Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'breaking open rock'.
-
I found a small shell fossil on a piece and there seems to be other fossil imprints that have sadly wore away. I was wondering however, if I should try and break it open. Being such a minute find, it's not a huge deal if it is lost, but I am also new to this and don't know how likely it would be to find more fossils within. Note 01: The shell mold is very faint in the image and more pronounced in person. Seen on image No. 01. Note 02: There seems - to me - to be a fold or seam in the rock that would seem to make it easier to split with a chisel. Seen on image No. 01, on the bottom right. Note 03: There are crystalline elements on the surface, much like small quartz formations or granite particulate, possible suggesting a geode? .
- 5 replies
-
- breaking open rock
- fossil
- (and 4 more)
-
So I'm aiming to visit some of the Altamira Shale (Monterey Formation Shale) exposures in my city and try to find some fossils in fallen shale pieces. However, I simply cannot find a good way to split shale (I also have small rocks of Altamira Shale in my backyard, which could be seen as a sort of "practice"). The shale that I get are usually very hard and compact, as seems to not crack very easily with the materials I have. I don't have a real chisel, but I makeshift them (nail, screws, and screwdrivers). When I use them, it seems to just dig a hole in the area where I'm striking at and creates no cracks. Does anyone who has experience with Monterey Shale know the best way to split a shale like this, preferably clean in half? (It seems that the rocks I'm trying to split are the exact same rocks found in any other part of the Monterey Formation, like Jalama Beach)
- 13 replies
-
- altamira shale
- breaking open rock
- (and 7 more)