk, perhaps? can't quite remember) but the limestone blocks the buildings are made of are richly fossiliferous. In Westminster near the Cabinet War Rooms museum, there are some government offices where bivalves and other mollusks are pretty common in the limestone, which is itself composed entirely of tiny fossil fragments (bryozoans perhaps?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I found echinoids in the garden walls at Charles Darwn's house..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeopteris Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Next time you're in London, look at pretty much any white buildings in town; they're made from local limestone (upper chalk, perhaps? can't quite remember) but the limestone blocks the buildings are made of are richly fossiliferous. In Westminster near the Cabinet War Rooms museum, there are some government offices where bivalves and other mollusks are pretty common in the limestone, which is itself composed entirely of tiny fossil fragments (bryozoans perhaps?). Be a long time before I visit London. Im at the other end of the country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeopteris Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Here you go: LINK Lol thats thousands of miles from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeopteris Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Fossils are common in particular places where sedimentary rocks are abundant, non-existent in others which have metamorphic, vulcanic or plutonic stones. I'd suggest you do some perusing of this website. I'm sure you'll find lots of information there, including where to look for fossils in the UK. http://www.ukfossils.co.uk/ Thanks, Im a member of that site too. Closest to me on that map is Yorkshire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuslover340 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 (edited) Probably not the answer you're looking for, but to take the initial question at face value: fossils are fairly common, considering one can usually find them not too far from where they live. However, one must keep in mind that the fossils we have today are only a small representation of the actual population of any one organism we see in the fossil record during its existence. Some fossils are more rare than others, but, as aforementioned, it also depends largely upon where you live, concerning the fossils available to you as pertaining to being "common", as well as geological exposures that exist in the area and access to them. -95% of all fossils are shallow marine organisms -95% of the remaining 5% are algae and plants -95% of the remaining 0.25% are invertebrates -the remaining 0.0125% are vertebrates, most of which are fish. *these are approximations This probably did not help concerning your specific question, but thought I'd share anyways (I find it interesting enough)! Edited March 11, 2015 by Jesuslover340 "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."-Romans 14:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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