sumpin kinda fun Sunday

vibes · Apr 29, 2009

Didn't find much in way of fossils but thought I'd share my 'take home' items...as meager as they are...

Daveaohio · Apr 29, 2009

Looks pretty nice to me. You are never disapointed when you collect rocks and fossils you always find something to put in your pocket

Harry Pristis · Apr 30, 2009

vibes said:
Didn't find much in way of fossils but thought I'd share my 'take home' items...as meager as they are...

You don't say what you think these phenomena represent. I think I know what two of them are - the first and last ones.

The first rock looks like ripple marks from water action on a fine-grained bottom.

The third appears to be manganese crystalline structures - dendrites of manganese, or fractals. I've seen these in western sandstones and from the Jurassic lithographic limestone from Solenhofen, Germany, but I've never seen them from Indiana. Interesting find.

vibes · Apr 30, 2009

Thanks Harry!

I knew the 1st pic was ripple/wave But couldn't find anything in my book on the other 2, so thanks.

Actually I found them in a HUGE rock/gravel pit in southwest lower Michigan!

Harry Pristis · Apr 30, 2009

vibes said:
Thanks Harry!

I knew the 1st pic was ripple/wave But couldn't find anything in my book on the other 2, so thanks.

Actually I found them in a HUGE rock/gravel pit in southwest lower Michigan!

You're welcome, 'vibes'!

Here's an example of dendrites from Solenhofen. These are on the rear of a piece of lithographic limestone with a Jurassic invert on the front.

vibes · Apr 30, 2009

After studying the pic you provided--it's as if my pics (2&3) morphed together and made Germany?

I love walking around and plucking the shale outta the gravel pit walls. The geode finds, at this point, are a bonus...and the agates too.

Road Dog · May 1, 2009

Harry Pristis said:
vibes said:

Thanks Harry!

I knew the 1st pic was ripple/wave But couldn't find anything in my book on the other 2, so thanks.

Actually I found them in a HUGE rock/gravel pit in southwest lower Michigan!

Click to expand...

You're welcome, 'vibes'!

Here's an example of dendrites from Solenhofen. These are on the rear of a piece of lithographic limestone with a Jurassic invert on the front.

I got some of those or something that looks like that I found in a quarry in Wisconsin.

Road Dog · May 2, 2009

Here is a pic.

Harry Pristis · May 3, 2009

Road Dog said:
Here is a pic.

Yup! Same stuff -- dendrites, commonly of manganese.

fossil_femme · May 4, 2009

Harry and Vibes,

I also have some dendrites from a visit I made to Solnhofen a few years ago, and some good examples that I found here in New Mexico as well.
Will try to dig them out & post pics.

I still can't believe that I didn't find an Archaeopteryx at Solnhofen though :dontknow:

vibes · May 4, 2009

Fossil_Femme,

I just noticed you're in New Mexico...I LOVE NM! Was there last year and found smithsonite and other assorted kick a@@ rocks!

fossil_femme · May 4, 2009

vibes said:
Fossil_Femme,

I just noticed you're in New Mexico...I LOVE NM! Was there last year and found smithsonite and other assorted kick a@@ rocks!

I love it also... the weather rocks (pun intended)... and since there's minimal vegetation, it's great for rockhounding too.

I'm down in Alamogordo, if you're ever in the area and have the time & inclination, drop me a line and we'll go see what we can dig up!

Harry Pristis · May 4, 2009

fossil_femme said:
Harry and Vibes,

I also have some dendrites from a visit I made to Solnhofen a few years ago, and some good examples that I found here in New Mexico as well.
Will try to dig them out & post pics.

I still can't believe that I didn't find an Archaeopteryx at Solnhofen though

Cool! What did you collect at Solnhofen (or "Solenhofen" - both spellings are used extensively) in Bavaria? Is there a local industry in collecting and preparing fossils for tourists?

Show us your souvenirs, 'fossil_femme'.

fossil_femme · May 6, 2009

Harry Pristis said:
fossil_femme said:

Harry and Vibes,

I also have some dendrites from a visit I made to Solnhofen a few years ago, and some good examples that I found here in New Mexico as well.
Will try to dig them out & post pics.

I still can't believe that I didn't find an Archaeopteryx at Solnhofen though

Click to expand...

Cool! What did you collect at Solnhofen (or "Solenhofen" - both spellings are used extensively) in Bavaria? Is there a local industry in collecting and preparing fossils for tourists?

Show us your souvenirs, 'fossil_femme'.

Harry, my Solnhofen dendrites and fossils aren't nearly as nice as the specimens that you posted! but I will post pics anyway.

Funny that you mentioned "souvenirs" because that is exactly what I call my Solnhofen fossils... we didn't make any impressive finds there at the Eichstaett quarry, and the weather was absolutely horrible, cold and drizzling the entire time. But the specimens that I left with are indeed my souvenirs of my visit to the Solnhofen Jurassic Limestone.
I found some dendrites, quite a few poorly preserved Saccocoma specimens, and one UFO ("unidentified fossilized object")

As for the local fossil industry, unfortunately we weren't there long enough to find out... we spent a few hours at the quarry, went to the museum near there, and then continued on our journey (headed for Vienna to visit the Natural History Museum, and a few days later to Bolzano, Italy to see "The Iceman"). Good times, but I was a bit stressed out trying to drive and park in Europe!

Will post dendrite pics below, but will start another topic for the actual fossils... I don't want to go off on too much of a tangent here, out of courtesy to Vibes

fossil_femme · May 6, 2009

Dendrites from Solnhofen Jurassic Limestone:

fossil_femme · May 6, 2009

Dendrites from New Mexico:

vibes · May 6, 2009

FF...I love tangents

So you post all that you desire. I'm enjoying the fossil show and tell.

By the way... I love your "UFO" definition

And harry...thank you for all your insights! Greatly appreciated!

allen · May 21, 2009

i think those are really facinating!! :thumbsup:

fossil_femme · May 22, 2009

vibes said:
FF...I love tangents So you post all that you desire. I'm enjoying the fossil show and tell.

By the way... I love your "UFO" definition

thanks Vibes!

you may use the UFO acronym with my blessings ... i don't come up with something witty all that often... but when i do, i like to share! :icon_queen:

i haven't gotten around to taking pics of the actual fossils that i found at Solnhofen yet, but hope to do so soon.

hope to see more of your finds in the future.
~ f_f