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Showing results for tags 'beginner'.
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How to start fossil hunting in the Balkans (Greece, Albania, Bulgaria etc.)
Kostas Pratis posted a topic in Questions & Answers
Hello to everyone! I'm a chemical engineering student in Greece who has paleontology and geology as a hobby. I see a lot of people abroad finding fossils and studying actual samples and I am looking for a way to start on my own someday. What is the best way to start? What are key fossil sites in the Balkans? Are there cases where it is ethical to take fossils for personal interest? In Greece where I live (specifically Athens) there are Penteli and Pikermi with known fossil sites. Additionally, fossils have been found in several islands of the Aegean Pelagos. I have zero knowledge of fossil sites in other countries. As far as ethics are concerned, I believe someone acquiring a fossil should communicate with a university that can collect data and improve its knowledge. A person on their own cannot easily conduct research, not only because of the tools and machines that might be needed but also because they don't have complete knowledge of the fossil record. Also, keeping a fossil for decoration should be done, in my opinion, if the fossil isn't needed to improve the fossil record or if the collector can keep the fossil after research goals have been achieved. I don't want to expand a lot on the subject. I'd love to hear other opinions on the subject and learn about finding fossils. -
Hello, my name is Lance. I stumbled across this forum today because earlier, I found a shell fossil and I just had to know what it was. Haven't gotten my answer just yet, considering my post is fairly new, but I can't wait to find out what it is (I think it might be a mold fossil of something)
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Beginner's first prep experience; a small Brachipod preparation!
Jaybot posted a topic in Fossil Preparation
Hello y'all, I recently got my Dremel 290, and I haven't actually prepped anything with it yet, as I have just played around with it on a scrap fossil to get a feel for it. I decided to start my first actual prep, and I figured I'd bring y'all along with me as I thought it might help others just starting out by learning from my mistakes (hopefully not too many). Well, here goes. This is a small brachipod I found, and is not very impressive, so I'm not afraid of ruining it. Then again, if this turns out the way I hope, it will be a very attractive desk display piece. Found in Kansas City area, in a roadcut that has the best mineralization I've seen yet here. Some of the shells will be black, and I have found a few that have nice blues and reds. This one is mainly grey. Before leaving town this past week, I was able to get about 30 min in. Started with leveling the matrix around the fossil a bit, then started work on removing matrix from this fossil. Hurts to scribe right through these spines, maybe someday I'll learn how to air abrasion, and be able to save the spines similarly to those spectacular trilobites we've all seen. Leveling the matrix: And getting to work on the shell: Hopefully y'all enjoyed this. I will be posting here as progress is made. Won't be able to work on it until next Monday, see y'all then! Have a great weekend.
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What air scribe is the best for a beginner? Preferably one that isn’t too expensive. Please help I have no idea what i’m doing...
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Hi all! New here so apologies if this isn’t formatted correctly or anything. I’m new to this and really want to do a fossil hunt with my family, I live in the sea coast of New Hampshire and could travel about 2 hours in any direction, I also have a house in Warren Vermont and could do the same travel time from there. Does anyone have any tips on places? Preferably easier for a beginner fossil hunter. Any tips on what tools I would need would be greatly appreciated as well. Thank you!
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12.6" Mosasaur Prognathodon Fossil, 2 lbs 6 ounces, 4.7 inches wide, 1.5 inches thick Location- Qued Zem, Morocco Seller doesn’t mention anything about repair or restoration so I’m not sure about that I’m wondering if it’s restored. Are the teeth original to the jaw? And are those bite marks
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Location is kem kem beds, seller said less than 5% restoration. I know nothing about claws but this one almost looks too good to be true and too perfect but I’m not sure how to definitively tell if it’s real or fake
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Hello everyone, I just arrived in Lyme Regis yesterday and decided to go fossil hunting straight away. I am very much a beginner and have only looked for fossils once before in a limestone quarry in Germany which was very different to a beach. After about 3 hours of little success I picked up this bone on my way back, it must've just been washed up as the tide was going down and it was still in the water. Is there any chance this could be a fossil? How can I tell if it's a fossil or just a regular bone from a recently dead animal? I also took some other things with me that I'm not sure are fossils - any pointers as to if they are trash or treasure would be much appreciated. I know there are at least two ammonite fragments in there though. Lastly, a question for the geologists: I was wondering if anyone knows about the reddish partly translucent rocks found in the area? Looks to me like some kind of agate perhaps?
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Hello again! I have done my first experiment with Butvar 76 after drying my Green River fish fossils for 15 days. For this first experiment I selected a thin partially complete Diplomystus from the lower quality end of my haul last month. I gently blew compressed air over the fossil which had been picked lightly with a dental tool, then applied my mix of Butvar-76 and acetone. I found different recommendations for the ratio, and probably used to much powder in my solution because as you can see, upon returning from work I found that small bubbles were trapped inside. I assume the surface tension was too high to allow them to escape as a result of using too thick Butvar. For my next experiment I will thin it out, and brush on thin coats and apply them one at a time instead of thickly applying it. I also noticed that some of the stone dust washed into the solution above the fossils midsection in the depressions between the thin bones. Feel free to critique my first attempt and give any advice.
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i’ve been taking a look at some geology papers on ISGS library in search for some potentially interesting fossil sites, and i’m a little confused on something… whenever i see a stop along the trip, it will have something like “SE 1/4, SW 1/4, NE 1/4, Sec. 10, T. 28 N. R. 11E., [county]” with the stop. Is this the location of that stop? And if so how do i “read” it? Like, what does it all mean and if it does suggest its location, how do i figure out where that location actually is? thanks for any help!
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i’ve been doing some research on places i could go fossil hunting around illinois and sugar run looks really interesting. But admittedly i don’t know a whole lot about it or really about fossil hunting in general, so any tips or advice y’all have, like any particular road cuts or other locations that i should go to, or what places i shouldn’t go to, would be cool. more importantly though, from what i’ve read, fossils from that formation generally aren’t eroded out of their matrix, which will be my first time dealing with this. Is there any way to know like which rocks to split, or where in a rock to split in order to best expose a fossil without damaging it? any help is very appreciated!
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Hi, this is my first post on this forum! (and sorry for bad english, btw) I just registered yesterday, and I would really appreciate if someone could ID this stone (?) I found. It is found in Croatia, on the Adriatic sea, on the island of Brač. I noticed it while I was walking down the stony path, in the inland of the island. I don't know anything about fossils, but it looks interesting and I am curious. Thank you!
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So I have 3 peices Ive had for along time. Something about them just gave me a fossil feeling. I live near the Oregon coast and that is where I found them. Here are some good clear pictures of my 3 findings. Could someone tell me if they just rocks or actually something cool? Thanks guys!
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Hello again, I have recently ordered some bits from ZoicPaleotech for my dremel 290 engraver. I've had quite a lot of practice with the normal bit the dremel comes with ( as I am waiting for the proper bits to arrive). I would love to buy some unprepared fossils from the forum in the future. I've practiced on some soft shale matrix containing trilobites, and I found it quite easy, and very satisfying because the rock pops off the fossil easily. Do you guys have any suggestions on fossils to prepare in order to help me grow more accustomed to preparation?
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Mazon Creek Newcomer Review and Concretion Questions
JackInThePulpit posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I live in Chicago and for a while I’ve been wanting to try Fossil Hunting in Mazon Creek. My first trip three weekends ago I tried to have myself prepared but still wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into. I hiked to the tipple area, there I had a really hard time telling rocks from concretions because especially in that area most of the rocks are covered in an orange rust. I collected 5 gallons of what I later realized were almost exclusively rocks. The trip was still worth it though because there were lots of these fast little lizards running around on top of the exposed coal, and I had never seen wild lizards in Illinois before. Since then, I’ve done a lot more research and went on two more trips. I mostly collected along the northern ridge of the southern section of Monster Lake. I spend nearly the entire time crawling on my hands and knees through thick undergrowth up and down ridges. I’m sort of used to off trail hiking like that so I wasn’t very bothered by the vegetation. For a beginner I think I’ve had good success, but I still have some questions about identifying the right kinds of concretions. In an ESCONI youtube video on Mazon Creek they mention that siderite plates and diagonal concretions are no good and should be left behind. Does anyone have any tips on how to better differentiate these? For the plates, unless it’s obviously thin I can’t quite tell. I’ve included pictures of examples of what I couldn’t quite tell were plates or not. And for the diagonals I’m honestly not sure at all. Other than that I’ve so far really enjoyed fossil collecting, and I intend to continue through the summer until I am either consumed by the undergrowth, or my limited freezer space creates a massive backlog. I’m lucky in that I haven’t gotten a single tick yet (and I check thoroughly). I treat all of my hiking clothing and equipment with permethrin and I wear both the Picaridin lotion and Deet spray. The bugs run from me. Here are some concretions that I wasn't sure if they were siderite plates or not. Here are some I was more certain about -
Looking for spots within a few hours of Tallahassee, FL
Ejsejsejs posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hey all, We live in Tallahassee and I want to go fossil hunting for my birthday in August. Around me we have some marine fossils (mainly crinoids and the like) so I'd like to try to find somewhere in the peninsula to find something a little different. I don't want to have to drive 4-5 hours to Tampa/Venice area, so I was looking for some tips. In my research there are some fossiliferous formations near the Suwannee, but I don't know how often they are found cropping out. Thanks! -
I wanted to get out of there house to do something social distanced outdoors. I'm very new at fossil hunting and I was wondering where I might be able to go in/near Santa Cruz CA or anywhere north of there. Thanks : )
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Guide for identifying fakes?
Getthesalt posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
Hi all! I'm very new to fossil collecting, (I haven't even got my first fossil yet!) and I'm hoping to learn more about fakes so I can make an informed decision by myself. What are some good rules of thumb you experts go by? Thanks! -
I have been very lucky to have visited and had some mentoring from one of NZ, if not Australasias best fossil preppers. Taking some example from him, I have built a small dedicated prep table. No more smashing stuff on my workshop bench in the dark.. @Waimanu 1 are you still about in the forum? They need to see more of your work! Anyway, I suspect this will be a good year.. An old computer desk that had fallen to bits, and a dish washer that supplied the nice white sides. 3x $7NZD led strips from China and an old computer power supply. I have still to add the main overhead light but this is already 10x better than what I was struggling with.. I was worried when I planned it that the led strips would be overpowering but when you are looking the victim in the middle, you appreciate the lack of shadow.
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Hi! Please excuse us if we aren’t following decorum with our photo sizes, staging, etc. Since the quarantine has us unexpectedly homeschooling, we took our 5th grader to collect some fossils and though I’m sure they are pretty basic, I’m having a hard time helping her ID all of them. Any info is appreciated, as we are absolute beginners. ☺️ These were collected at a random roadcut in northern PA, another in West Virginia, and also at Beltsville Lake (where we searched all day for a trilobite until I realized I probably don’t even know what the fragments would look like).
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Hi! I am brand new to fossil hunting, inspired by my 7 year old daughter’s fascination with them and rocks. I am trying to find some decent spots to support her interest in the natural sciences. We found these, along with some awesome geodes, at a crumbling limestone cliff off the side of the road that looked fossily to me. I would love a tutorial to on how to find sites in the area to keep this hobby alive for her. Any suggestions in the Austin area?
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Hi everyone, so I have just gotten into fossil prepping and I'm practicing on some crabs that have some damage to them. Learning so much with each hour I spend! I made a time-lapse of the most recent one: https://youtu.be/kH33t4NklYk?t=675 (short version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STw905QB570 (long version) It's still quite rough at the end, I need to smooth the rock out and I haven't tried to get into the really tight spots with my current tool - waiting to get something like a micro-jack.
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Ok, where do I start on removing this fossil? I am a beginner so where do I start? What should I remove first? Should I even bother?
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Hi all, I'm interested in finally purchasing some (theropod) dinosaur teeth for my collection. I'm just not sure where to start. I've been eyeing up some reasonably-priced stuff from a website. The material comes from the Kem-Kem beds in Morocco. Of course, I understand that going into the realm of dinosaur teeth (especially those from the Kem-Kem beds) and expecting any sort of accurate I.D. would be a poor idea. However, I'd at least like to know if they're even theropod teeth before I drop money on them. (Again, they are very reasonably priced.) There are a couple of items I'm considering: Labeled as "Abelisaur teeth" Labeled as "Carcharodontosaurus teeth" I can post more pics; the seller has a few for each. On one hand, the "carcharodontosaurus" stuff is better documented in the region which is always nice. However the "abelisaur" items are kind of in better shape. I guess my main questions are: Are they actually "dinosaurian" ? (I would be happy just being able to call them "theropod indet." but of course if the given labels are accurate that would be nice.) Would they be bad purchases? What would you purchase, if anything? I apologize in advance for my ignorance and I hope to learn something.
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Beginner Trip Tips? Calvert Cliffs, Girl Scout Trip
snarkshark posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Sometime before the end of June 2020, I'd like to take my Girl Scout troop (approx 20 girls, ages 6-12) on a trip to look for sharks teeth. I've read through some of the tips in previous posts, and it seems like there are some good fossil hunting locations near Bayfront Park and at the Matoaka Beach cabins. I plan to make a few floating sifters out of PVC pipe, and will give them each a collection jar. I do have a few questions: 1. Is one of the two locations above better than the other? Is the $5 per person fee worth it for the daily trip to the cabins' beach? 2. Is there a particular month of the year when you find more teeth and fossils? 3. Will the girls need waders - or, are knee-high rain boots sufficient? 4. I saw the tide chart - how should we time our arrival? I saw somewhere that arriving between 1 to 3 hours early is ideal? 5. Any other beginner trips - particularly for a group? Thanks!
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