Older Finds

[Prime_Focus]

I thought I'd try this post to get familiar with this site's procedures.
These are some older finds from last year. They were found in Madison County and are made from the material that I find a lot of down there. I turned the lens around on the camera to get super closeups of the inclusions in the chert. I was expecting to make out small micro fossils in the pictures but instead, found small nodules of what looks to be quartz. I suspect that that they are small fossils but I just didn't get a one that shows it's shape. Matt G can probably tell us more about them if he gets onboard here.

This last one isn't Winterset chert from the same area. I found it on a deer trail west of Des Moines. It has a small inset of crystals on the blade edge.

Ok, there's my initial post. Next one will be of the day's finds. 8)

 

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[arrowheadlee]

Great picture's Tom, love that last close up shot there. It looks like your point's need a little cleaning there.

 

[Almostneverlost]

Nice finds Tom, and those pictures are awesome I think when I'm down there this spring I will pick up some core pieces so I can mess around with a little knapping while I sit around camp in the evenings. I have already made some tools from info I got off you tube, I'm sure I will totally suck at it at first though

 

[iowa trout]

Wow super closeups T and nice finds I could be way off here does quartz turn into chert then chert becomes flint if all gets morphic process hot enough .There is a flint type in Madison co. where I have only found around that area and its a very hard flint type.Yes I hope our tribal rock man finds his way onboard sending scout party out to find him smoke signals say he is down south tradeing with Texas tribes.

 

[Sprig]

Nice pics Tom.

For a minute there I thought I was looking at pics of my teeth and my dentist was telling me I need another crown.

 

[1point]

Nice pics Tom.

For a minute there I thought I was looking at pics of my teeth and my dentist was telling me I need another crown.

Now that is funny!

 

[Matt G]

You suspected correctly Tom! The small white bits are indeed fossils called Fusilinids (an extinct type of Foraminifera). They were very large, single celled, drifters of the ocean and became entrapped in the ooze that eventually turned to chert after they died and sank to the bottom. At some point after their internment, their shells dissolved leaving a hole to be filled in with calcite or quartz and thats what we see today. They are more common than normal in Pennsylvannian cherts for reasons unknown to me. They died out in the Triassic.........so Pennsylvannian is near the end of their run.

Nice points.......its neat how far and wide we find that Dennis Cycle chert (commonly called "Winterset").

Matt